MINI Convertible (2009-2015) - Reliability & safety
Owners aren't very happy, but BMW quality means it should be reliable
Customers tend to have high expectations of their MINIs, which is pretty understandable given their high price tag and the brand’s status-symbol image. MINI hasn’t scored highly in our Driver Power owner satisfaction survey for several reasons, but thankfully reliability is not one of the categories in which it has performed particularly poorly. The car’s safety credentials are excellent, however, and build quality is very good, too.
MINI Convertible reliability
The MINI Convertible didn’t rank in the top 150 cars of our Driver Power 2014 customer satisfaction survey and its hatchback sister model only managed to place 143rd. MINI itself fell to 30th out of 33 in the manufacturer rankings – a drop of two places since 2013, showing customers clearly have a love-hate relationship with their car. The brand mainly suffered due to criticisms about practicality and ride quality – nothing you shouldn’t already be aware of when you’re considering buying one.
BMW owns the MINI brand and the German company’s renowned build quality and reputation for reliability suggest it’s unlikely anything will go badly wrong, but be aware that any damage to the fabric top can be costly to repair.
MINI Convertible safety
The MINI hatchback received the full five-star Euro NCAP crash-test rating and although the convertible hasn't been evaluated separately, it features the same safety equipment and adds pop-up roll hoops that deploy in the event of an accident. Until that time, they remain safely stowed away and don't restrict your rear visibility. The MINI Convertible also comes with front, side and head airbags and electronic stability control is standard, too.
