2002 Mini Cooper: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 220 complaints
220
Total Complaints
60,000mi
Median Mileage
STEERING
Top Issue
7
Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

31,980 25th Percentile
60,000 Median Mileage
88,670 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

STEERING
56
VISIBILITY:WINDSHIELD
25
AIR BAGS
22
POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
16
POWER TRAIN:MANUAL TRANSMISSION
11
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
11
POWER TRAIN
10
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
5
STEERING:HYDRAULIC POWER ASSIST:PUMP
4
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE
4

Severity Assessment

7
Crashes
9
Fires
15
Injuries
0
Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"VEHICLE WILL HESTITATE TO ACCELERATE AND INTERMITTENTLY LY STALL WHILE DRIVING. CONTACTED DEALER.CAUSE UNKNOWN.*AK"
"I AM HAVING A PROBLEM WITH MY 2002 MINI COOPER, IT IS EXPERIENCING PROBLEMS WITH THE TRANSMISSION AND IT HAS BEEN IN THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT IN THREE SEPARATE OCCASION TOTALLYING 54 DAYS, THE LAST TIME THAT IT WAS IN THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT IT WAS 40 DAYS. THEY FINALLY SAID THE PROBLEM WAS CORRECTED, ..."
"CAR ALMOST STALLS WHEN TRYING TO ACCELERATE FROM A COMPLETE STOP. ACCELERATION RATES VARY AND SOMETIMES ARE DANGEROUSLY SLOW CAR LUNGES WHEN TRYING TO MOVE SMALL DISTANCES"

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28