Their subscribers report any issues they’ve had with their cars in a yearly survey. They average around 300,000 surveys returned each year, and cars are scored based on the number of issues per 100 of that particular model for each year. Issues are weighted differently depending on how major they are, with drivetrain issues carrying more weight than a piece of trip coming off, or a blemish in the factory paint for example. Cars of a particular model and model year that don’t receive enough reviews to get a reliable data set don’t have their scores published.

Mini is scoring well because:

A) They only have two models.

B) Those two models share a drivetrain that’s proven to be very reliable. The BMW B38 is a stoute engine, and it’s big brother B48 is used in both the John Cooper Works and the Toyota Supra.

C) Those two models are mechanically unchanged since 2014. They were in CR’s top ten starting back in 2015 (again, B38 is a great engine) and have had nearly 10 years to iron out everything else.

Meanwhile, VW is having a genuinely bad time right now. Their score is somewhat unfairly low due to an absurdly large number of older drivers having issues with their centre console and HVAC controls, and that’s warranted to a point. I sat in a new GTI several months ago, and I have never experienced interior controls as badly implemented as that thing. My god it was bad. I’m close friends with a VW parts/tech manager, and he says they are constantly having people in who are having issues with touch screens (they are laggy as fuck to be fair) and haptic controls. Beyond that, according to him, they definitely aren’t 100% out of the woods when it comes to the known water pump problems, leaking sunroofs, and various electrical gremlins aside from the bad touch screens. Lots of faulty window and mirror motors, and apparently a Tiguan that had a gas odometer that would go up as you drove it instead of down.

Consumer reports scores vehicles based on the number of problems per 100 cars reported to them by their subscribers. If they don’t have enough reviews sent in to make a reliable data set, they don’t publish a score.

Land Rover is very niche in North America, and the kind of people who buy them have the money not to worry about reliability anyways.

For what it’s worth, Land Rover has traditionally done VERY poorly in years past when they have had enough reports on them to publish a result.

It’s due to only having two models that share a drivetrain that’s proven to be genuinely reliable for nearly ten years now. The B38 is a solid engine, and both the Cooper and Countryman have remained the same mechanically since 2014. Mini has been in CR’s top ten most reliable brands since 2015, and with nearly 10 years to iron out all the smaller problems and no problem models to knock their average score down, being #3 actually makes sense.

Only two models, both sharing a B38 engine that has proven itself to be very reliable in both in those Minis and a few BMWs for nearly a decade now.

Mini has actually been consistently inside the top 10 since switching to its current engine and transmission in 2014. The models haven’t changed mechanically since then, and with the better part of 10 years to iron out smaller issues it makes sense that it scores high.

I owned a 2006 Cooper S that was an absolute train wreck reliability-wise, so I’m definitely not biased. Their rating genuinely makes sense here from a mechanical standpoint.

Their current lineup basically shares one engine and transmission in North America. The B38 has been in use in both the current gen Minis along with BMW for nearly a decade now, and it’s proven to be pretty reliable over that stretch. You’ve got a vehicle lineup consisting of only two models that are both nearly 9 years old, sharing the same engine and transmissions that have proven to be reliable over a long period of time now. It shouldn’t be a surprise that they’re high up on the reliability scale at the moment.

They rely on paying subscription model and for those limited members to self report.

Yes, and?

The kind of person who is subscribed to a magazine purely about reviewing the long term reliability of products is exactly the kind of person you want reporting on trouble spots for those products. They’ll be thorough. And according to Consumer Reports, they receive over 300,000 reports from subscribers on cars yearly, which is honestly a pretty solid sample size.

I owned a 2006 Mini Cooper S, and yes it was a total piece of shit reliability-wise. You want to know which magazine reported that it was a piece of shit? Consumer Reports. Want to know when Mini’s reliability ratings started to consistently reach the top 10 on the chart? 2015. They switched to the B38 in 2014 and haven’t updated it since. It all tracks.

I mean, sitting in a few of them recently, he’s right. That “German fit and finish” in their current lineup isn’t class leading anymore, all while VW still charges a premium for it.

I was cross-shopping a GTI with a Civic Si and a Mazda 3 Sport Turbo, and the GTI, each in their top trims, and the final prices came out to $38,000 for the Si, $40,000 for the Mazda 3 Turbo, and $45,000 for the GTI (prices in Canadian). The GTI had the cheapest feeling interior of the three, all while likely having the highest cost of ownership and weakest long term reliability of the three. I went into it thinking the GTI would be the front runner, and honestly it left me feeling pretty disappointed.

This goes through their entire lineup. Each vehicle in each segment costs a couple grand more than the competing Mazda, Honda, and Toyota, but it just doesn’t feel like you’re getting more car for that extra money. The Tiguan doesn’t feel noticeably better than a RAV4, CRV or CX 5. The Atlas didn’t feel like a step up from a Highlander or Pilot. VW still costs you a little bit extra for the “German premium tax”, and I just don’t see what that tax gets you, asside from generally weaker long term reliability and resale value.