MINI2 - MINI Forum - View Single Post

Ken Cooper · Feb 7th, 2007, 08:36 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Paul Mullett (original)

^^ What he said. I re-read what I posted and it sounds a bit like nit-picking, I'm not really, just more interested to learn more about your way of thinking, it's interesting too as you're a new "soon to be owner", and people who are fresh always have different, and interesting angles on the MINI, especially to an aged old campaigner like myself!

Hi Paul,

The point is, it is very difficult in this section to separate out the early manufacturing stage problems from current problems. My original goal was to see if the frequency of problems was decreasing with manufacturing maturity. This of course is very hard to determine because the number of R56s on the road increases on a daily basis. Now had the rate of complaints run linearly with the increased number of R56s on the road, there's every evidence that this site would absolutely scare away anyone who might be researching the possibility of buying a new Mini Cooper.

You mentioned that maybe I was showing a bit too much optimism regarding improvement in MC quality. True, in nature I tend to lean on the side of optimism, but it's cautious optimism. In sorting through all these postings, it is definitely my sense though that the rate of posted problems is certainly not keeping up with the rate of new R56 sales. And personally I think I see some degree of an inverse relationship.

It's not easy separating the wheat from the chaff in perusing all these postings. And yes there is a certain amount of judgement decision making involved in rating these problems. I can no more be exact in evaluating each issue than can each person posting a problem be exact in defining the relative severity of their problem in relation to someone else's. I did do the best I could though.

One other point, had I discovered that reality in detail matched the perception in general that this site leaves, I would more than likely not be the "soon to be owner" that you refer to.

By the way, a few years back Audi had a very serious reliability issue with its A4. My responsibility on the North American forum was to provide clarity and visual reality to the problem. I took on the job because there was no way to gauge its severity, its probability of occurance, or when or under what conditions it was most likely to attack any given individual's car. As it turned out, virtually every 2002 A4 owner would be hit if Audi couldn't come up with a fix. Eventually they did. Every owner ended up with a complete new set of ignition coilpacks.

For some reason, separating perception from reality has always been important to me.

I think you had some other questions regarding my posting but I've sifted through that stuff ad naseum and choose not to return any more to those postings (something I'd have to do to accurately respond).

I hope this helps in your learning more about my way of thinking.

By the way, I think we all very much appreciate what you do for this forum. If I hadn't developed quite a lot of respect for you I would not have put this effort into this response.

Feb 7th, 2007, 08:36 PM	#6
Ken Cooper MINI2 Newbie Join Date: Nov 2006 Local Time: 06:10 AM Posts: 42 Offline	Quote: Originally Posted by Paul Mullett (original) ^^ What he said. I re-read what I posted and it sounds a bit like nit-picking, I'm not really, just more interested to learn more about your way of thinking, it's interesting too as you're a new "soon to be owner", and people who are fresh always have different, and interesting angles on the MINI, especially to an aged old campaigner like myself! Hi Paul, The point is, it is very difficult in this section to separate out the early manufacturing stage problems from current problems. My original goal was to see if the frequency of problems was decreasing with manufacturing maturity. This of course is very hard to determine because the number of R56s on the road increases on a daily basis. Now had the rate of complaints run linearly with the increased number of R56s on the road, there's every evidence that this site would absolutely scare away anyone who might be researching the possibility of buying a new Mini Cooper. You mentioned that maybe I was showing a bit too much optimism regarding improvement in MC quality. True, in nature I tend to lean on the side of optimism, but it's cautious optimism. In sorting through all these postings, it is definitely my sense though that the rate of posted problems is certainly not keeping up with the rate of new R56 sales. And personally I think I see some degree of an inverse relationship. It's not easy separating the wheat from the chaff in perusing all these postings. And yes there is a certain amount of judgement decision making involved in rating these problems. I can no more be exact in evaluating each issue than can each person posting a problem be exact in defining the relative severity of their problem in relation to someone else's. I did do the best I could though. One other point, had I discovered that reality in detail matched the perception in general that this site leaves, I would more than likely not be the "soon to be owner" that you refer to. By the way, a few years back Audi had a very serious reliability issue with its A4. My responsibility on the North American forum was to provide clarity and visual reality to the problem. I took on the job because there was no way to gauge its severity, its probability of occurance, or when or under what conditions it was most likely to attack any given individual's car. As it turned out, virtually every 2002 A4 owner would be hit if Audi couldn't come up with a fix. Eventually they did. Every owner ended up with a complete new set of ignition coilpacks. For some reason, separating perception from reality has always been important to me. I think you had some other questions regarding my posting but I've sifted through that stuff ad naseum and choose not to return any more to those postings (something I'd have to do to accurately respond). I hope this helps in your learning more about my way of thinking. By the way, I think we all very much appreciate what you do for this forum. If I hadn't developed quite a lot of respect for you I would not have put this effort into this response.