[flipper]

A thread in faults and fixes (varse) comments that the mini interior is of poor quality.
Is this a commonly held view?
My last two cars have been an Audi A3 and a Golf which are generally viewed to be high quality. Perhaps is it considered that the mini interior does not wear well over time?
The showroom minis look good to me - or is it just blind love.

[Martin L]

I tend to agree with you. I can't see what the fuss is all about
I think the interior plastics and finish are of good quality. I had a Mk4 Golf previously and can't see the MINI been of a poorer quality. Everything in my MINI is screwed together well and has a nice solid feel to it.
To be quite frank I'm disappointed in BMW interiors, they use too much hard plastic and the materials used on the seats are "uninsperational". Too teutonic for my tastes

[potts]

Come on Martin, the dashboard quality is bónk! Though don't get me wrong, the design is brilliant!
The top of the dashboard - I think MiNiGuY calls it a topper - 'looks' like it's padded, until you touch it and realise it's rock hard moulded stuff, no, I tell a lie, if you press it, it squashes in about a millimetre - it must be the hardest padded dash ever produced. This hardness is also the cause of the common creaking dash problem on certain cars.

The brilliant silver pieces (on the dash) show the mould edges - this could have been far better disguised - at school we'd have been marked down in design & technology class for leaving edges like that I won't even talk about the alloy patina finish in the Cooper S, I know it can be a sensitive subject... shame you guys don't get an alloy patina rev counter and speedo...

The mat-silver plastics - like round the base of the gear stick and the two pillars either side of the centre console will be permanently marked if caught or scuffed - there can only be one layer of paint.

I was looking under the dash on the drivers side - near the OBDII plug and there were two pieces of rubber wedged between the bottom of the dash and some plastic edging - it might have been a creak-fix or something, more like a crap fix, especially on a May build car...

Most stuff is really good, the seats are great quality (I have the half leather black sports), they just creak a bit... The carpet is really thick and comfy - my girlfriend always takes her shoes off. The doors trims look great, in fact it ALL looks great, it looks brilliant and I love it, it's just it's possible to see where corners have been cut (or not, in the case of the brilliant silver trim ) to keep costs down.

Potts

p.s. Don't be put off flipper, it's a fantastic car

[Martin L]

I don't know what you expect from a car whose base price is £11,500? But I'm suitably impressed, isn't that all that counts
It's much better then the efforts of Ford, Vauxhall and Peugeot IMO.

[kevina]

It's much better than a Golf, in my opinion. I doubt there's anything on the market (in the US at least) that matches the interior quality for this kind of price. Not to mention the quality of everything else.

Kevin

[Marts]

The minis interior is excellent. I would only fault the door levers and the indicator/light stalks. There are many cars out there valued over £20,000 that don't even come close to the mini's interior.

[pkranger63]

I think the interior of the car is very nice. Its without a doubt a step up from the Toyota Tacoma which cost a few thousand more than my Mini. No complaints here

[kshapiro]

As many magazine reviews have said...MINI put the money into the chassis and engine. You can't have it all for the price, and they put it where we enthusiasts want it...right? Hey, if you'd rather have a nice quality interior that's slow and handles poorly in comparison (VW Beetle) you can buy that as well. MINI RULES !!!

[piperpilot]

This is an interesting topic. There seem to be 2 groups - the "It's crap" group, and the "What are you *****ing about?" group.

I'm a member of the latter group. It seems to me that many of the complaints, while valid, are nit-picking. Of course the interior could be better, but I think that MINI made the right trade-offs between driving performance and interior fabrication - Go faster, creak a little if need be!