MINI Countryman review - Reliability and Safety

The MINI Countryman was crash tested by Euro NCAP in 2017, where it earned a five-star safety rating. It had a higher percentage score for adult occupant protection than the last Countryman, but a lower score for child occupant protection. That might seem strange, but remember that the test has been mate tougher in the intervening years between the two models being tested.

Collision warning and autonomous braking at city speeds are standard fitment across the range, while there is a Driving Assistant pack (about £810), which brings adaptive cruise control and pedestrian detection. Like the Clubman, Lane Keep Assist isn’t available, which contributed to the estate dropping a star in its Euro NCAP rating overall. Still, there’s a wealth of airbags as standard.

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MINI has had variable scores in the Driver Power new car ownership survey, but the company has consistently finished ahead of the BMW mothership in our polls. MINI came an impressive 8th out of 27 manufacturers in the 2017 Driver Power survey, for example, well ahaed of BMW itself. It's a similar story with MINI dealer satisfaction, as its franchises usually finish ahead of BMW's, even though on the whole they are usually found in the same location.

Warranty

Every Countryman offers a three-year/60,000-mile cover, which is typical for the class but not exceptional. However, that can be extended to five years and 100,000 miles at the time of purchase, and with some haggling you could get that included in the cost of the car. 

Servicing

MINI’s familiar TLC servicing package is available with the Countryman. It’s expected to cost around £400, and covers all servicing costs for five years or 50,000 miles (whichever comes first).

For a further three years or 30,000 miles of cover, you can splash out another £275, while both packages can be bundled in with the initial cost of the car to save on running costs.