• No diesels in the range
• PHEV makes some impressive claims
• Petrol models are reasonably efficient

What are the running costs?

The MINI Countryman shouldn’t be too expensive to run despite the fact you can’t have it with a diesel engine. The front-wheel drive Cooper and Cooper S models can both manage more than 40mpg in official WLTP testing, while the four-wheel drive Cooper S All4 and John Cooper Works variants have fuel economy figures in the high 30mpg range.

The plug-in hybrid model is the efficiency star, though, with a maximum claimed fuel economy figure of 156.9mpg and CO2 emissions ranging between 41 and 44g/km. That latter figure makes the PHEV the most attractive choice for company car buyers, as Benefit-in-Kind car tax rates are directly linked to how much CO2 a car produces. The lower the CO2 output, the less money you’ll pay.

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Just remember: if you do opt for the PHEV model, you’ll need to charge the battery at the mains regularly to get anywhere near to those efficiency figures. Allow the battery to go flat and your fuel economy will suffer as you’ll be working the petrol engine harder to darg around the dead weight of the car’s battery pack and electric motor.

MINI can sell you a home wallbox charger as £900 optional extra with your Countryman PHEV. We recommend you take the company up on the offer as your home will then be futureproofed if you decide to buy a pure-electric car next.

Servicing and warranty

Every MINI Countryman rolls off the production line with a three-year, unlimited mileage warranty. That’s good, but it looks slightly tight when compared to the seven-year package offered by Kia and the 10-year warranty fronted by Toyota and Lexus.

To help owners keep their running costs in check, MINI offers a range of monthly service plans or an upfront service plan that allows you to pay for your car’s first four trips to the workshop in one lump sum. And, just in case you’re worried about the longevity of the PHEV model’s battery pack, it’s warrantied for eight years or 100,000 miles.

Reliability

• Solid build quality
• Lots of shared parts with BMW…
• … which has a good reputation for reliability

MINI’s parent company, BMW, has a fierce reputation for reliability, so there’s no reason to assume the derived parts on the Countryman will perform any worse than they would on the mechanically similar BMW X1.

If the only thing that’s stopping you from buying a Countryman is reliability, it’s worth noting that MINI has only issued one recall for the car since it was launched in 2017. It was flagged in March 2022 and related to the car’s front seat belt retractor.

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