2016 MINI Cooper

Consumer Reports (opens in a new tab) says the Cooper redesigned for 2014 grew wider and longer, rides better and has more normal controls, and lists the available Sports package with driver-adjustable suspension settings as new for 2016. MotorTrend (opens in a new tab) lists two engines: a turbocharged 1.5-liter three-cylinder with 134 horsepower and 162 pound-feet in the base Cooper, and a turbocharged 2.0-liter four with 189 horsepower in the Cooper S or 228 in the John Cooper Works.

MotorTrend rates the base Hardtop at 29/40 mpg city and highway with the manual and 28/37 with the automatic, the Cooper S at 26/33 automatic or 24/34 manual and the JCW at 25/31 automatic or 23/31 manual, and notes the two-door has 8.7 cubic feet behind the rear seats and 34 with them folded. Standard safety equipment adds knee air bags for the driver and front passenger.

NHTSA lists four recall campaigns for the 2016 Cooper. 15V887000 covers a steering gearbox that may have been built with incorrect parts, which BMW replaces free of charge, 15V628000 a passenger frontal air bag that may not deploy properly in a low-speed crash, 16V747000 a driver's seat-belt retractor whose locking mechanism may not lock as designed, and 17V222000 an inner bumper-mounted brake light that goes out when braking with the turn signal on.

Owners have filed 66 complaints with NHTSA: engine leads with 20, then electrical system and exterior lighting with 14 each, power train with 11, unknown or other with 7 and air bags with 6. Consumer Reports (opens in a new tab) rates the 2016 Cooper about average for reliability compared with other cars from the same model year, and BumperScan (opens in a new tab) counts nine engine complaints clustered around 97,000 miles.

Kelley Blue Book (opens in a new tab) lists the cheapest 2016 Hardtop 2 Door, the Cooper hatchback, at a Fair Purchase Price of $9,025, with trade-in values from about $3,850 to $11,100 and private-party values from about $7,825 to $12,000 across trims.

EPA rates the 2016 Mini Cooper at 26 to 32 mpg combined and $2,400 to $3,000 a year in fuel. The 2016 Audi A3 rates 26 to 39 at $2,000 to $2,400, the top of that range being its diesel and plug-in versions. On EPA figures the Mini's base engine is about as efficient as the A3's gasoline models, and the A3 offers more efficient options the Cooper does not.