Global Imports MINI

I have a 2012 Mini Countryman S All4 and I like the car a lot. There are however many issues that worry me. It came with the 3 year 36k mile service included. Well, first, the alignment is NOT included. They evidently count that as tire related and not regular maintenance. Also the clutch, from day 1, felt odd and not right. I have been driving clutch cars as my primary vehicle for 37 years. That thing made me feel like I did not know how to drive a clutch. I complained numerous times. Numerous. In November, I took it in and got the regular indicated service...oil change I believe but once again complained about the clutch. By this time it had started smelling whenever my wife or I drove it. It had 33k miles on it. We took it in; they did the service, checked another nag we had where something rattled underneath, like metal shielding and also checked the clutch again. It came back with oil change and everything else checked OK. I was NOT good with this. I talked to the service manager and he agreed to check the rattle. He also looked at the car and told my wife and I that, paraphrasing, "Oh, I saw that it was an All4, the clutches don’t last in those and I am surprised yours lasted 33k miles" Like I said, that is very close to his statement...just not verbatim as I could not be confidant that I could remember every syllable. They took the car back in. A few hours later, got a call and went back to the dealer. Clutch replaced, shield on exhaust loosened and retightened and even washed. The Service manager stated that the clutch only had a couple MM left which was bad and that it did indeed need to be replaced. Funny how earlier it was ok and no problem found. My wife was PO'd. She couldn't believe that they would have let her leave with a clutch that had a problem as if it had been Ok if I hadn't pressed the issue. That would have been the case. Ok, I had done some research earlier. From what I gather, there was a problem with the original clutches in some 2011 and 2012 Countrymen but that Mini found the problem and changed the parts that were of issue. Problem is that they did not issue a recall, just a service bulletin to the dealers. From what I read, they only fixed the issue if you pushed the issue and some people were being charged for the repair. Some were warranted. So, I was not crazy and the clutch was screwy. Seems like a new drive since the new clutch was installed, no more "I forgot how to drive a clutch" feel. Now, I have a big issue with the problems with this vehicle and the dealer and also the way Mini handles this. So far, around 20-25K the brakes were done (free with the maintenance included) and it has had a new clutch. I have never heard of such a thing unless someone abuses brakes and clutch. Also to have known problems and after I complained numerous times to have to go out of my way to push the issue to get repaired.. NOT GOOD. Also Mini Atlanta has done a few things that I am not too happy about. First was that Alignment was not a maintenance issue included as maintenance (although they did do a freebie after I complained about the issue). Also, I had a coupon they issued in their mailer for an alignment check for $49 dollars that the service writer said they didn't do. I was told they only do alignments not checks. WELL, what the heck was the coupon I had in my hand? Am I crazy?? They mailed it and it states quite clearly $49 alignment check. In closing, although I love most things about the Countryman S All4, I am not a happy Mini owner and worry about coming issues and if and how they may be treated. I did not buy a new vehicle to put potentially thousands into it for repairs in the first 100k miles. Had I known, I would have purchased another brand. Nowadays it is crazy to think that you may have to have, according to experience with this vehicle, 4 sets of brakes and two more clutches before 100k is reached MINI COOPER are you listening??