Where each one leads
Fiat 124 Spider
- Against cars of the same year, the Fiat 124 Spider comes out better in New York safety inspections (fails 73% less often than average) than the MINI Cooper (fails 22% less often than average).
MINI Cooper
- Fewer MINI Cooper cars in the Netherlands carry an illogical odometer record (2.5% against 12.2%).
- On Canada's official test the most frugal 2026 MINI Cooper uses 7.4 l/100 km, the 2020 Fiat 124 Spider 7.9.
- New MINI Cooper cars registered in Europe in 2022 average 129 g/km of CO₂ on the WLTP test, against 154 for the Fiat 124 Spider in 2020.
Only measures that do not depend on how many cars were sold: pass and failure rates against cars of the same age, ratings, fuel use and CO₂. How we compare
At a glance
| Fiat 124 Spider | MINI Cooper | |
|---|---|---|
| Model years in the US safety record | 2017–2020 | 2001–2026 |
| New cars registered in Europe | 16,264 (2010–2020) | 799,739 (2010–2022) |
| Licensed in the United Kingdom | — | 509,288 |
| On the road in the Netherlands | 793 | 77,946 |
| In traffic in Finland | — | 2,681 |
EEA new-car registrations (CC BY 4.0) · DVLA licensed vehicles (OGL v3.0) · RDW (CC0) · Traficom (CC BY 4.0) · generations: Wikidata (CC0).
Reliability and problems
| Fiat 124 Spider | MINI Cooper | |
|---|---|---|
| UK MOT first-time pass rate | — | 84% |
| … against cars of the same age | — | +7% |
| New York safety inspections failed | 0.4% | 1.9% |
| … against cars of the same year | −73% | −22% |
| Illogical odometer records (NL) | 12.2% | 2.5% |
| US owner complaints | 66 | 2,236 |
| Most complaints about | Air bags | Steering |
| Model year with most complaints | 2017 (33) | 2005 (372) |
| US recall campaigns | 3 | 27 |
| Manufacturer service bulletins | 231 | 2,719 |
| NHTSA defect investigations | — | 18 |
Complaint, recall and bulletin counts grow with the number of cars sold and are not adjusted for it. UK MOT: DVSA anonymised MOT results (OGL v3.0); New York: DMV inspections; complaints, recalls, bulletins and investigations: NHTSA (public domain); odometer: RDW (CC0).
Fuel, emissions and price
| Fiat 124 Spider | MINI Cooper | |
|---|---|---|
| Official combined fuel use, Canada | 7.9 l/100 km (2020) | 7.4 l/100 km (2026) |
| Real-world use in Europe, petrol | — | 7.1 l/100 km |
| Official CO₂ of new cars in Europe | 154 g/km | 129 g/km |
| Average power of new cars in Europe | 103 kW (138 hp) | 100 kW (134 hp) |
| Average mass in running order | 1,125 kg | 1,294 kg |
| Dutch list price when new (median) | €41,033 | €33,498 |
| Average odometer in Finland | — | 168,000 km |
Canada: NRCan Fuel Consumption Ratings, most frugal version of the latest year (OGL Canada). Europe: EEA monitoring of new-car CO₂ and on-board fuel meters (OBFCM), CC BY 4.0. Price: RDW catalogue price (CC0). Finland: Traficom (CC BY 4.0).