Consumer Safety Complaints
Search 2,245,377 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA, including 140,173 crashes, 56,794 fires, and 8,580 deaths.
What is a NHTSA consumer complaint?
A consumer complaint is a free-form report filed by a vehicle owner directly to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) describing a safety concern about their vehicle. NHTSA collects these reports through its Vehicle Owner Defect Report (VOQ) system and publishes them publicly. Each complaint includes the affected component, the date and circumstances of the incident, whether the failure caused a crash or fire, and any reported injuries or deaths. The owner's full narrative description is included verbatim, NHTSA does not edit or moderate the descriptions.
The database below contains over 2,245,377 individual complaints. NHTSA's investigators monitor it for clusters of similar reports, when enough owners describe the same failure mode on the same vehicle, NHTSA may open a Preliminary Evaluation that can lead to a recall. Many of the largest recalls in U.S. history, including the Takata airbag recall and the Hyundai/Kia engine fire recalls, started as patterns visible in this complaint database years before they became formal recalls.
How to interpret what you read
A few principles for reading consumer complaints usefully:
- One complaint is anecdote; a hundred similar complaints is data. NHTSA does not investigate the truthfulness of any individual report, that's the job of the Office of Defects Investigation, which looks at the full pattern. When evaluating a vehicle, look for whether multiple owners describe the same chain of events.
- Crash, fire, injury, and death flags are owner-set. They are not verified by NHTSA. They are still useful as a filter, because owners who tick those boxes are typically reporting more serious incidents than those who don't.
- Component categories are NHTSA-assigned, not owner-assigned. NHTSA standardizes the component field so that complaints can be aggregated. The owner narrative often goes into more detail than the component category captures.
- Complaint volume scales with sales volume. A best-selling model will accumulate more raw complaints than a niche model even at the same defect rate. To compare across vehicles, look at complaints per 100,000 units sold, not raw counts.
If you've experienced a defect
File a complaint. NHTSA's investigators rely on this database to detect emerging defects, and useful complaints, specific, concrete, with dates and mileage and clear descriptions of what happened, feed directly into the agency's pattern detection. The form takes about 10 minutes and is at nhtsa.gov/recalls under "Report a Safety Problem." Your complaint becomes part of the same public record that this page is built from. Owners filing detailed VOQs are how recalls get triggered.
Read more from our blog
Showing 6,381 complaints for MINI
Incident date: Nov 28, 2011
POWER STEERING INTERMITTENTLY WORKING CAUSING SEVERE OVERSTEER WHILE ENTERING HIGHWAY TRAFFIC. HAD NO INDICATION OF PROBLEM WHILE ON INTERSTATE. UPON EXITING INTERSTATE ON A 30 MPH LOOP STEERING FAILED . PRESENTLY POWER STEERING IS INTERMITTENT SO THE WIFE NO LONGER GETS TO DRIVE THE COOPER. GOOD FORTUNE WAS WITH ME AND I HAVE DRIVEN CARS WITHOUT POWERSTEERING. EVEN SO I WAS CAUGHT OFF GUARD AND ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 25, 2011
I DROVE LESS THAN A MILE AND SMOKE STARTED COMING OUT OF THE ENGINE. THE TURBOCHARGER WAS LEAKING OIL ONTO THE ENGINE, WHICH ALMOST CAUSED THE CAR TO CATCH ON FIRE. *TR
Incident date: Nov 18, 2011
BOUGHT THIS CAR IN 2008 AND HAVE HAD VERY FEW ISSUES. THIS MONTH (NOVEMBER 2011) THE CVT (AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION) WENT OUT. ONLY REPAIR APPARENTLY IS "REPLACEMENT" - RECEIVING QUOTES BETWEEN 7K AND 9K FROM THE DEALER AND AAMCO. NOW FINDING OUT THIS IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM WITH ALL MINI COOPER CVT'S. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. REPAIR COST NOW EXCEEDS CAR'S VALUE. WON'T DO IT. FOOL ME ONCE... SHAME ON Y... Read more
Incident date: Nov 20, 2011
GOING INTO A TURN ON THE NORTHWEST SIDE OF I-465 IN INDIANAPOLIS AND THE MINI COOPER'S POWER STEERING WENT OUT. I BRAKED HARD AND PULLED OFF THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. IT CAME OUT OF NOWHERE. *TR
Incident date: Oct 31, 2011
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 MINI COOPER S. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WOULD ILLUMINATE ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL AND THE VEHICLE WOULD MAKE A LOUD NOISE. THE DEALER DIAGNOSED THAT FUEL LINE WAS CLOGGED, WHICH MADE IT DIFFICULT FOR THE FUEL TO FLOW FREELY. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 29,643.
Incident date: Nov 4, 2011
ABOUT A YEAR AND HALF AGO THE CAR WAS LEAKING STEERING FLUID, THE MECHANIC STATED THAT THE COOLING FAN ON THE STEERING PUMP WAS A BAD DESIGN, HE ADJUSTED IT AND IT LASTED UNTIL NOVEMBER OF 2011 AGAIN THE LEAKING STARTED, GRINDING NOISE FROM THE FRONT LEFT,STEERING WAS DIFFICULT ON TURNS. I HAD ALL THE STEERING COMPONENTS REPLACED AT A COST OF @ $1,100. MECHANIC STILL BELIEVED IT IS A DESIGN FLAW, ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2011
IN THE EARLY FALL, SEPTEMBER 2011, I ENCOUNTERED ISSUES WITH MY CAR NOT SHIFTING PROPERLY. IT'S AN AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION SO I KNOW THERE WAS NOTHING I COULD BE DOING TO CAUSE THIS PROBLEM. THE CAR HAS BEEN SERVICED REGULARLY AND DRIVEN WITH CARE WHILE IN MY POSSESSION(I'M THE SECOND OWNER. NO SIMILAR ISSUES ON CARFAX REPORT). WHILE THE ENGINE IS COOL AND NOT YET AT ITS OPTIMAL TEMPERATURE THE DRI... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2011
IN THE EARLY FALL, SEPTEMBER 2011, I ENCOUNTERED ISSUES WITH MY CAR NOT SHIFTING PROPERLY. IT'S AN AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION SO I KNOW THERE WAS NOTHING I COULD BE DOING TO CAUSE THIS PROBLEM. THE CAR HAS BEEN SERVICED REGULARLY AND DRIVEN WITH CARE WHILE IN MY POSSESSION(I'M THE SECOND OWNER. NO SIMILAR ISSUES ON CARFAX REPORT). WHILE THE ENGINE IS COOL AND NOT YET AT ITS OPTIMAL TEMPERATURE THE DRI... Read more
Incident date: Nov 22, 2011
POWER STEERING FAILED. RE-ENGAGED WHEN CAR COOLED.
Incident date: Nov 16, 2011
STEERING WHEEL LOCKS WHILE DRIVING. I HAVE TALKED TO THE DEALER AND THE DEALER BELIEVES THE PROBLEM IS WITH THE STEERING PUMP. I RESEARCHED IT ON THE NET AND FOUND MANY PEOPLE COMPLAINING ABOUT IT. *TR
Incident date: Nov 16, 2011
POWER STEERING PUMP FAILED, STEERING BECAME VERY DIFFICULT. PUMP REMAINED ON AFTER CAR WAS TURNED OFF AND DRAINED BATTERY, NOW CAR WILL NOT RUN. VERY DANGEROUS ISSUE! *TR
Incident date: Oct 25, 2011
THIS CAR GOES INTO LIMP MODE AT VERY IN OPPORTUNE TIMES, BEFORE THIS LATEST TIME (AGAIN TO THE SHOP) IT NEARLY GOT ME T-BONED IN AN INTERSECTION, THIS CAR HAS BEEN IN THE SHOP NUMEROUS TIMES FOR ENGINE ELECTRICAL PROBLEM, THIS IS A KNOW DEFECT WITH THE WIRING HARNESS-I BELIEVE THIS SHOULD BE COVERED IN A RECALL FOR A VERY UNSAFE SITUATION. *TR
Incident date: Oct 2, 2007
ON 29SEP2007, MY 2006 MINI COOPER S WAS SERVICED TO PERFORM THE LOW MILEAGE SERVICE AT 3,354 MILES. THE CAR WAS NOT DRIVEN ON 30SEP2007. ON 01OCT2007, THE CAR WAS DRIVEN A DISTANCE OF APPROXIMATELY ONE MILE EACH WAY TO A BUS STOP. THE CAR WAS PARKED OVERNIGHT IN THE GARAGE BENEATH MY TOWNHOUSE. AT 6:00 AM ON 02OCT2007, WHEN I WANT TO THE LOWER LEVEL OF MY TOWNHOUSE AND OPENED THE DOOR TO THE GARAG... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Nov 10, 2011
WE HAVE A MINI COOPER COUPE 2003 WITH ONLY 30,000 MILES ON IT IN MINT CONDITION WHERE THE BELT FOR CVT TRANSMISSION DISINTEGRATED WITHOUT ANY WARNING LEAVING ME STRANDED IN THE MIDDLE OF A BUSY HIGHWAY AND PLACING ME AT RISK FOR INJURY. WE HAD PROVIDED GOOD MAINTENANCE FOR THE MINI BY CHANGING THE TRANSMISSION OIL WHEN WE FIRST PURCHASED THE VEHICLE AT 8000.00 MILES AND THEN AT 15000 MILES WITH ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 17, 2011
WHILE DRIVING AT NORMAL SPEED AND APPROACHING A RIGHT HAND TURN THE VEHICLE'S STEERING STIFFENED. THUS, MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO MAKE THE TURN SAFELY. INSTEAD OF COMPLETING A TIGHT TURN INTO THE CLOSES LANE, I MADE A WIDE TURN INTO LANE 2. ONCE THE CAR WAS TURNED OFF, PARKED AND TURNED BACK ONE THE PROBLEM DID NOT PERSIST. *TR
MINI
COOPER CONVERTIBLE
(2005) - AIR BAGS
Nov 18, 2011
Incident date: Oct 31, 2011
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2005 MINI COOPER CONVERTIBLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE PASSENGER SIDE AIR BAG LIGHT WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED UPON STARTING THE VEHICLE. THE FAILURE RECURRED ON AN INTERMITTENT BASIS WITH AND WITHOUT PASSENGERS SEATED IN THE SEAT. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER AND THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THERE WAS A WIRING FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE M... Read more
Incident date: Nov 15, 2011
THE POWER STEERING WENT OUT WHILE I WAS DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY. *TR
Incident date: Oct 1, 2011
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2005 MINI COOPER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE STEERING WHEEL WOULD SEIZE WHILE DRIVING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS. WHENEVER THE FAILURE OCCURRED, THE CONTACT WOULD RESTART THE VEHICLE. ONCE RESTARTED, THE STEERING WHEEL WOULD OPERATE AS NORMAL. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER BUT THEY WERE UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WA... Read more
Incident date: Nov 9, 2011
UPON TURNING ON MY DRIVER'S SIDE HEATED SEAT, ONE PART OF MY BACK SEEMED TO BE GETTING EXTREMELY HOT. UPON TURNING AROUND, I SAW A SMALL HOLE HAD BEEN BURNED IN THE SEAT COVER AND WAS SMOLDERING AND SMOKING. I IMMEDIATELY TURNED OFF THE SEAT WARMER. IT TOOK MANY MINUTES TO COOL DOWN AND STOP SMOKING. THANKFULLY THE VEHICLE WAS STATIONARY WHEN THIS HAPPENED. IF IT HAD BEEN IN MOTION, MY SAFETY... Read more
Incident date: Nov 9, 2011
UPON TURNING ON MY DRIVER'S SIDE HEATED SEAT, ONE PART OF MY BACK SEEMED TO BE GETTING EXTREMELY HOT. UPON TURNING AROUND, I SAW A SMALL HOLE HAD BEEN BURNED IN THE SEAT COVER AND WAS SMOLDERING AND SMOKING. I IMMEDIATELY TURNED OFF THE SEAT WARMER. IT TOOK MANY MINUTES TO COOL DOWN AND STOP SMOKING. THANKFULLY THE VEHICLE WAS STATIONARY WHEN THIS HAPPENED. IF IT HAD BEEN IN MOTION, MY SAFETY... Read more
Incident date: Nov 12, 2011
AFTER A COUPLE DAYS OF HEARING SOME RATTLING UNDER THE HOOD AFTER COLD STARTS, MY ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. I TOOK IT TO THE DEALER AND THE MECHANIC SAID THAT A FAULTY TENSIONER HAD CAUSED THE TIMING CHAIN TO STRETCH OUT EXCESSIVELY AND IF IT'S NOT FIXED, MY ENGINE COULD SEIZE UP AT ANY TIME.. IT'S A $2,500 REPAIR. THIS IS RIDICULOUS, CONSIDERING THE CAR IS ONLY 4 YEARS OLD AND HAS JUST 30,000 MILES... Read more
Incident date: Apr 10, 2008
4/10/2008 AIRBAG LIGHT ON DASH CAME ON INTERMITTENTLY - MINI DEALER COULD NOT DUPLICATE PROBLEM 9/23/2008 AIRBAG LIGHT ON DASH CAME ON AND STAYED LIT - MINI DEALER FOUND MICRO-CRACKS IN OC3 SEAT MAT FAULT CODE FC71 STORED IN MR55K CHECKED FAULTS REPLACED OC3 SEAT MAT INSTALLED SEAT AND ENABLE SEAT MAT WITH GT1 CLEARED FAULTS SUMMER 2011 - AIRBAG LIGHT ON DASH CAME ON INTERMITTENTLY OCTOBER 201... Read more
Incident date: Apr 10, 2008
4/10/2008 AIRBAG LIGHT ON DASH CAME ON INTERMITTENTLY - MINI DEALER COULD NOT DUPLICATE PROBLEM 9/23/2008 AIRBAG LIGHT ON DASH CAME ON AND STAYED LIT - MINI DEALER FOUND MICRO-CRACKS IN OC3 SEAT MAT FAULT CODE FC71 STORED IN MR55K CHECKED FAULTS REPLACED OC3 SEAT MAT INSTALLED SEAT AND ENABLE SEAT MAT WITH GT1 CLEARED FAULTS SUMMER 2011 - AIRBAG LIGHT ON DASH CAME ON INTERMITTENTLY OCTOBER 201... Read more
Incident date: Apr 10, 2008
4/10/2008 AIRBAG LIGHT ON DASH CAME ON INTERMITTENTLY - MINI DEALER COULD NOT DUPLICATE PROBLEM 9/23/2008 AIRBAG LIGHT ON DASH CAME ON AND STAYED LIT - MINI DEALER FOUND MICRO-CRACKS IN OC3 SEAT MAT FAULT CODE FC71 STORED IN MR55K CHECKED FAULTS REPLACED OC3 SEAT MAT INSTALLED SEAT AND ENABLE SEAT MAT WITH GT1 CLEARED FAULTS SUMMER 2011 - AIRBAG LIGHT ON DASH CAME ON INTERMITTENTLY OCTOBER 201... Read more
Incident date: Nov 11, 2011
THE FIRST INCIDENT HAPPENED AS I WAS MERGING ONTO THE INTERSTATE. I COULDN'T MOVE THE STEERING WHEEL AND THOUGHT MY CAR HAD DIED, BUT IT HADN'T AND THEN ALL WAS FINE SO I THOUGHT MAYBE I IMAGINED IT. THE SECOND INCIDENT WAS ON 11/11/11. I WENT TO PICK UP MY GRAND-DAUGHTER FROM SCHOOL. I TURNED THE CAR OFF AND WHEN I RESTARTED IT I COULD NOT PULL OUT OF THE SCHOOL LINEUP. I WAITED UNTIL ALL OTHER... Read more
MINI
COOPER S CONVERTIBLE
(2006) - AIR BAGS
Nov 14, 2011
Incident date: Oct 10, 2011
THE PASSENGER SEAT AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT IS ON ALL THE TIME, INDICATING LESS THAN 25 LBS IS ON THE SEAT, EVEN THOUGH THERE IS NOTHING ON THE SEAT. *TR
Incident date: Oct 13, 2011
RANDOM LOSS OF POWER TO POWER STEERING SYSTEM AT VARYING SPEEDS AND CONDITIONS. LOSS OF POWER STEERING CAN VARY IN TIMES FROM A FEW SECONDS TO A SEVERAL MINUTES. STEERING VEHICLE BECOMES EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO TURN AND MAY RESULT IN AN ACCIDENT DUE TO LOSS OF POWER IN STEERING PUMP/SYSTEM. CONDITION SEEMS TO GO AWAY FOR A FEW HOURS TO A FEW DAYS. *TR
Incident date: Aug 1, 2011
ENGINE LIGHT ON LOOSING POWER ENGINE SMOKING. *TR
Incident date: Nov 14, 2007
ATTEMPTING TO TURN INTO SCHOOL PARKING LOT, POWER STEERING ABRUPTLY STOPPED WORKING, STEERING WHEEL BECAME EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO TURN. THE POWER STEERING HAS INTERMITTENTLY FALTERED SEVERAL TIMES IN THE LAST YEAR BUT HAS NOW FAILED ENTIRELY. *TR
Incident date: Nov 10, 2011
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2007 MINI COOPER S. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THERE WAS AN EXTREMELY ABNORMAL ODOR THAT ENTERED THE CABIN OF THE VEHICLE, SIMILAR TO EGGS. THE VEHICLE WAS MANEUVERED OFF THE ROADWAY AND UPON FURTHER INSPECTION, HE FOUND A SMALL FIRE HAD ERUPTED UNDER THE HOOD. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT WAS NOT CALLED. THE CONTACT CALLED THE MANUFACTURER AND FILED A COMPLAINT. THE MANUFACTURER SUG... Read more
Incident date: Sep 19, 2011
I WAS DRIVING DOWN BROOKWOOD STREET AND WENT TO MAKE A CURVE WHEN I REALIZED THAT I COULDN'T TURN THE CAR. I WAS ABLE TO PULL HARDER ON THE WHEEL AND MAKE THE CURVE. I PULLED OVER AND TURNED THE CAR OFF TO LOOK THINGS OVER,CHECKED THE POWER STEERING FLUID WHICH WAS FULL. I RESTARTED THE CAR AND THE STEERING WORKED AGAIN.I FINISHED DRIVING TO WORK WITH NO PROBLEMS. WHEN I CAME OUT OF WORK I AGAIN... Read more
Incident date: Mar 11, 2011
POWER STEERING FAILURE. THIS OCCURS INTERMITTENTLY. MOST RECENTLY, LAST WEEK, IT WAS OUT FOR 3 DAYS AND THEN IT STARTED WORKING AGAIN. *TR
Incident date: Nov 9, 2011
AS I SHUT THE ENGINE OFF I NOTICED SMOKE COMING FROM UNDER THE HOOD. OPENED THE HOOD TO FIND A FIRE TO THE FRONT OF THE ENGINE COMING FROM ELECTRICAL WIRES. WAS ABLE TO PUT OUT THE FIRE WITH OUT TOO MUCH DAMAGE AND DISCONNECTED THE BATTERY TO ELIMINATE POWER TO THE TROUBLED AREA.CAR IS BEING TOWED TO MINI COOPER OF PEABODY MASSACHUSETTS. *TR
Fire
MINI
COOPER COUNTRYMAN
(2011) - STEERING
Nov 9, 2011
Incident date: Nov 5, 2011
BOUGHT 2011 MINI COUNTRYMAN S IN 6-2011. I TURNED VEHICLE ON IN THE MORNING (11-5-2011 AT 730AM) TO DRIVE TO WORK. VEHICLE HAD BEEN PARKED OUTSIDE ON MY DRIVEWAY. NO ISSUES DRIVING THE VEHICLE ON THE PREVIOUS DAY. NO VEHICLE WARNING LIGHTS OR ALARMS CAME ON. AFTER PUTTING CAR IN REVERSE ATTEMPTED TO BACK OUT OF DRIVEWAY ONTO THE STREET AND NOTICED THAT I WAS UNABLE TO TURN THE STEERING WHEEL TO BA... Read more
Incident date: Nov 9, 2011
THE POWER STEERING FAILED WHEN DRIVING. IT BECAME IMPOSSIBLE TO STEER. IT WAS AS THOUGH THE CAR STEERING BECAME LOCKED. I WAS VERY LUCKY TO HAVE A POLICE CAR STOP TO ASSIST ME TO MOVE ME TO A SAFE SPOT ON THE STREET. *TR
Incident date: Oct 15, 2008
POWER STEERING DROPPED OUT UNEXPECTEDLY WHILE I WAS MAKING A LEFT HAND TURN, TRAVELING APPROXIMATELY 10-15 MPH. I WAS ABLE TO REGAIN STEERING CONTROL BEFORE A COLLISION, BUT POWER STEERING NEVER CAME BACK ON. I FOUND OUT THE POWER STEERING PUMP HAD FAILED, PERHAPS BROUGHT ON BY A POWER STEERING FAN FAILURE. BOTH THE FAN AND PUMP WERE REPLACED. *TR
Incident date: Nov 4, 2011
DRIVING AT SLOW SPEED TURNING RIGHT INTO PARKING GARAGE POWER STEERING FAILED AND ALMOST CAUSED VEHICLE TO CONTACT ANOTHER CAR. THIS IS THE SECOND TIME IN THE PAST WEEK THAT THE POWER STEERING HAS RANDOMLY FAILED. TURNED OFF AND RESTARTED CAR AND STEERING STARTS WORKING CORRECTLY AGAIN. *TR
Incident date: Jun 15, 2011
THE POWER STEERING ON MY 2004 MINI COOPER S HAS FAILED SEVERAL TIMES WITHOUT WARNING. THE CAR IS VERY DIFFICULT TO STEER WHEN THE PUMP STROPS WORKING WITHOUT WARNING AND MY WIFE NEARLY HAD AN ACCIDENT BECAUSE OF THIS INTERMITTENT FAILURE. I CHECKED ONLINE AND THERE ARE MANY COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE VERY SAME PROBLEM.. STOPPING THE CAR AND SHUTTING THE ENGINE OFF AND THEN RESTARTING IT, CLEARS THE P... Read more
Incident date: Oct 20, 2011
DRIVING AT APPROXIMATELY 45MPH, WHEN POWER STEERING FAILED. POWER STEERING FAILURE ACCOMPANIED BY OTHER ELECTRICAL ISSUES. GAUGE CLUSTER RESET, ALL FAILURE LIGHTS WENT ON. POWER STEERING RESTORED SHORTLY AFTER FAILURE. OCCURRED APPROXIMATELY TWO MORE TIMES AFTER FIRST INCIDENT. AFTER POWER STEERING FAILURE NOTICED, ISSUE WITH CHARGING SYSTEM ALSO. CHARGING SYSTEM VOLTAGE CONSISTENTLY LOW, SOMETIME... Read more
Incident date: Oct 11, 2011
2003 MINI COOPER S. CAR OVER HEATED AND POWER STEERING FAILED. PULLED OFF TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. FAN ON POWER STEERING PUMP FAILED, CAUSED PUMP TO FAIL AND CAR TO OVER HEAT.
MINI
COOPER CONVERTIBLE
(2005) - POWER TRAIN
Nov 2, 2011
Incident date: Oct 30, 2011
AUTOMATIC CVT TRANSMISSION FAILED AT 77,000 MILES. CAR STOPPED WHEN GOING DOWN INTERSTATE, PRESSING GAS, NOTHING. CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. I WAS ABLE TO STOP THE CAR SAFELY, TURNED IT OFF, RESTARTED IT, CHECK ENGINE LIGHT AND EP (TRANSMISSION) WARNING LIGHT CAME ON.MINI COOPER DEALERSHIP SAYS MIN IS VERY AWARE OF THIS TRANSMISSION PROBLEM, AND STOPPED PUTTING THE CVT TRANSMISSIONS IN, APPAREN... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2011
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 MINI COOPER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED INTERMITTENTLY. THE DEALER ADVISED THE CONTACT THAT IT COULD POSSIBLY BE THE AIR BAG SENSOR THAT WAS FAULTY. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE HOWEVER, DID NOT OFFER ANY ASSISTANCE. NO REPAIRS WERE PERFORMED. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 60,000 AND THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS... Read more
MINI
COOPER CLUBMAN
(2010) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Nov 1, 2011
Incident date: Sep 20, 2007
ON 9/20/2011 I PULLED ON TO THE HIGHWAY WITH MY MINI AND TURNED ON THE AIR CONDITIONER WHICH DID NOT WORK. THIS HAD NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE AND THERE WERE NO LIGHTED INDICATOR LIGHTS. A FEW MINUTES LATER, THE TEMPERATURE GAUGE LIGHT WENT ON AND THEN WENT OFF. I TURNED ON THE AIR CONDITIONER AND IT WAS NOW WORKING. SEVERAL MINUTES LATER THE TEMPERATURE LIGHT WENT ON AGAIN SO I TURNED OFF THE AI... Read more
Fire
MINI
COOPER CLUBMAN
(2010) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Nov 1, 2011
Incident date: Sep 20, 2007
ON 9/20/2011 I PULLED ON TO THE HIGHWAY WITH MY MINI AND TURNED ON THE AIR CONDITIONER WHICH DID NOT WORK. THIS HAD NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE AND THERE WERE NO LIGHTED INDICATOR LIGHTS. A FEW MINUTES LATER, THE TEMPERATURE GAUGE LIGHT WENT ON AND THEN WENT OFF. I TURNED ON THE AIR CONDITIONER AND IT WAS NOW WORKING. SEVERAL MINUTES LATER THE TEMPERATURE LIGHT WENT ON AGAIN SO I TURNED OFF THE AI... Read more
Fire
MINI
COOPER COUNTRYMAN
(2011) - SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC
Nov 1, 2011
Incident date: Aug 24, 2011
WE PURCHASED A BRAND NEW MINI COOPER COUNTRYMAN IN EARLY AUGUST 2011. HOWEVER, BY AUGUST 24,2011. WE NOTICED THAT THE BRAKES WERE GRINDING. WE CONTACTED THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY AGREED THAT THE BRAKES WERE GRINDING AND CHANGED THE BACK BRAKE PADS AND ROTORS AND WE EVENTUALLY HAD TO GO BACK THE SECOND TIME BECAUSE THE GRINDING WAS STILL THERE; THEN THEY CHANGED THE FRONT BRAKE PADS & ROTORS. HOWEVER... Read more
Incident date: Oct 29, 2011
LOST POWER STEERING ON FREEWAY AT 70 MILE AN HOUR. NEXT DAY IT WORK FOR 40 MILES THEN FAILED AGAIN ON FREEWAY AT 70 MILES AN HOUR, THERE IS NO WARNING OR FLUID LOSS,JUST COMPLETE STEERING LOSS . THEN IT IS VERY HARD TO CONTROL. *TR
MINI
COOPER CONVERTIBLE
(2007) - POWER TRAIN
Oct 28, 2011
Incident date: Aug 22, 2011
AT APPROXIMATELY 35,000 MILES, CAR MADE HOWLING TYPE NOISE WHEN REACHED APPROXIMATELY 35 MPH AND THE NOISE BECAME VERY NOTICEABLY ONCE IT REACHED 60+ MPH. TOOK THE CAR TO DEALER AT SOUTH BAY MINI TWICE, BOTH TIME SOUTH BAY CLAIMED THAT IT WAS 'TIRE' NOISE. TOOK THE CAR TO LOS ANGELES DOWNTOWN DEALER, THEIR COMMENT WAS THE NOISE CAME FROM THE TRANSMISSION, ALTHOUGH THEY CAN NOT PINNED DOWN EXACTLY ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2011
POWER STEERING FAILED AFTER 27,000 MILES. INTERMITTENTLY WORKS FOR 5 MINUTES IN THE MORNING AND SOMETIMES INTERMITTENTLY FUNCTIONS WHEN DRIVING WHICH CREATES A DANGEROUS SITUATION. HAD THE MINI DEALER INSPECT IT FROM MINI CORPORATES RECOMMENDATION. DEALER INDICATED THE ELECTRONICS ARE MALFUNCTIONING AND THAT THEY HAD PLENTY OF REPLACEMENT UNITS IN STOCK FOR CIRCA $1,600.00. MY CLAIM WAS REJECTED B... Read more
Incident date: Oct 28, 2011
THE STEERING WHEEL WENT ALMOST COMPLETELY RIGID AND THE WHEEL REQUIRED A GREAT DEAL OF EFFORT TO TURN. TURNING THE WHEEL WAS FAR MORE DIFFICULT THAN IN ANY VEHICLE I HAVE DRIVEN WITHOUT POWER STEERING, AND THERE WAS A PULSE OF DIFFERING PRESSURE AGAINST THE TURNS AT TIMES. AFTER SHUTTING OFF THE CAR AND STARTING AGAIN, THE STEERING WAS BACK TO NORMAL. *TR
Incident date: Sep 9, 2011
THE VEHICLE WAS DRIVEN APPROXIMATELY 1 MILE, THEN STOPPED AT A GAS STATION TO ADD AIR TO A LOW TIRE. WHILE THE CAR WAS IDLING, WHITE SMOKE CAME FROM THE ENGINE, FOLLOWED BY DARK SMOKE. WHEN THE HOOD WAS OPENED, WE SAW A SMALL FLAME COMING FROM INSIDE THE FRONT OF THE ENGINE. WE RAN TO GET A FIRE EXTINGUISHER FROM THE GAS STATION ATTENDANT; BY THE TIME WE RETURNED, FLAMES WERE VISIBLY SHOOTING UP O... Read more
Fire