2009 MINI COOPER Complaints

I WAS DRIVING AND THEN THE ENGINE MADE A WEIRD RATTLE AND THEN QUIT. THANKFULLY I WASN'T TRAVELING FASTER THAN 45MPH AT THE TIME OF OCCURRENCE. ENGINE IS COMPLETELY RUINED. *TR

JUST PURCHASED USED 09 MINI , 2ND OWNER, ON START UP CAR SOUNDED ROUGH, DIESELING SOUND AND WAS TOLD BY DEALER THAT IT WAS COMMON. THEN WHEN DRIVING AT LOW SPEEDS OR WHEN SLOWING DOWN, TERRIBLE RATTLE SOUND. TOOK IT IN FOR AN OIL CHANGE, AND THE RATTLE WENT AWAY, BUT THEN CAME BACK SHORTLY BEFORE NEXT OIL CHANGE WAS DUE. TOOK IT IN FOR OIL CHANGE AGAIN, AND SOUND WENT AWAY AGAIN, BUT THEN CAME BACK WITHIN DAYS. FINALLY WAS ABLE TO GET AN APPT WITH THE CLOSEST AUTHORIZED DEALER, 50 MILES AWAY, BUT COULDN'T GET IN FOR TWO WEEKS IN ORDER TO GET A LOANER. THEY HAD IT FOR TWO DAYS, REPLACED THE TIMING CHAIN, NYLON PARTS WERE IN THE OIL PAN FROM THE GUIDES BEING SHREDDED. PICKED UP THE CAR ON THE THIRD DAY, AND FIR ALMOST ONE WEEK IT SEEMED FINE. JUST SHORT OF ONE WEEK OUT OF THE SHOP AND HEARD THE RATTLE AGAIN. BUT THEN IT WAS FINE, SO I THOUGHT IT WAS AN ANOMALY. ONE WEEK TO THE DAY SINCE PICKING IT UP FROM THE REPAIR, BARELY MADE IT INTO THE DRIVE FROM TAKING MY DAUGHTER TO SCHOOL. CALLED THE SHOP AND HAVE IT SCHEDULED TO GO BACK IN. HAVING THE CAR TOWED TO THE SHOP AS THE REPAIR TECH TREKS ME THAT IT IS "UNSAFE TO DRIVE." *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 MINI COOPER CONVERTIBLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS STARTED, IT WOULD VIBRATE AS THE CHECK ENGINE WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO A DEALER FOR INSPECTION OR REPAIRS. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 23,000.

TOTAL LOSS OF POWER AS I WAS CROSSING A MAJOR HIGHWAY, CAR TOWED TO LOCAL BMW CERTIFIED MECHANIC, SHOWS TIMING CHAIN MISFIRE, NEEDS TOTAL REPLACEMENT WITH MULTIPLE COMPONENTS NEEDING REPLACED DUE TO TIMING CHAIN PROBLEM. 3300$ WORTH OF DAMAGE TO ENGINE. APPARENT PROBLEM WITH TIMING CHAIN ON THOUSANDS OF MINI COOPER AND THEY HAVE NOT CALLED A RECALL ON THE PIECE. THIS WAS ALMOST A MAJOR ACCIDENT FOR ME AND IS CAUSING ME THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS TO REPLACE AND MAJOR INCONVENIENCE. *TR

I AM BEING TOLD BY KNAUZ MINI REPAIR THAT THE TIMING BELT NEEDS TO BE FIXED. IT IS A $2000 REPAIR. IN LOOKING AT THE INTERNET, IT SEEMS THAT THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM THAT CAN HAVE TRAGIC CONSEQUENCES. IN FACT, THERE IS ONE CLASS ACTION SUIT IN NJ ABOUT IT. MINI REFUSES TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY TO A DESIGN FAILURE. SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE. *TR

WHILE TRAVELING ON A HIGHWAY AT @ 55MPH, THE COOLANT TEMPERATURE WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED YELLOW AND THEN RED ON MY 2009 MINI COOPER. I STOPPED THE VEHICLE AND OBSERVED THAT THE CLIPS WHICH SECURED THE LOWER RADIATOR HOSE IN PLACE HAD BROKEN AND THE RADIATOR HOSE WAS HANGING HORIZONALLY ACROSS THE FRONT OF THE VEHICLE, DRAGGING ALONG THE GROUND. A HOLE HAD BEEN WORN THROUGH THE HOSE AND THE COOLANT HAD LEAKED OUT. AFTER HAVING THE VEHICLE TOWED HOME ($285), I PURCHASED A NEW RADIATOR HOSE AND CLIPS FROM THE MINI DEALERSHIP ($160) AND HAD IT INSTALLED BY MY MECHANIC ($100). I ALSO LOST A 1/2 DAY OF WORK. A TOTAL LOSS OF OVER $600. BECAUSE OF POOR DESIGN AND/OR INFERIOR MATERIALS INTERNET RESEARCH SHOWS THAT THIS IS A COMMON MINI COOPER PROBLEM. I DID NOT HIT ANYTHING WHICH WOULD CAUSE THIS ISSUE, DESPITE MINI COOPER'S ATTEMPTS TO PLACE BLAME ON THE DRIVER'S WHO EXPERIENCE THIS ISSUE. IF MINI COOPER WOULD PROPERLY ADDRESS THIS ISSUE AND REMEDY THE SITUATION, IT WOULD SPARE COUNTLESS DRIVER'S FROM BEING STRANDED ON THE SIDE AND THE EXPENSE OF FIXING WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN REMEDIED BY A SERVICE BULLETIN OR RECALL. *TR

MY CAR OVERHEATED AFTER DRIVING ONLY 15 MILES ON THE HIGHWAY. THE WARNING LIGHT CAME ON (RED- STOP LET THE ENGINE COOL DOWN) THEN WENT OFF THEN CAME BACK ON (ORANGE- CONTINUE ON YOUR JOURNEY; LET ENGINE COOL DOWN SOON). BY THE TIME I LOCATED THE SYMBOL TO SEE WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS I WAS AT MY EXIT. THE CAR SPUTTERED AND STALLED ON THE OFF RAMP AND I COULD SEE BLACK SMOKE AND SMELL BURNING FROM UNDER THE HOOD. I PUSHED THE CAR OFF THE ROAD AND CALLED FOR HELP. THERE APPEARED TO BE NO OIL OR WATER IN THE CAR AND I HAD IT TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP. I JUST HAD IT SERVICED AT THE DEALERSHIP 28 DAYS BEFORE THIS HAPPENED AS I HAD AN INCIDENT WITH MY KEY FOB NOT RELEASING AND WAS CONCERNED THIS MIGHT BE AN INDICATION OF A BIGGER PROBLEM. THE FOB FINALLY RELEASED AFTER 40 MINUTES OF SITTING IN A PARKING LOT! THEY PERFORMED A COMPLETE INSPECTION AND CHANGED THE OIL, AIR FILERS, BRAKE FLUID AND GAVE THE CAR A CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH FOR $400 AND 28 DAYS LATER I HAVE CATASTROPHIC ENGINE FAILURE AND THEY QUOTED ME $9000 TO REPLACE THE ENGINE! I SAW SEVERAL POSTS OF SIMILAR ISSUES ON MINI BLOG SITES AND FELT COMPELLED TO FILE A COMPLAINT. I HAVE A BASE MODEL AND NOT AN "S" WHICH WAS PART OF A MINI RECALL FOR ELECTRICAL/WATER PUMP ISSUES. IF THERE IS A CONSISTENT ELECTRICAL PROBLEM WHERE THE THERMOSTAT FAILS OR WATER PUMP FAILS ON THE BASE MODEL THEN MINI SHOULD ADDRESS IT. *TR

THERMOSTAT HOUSING DESIGN FLAW. SPOKE WITH PART DEPT MANAGER ABOUT THE THERMOSTAT HOUSING LEAKING COOLANT AND WAS TOLD THAT THERE SEEMS TO BE A DESIGN FLAW IN THAT THE HEATING ELEMENT IN THE HOUSING CAUSES THE PART TO SPLIT OPEN WHERE THE 2 PIECES WERE SEAMED TOGETHER. THIS HAS BEEN REPORTED TIME AND TIME AGAIN AND CURRENTLY THAT PARTICULAR PART IS ON BACK-ORDER AND THUS NOT ABLE TO DRIVE THE CAR AS IT LEAKS ALL THE COOLANT OUT BEFORE LEAVING THE DRIVEWAY. *TR

REAR DOOR SPRUNG OPEN WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE FREEWAY. STOPPED BUT DOOR WOULD NOT CLOSE. CONTACTED DEALERSHIP WHO SAID THERE WAS A NOTED SERVICE BULLETIN ON PROBLEM BUT NOT A RECALL. I HAD TO INCUR FULL REPLACEMENT COST OF DEFECTIVE DOOR LATCH $315. *JS

UPON STARTUP OF THE ENGINE, THERE IS A LOUD NOISE COMING FROM THE ENGINE. A VERY UNHEALTHY SOUND. SOUND IS UNUSUAL FOR ANY GAS ENGINE, LET ALONE ONE WITH ONLY 57,000 MILES. *JS SEARCHED THE INTERNET FOR OTHER MINI COOPERS EXPERIENCING THIS PROBLEM. MANY COMPLAINTS ALL OVER THE INTERNET FOR EXACTLY THIS PROBLEM. MANY OWNERS REPORTING EARLY ENGINE FAILURE, AS EARLY AS 12,000 MILES REPORTED BY A MINI DEALER IN MAINE. MOST OWNERS ARE SEEING THE PROBLEM WITH 40-50,000+ MILES. THE LOCAL MINI DEALER SAYS THE REPAIR IS NOT COVERED BY WARRANTY, AND REPAIRS ARE APPROX. $2,000. TIMING CHAINS USUALLY DO NOT NEED REPLACEMENT EVEN AFTER 100,000 OF USE, SOME CARS NEVER REPLACE TIMING CHAINS UNTIL 200,000 MILES. THIS CAR SEEMS TO EAT TIMING CHAINS AROUND 40-50,000 MILES.