MINI Complaints

AFTER DRIVING MY 2007 MINI COPPER S, FOR SEVERAL MINUTES THE "BRAKE" AND DSC WARNING ICONS ILLUMINATE YELLOW. ONCE ILLUMINATED THE SIGNAL CANCEL FUNCTION STOPS WORKING AND WIPERS TURN ON AUTONOMOUSLY WHEN ENGINE IS STOPPED. *TR

CAR IS VERY NOISY ON COLD STARTS WHEN TURNING THE STEERING WHEEL. STEERING WOULD JUDDER WHEN BEING TURNED. WHEEL WILL FEEL HEAVY AND STUCK AT TIMES. POWER STEERING RESERVOIR WAS EMPTY WITH NO SIGNS OF LEAKS. POWER STEERING FLUID FLOODED INTO STEERING RACK DUE TO FAILED SEAL. STEERING RACK NEEDED REPLACEMENT. *TR

POWER STEERING PUMP ON MY 2003 MINI COOPER S STOPPED WORKING SUDDENLY ON THE FREEWAY. THERE WERE NO SIGNS INDICATING AN IMMINENT PROBLEM; IT JUST CUT ASSISTANCE TO STEERING AND FAILED COMPLETELY. EVEN THOUGH IT WAS DIFFICULT, I WAS ABLE TO DRIVE IT TO A MECHANIC TO GET A REPLACEMENT PS PUMP FOR $820. THIS SEEMS TO BE A VERY COMMON PROBLEM FOR THE MINI BRAND SINCE MORE AND MORE PEOPLE ARE REPORTING POWER STEERING PUMP FAILURES EVEN AT 40KMILES (IN MY CASE, THE CAR HAD 95KMILES WHEN THE PUMP FAILED). THE FAILURE OF THE POWER STEERING PUMP DOES POSE A SAFETY ISSUE, SINCE THE STEERING WHEEL BECOMES EXTREMELY HEAVY AND DIFFICULT TO TURN. *TR

MY POWER STEERING COMPLETELY WENT OUT IN MY 2005 MINI COOPER WHILE COMING AROUND A TURN ON A BUSY HIGHWAY IN A MAJOR CITY. I WAS AWAY FROM HOME AND SCARED TO DEATH. AFTER DOING A LITTLE RESEARCH THIS APPEARS TO BE A COMMON PROBLEM WITH MINI MODELS 01-06. THIS PART NEEDS TO BE RECALLED ASAP BEFORE SOMEONE IS KILLED. CURRENTLY I AM FIGHTING WITH THE MINI CUSTOMER RELATIONS DEPARTMENT BECAUSE MY "CASEWORKER" IS ALSO MYSTERIOUSLY UNAVAILABLE AND THEY WILL NOT LET ME SPEAK TO ANYONE ELSE BECAUSE MY "CASEWORKER" HAS ALL THE DETAILS ABOUT THE CAR'S DEFECT EVENTHOUGH THEY WORK OUT OF A CALL CENTER AND ALL THE NOTES ARE UPLOADED IN THE COMPUTER AND VISIBLE FOR ALL "CASEWORKERS". *TR

I WAS ON MY REGULAR COMMUTE THROUGH CITY STREETS. AFTER ABOUT 10 MILES OF DRIVING I WAS GOING ABOUT 40MPH ON A FAIRLY STRAIGHT ROAD. ON THE NEXT LIGHT CURVE I NOTICED THE WHEEL WAS MORE DIFFICULT TO TURN. I SLOWED DOWN TO TURN INTO A SIDE ROAD AND THAT'S WHEN I REALIZED THE POWER STEERING MUST HAVE BEEN OUT. I CHECKED THE RESERVOIR AND IT WAS FULL. I CALLED THE DEALER AND THEY SAID THEY WERE AWARE OF MANY COMPLAINTS OF POWER STEERING GOING OUT. THEY ALSO MENTIONED THAT THERE IS NO RECALL FOR THE POWER STEERING. DEALER NOTIFIED ME THERE WOULD BE A $100 CHARGE FOR DIAGNOSTICS. IF ITS FOUND TO BE THE POWER STEERING FAN IT WOULD COST $300 PLUS LABOR. IF IT'S THE PUMP IT WOULD BE $800 PLUS LABOR. WARRANTY EXPIRED 5 MONTHS AGO. APPARENTLY MINI DOES NOT WANT TO HAVE TO PAY TO FIX A PROBLEM THAT NUMEROUS MINI OWNERS ARE HAVING. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE! HAVING THE POWER STEERING GO OUT MID-DRIVE CAN EASILY CAUSE AN ACCIDENT! *TR

I HAVE OWNED THE VEHICLE SINCE ITS PURCHASE BRAND NEW IN MARCH, 2003. WHEN THE ENGINE IS WARM AND STARTING IT UP AFTER HAVING BEEN SHUT DOWN FOR UP TO TWO HOURS THERE HAS ALWAYS BEEN A MINOR, INTERMITTENT PROBLEM WITH A ROUGH AND SURGING IDLE THAT OSCILLATES BETWEEN 1050 RPM DOWN TO 400 RPM THEN BACK UP THEN DOWN WHICH LASTS FOR ABOUT 30 SECONDS BEFORE SETTLING DOWN. AS THE VEHICLE HAS AGED THE PROBLEM HAS INTENSIFIED TO THE POINT THAT THE ENGINE SOMETIMES STALLS. THE SYMPTOMS ARE SIMILAR TO THOSE AS NOTED IN NHTSA ITEM #10009756, SERVICE BULLETIN #110104 (ROUGH IDLE, STALLING). LATELY IT HAS NOW EVEN BEGUN TO OCCUR WHEN STOPPING QUICKLY CAUSING THE ENGINE TO ALMOST STALL. IF IT WERE AN EMERGENCY SITUATION THERE WOULD NOT BE ENOUGH IMMEDIATE POWER TO ACCELERATE. THE DEALER HAS BEEN SHOWN THE PROBLEM BUT HAS FAILED TO RECTIFY. THE ONLY INVESTIGATION THEY DO IS TO MAKE SURE THE SOFTWARE IN THE VEHICLE IS THE LATEST RELEASE. *TR

2005 MINI COPPER CAUGHT ON FIRE. THE FIRE RESULTED IN A TOTAL LOSS OF THE AUTOMOBILE. *TR

I PARKED MY 2009 MINI CLUBMAN AFTER DRIVING ABOUT 10 MILES TO THE GROCERY STORE ROUND TRIP AND UNLOADED GROCERIES, WENT BACK OUT TO THE CAR AND IT WAS SMOKING WHITE SMOKE. FLAMES STARTED SHOOTING UP FROM THE ENGINE OVER THE WINDSHIELD AND IT PROGRESSED FROM THERE. THE SMOKE TURNED BLACK ALL WINDOWS WERE BLOWN OUT, FRONT TIRES MELTED AND BLOWN AND THE CAR WAS DECLARED AN OBVIOUS TOTAL LOSS. IT CAUGHT OUR HOME ON FIRE AND HAS CAUSED MORE THAN $50,000 WORTH OF DAMAGE. PLEASE CORRECT THIS PROBLEM. *TR

DRIVING NORMALLY WHEN SUDDENLY POWER STEERING FAILS COMPLETELY CAUSING INSTANT CONTROL ISSUES. POWER STEERING RETURNS INTERMITTENTLY. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2005 MINI COOPER. WHILE DRIVING AT 35 MPH, THE POWER STEERING FAILED AND THE STEERING WHEEL BECAME EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO TURN. THE CONTACT SHUT OFF THE ENGINE AND WHEN RESTARTING, THE POWER STEERING ASSIST DID NOT RESET ITSELF. THE CONTACT WAS ABLE TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE TO HER RESIDENCE HAVING TO UTILIZE EXTREME BODILY FORCE TO MANEUVER THE STEERING WHEEL. THE DEALER WAS CONTACTED AND THEY ADVISED HAVING THE POWER STEERING PUMP REPLACED. THE POWER STEERING PUMP WAS REPLACED AT THE CONTACT'S EXPENSE. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 56,500. THE VIN WAS UNAVAILABLE