MINI Cooper Complaints

4,588 consumer complaints on file.

#11485453September 20, 2022
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM, POWER TRAIN
When refueling, nozzle kept shutting off, a gallon was pumped after nine attempts, also fuel erupted as the fill tube was filled with gas. reluctant to drive this car not knowing how much gas is in the tank. The needle shows less than 1/4 and miles remaining fluctuates between 80 and 110 miles. We are told that this problem exists in many mini automobiles, dealer has replacement gas tanks, but same problem exists Parking our Mini, indication of "roll back" is possible when car is parked. Shifter unit was replaced due to torsion spring.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11485070September 18, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE, POWER TRAIN
I had several repairs recently that I found that were part of a recall after the fact. This includes the Electric Auxilillary Water Pump and Timing Chair replacement and repair of damaged parts. They refused to reimburse me for the water pump repair that should have been covered. Secondly, when the timing chain fails as it did in my case can cause $2000- $5000+ in damages. My shop is stating this would be a very expensive repair. There is information that the timing chain warranty was extended because of a class action lawsuit and is now covered up to 100,000 miles. I am well within that range. My goal is to get compensation for the recall work and coverage for the timing chain.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11484820September 16, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, STEERING
The proportioning value that controls brake function had a catastrophic failure and caused the brake calipers especially the left front to lock suddenly. The caused the left front wheel to lock and caused the car to pull hard to left and become difficult if not impossible to control. The car pulled hard left and risked the car moving uncontrollably into on coming traffic. The failed part was saved and is available for inspection. The safety of the driver(my wife) was put at risk during the loss of control of the car. Other cars in the area were also put at risk simply due to the loss of control of our car. The problem was confirmed by the independent service center. The vehicle was not drivable and was towed to the dealership. The dealership thought the root cause was the brake master cylinder. This turned out not to be the case. The root cause was the failed proportioning valve. This caused the calipers to lock. The discs, rotors, calipers and proportioning value were replaced. There were no warning lights and the car had been taken for regular service at the dealership which was included in the purchase of the car. We were told that there is no warning light for a failure of this part.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11483517September 8, 2022
STRUCTURE:BODY
The driver door latching mechanism failed this past week. For days, I was unable to latch the door closed -- all attempts to close the door would result in the door simply bouncing off the body of the car. I spent hours unsuccessfully trying to get the latching mechanism to work again, e.g. by repeatedly attempting to close the door, holding the door closed and trying to lock all doors. To drive the car home from work and to the dealership for repairs, I was forced to hold the door closed with my left hand while driving and by tying the door closed with my seat belt (on the highway, no less). I eventually took the car to my local dealership and left it for diagnosis and repairs. I took a video of the door's fault, and left the car locked and with the driver's door tied closed with my seat belt. To my amazement, the dealership called a few days later and told me that they were unable to duplicate the fault; as far as I know, no repairs were therefore made. I shared the video of the door's fault with the dealership; they hypothesized that the latching mechanism may have intermittently failed because of the weather. I now feel anxious about driving the car. This is a major safety issue. There are reasons to suspect that this reflects a manufacturing defect: 1) door latches should never fail, irrespective of the age of the car, and force drivers / passengers to e.g. use their seat belts to hold their doors closed; 2) my car is low mileage (~36,000 miles); 3) my car was not involved in any preceding accident or incident that could have caused the latching mechanism to fail; and 4) this is the second time this has happened with this car -- the same issue occurred with the front passenger door ~2 years ago. I'd be happy to share the video that I took of me trying to close the door (already shared with the dealer). At this point, I'd like the NHTSA to investigate; initiate a recall, if necessary; and I'd like Mini to replace the remaining latches on my car.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11482310August 31, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Foul odor coming from vents when starting up AC, and after turning off for 10 - 15 minutes.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11481612August 28, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Center console phone charger Center console is and enclosed component and when a cell phone is placed in the console and used for Bluetooth navigation and or phone calls it shuts down the system. The phone heats to such a temp that all phone operations and interaction with the vehicle system freeze or shut down and the phone continues to heat. I have spoken to the dealership and have been told it's a problem. When I communicated to MINI USA they acted as if this had never been reported. As far as warnings all car play functions slow down then freezes, and all functions stop. The phone had become so hot I was afraid it may cause a fire or explode the battery. This process usually takes an hour or so to happen.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11480935August 24, 2022
SUSPENSION
Front Upper Arm Bushing on both the Driver’s and Passenger sides needed to be replace after less than 25,000 miles. Bushing failure causes upper arms of suspension to whack against the body and greatly effect handling, could lead to accidents.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11480654August 22, 2022
TIRES
Tire model is: Hankook Ventus S1 Evo Z 225/35R18 87Y. Failure started when vehicle turned the "CHECK TIRE PRESSURE" alert on while driving. Pressure started to drop from 32 lbs to 16 lbs in about 15 minutes. Worth to note: no pot hole or any other object was hit during the day of the incident; or even previous days. After stopping, I noticed that the failure occurred in the inner face of the tire. Inner face was pretty degraded and inner treads were visible. A 15 inch long breakage line was visible. Car has 18k miles on it. When comparing the tire that failed to the rest, its degradation was much higher.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11478373August 9, 2022
POWER TRAIN
On display I am getting warning " secure vehicle with parking brake when stationary" whereas my car is in park position with hand brake applied. The warning still shows up. The gearbox works fine the car drives fine. Its the warning that doesn't seem to go away. On diagnostics is shows code "420106" . DEFECTIVE GEAR SHIFT LEVER SPRING
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11478249August 8, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
On July 12 early morning hours I left Maryland drove to Augusta GA and continued on to Decatur GA totaling 704 Miles. Within an hour of me arriving to Atlanta, I attempted to leave the house again and the car would not crank. I had it towed to Global Mini there in Chamblee, GA. The key stopped communicating with the car, and I was asked to give them my spare key-I did not travel with my spare key and the key fob design does not have a replaceable battery per the dealership the fob is designed to charge while driving. I had to pay for someone to overnight my second key-which did crank the car. I had to purchase another key and I had to rent a car until they ordered another key to have sent to the dealer because the dealer does not make keys. This is a safety issue because i made several stops for gas and restroom breaks and what if this happened in the middle of nowhere? It was a scary situation and I feel that we should have been notified as owners that this could be a possible event. I purchased this vehicle brand new in 2015.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11477351August 3, 2022
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
The contact owns a 2015 Mini Cooper S. The contact stated that the vehicle previously had the fuel carbon filter replaced; however, the failure recurred while attempting to refuel the vehicle. The fuel tank dispersed the gasoline outward, spilling on the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the fuel tank needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to file a complaint with the NHTSA. The failure mileage was approximately 67,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11476707July 30, 2022
SEAT BELTS
I was driving down the road when a light popped onto my dash, it was the airbag/seatbelt light after some research. From what I've read, this will prevent the airbags from activating in case of a crash, and after talking to other MINI owners it is extremely common.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11476173July 27, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, ENGINE, POWER TRAIN
timing chain failure which caused engine shut down. this is a known problem with other models. It was not recalled but BMW lost a class action lawsuit for the same problem in the same car, different years. They have not updated or repaired the issue. very expensive repair.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11475557July 24, 2022
POWER TRAIN
Transmission: secure vehicle against rolling. Warning is showing up. The battery died, and I put the car into neutral to roll it. Now this warning is showing up every time I put the car in park and turn it off.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11474658July 19, 2022
POWER TRAIN
During driving failure of the shift cable linkage was disconnected When investigated, the joint between the cable and the transmission shifter was disconnected due to a failure of the bushing on the cable side This caused a situation where the car was stuck in a single gear and not possible to be shifted into neutral or another gear
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11473885July 14, 2022
AIR BAGS
SRS warning light on. Intermittent at first. Passenger seat occupancy light on and off intermittently, occupied or not. SRS code reader indicates the problem is the passenger seat occupancy sensor. Mini dealer states the repair is not covered under warrantee. I fear for the safety of my front seat passenger if airbag does not deploy and/or the safety of a smaller child if it does deploy.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11473561July 12, 2022
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
The contact owns a 2014 Mini Cooper. The contact stated that while driving approximately 25 mph, there was smoke detected from the vehicle. The vehicle caught fire without warning. There were no reported injuries, air bag deployment, or crash. The fire department distinguished the fire. A police report was filed. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The vehicle was towed to a lot. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 84,700.
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11473082July 9, 2022
SEATS, AIR BAGS
The airbag occupancy detection switch in the passenger seat is defective. This is occurring so often on Mini Coopers (R56 models from 2007-2013) that a passenger occupancy defeat switch is being openly sold and YouTube videos are available showing how to fit this device. This disables the occupancy detector switch, causing grave danger of death to infants or children seated in the passenger seat during a collision. MINI is currently charging nearly $1,000 to rectify this common fault. This defect has been confirmed multiple times by MINI, including on my vehicle on 7/8/2022. The component has been inspected by the manufacturer and confirmed to be defective. There were warning lights displayed on the central console, as well as on the driver tachometer every time the car is started. This warning cannot be defeated. This Youtube video (and many others…) have been posted more than 3 years ago about the issue, showing how to disable the warning. This one has over 74,000 views! https://youtu.be/gDlmtygUipM It is WELL overdue that you do something about this clear, present and deadly danger to children! Thank you.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11472748July 7, 2022
STEERING
The contact owns a 2005 Mini Cooper. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle experienced a loss of power steering assist. The dealer was made aware of the failure; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The dealer informed the contact that there was no recall associated with the VIN. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V660000 (Steering) however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The failure mileage was approximately 167,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11471794June 30, 2022
AIR BAGS
Hello, An airbag sensor recall was issued in 2015 and Mini Cooper refuses to fix this safety issue. They are saying this recall is expired, but it has not been 10 years and the car only has 54,000 miles. This is a known defect. Car is currently broken. https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a15355121/bmw-recalls-91800-mini-coopers-for-airbag-sensors/ https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/bmw-recalls-91-000-mini-coopers-over-air-bag-sensor-n344226 https://www.aboutlawsuits.com/minicooper-recall-81033/ https://www.edmunds.com/car-news/2005-08-mini-cooper-recalled-for-airbag-problem.html This should be covered by the manufacturer. Thank you, [XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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