WHILE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY, THE TIMING CHAIN TENSIONER BROKE, CAUSING NUMEROUS AND SEVERAL THOUSAND DOLLARS IN REPAIR COSTS.
2011 Mini Cooper S US
Owners filed 5 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the interior lighting. No safety recall has been issued.
| Component | Reports | Crashes | Fires | Injuries | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power Train | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Interior Lighting | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Fuel/Propulsion System | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Engine and Engine Cooling | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Engine | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
What owners reported
Newest filingsTL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 MINI COOPER S US. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 20 MPH, THE VEHICLE DID NOT ACCELERATE AND THE ENGINE INDICATOR ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE PRESSURE PUMP FAILED, STATING THAT THE PRESSURE WAS AT ZERO PSI. THE TECHNICIAN REPLACED THE FUEL PUMP. THE DEALER WAS NOT CONTACTED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND STATED THAT THERE WAS NO RECALL. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 80,774.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A BMW 2011 MINI COOPER. THE CONTACT WAS DRIVING 50 MPH WHEN THE VEHICLE EXHIBITED A LOUD CLUNKING NOISE WITH THE ILLUMINATION OF ALL OF THE WARNING LIGHTS. THE VEHICLE BEGIN SMOKING AS HE PULLED TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. THE CONTACT WAS ABLE TO EXIT THE VEHICLE JUST AS IT IGNITED INTO FLAMES, FOLLOWED BY AN EXPLOSION. THE POLICE WERE CALLED AND A REPORT WAS FILED. THERE WERE NO INJURIES FROM THE EXPLOSION. THE VEHICLE WAS THEN TOWED BY THE STATE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED AND THEY ADVISED HIM THAT THEY WOULD GET BACK TO HIM AT A LATER DATE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 120.
WHEN ACCELERATING, THERE APPEARS TO BE A 1-1.5 SECOND DELAY FROM COMPLETE STOP POSITION TO START WHEN DEPRESSING THE ACCELERATOR. THIS DELAYED ACCELERATION IS PROBLEMATIC ONLY FROM COMPLETE STOPPING POSITION. EXAMPLE, AT PERPENDICULAR INTERSECTION WAITING TO TURN LEFT (PULLING OUT OF A GAS STATION OR MERGING INTO TRAFFIC, THE VEHICLE REQUIRES A ROLLING OR MOVING START BEFORE THE VEHICLE WILL ACTUALLY ACCELERATE OR AT A SAFE ENOUGH SPEED TO PULL OUT INTO TRAFFIC. WHEN I AM AT A COMPLETE STOP AND TRY TO ACCELERATE BY PRESSING THE ACCELERATOR FIRMLY FROM ANY COMPLETE STOP POSITION IN A SAFE ENOUGH SPEED TO CROSS TRAFFIC WHEN TURNING, THERE IS ALWAYS A DELAYED REACTION FROM THE TIME I DEPRESS THE PEDAL AND THE TIME THE VEHICLE TAKES OFF. THIS DOES NOT TO APPEAR AS A PROBLEM THAT HAPPENS ONLY ONCE IN A WHILE, BUT APPEARS ALL THE TIME AND TO BE A MANUFACTURER ISSUES WITH THE ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION AND GEAR CONTROL. I CONTACTED THE DEALER AND WAS TOLD THAT I SHOULD ACTIVATE THE SPORT BUTTON AND DE-ACTIVATE THE DCS CONTROL WHICH CONTROLS THE "SPIN-OUT" ACTION ON THE COUNTRYMAN. I HAVE TRIED THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS AND THE PROBLEM STILL EXIST. THIS IS NOT ONLY THE PROBLEM. THERE IS ALSO AN ISSUE WHEN I AM SIMPLY IN THE DRIVEWAY. WHEN STARTING THE CAR AND PUTTING THE VEHICLE IN REVERSE, THERE IS ALSO THAT "DELAYED" REACTION AFTER THE CAR IS ALREADY IN GEAR, ALMOST LIKE THE VEHICLE HAS TO THINK ABOUT MOVING BEFORE IT ACTUALLY DOES. THIS OCCURS EACH AND EVERY TIME WHILE IN THE VEHICLE. MY
OCCASIONALLY AND INTERMITTENTLY, THE DIGITAL AUDIO DISPLAY IN THE MIDDLE OF MY MINI'S LARGE SPEEDOMETER WINDOW GOES BLANK, WHILE ALLOWING YOU TO CHANGE CHANNELS AND CHOOSE FUNCTIONS (IPOD, TELEPHONE, RADIO, SATELLITE) WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO SEE WHAT YOU'RE CHOOSING. THE GAS MILEAGE DIGITAL DISPLAY ABOVE THE AUDIO SYSTEM IS READABLE AT ALL TIMES. OCCASIONALLY ALSO AN ORANGE LINE WILL GO THROUGH THE DIGITAL AUDIO DISPLAY HINDERING THE ABILITY TO READ IT COMPLETELY. I BROUGHT THE CAR BACK TO THE DEALER WITHIN 2 WEEKS OF PURCHASING IT NEW TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEM, BUT NOTHING WAS FOUND AND THE CAR WAS RETURNED WITHOUT A REPAIR AFTER 2 DAYS AT THE SHOP. I HAVE SUBSEQUENTLY EXPERIENCED THE SAME PROBLEM AND HAVE TAKEN PICTURES OF THE DISPLAY EACH TIME. *TR
5 of 5 complaints, reproduced as filed.
Across model years
Worst on record: 2009| Year | Complaints | Recalls | Fires | Deaths | Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 — this page | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Routine |
| 2009 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
Reading this record
No unusual pattern of severe incidents in the complaint record.
Complaint counts track how many cars were sold and how long they have been on the road as much as they track quality. A common model from 2013 has had a decade to accumulate reports; a rare one from last year has not. The signal worth weighing is in the severity columns, in whether the same component keeps appearing, and in whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.
Most recent recall on file: none. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.