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Mini Cooper

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John of Duluth, GA October 27, 2008

John of Duluth GA (10/27/08)
I purchased a brand new 2008 Mini Cooper S in April of 2008 and the clutch wore out with 353 miles on the car. They gave me the scripted abuse answer and told me that they would repair it as a courtesy. The clutch wore out again at 8,800 miles and I was told by the dealership that it was going to be 3,200 to repair because the wonderful bumper to bumper warranty wasn't going to cover the clutch due to driver abuse. I have driven many different makes and models of vehicles tens of thousands of miles for the 31 years that I have been driving and have never worn out a single clutch.

I was told by the service manager that these cars are different and need to be driven in a special way. They never offered to show me how they were to be driven, and I refuse to change my driving habits to fit a car. I had the vehicle towed to a different Mini dealership, at my expense, to have the repairs made at 1/2 of the cost. I then traded the car in just to get out of it and came out with only a 14,000 loss.

BMW should take ownership of this known problem and make it right, or stop selling the vehicles to us hapless consumers. The sales hype and image presented by Mini is false advertising as well, don't fall for it like I did. I believe this to be a poorly engineered vehicle and the warranty is worthless.

Down payment - 12,000 Service agreement - 1,200 extended warranty - 800 towing charge - 150 repair - 1,600 All gone as I traded this car in for payoff.

Jean of Half Moon Bay, CA October 26, 2008

Jean of Half Moon Bay CA (10/26/08)
We purchased a 2007 Mini Cooper S in June 2008. It has about 7000 miles on it. We felt secure buying a used car because the car came with a 100K mile warranty that covered everything including wear and tear such as windshield wipers, brake pads, etc. A few weeks after we purchased it, my husband noticed that the clutch seemed to be slipping. He is mechanically astute and had looked this car over carefully before purchasing. He had not noticed any problems witht he clutch during the test drives.

He took it in immediately to the dealer. We were informed that the car needed a new clutch. They said it was beyond normal wear and tear and Mini USA would not cover the repair under the all inclusive warranty! The implication was that we were at fault. My husband and I are both experienced manual transmission drivers and have never had a problem before. Our previous cars with manual transmissions had no problems for 100K miles!

I can't say for sure what the previous driver did but the car was working fine when we got it. I have never heard of a clutch breaking after 7K miles.It sounds like a design problem that causes catastrosphic failures. I am even more convinced now that I have read other people's problems. Sounds like we need a class action suit to get them to live up to the consequences of their faulty design and to the promises of selling all-inclusive warranties.

After complaining to MiniUSA, they reduced our bill to 1500. I am irate that we had pay anything since we had this supposedly super warranty that covers everything. We also had to pay for a rental car for two days that was 100 and my husband sent 6 hours going there and coming back and waiting.

Christian of Celebration, FL October 16, 2008

Christian of Celebration FL (10/16/08)
I purchased a Mini Cooper on 09/22/02. Drove the car 43,000 mi. regular maintenance,when called for ,was done where purchased. Many expensive problems have occured, but none like the latest. On 10/14/08 the trans (automatic tvc) went out. replacement cost 8,600.00. I said what?, and called mini consumer affairs. They said they would negotiate with the dealer to reduce the cost.

An obvious problem with the trans is known by them. The result was a reduction in labor cost of 1600.00 was apparently supposed to make me happy. I am 65 yrs old and can not afford this cost. The car was not abused in any way. THis is an obvious flaw in the transmission from the start. Mini should take care of the cost.

Lauren of Annapolis, MD October 10, 2008

Lauren of Annapolis MD (10/10/08)
Transmission died with no warning whatsoever at 58,000 miles. I had just left home to go to work. I was stopped at a red light, the light turned green, I hit the gas, the car moved about six feet, the transmission seized and died in the middle of the intersection.

The steering pump went out at 50,000 miles and cost about 1200 to replace.

The feature which tells you how many miles you're getting per gallon, etc. never worked. It was replaced free of charge after I had owned the vehicle for a couple of years, and the new one never worked either.

Mostly, I'm upset about the transmission. A five-year-old transmission with under 60k miles shouldn't just die, especially one that's engineered by BMW. I thought I was buying value five years ago. I'm bitterly disappointed.

I bought this car new in 2003 and just finished paying it off two months ago. I can't afford to replace the (insanely expensive) transmission, and I can't afford to replace the vehicle. I took what I could get for it from carmax because the salesman at the local MINI dealership seemed inconvenienced by my call, and it's almost a total loss.

I loved this car dearly, and I've been crying like it's grandma who died. My husband and I are now a one car family because we can't buy a replacement vehicle. I'm almost eight months pregnant and don't know how we'll manage with a newborn and only one car.

Nat of Alexandria, VA September 19, 2008

Nat of Alexandria VA (09/19/08)
I bought BRAND NEW mini cooper in March 2004. When my brother brought the car for me, I notice that back bumper have some rust. Since my nearest dealer is about 45 mins. - 1 hour drive(without traffic). I decided to just leave it like that. It wasn't a big deal. After driving for a month, the panel of the back of my seat fall off(both front seats). I called the dealer. It was a worst dealer, I have ever seen. At that time, you have to call a head to make appointment, which was about 1-3 week waiting list. And, they have only specific date and time available. I have a fix schedule, so I couldn't go.

I just wait for month or so. Window at driver side started some problem. It wasn't working. I couldn't open or close. I have to use it caz I have to scan my apartment pass. Then, passenger seat couldn't adjust. Thus, I decided to wait for another month to check, if somethings going to brake again. Nothing happened. I call to make appointment. They said, they have next week available. I asked if they can order all parts. They said, Yes I got there. I didn't go anywhere I just sit an wait at the dealer. They guy said, you can take your car back today, and bring it back when a part come. I was like okay. I drove here more than 30 mins...Okay they said they fixed panel at both seat.

After, a week took my car back, it's fall off again. I couldn't open the door in the winter.

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