2007 Mini Cooper

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2007 MINI COOPER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE SEAT BELT INDICATOR ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO MINI OF NASHVILLE (LOCATED AT 1572 MEMORY LANE NASHVILLE, TN 37027 615-340-7098) WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE SEAT MAT SENSOR NEEDED TO BE REPLACED; HOWEVER, THE PART WAS ON BACKORDER. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE AND DID NOT OFFER ANY ASSISTANCE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 46,000.

TAKATA RECALL. AIRBAG LIGHT CAME ON WHEN I SAT IN MY CAR ONE DAY AND WHEN I TOOK IT TO THE MINI COOPER DEALERSHIP A COUPLE OF DAYS LATER, IT WAS FOUND THAT THE DRIVER HEAD AIRBAG HAS FAILED FOR NO APPARENT REASON. THE AIRBAG HAS NEVER BEEN USED. HAVING THE AIRBAG FAIL ON A RANDOM DAY IS VERY DANGEROUS, CONSIDERING THE FACT THAT AN ACCIDENT COULD HAVE OCCURRED THAT DAY AND THE AIRBAG WOULD HAVE NEVER PROTECTED THE DRIVER. THIS IS VERY DISAPPOINTING AND INCREDIBLY STRANGE FOR AN AIRBAG TO FAIL.

THE AIR BAG/SEAT BELT SYSTEM INDICATOR LAMPS ON THE DASH (BEHIND THE STEERING WHEEL) AND IN THE SPEEDOMETER CLUSTER (CENTER OF DASHBOARD) ARE ON WHILE DRIVING THE CAR WITH THE SEAT BELTS PROPERLY FASTENED. THIS BEGAN ON ABOUT 12/21/2014 WITH AN ODOMETER READING OF 81,190 MILES. SHORTLY AFTER THAT I CONTACTED THE MOTORWERKS MINI, BLOOMINGTON, MN, AND WAS TOLD THERE WAS NO RECALL ON THIS ISSUE AND IT WAS NOT COVERED BY WARRANTY. I ALSO CONTACTED MINI CUSTOMER RELATIONS AND CHECKED THE NHTSA.GOV SITE TO CONFIRM THIS. I KEPT WATCHING THE TAKATA RECALLS, BUT MY CAR WAS NEVER INCLUDED. I ALSO CALLED THE DEALERSHIP AND MINI CUSTOMER RELATIONS SEVERAL MORE TIME, BUT GOT THE SAME ANSWER. THEN ON 5/11/17, WE RECEIVED A LIMITED EXTENDED WARRANTY LETTER FROM MINI THAT COVERED THE SEAT OCCUPANCY MAT. THE PROBLEM WAS THAT MINI'S "POLICY" WAS TO FIRST HAVE THE PROBLEM DIAGNOSED AT A MINI DEALER 'AT OUR COST'. WE WENT AHEAD AND DID THAT, PAID ALMOST $148.50, ONLY TO BE TOLD THE ISSUE WAS WITH THE COMPUTER, OR POSSIBLY THE WIRING HARNESS AND NEITHER OF THOSE ISSUES ARE COVERED BY THE LIMITED WARRANTY EXTENSION. THE ESTIMATED REPAIR COST RANGED FROM ABOUT $1,300-$4,000. I HAVE THE DEALERSHIP INVOICE (#1MCS838674), DATED 5/19/17 (ODOMETER 97,852) IF NEEDED. AS OF TODAY, JUNE 8, 2017, THE LIGHTS ARE STILL ON AND THE ODOMETER READS 98,069 MILES (SEE ATTACHED PHOTOS). I AM REQUESTING THAT THE NHTSA REVIEW THIS ISSUE TO DETERMINE IF IS SYSTEMIC AND MIGHT WARRANT A FURTHER INVESTIGATION OR A MANDATED RECALL. IF MORE INFORMATION IS NEEDED, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. THANKS'''''..

THE "PASS AIR BAG OFF" WITH SEAT ICON/2 LIGHT (LOCATED ON THE DRIVER'S SIDE ABOVE THE REAR VIEW MIRROR) BEGAN TO COME ON INTERMITTENTLY WITH OR WITHOUT A PASSENGER IN THE FRONT PASSENGER SEAT WHEN THE ODOMETER READ ABOUT 50,000 MILES. THE LIGHT CAME ON PERMANENTLY AT AROUND 70,000 MILES. THE DEALERSHIP CHECKED, DID NOT FIND A LOOSE CONNECTION, AND SAID THE SENSOR NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. WE CONTACTED THE MINI CORPORATION BUT WERE INFORMED THAT ALTHOUGH THERE WAS A RECALL FOR OTHER 2007 MINI COOPER PASSENGER SEAT SENSORS FOR THE AIR BAG SYSTEM, THERE WAS NO RECALL FOR THE TWO-DOOR HARDTOP. WE REPLACED THE PASSENGER SEAT OCCUPANCY SENSOR FOR THE AIR BAG SYSTEM AT OUR OWN EXPENSE.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2007 MINI COOPER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE FRONT PASSENGER SIDE AIR BAG LIGHT REMAINED ILLUMINATED. THE DEALER DIAGNOSED THAT THE FRONT PASSENGER SEAT OCCUPANT DETECTION MALFUNCTIONED AND/OR WAS FAULTY. THE VIN WAS EXCLUDED FROM NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 15V205000 (AIR BAGS). THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 61,000.

WHILE DRIVING ON THE STREET WITH MY WIFE THE "PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF" LIGHT CAME ON AND WOULD NOT GO OFF IMMEDIATELY. SINCE THEN IT HAPPENS SPORADICALLY WITHOUT ANY NOTICE. I TOOK IT INTO THE DEALER AND THEY SAID IT WAS THE PASSENGER SEAT AIRBAG SENSOR AND IT WOULD COST $1300 TO REPAIR IT. I KNOW THERE WAS A RECALL FOR THE 2007 COOPER S BUT NOT FOR THE 2007 MINI COOPER. IT SEEMS TO ME THE SAME PART COULD BE HAVE BEEN USED IN THE SAME MODEL YEAR CAR.