Reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers, shown in full
Data refreshed
Our database holds 18 NHTSA owner-reported complaints for the 2009 MINI Cooper Convertible. Each one is a report filed by an owner or driver and published by NHTSA without most of them being verified. A complaint is not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. Narratives are shown exactly as filed.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
Showing 1–18 of 18
I was driving my vehicle and the driver's side airbag in the seat went off unexpectedly during normal driving operation. I was the only person in the vehicle and was able to stop quickly and safely. The problem has not been checked or inspected by anyone. There was no warnings that had indicated a problem.
Timing chain guides are broke into alot of pieces into the engine.
While driving the car the engine stalls due to timing chain issues . These timing chain issues were part of a safety recall but this car's vin number doesn't qualify! The car will stall at full speed
1.Electronic power steering gearbox. Connections almost caught on fire. And yes it is available for inspection upon request. 2. If it would’ve caught on fire. the whole vehicle would’ve torched. I noticed there’s a lot of Mini Cooper engine fires. 3. No it has not been confirmed by dealer. 4. No it has not been inspected by the manufacturer. I didn’t feel it was safe to drive the vehicle. I did make them aware of it and ask him how much a New power steering gearbox would be. they said $2200 just for the part. Will also need the connecting wiring also.. so that will ensure more cost. 5. There was no warning lamps messages or symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. Not sure exactly when it first appeared. But there are several Mini Cooper‘s that have electrical fires and I just think I caught mine before it went to that level.
RED AIRBAG WARNING LIGHT AND WHITE WARNING TOO" PASSENGER AIRBAG OFF" WARNING ALWAYS ON WHEN IGNITION IS ON.
HAVE A ASSENGER RESTRAING MALFUNCTION, ALSO HIGH PRESSURE FUEL PUMP FAULT. WAS DRIVING OUT OF THE DRIVEWAY.
A WARNING LIGHT CAME ON THE DISPLAY SCREEN SAYING THERE IS AN ERROR WITH THE AIRBAG. I HAD JUST TURNED ON THE CAR, WASN'T MOVING WHEN IT BEEPED AND TURNED ON. I HAVE DRIVEN WITH IT, AND IT IS STILL ON.
MY CAR I BOUGHT AS A PRE-OWN AND THE OWNER BEFORE E HAD LEAKS AS WELL. THESE LEAKS CAUSED ELECTRICAL DAMAGE ON THE CIRCUIT BOARDS THAT MADE THE CIRCUIT BOARD SHOULDER AND HEAT UP SO HOT IT ALMOST WENT ON FIRE. ALSO THE TIRES WERE THE WRONG SIZE AND SALES PERSON WOULD NOT ADMIT FAULT SO I HAD TO PAY TO REPLACE THEM ALL. I WAS DRIVING WHEN I FELT THE CAR LOSE CONTROL ON THE HIGHWAY AND STREETS, THEN I WAS DRIVING WHEN CAR OVERHEATED. I PAID TO FIX LEAKS MORE THAN $7000 AND STILL LEAKING. NOW ANOTHER LIGHT BULB IS OUT MY BACK BREAK LIGHT SO I CANNOT DRIVE IT BECAUSE THAT IS UNSAFE TO OTHERS DRIVING BEHIND ME.
ELECTRICAL FAILURE SINCE DAY ONE BOUGHT CAR AS A PRE-OWN. PRIOR OWNER HISTORY SAME ISSUES AS ME. MY CAR ALMOST WENT ON FIRE, POOR PERFORMANCE , LEAKS AND LEAKS WITH NO RELOAD FROM $6,000+ REPAIRS. STILL LEAKING. SUSPECTED WATER DAMAGE CAUSING ELECTRICAL OR JUST FAULTY ELECTRICAL. BULBS GO OUT WHEN CAR NOT EVEN DRIVEN, CANOPY BROKE AT SERVICE DEPT AND THEY WON'T REPAIR FREE OF CHARGE. BATTERY DID NOT WORK AND ISSUES WITH KEY FOB RECOGNITION.
PASSENGER 2 AIRBAG IS OFF-YELLOW WARNING LIGHT ABOVE MIRROR AND AIRBAG WARNING ON INSTRUMENT PANEL-RED WARNING LIGHT REMAINS ON WHEN THE PASSENGER SEAT IS OCCUPIED OR EMPTY. THESE LIGHT ARE ON WHEN THE VEHICLE IS STARTED AND REMAINS ON. WE HAVE RESEARCHED THIS ISSUE AND SEE THIS IS A COMMON ISSUE WITH THE MINI COOPER.
ISSUES WITH OIL SYSTEM HAVE LEAD TO ENGINE HEAD FAILURE WHERE OIL IN MIXING WITH COOLANT. THE COOLANT RESERVOIR WAS FULL OF OIL. I AM EXPERIENCING LOSS OF ENGINE POWER WHILE DRIVING AND STALLING WHEN COMING TO A STOP. I'VE BEEN TOLD THAT IT IS TOO DANGEROUS TO DRIVE.
AT ABOUT 64500 MILES THE PASSENGER SEAT BELT AND AIR BAG LIGHTS CAME ON INTERMITTENTLY AND SHORTLY THEREAFTER THEY STAYED ON. LOCAL MECHANIC DETERMINED THAT THE PASSENGER SEAT SWITCH WAS PROBABLY THE CULPRIT. AND LOCATED A TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN FOR THIS PROBLEM. A CALL TO KEELER MOTOR CAR CO. SAID THE BAGS WOULD WORK AS DESIGNED, BUT WOULDN'T PUT THAT IN WRITING AND FURTHERED "CLARIFIED" HER ANSWER BY ADDING "AS FAR AS I KNOW". A SECOND CALL FROM A DIFFERENT PERSON SAID IF THE LIGHTS ARE ON THEN THE BAGS WOULD PROBABLY NOT WORK. BUT COULDN'T TELL ME IF JUST PASSENGER SIDE WOULD OR WOULDN'T WORK OR ALL THE AIR BAGS.
BLIZZAK LM-60 RFT. 195/55-16, RUN FLATS. RIGHT REAR TIRE SPLIT ON TREAD SO THAT ONE CAN SEE STEEL BELTS. SPLIT IS FROM OUTSIDE EDGE TO ABOUT 2-3 INCHES TOWARDS MIDDLE OF TREAD. JUST REPLACED IT, SO DO NOT HAVE DOT NUMBER. TIRE PURCHASED TWO YEARS AGO, DRIVEN ONLY ONE WINTER SEASON (DECEMBER 2013-MARCH 2014.) NOT DRIVEN ON LAST YEAR. NOTICED DEFECT WHEN CHANGING TIRES IN THE SPRING.
TIMING CHAIN PROBLEMS AT 75,000 MILES ON BASE MODEL 2009 MINI COOPER CONVERTIBLE. WELL KNOWN "DEATH RATTLE" WHEN ENGINE FIRST STARTS. ALSO OIL DIPSTICK WILL NOT GO FULLY BACK INTO THE TUBE (STICKS OUT ABOUT 4 INCHES). DEALER AND MINI CONTACTED. DEALER SAYS TIMING CHAIN ISSUE AND QUOTED ~$1400 REPAIR. ALSO SAID OIL PAN NEEDS REPLACING, ANOTHER ~$300. MINI NOT WILLING TO PAY FOR REPAIR. WELL KNOWN PROBLEM. 500,000 MINI'S RECALLED (S MODEL). NOT SURE WHY BASE MODEL WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THIS RECALL. IT SHOULD BE.
PASSENGER SEAT MAT SENSOR THAT CONTROLLS AIRBAG.THERE HAS BEEN A RECALL BY BMW FOR MINI COOPERS MADE BETWEEN 2005 AND 2008. BUT THE 2009 HAS BEEN NOT INCLUDED IN THE RECALL, AND THE DEALER WILL ONLY CHECK IT OUT BY CHARGING THE ME THE OWNER. THIS IS THE SAME ISSUE AS THE 2005-2008 - THE 2009 SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN THIS RECALL. THE LIFE OF ANY PASSENGER TRAVELING IN THE 2009 MINI COOPER SEAT IS JEOPARDIZED.
RATTLING NOISE FROM THE PASSENGER SIDE OF THE ENGINE. TOOK TO MINI, TIMING CHAIN WAS STRETCHED OUT. 2000K FIX CAR HAS LESS THAN 84K MILES. HAD THE SAME PROBLEM ABOUT 13 MONTHS AGO. SAID IT WAS THE TENSIONER BUT CHAIN WAS FINE. THAT WAS AT 64K MILES. IN 13MONTHS SPENT 3K ON THE SAME ISSUE. *TR
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 MINI COOPER CONVERTIBLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS STARTED, IT WOULD VIBRATE AS THE CHECK ENGINE WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO A DEALER FOR INSPECTION OR REPAIRS. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 23,000.
2009 MINI S. FLYWHEEL AND CLUTCH BURNED UP AT 9000 MILES. WENT TO DEALER AND HAD TO HAGGLE TO GET THIS COVERED. THEY MADE ME SIGN OUT THAT IT WAS POSSIBLE IT WAS MY FAULT. I WOULD NOT SIGN IT. THIS ISSUE IS ON MANY OF THE 2009S. WHAT I DID WAS TO HOLD STRONG THAT ANY CAR AT 9000 MILES SHOULD NEVER USE UP A FLYWHEEL/CLUTCH AND IT WAS THEIR ISSUE WITHIN THE MODEL. *TR
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
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