This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
My 2003 Mini Cooper was affected by the 2015 electrohydraulic steering assistance recall. Mini did the repair at 79, 322 miles in 2016. In November 2021, at 98, 000 miles, the car began having intermittent power steering loss. The power steering might disappear for under a minute, or it might return for mere seconds. There is no warning when the power steering goes out, so you have to assume that it is not going to respond with the electrohydraulic steering assistance feature operating. As of today, it has been completely offline for 3 days (although it did come back on for about 5 seconds yesterday). Without this feature operating properly, the car can be extremely difficult to steer.
The contact owns a 2003 Mini Cooper. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 mph and making a right turn, the power steering malfunctioned and the steering wheel suddenly became difficult to turn in either direction. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the power steering pump and fan needed to be replaced and the intake and return power steering lines also were faulty and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The contact was informed that the vehicle was not included in the NHTSA campaign number: 15V660000 (Steering). The contact indicated that the vehicle had experienced the same failure listed in the recall. The failure mileage was approximately 134,000.
I was starting my vehicle and it made a bad knocking noise then it was like crunching noise so I stopped turn it off and waited for a while went back to the car still making a strange noise but once I put it in the drive it stopped making noise drove down the road a bit and talking about apparently slips off of the car so it just pulls over inside all the all the wearing lights came on so pulled over apparently this happens quite often but the harmonic balancer separated and with spinning against itself and knocked the pieces off of it and through the serpentine belt so that needs to replace now that should not happen it's one piece is this one piece this needs to be recalled for these whatever cars had these harmonic balancers is dangerous and it could blow your car up thank you
In motion.. the power steering wheel feels to hard to turn operate;I check the VIN# number and appear (1) recall for power steering incomplete;we call at BMW of dallas and they setup an apoinment on January,15,2020...when I show up...they say my car don't have any recall;and I show im the official recall with my VIN#...BMW recall & NHTSA recall and they say the car warranty is expired, I said I just need fix the recall on my car and they wanna charge me $180 dlls just to get the vehicle inspected, if the car got something wrong they charge me the cost...I dont accept...my car got the recall and they make me drive 120 miles whit the car for nothing
We know of twice that our car's power steering pump failed while in motion. After BMW was finally forced into a recall for the power steering pump failure and we received a notification, we took our car to century BMW in greenville, SC. The service department checked our work regarding replacement pump, fan, etc. And deemed it 100% satisfactory. We submitted the paperwork and invoice for the repair and waited (requested. After 16 weeks and no reimbursement or notification, we called and was informed by the service department manager that BMW wouldn't pay us anything because we didn't use oem parts. Why would we keep replacing the pump (this was the 3rd pump that we know of) with a defective one (by zf) that kept quitting? we replaced it with dorman (well-known manufacturer of quality parts) which had a life-time warranty (life-time!) and was much cheaper. The sd manager even said that since he'd seen so many repairs using that brand of power steering pump he had researched them and found nothing wrong with them. But BMW decided they wouldn't pay for this. There was nothing in the recall letter that said oem had to be used or they wouldn't reimburse for repairs. I believe BMW saw so many dorman pumps used they knew they could save a lot of money by refusing to pay. We filed a complaint with the SC dept. Of Consumer Affairs but BMW wouldn't answer them so they just dropped it, letting BMW get by with this. We were only requesting $721.04 which is less than half of what a repair shop would have charged. Can you do anything about this" we filed the complaint with SC Consumer Affairs in December of 2017, took the car to BMW in may of 2017 so this has been going on for a while. Have other owners had this problem? has a lawsuit been started against BMW"
- Abbeville, SC, USA
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The contact owns a 2003 MINICooper. While driving 30 mph, the power steering completely failed without warning. The contact was able to regain control of the vehicle; however, the steering was rough and stiff. The contact performed his own inspection on the vehicle and noticed that the power steering pump was leaking. The contact spoke with an independent mechanic and was informed that the vehicle may be included in an unknown recall. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and stated that the vehicle was included in NHTSA campaign number: 15V660000 (steering). The contact took the vehicle to MINIof the woodlands (16675 I-45, conroe, tx 77385, 936-344-1258) and was informed that the vehicle could not be repaired because the steering pump was not the original MINICooper steering pump. The dealer offered no further assistance. The pump had not been replaced. The failure mileage was 83,000.
Bought this car for 16 yr old daughter. Steering was cutting out while driving took car to MINIof dallas recall was done on harness, pump, cooling fan. Next week no steering again while driving took car back. MINIstated drive belt broke and was repaired for $260. 3 days later was called at a 11:30 at night my daughter stating the steering had cut out again. I don't want my daughter in this car or anyone else for that matter what should I do with this car.
Occasionally the steering over my MINICooper S is becoming very hard. It seems like the power steering is failing. The car then can only be steered with a lot of difficulty. I can no longer risk to have my daughter or wife drive this car. I checked the steering fluid and it is at optimal levels. It usually happens at lower speed, but I have not driven it on the freeway since this issue started to appear.
Power steering failure - intermittent and during motion, MINIdealership provided records that the claim was cleared with # and mileage, but this is false information if still covered by NHTSA # 15V660000. Original recall # that was entered in the "repair history" from MINIthat never occurred is M320215. Thank you
Driving normally on city paved road started to make turn on side street and lost total steering control and went up on curb just missing a pedestrian on sidewalk.this vehicle has 79300 miles.the electric hydraulic pump completely failed.MINIusa said this VIN is not part of the recall yet just about every MINIinported to usa has complete steering lose 2002-2003-2004-2005 and I believe they are hiding this from you and the public who are still buying these used cars and not knowing the dangerous problem the MINIhas and flawed power steering pump design.thank you.
The contact owns a 2003 MINICooper. The contact stated that the steering wheel seized and an abnormal noise was heard while driving approximately 65 mph. The failure occurred without warning. The vehicle was taken to MINIof san diego (5202 kearny mesa rd, san diego, ca) where it was diagnosed that the vehicle was operating as intended. The dealer also stated that the vehicle was previously repaired per NHTSA campaign number: 15V660000 (steering). The vehicle was not repaired and the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and it was determined that the power steering pump was the original manufactured part, which meant that no parts were replaced as the dealer originally stated. The manufacturer was notified and informed the contact that they had no records of the vehicle being serviced per the recall. The dealer was contacted again and stated that the recall was serviced in March of 2017. The failure mileage was approximately 164,000.
I was approaching a corner on a back road and half way through the power steering failed which caused the car to go off the road rolling two and a half times landing on the roof.
Power steering went out without warning, causing loss of control while vehicle was in motion; MINIusa advised it was still driveable, but to be cautious due to lack of control/power steering; when parked, smoke began to plume from under hood where a fire was noticed in back of engine. Called MINIusa back and they advised us to not drive vehicle, as it was a safety hazard. Contacted MINIto set up recalled part (hydraulic power steering), but they were not willing to have car towed to dealer (120 miles from my residence).
The electro-hydraulic power steering system experiences temporary loss of assistance when vehicle is starting up and it is nearly impossible to maneuver the car to pull out of a parking space. However, the power steering returns to normal as soon as you begin street or highway driving. I took my car to a MINIdealership and they stated that my particular steering pump isn't covered in the warranty although I did receive a letter indicating that it should be. I have the exact same issues happening with my vehicle that the recall is talking about.
While traveling North on us 221 from bent mountain, va to roanoke va my hydralic steering totally failed. As I travelled a short distance my brake light warning lights, ABS light, other brake system light, battery light and air bag warning light came on. I looked at the engine temperature guage and the temp was normal. I pulled into a parking lot, raised the hood, checked the fluids in the engine compartment and reentered the car. While sitting in the drivers seat I heard a loud explosion, looked forward and noted thick steam coming from the engine compartment. I turned the engine off, exited the car and when the steam dissipated I noted that the cooling system filling/overflow tank was split in half damaging a protecting cover on the firewall and sprayed a building wall and window with engine coolant 10 feet away in front of the vehicle. I had the car towed to martin's german service in cave spring, va. Because the closest dealership in located in North Carolina 150 miles away. Due to service volume they will not be able to evaluate the problem until 24 May 2016.
The contact owns a 2003 MINICooper S. the contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 15V660000 (steering) however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect. Updated 05/18/16 updated 06/14/16.
The contact owns a 2003 MINICooper S. while driving 40 mph and attempting to make a turn, the power steering failed. As a result, the contact crashed into the rear of another vehicle. A police report was filed. The contact sustained contusions to the face and lost a tooth. The occupants of the other vehicle sustained unknown injuries. Medical attention was not required. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The technician was unable to diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 213,000.
The contact owns a 2003 MINICooper S. the contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 15V660000 (steering) however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
The contact owns a 2003 MINICooper. The contact heard an abnormal noise coming from the steering column and the vehicle experienced a loss of power steering. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 15V660000 (steering); however, the part to do the repair was not available. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 130,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Hawthorne, NJ, USA