I was driving down the road when a light popped onto my dash, it was the airbag/seatbelt light after some research. From what I've read, this will prevent the airbags from activating in case of a crash, and after talking to other MINI owners it is extremely common.

- Sand Springs, OK, USA

The contact owns a 2012 MINICooper countryman. The contact stated that the seat belt alarm would sound when no one was occupying the passenger's seat. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer and the dealer stated that the failure was normal. The dealer did not require any repairs to the vehicle. The contact did not call the manufacturer. The failure mileage was 9,000.

- Miami, FL, USA

I purchased the 2012 MINInew and took delivery 12/20/2013. The first issue involved the seat belt warning light and alarm. After driving the car for about 10 minutes the fasten seat belt warning light came on along with the audible alarm. The seat belt was securely fastened, I had no passengers and there was nothing on the passenger seat. I pulled over again, turned the engine off, took the key out of the ignition, and unfastened the seat belt. After 5 minutes I fastened the seat belt and restarted the car. The warning resumed immediately and continued for the entire 1 hour drive home. I called the service department. The service manager dismissed my concern and insisted there must be a heavy purse or grocery bag on the seat. This issue continues. The 2nd problem was steering failure. One morning I was unable to turn the wheels to leave my driveway. The car was running. I turned the engine off, waited a few minutes and tried again.I called the service department and reported the problem. The service manager said he had spoken to his "top mechanics" and none of them could think of a single thing that would cause the problem. He insisted it was driver error: I had stalled the car, the parking brake was on, or there was something under the car preventing the wheels from turning. No, no and no. The issue apparently fixed itself later that day. I brought the car in for a check of these problems. The scan indicated a faulty power steering module. The foreman of the service dept told me this was a frequent problem in the 2011 models. They said there was nothing wrong with the seat belt system. The problem persists to this day intermittently. The last time I spoke to the service manager he told me to take a photo of the information display the next time it happened to "prove that the car is running when the warning light comes on" - he wants to see the speedometer.

- Littleton, MA, USA