About two weeks prior to the fire, my back bumper was hit by someone, nothing too serious just the tail light broken. Their insurance had my car fixed at world Toyota collision center in atlanta Georgia. On Saturday morning, I picked up my car. I noticed clicking noise coming out from inside the car and the steering wheel becoming rigid as soon as I started driving. I pulled to the closest gas station (was in need of gas as well). White smoke came out from the front right after I parked. My husband lifted up the hood trying to see where the smoke is from. Not even two minutes later, there was flame, yes, actual fire underneath the engine compartment. Fortunately, there were two officers next to us at that time so they used fire extinguisher to take the fire down. I'm extremely frightened and disappointed at MINIcooper. Very dangerous car.

- Norcross, GA, USA

My power steering completely stopped working while driving. It has been leaking fluid for months and had a slight steering resistance a month or so but was random and didn't continue. Now, it remains very difficult to drive at all times.

- Oneonta, AL, USA

Power steering whine

- Tucson, AZ, USA

Power steering abruptly stopped working while cornering causing driver to use heavy manual force to corner the vehicle thru a tricky viaduct train bridge passageway. While midway into the turn, the power steering abruptly "kicked back on" causing the steering wheel to turn violently across lane and nearly into corner of cement wall holding up overhead train bridge. Other cars were missed, and driver stopped car with front bumper slightly touching viaduct cement wall. Wife and 7 year old child were on the impact side of vehicle. Vehicle was checked by an independent mechanic which noted the ehps power steering pump is failing. He cleaned the power steering pump and installed a new cooling fan on the power steering pump. The pump was overheated and packed with metal debris. Independent mechanic advised me to return to MINIas potential recall issue which has been widely reported but refuted by MINIPower steering pump still has significant noise and is scheduled for review by a MINIdealer.

- Birmingham, MI, USA

Power steering system fire.

- Landenberg, PA, USA

The power steering on my 2005 MINICooper failed while I was driving the car. Fortunately I was traveling at a slow rate of speed when this incident occurred. I have discovered that this is not an uncommon problem in a MINIand that MINIis well aware of the problem. This part is readily available in all dealerships and parts store inventories. It is my understanding through reading discussion on the internet that MINIhas extended the warranty in 2002 to 2005 minis up to 13 years and 100,000 miles. Mine is not covered and I incurred a cost of almost $1,300 for replacement of the defective parts. I have never in my 50 years of driving had a power steering failure until this incident. If I had been traveling at a higher rate of speed this power steering failure may have resulted in death or serious injury to myself or others. Since this is a fairly low volume vehicle the problem may not be as quickly noticed by your department as if it were a Ford Focus or Honda civic..I have great concern about this problem..

- Garrettsville, OH, USA

Loud whine from power steering pump.

- Leesburg, VA, USA

The contact owns a 2005 MINICooper. When the vehicle made a right turn at 50 mph, the steering wheel seized. The contact had to use excessive force to get the steering wheel to straighten. The dealer stated that the steering pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 145,000.

- Chicago, IL, USA

Power steering pump failure. This is a known design defect of this model and year, however, MINIstates that my VIN is not covered (possibly because I purchased the vehicle while stationed with the army in germany). This is a dangerous situation and I am not happy with miniusa's response to date.

- Johnstown, PA, USA

At the beginning, the steering pump makes some noises and a few weeks later, my power steering completely went out, really heard to steer especially at the lower speed and at the corner.

- Indianapolis , IN, USA

Steering effort increased tremendously during low speed driving and at any speed during turning. Power steering appears to be inoperative.

- Bel Air, MD, USA

Was driving at 45mph and all of sudden could tell something was different with the steering. Slowed down and turned at the next intersection and it was like driving a tank. Could have been really bad if I had been driving faster.

- Houston, TX, USA

Started out being an intermittent problem, where it would seem the power steering would shut off then come back on, making hard to judge if you could just relax to steer or not, now its more off than on. Called the MINIassistance number because I was told there was an extended warranty on this issue, was told there was but my vehicle didn't qualify for it, and the extended warranty was for vehicles 2002-2005, mines a 2005 and my VIN was not covered. Don't understand.

- Sabattus, ME, USA

I have a 2005 MINICooper and just lost the power steering. A couple times recently it was hard to steer while parallel parking, but ok on the road. This morning it completely failed on the way to the highway. The wheel was very hard to turn and just managed to get it back to the house, will take it to the dealer on Monday. I see on the internet now that there has been a known issue with the steering pump since 2011 that I did not know about before. Why are owners not notified about this? I could have had a bad accident if the failure had been on the highway. Updated 11/24/2014

- Orr's Island, ME, USA

Was driving normally on 4/8/14, turned normally until I took a slight curve and steering wheel got very stiff & hard to turn from then on. Until now it remains very hard to drive.

- Asheboro, NC, USA

I was driving on a local curvy highway at approx 35mph when my power steering gave out going around a curve. I almost drove into the side of a mountain.

- Atascadero, CA, USA

Power steering pump making noise when car is off, draining battery. Eminent failure.

- Goldsboro, NC, USA

The contact owns a 2005 MINICooper S. the contact stated while driving approximately 25 mph, there was a sudden loss of power steering. The vehicle was taken to a dealer who stated that the power steering pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 15,000 and the current mileage was 45,000.

- Saint John, IN, USA

Power steering went out abruptly while driving the car on the highway.

- Arlington, VA, USA

Failure to powersteering started acting up in January of 2014 after I got my O2 senor replaced. Was told to continued to drive car because the O2 sensor needed to recalibrate itself. So now in April 9th 2014, while getting ready to take off for work, I could not steer the car, called aaa to have car towed to dealership. This is when I was informed it was in fact the power steering pump, and that it would cost me 1700 to replace, im outraged.

- Vallejo, CA, USA