I had already decided to get a FE, but I think the fire/smoke detector in the garage is a no-brainer as well.

Bill

 

Hey folks,

Quick update here for those who are interested. MINI is investigating the cause of the fire in my Countryman (investigation expected to take up to three weeks). MINI of San Francisco said this was the first Countryman engine bay fire they've seen, and a engineer from MINI USA is involved in the investigation. That's all I know at this point, will post more info as I receive it.

-AW

 

what are they doing for you in the meantime?

 

I'm driving around in a loaner X3 free of charge.

 

sweet....thanks for the update.

 

My 11 month old sleeps directly above my mini (in the garage).... Not sure I'd hear a fire detector in the garage would wake me in my Master bedroom. The rest of the detectors are all wired together....

Scary thoughts

 

I just wish MINI would publish what they know so far about when the fires start, under what conditions, etc. For example, if the fires have all started within say a half an hour of the car being turned off or parked, at least those who wanted to be careful could leave the car in the driveway for a while before putting it in the garage for the night.

 

Alan: good to hear. This is consistent with what they did with me as well. I don't recall if they actually sent an engineer or if they ended up just having an engineer talk with the service guys, but either way, they wanted engineering to look into the details before any work was done.

 

also funny thing is all car manufacturers have the same issues, because we own minis and a lot of the people are fans they post here and you get the worst and the best that you won’t here on let’s say a camery.

people were shocked to find out how many Toyotas were having blown motor issues because of oil coking up in the engine and that Toyota was covering it up this was even a bigger issue in Europe, Audi has had numerous fires as well as many other car companies. no car is bullet proof and anybody who thinks otherwise is silly!

I bet if anybody starts doing searches you will find no company is immune to these issues and it will affect a small handful of customers around the world. the more advanced these cars become the more chances of having a problem will be.

my mini is an 02 and has over 200K miles same engine and all that jazz and pulls great numbers when checked out. best car I have ever owned. the new countryman also has had no issues and loving it. just hope whatever car you get won’t have issues but you never know, they are machines after all with thousands of moving parts and wires everywhere.

Who knows but life is too short to worry about these small numbers, now if 1 in 10 minis caught on fire then I would have more concern but if you really do the numbers its very rare.



not hating on Toyota but people seem to hold it as the bullet proof car, you start googling things and reading the net you wont trust any car!

here stories to read

[FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3]http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/toyota_engine.html[/SIZE][/FONT]


like i said any car anywhere can have an issue its just bum luck somthing goes bad! or a design flaw but then you will have a recall!

 

i owned a new 2003 gmc envoy 4wd and within the first 6months, the fuel line plastic connector failed under pressure on the highway, was able to make it to the breakdown lane, and had a pool of fuel under the vehicle....this was motor trend's suv of the year. also this vehicle had 3 major bearings go, two under warranty, and other assorted issues. i loved the suv but hated its reliability. my 1988 dodge daytona carol shelby edition blew an engine plug (so i was told) while i was on the highway, a piston melted and the short block had to be replaced...luckily i had 1,500 miles left on the warranty otherwise it would have cost me buco bucks...plus the computer module SMAC..or something failed...so i would drive the car on the highway then all of a sudden everything would cut out for anywhere from 3-5 seconds and then come back on...that was scary. my 2000 oldsmobile alero V6 engine blew a gasket...the dealership said this was so common that they kept a good supply of gaskets in stock. anyway, i bought all of these cars new and had more issues than what i just wrote about but the point supports what 4GAZM is saying. on the other hand, i never wanted to go back to the same brand after i lost confidence (that was easy of course with the now defunct oldsmobile division) i did entertain the thought of looking at the gmc terrain before the mini but my gmc envoy experience tainted me. oh i forgot...and the kicker is...the most reliable car was my wife's 2000 chevrolet cavalier, that was given to my mother, and used by myself and my stepson...out of the ten years we owned it, it didnt start only once as it needed new ignitation wires...but it slightly hinted for weeks it needed new ones but it was our fault for not listening.

 

4GASM is right, the only reason we are so aware of the problems is because of the cult following MINI has.

Toyota and Honda probably have the most recalls of all the brands.

 

I’ve never owned a Toyota and probably never will because their sales staff tries to sale their name too hard and it’s a huge turn off. Plus their cars are vanilla as it gets!

Really Honda? I don't think so just look at JD Power or Consumer Reports. Maybe the Big 3 do (they had ignition problem nightmares that caused fires) but Honda I don't think. I have a 1998 (second model year) Honda CRV (since new) and it had ONE recall and that was to zip tie a wire under the dash so it was further away from the brake pedal. I also belong to a CRV forum and never heard of any engine fires etc (no major problems what so every besides 1997 first year problems and Honda fixed all of them on the 1998s). I can tell you what two, yes only two problems they are know for. One is the auto locks actuators fail in about 6 years but the key works just fine and the B20 motor is know for burning a exhaust valve around 150K. I had to get my head rebuilt around 160k for a burnt number 2 exhaust valve, total cost was 600 bucks and I replaced the timing belt, water pump, complete new gasket kit and machine shop work on the head. I also belong to a VW and Harley forum (way more enthusiast than Mini) and I hate to break it to you but it seems Minis is above average in problems in what I have read. What I have observed is Mini is really slow to fix the problems. Where other companies have problems fixed in months where it takes Mini years to fix (probably why it seems worse than it is) theirs but they do, kinda. I’m a car guy and I didn't care for Hondas all that much either until 1996 when I got a 1989 Civic hatch and that was a great car, when I got rid of it, it had 190k on it and still got 45mpg and only thing I did to it was regular maintenance.

My point is its good to love what you drive and be proud and excited about it but if you live in a glass house don’t throw stones. Just accept the problems of the car and move on instead of redirecting and trying to prove your car is just like the others (no worse LOL).

 

Disagree, Honda installed the incorrect rear upper control arms in 06 and 07 civics. They charged me $600+ to replace the defective parts. The sun visor hinges explode in hot weather and only after owners filed a class action suit was Honda forced to refund my cost of FOUR that Had failed. Numerous squeaks, rattles and interior on my civic looks like crap after four years. My Mini has been a much better car thay my Honda..

 

This can be argued forever...

My Mini has been at the dealer 5 times in the first 6 months. My wifes Honda has yet to be at the dealer in two years. Therefore, my Honda is a much better car than my Mini....

I just want to say that individual experiences will vary, and we can argue forever over who is better than who. The real issue is that any company should honor their commitment to their customer, and in my opinion, Mini has fallen short of their commitment. Maybe your experierience is better, and that is fine. But dont tell others that they are 'whining' when their experience falls short of expectations.

Mark

 

I don't believe I ever accused anyone of whineing. I have no doubt at all that there are Mini owners who are totally justified in their distrust of Mini. just wanted to say that even Hondas have issues also.

 

My comments were not directed at anyone, and if anyone was offended, I apologize. I agree with the fact that Hondas can be lemons like any other car. One thing I failed to say is that I would take my CM over the wife's Fit any day of the week, even if I have had issues with it.

Mark

 

+1

 

Heheheh this is good banter.

I am a Honda fan for sure. My past ones are a 87 CIvic hatch (wrecked), 89 Civic Hatch (with 87's donor engine), 94 Accord Coupe, 98 Civic 4 door, 2003 Acura RSX, 2004 Acura MDX.

I'd say the best was my 94 Accord, traded it for a jeep with 430K on the clock, didn't replace the clutch until 385K and when we bought the car no one in our family could drive a stick, so 4 people learned on it. Never once had to put the car in the shop except for regular maintenance. The family down the street had the exact car sans spoiler...lol. Theirs was a POS, so like was said there are lemons everywhere. Honda recalled over a million cars that had killer airbags....

I belong to alot of forums as well and there is always complaning about problems and fixes so its all good in my book. I think the only forum I belong to that I don't hear complaning about issues and dealerships are the Rat Rod ones....lol My 26 Nash pickup never had one recall...... Wait, I did have to replace the leather ujoint in the drive shaft once, and a peice of wood in the roof.

Imagine you had a Ford 6.0 Power Joke...now your going to hear about problems. Again, there are good ones as well.

Harleys....my 98 Sporty, no issues, pure gem. My 07 Heritage has a few gremlins but its the first year for the 96" and 6 speed. No need to bring it to the stealer to get raked over the coals. Got my eye on a Road Glide now and I am sure it will serve me well.

My Mini might have problems but when your on the cutting edge your bound to slip time to time.

 

I think the issue here, as has been alluded to, is not the problems themselves, but the response to them by whatever company we're talking about. I think we can all acknowledge that cars have become vastly more complicated than they used to be and that will inevitably lead to more issues. I can remember the days when you used to be able to climb into and stand in the engine compartment to do repairs. Now you can set a table on the engine without worrying about anything falling through to the ground. The thing that bothers me about MINI is that they don't seem to be all that anxious to address problems when they do arise, even when they're relatively minor problems with easy fixes like melting hood scoops, for example. It's crazy that a problem which could have been fixed with either a metal scoop or an effective turbo heat shield has been allowed to go on for years. No one expects a company to make 100% perfect cars, but buyers do have a right to expect that recurring problems will get permanently fixed and that doesn't mean replacing the plastic scoop with another plastic scoop that also warps. What makes this approach even more serious for MINI's is that people often live hundreds of miles from the dealer so addressing these problems is not like driving down the road to the nearest Ford or Toyota dealer.

 

i bought my wife a new 08 nissan rogue and within a year or so, we got a letter from nissan automatically doubling the warranty on the cvt transmission because of some of the bad press and concerns about it (we had no issues and still dont) and to show they stand behind the technology. i thought this was a terrific proactive step from an auto manufacturer...because of this...a newer nissan down the road is not out of the question. more mfg should follow this example to maintain customer loyalty.

 

Thanks for posting and keeping us informed. I just purchased a 2012 MCa and part of the reason for going with the justa was this engine fire issue that came up in my research, which I hoped was in the past. I look forward to hearing the cause, as I want to upgrade to a Paceman All4 John Cooper Works someday when/if it comes out down the road.

It sounds like you are in good hands as the first unfortunate Counrtyman owner to experience this. Went through being an early Subaru engine issue owner years ago. They immediately pulled the engine and installed a new one, then sent the original engine out to corporate to be investigated. It tuned out to be a piston pin oiling design issue that caused knocking because there was lack of oil to the piston pins.

Unfortunately the engine they replaced it with had the same problem shortly thereafter, and it too had to be replaced with an engine that included the upgraded design. By that point I was done with Subaru and immediately sold it, never to return or at least very unlikely to return to that brand.

I will say Subaru fixed it, but I never saw a total recall on that model... I consider myself lucky to have been one of the first and the corporate team had my back going in. Sounds like you do too with Mini.

Good luck and keep us informed.

 

Hey folks,

For those still following this thread - the latest news is that MINI has inspected the car several times and last week informed me they need to do "destructive testing" and would like to repurchase the vehicle from me. I'm now waiting for a repurchase offer.

-AW

 

Seems to me that the offer should be "here's your new CM, exactly like your previous CM".

 

I think they should give you purchase price plus tax, title and any other fees you paid! Any thing less and I would be mad if I was you!

 

Especially with the recent recall referring to known engine bay fires!!!