Hello all, we just gout our new to us 2013 Countryman All4 2 weeks ago. Finally got my wife out of Subarus!

Absolutely love the MINI. Thank you all in advance for the collective knowledge of the forum.

Now on to our issue.

On three different occasions the doors have refused to open from the inside. Double pulling the handle, while unlocking the door did nothing to open them. The handles stuck straight out. After some fidgeting, we did manage to get the doors open, only to have them not want to latch closed again. The latch in the door jam was movable but would not lock in to closed position. We have had some pretty cold days here, but nothing too extreme, mid 20's. After letting the car sit for about a half hour, the doors returned to norml function, though the handles still felt a bit stiff.

The dealer has it now. While I am certain that they will get it back to us in functional condition, we still do have some fear of the issue recurring.

Has anyone experienced a similar issue?

Thank you again!

 

No I have had no issues with latches. but doesn't get that cold in GA.

When you get her back we would like pictures.

 

I can't say I have seen a thread about passenger doors not functioning. Rear hatch, yes, but not passenger doors.

I hope it gets fixed up for you!

 

Thanks for the replies. For the time being we have a non-S Paceman on loan. It will be interesting to see what the dealership comes up with.

I did forget the obligatory pictures. From the day we bought it. One clean in the shop, tho other after we drove home in the snow.

 

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As a minor update, Ottos' Mini has had our car since last Saturday. They have not been able to replicate our issue (Isn't that always the way?). They did find a binding door latch on the drivers' door. They have ordered a new one and will be replacing it as soon as it arrives.

They hope that this is the root of the issue. It seems that there is a possibility that this door latch malfunctioning could relay an faulty signal to the others. At this point, we just want our car back. We have owned it for three weeks and they have had it for 1/3 of that time.

Otto's has been great. They gave me a Paceman to drive (no turbo though!)and have called every day.

 

Otto's Mini has returned our beloved Countryman!

They did replace the drivers' door latch as mentioned above. So far, it has transported us to the hippy store, the local High School and home without trapping anyone inside or refusing to close up again!

Hopefully this was the issue and there will be no more unscheduled visits to the service department.

 

All's well that ends well! Nice looking Countryman! You'll love the Xenons and black wheels (easier to clean)...and BTW if you ever need to rock your MINI out of deep snow, don't forget to turn-off the DSC (like me) or you won't get anywhere at all!

The longer version is that I was trying to get up a moderate grade with all weather tread in about 8 inches of snow and lost momentum. Thinking I could rock myself loose, I gave it the gas and nothing happened forward or reverse. That "smart" computer must have said those wheels will not spin no matter what! I needed a little push to start back down the hill, and upon returning home reread the Owner's Manual.

 

Thank you!

Ahh, the good old electronic nannies. I appreciate the heads up, hopefully we will keep it out of the deep stuff.

 

I was at Ottos today wonder if we bumped into each other lol

 

Maybe! What time were you there?

 

Between 9 and 10 this morning!

 

We may just have crossed paths. We left just after 9. Wife said a blue car pulled in service right behind us. That you?

 

Actually I was in the showroom picking up my new to me Countryman today and wasn't in for service ! But I'm very sure we crossed paths if you were in the waiting area !

 

Congratulations! What did you get?

 

Less than a week after getting Finn back, he is acting up again. Wife has been locked in the car twice today, though she finds that if she rolls the window down she can open the door with he outside handle.

Otto's is very apologetic and offered to send someone down to pick it up and drop a loaner. We have to go up that way tomorrow anyway so we will just be dropping it off.

 

Aww man, sorry to hear about the issues, not making for a very good experience for you and your wife especially. Keep us updated!

 

We got Finn back last Saturday. They had replaced door latch cables and the drivers side door latch (again). All seemed good...

Until this morning, when the passenger door would not close. This has been he first cold morning since we got it back. Must have something to do with it.

Back to Otto's it goes. I think that we will be telling them that they need to find us another car.

 

I cannot say just how good Otto's has been to us. They still have Finn, but they did have meeting with their management team to decide what to do about he issue. They have been in close contact with MINI to try and resolve the problem for us.

Unfortunately, they can still not find anything wrong, nor has the problem showed its face while in their care. They have decided to replace the latch and the cabling in the passenger door now. This seemed to have helped on the drivers side, might as well try it.

They have been extremely apologetic. They said that we should be enjoying our car and clearly our first month together has been less than fantastic. They have offered to reimburse us our first months payment along with the assurances that Finn will be taken care of.

Stay tuned...

 

How's Finn doing?

 

The manager took him home last night to see if there were any issues in the colder morning. We have not heard back yet.

Keeping our fingers crossed!

We did take a 320 mile round trip excursion in the S-Paceman loaner on Saturday. What a fantastic travelling companion! We really enjoyed the ride and look forward to having our car long enough to do the same in it.

 

Maybe the manager is locked-in ;-)

 

LOL!

Finn is home. They have replaced both passenger side door latches andboth front door release cables. No idea why they did not replace the drivers rear door latch. Perhaps they will do that over the summer so we can get a convertible as a loaner.

 

This is the first I've heard of this issue and I hope your dealer is able to fix it - it must've been scary when this happened the first time! I have a feeling that this is problem is electrical/sensor related, not mechanical, so I would keep pressing your dealer until they are able to find the root cause of the issue.

By the way, have you noticed a difference in the ride/handling of the Paceman vs. your Countryman?

 

Good morning CN.

So far so good with Finn. No issues since the return, though the problem seemed to occur on cold days. We will see next winter.

We liked the Countryman much better than the Paceman. It seems to ride nicer and the handling was a bit more controlled. That could be due to the AWD and wheelbase difference.