My 2006 Mini is now sitting ("laying" would be more accurate) in the repair shop of the dealership from which it was purchased in Oct. 2006. Last Wednesday, while driving home from a car wash, I had gone through a traffic circle and was uncertain that I had picked the correct exit from the circle, so I was driving very slowly (maybe 10-15 MPH) on the inner lane, when suddenly the front right corner of the Mini dropped down and the steering wheel spun uncontrollably to the right, causing the Mini to hit an unoccupied vehicle parked alongside the curb. The air bags in the Mini did NOT inflate and I was not injured by the accident. The Mini would start up after the accident but would not move. A police car happened to be back at the circle and came quickly to the scene. I was NOT issued a citation. The car was towed away and, as I said, is now back at the dealership where I bought it. When it was bought, the dealership gave us a "warranty" that ran for 50,000 miles or 3 years.

The car was hoisted up on a rack this morning and looked at by my issurance adjuster and the repair people of the dealership. They ended up saying "the drive shaft pulled out" and the dealership has contacted the Mini people to come look at the car. I, of course, feel that this should be a warranty repair, but have the feeling they (the dealership and Mini national) are going to try to weazle out of that someway.

Wonder if any other contributors know of similar occurrences with other minis. Many thanks in advance.
-Gene

 

I don't know of similar failures but it should be covered.
Any failure that is not caused by abuse or modification is covered in the 4 year warranty. The 3 year is maint.

 

It is the 4 year "warranty" (50,000 miles) that we have. No "abuse" or "modifications" have been done to car. Thanks for feed-back.