Hello Everyone,

I am purchasing a 2002 mini Cooper s from a used car dealer where I live. The car has the air bag light on.

When i asked them about this, they said since the car has been sitting on the lot for a while and not being driven, it goes into some kind of power saving mode so the battery wont drain. This might cause warning lights like the air bag to come on. They said they would reset it and it will be fine.

Is this total bull **** or does power saving thing actually exist in this car? I have a feeling the dealer is just BSing me and there is an issue with the air bag.

I have read in the forums that there is a problem with the seatbelt tensioner wiring that might cause this to happen.

I guess my question is do these cars have this power saving feature the dealer is telling me about?

 

Sounds like BS. My car has sat for over a month at a time and there are no issues.

 

Sounds like a typical sleezy car salesman. I would steer clear.

 

I figured as much. I also spoke to Mini dealership tech and they confirmed no such feature exists.

 

i've only seen multiple lights go on when the battery was low and different systems were fighting for electricity.. it was an alternator issue and a new one fixed it. good luck with the purchase! welcome to the club

 

I've only had the Service Engine Soon light come on with a very low battery.

My car sat for 4 months and no random lights came on.
Never heard of a "power saver" mode.

 

UMMMM....I am going to call "BULLXXIT" on that one!

 

Run away from that dealer......
Total BS!!
Many folks on this site will put their cars in the garage for several months...take them out, and drive (some may need a battery recharge, some don't) and NEVER have an airbag light.
The light says there is a fault in the system. Period. Some mini's did have airbag issues....and there was a few repair campains...sometimes the repair was just a faulty clip, or a wire with a bad connector, but trouble shooting, and re-setting needs special tools.....

 

first mini I test drove was an '02 with a dead battery in the showroom... apparently the doors were left open with the dome light on for a long time, who knows. jump started the car, took it for a test drive, tripped the "check engine performance light" as I know them as, drove it back. I did get addicted that day to the supercharger whine though. :D

 

+1 to ZippyNH's statements. The airbag light came on in my old '02 MCS back in October 2005. The wiring was found to be faulty. Took the dealership a week to repair because they had to take out the seats and carpet to get to it. Only other time it came on was after an accident in 2007. That was simply a reset (thankfully).

The airbag light came on in my '06 MCS a couple of months ago. I thought it might just need resetting. Turned out the module next to the battery in the boot was corroded. The battery box seal was bad; it had a ton of water in it. That took a week to repair as well, as they deemed both battery wires needed replacing, too.

 

Thanks everyone, I figured as much. I am getting them to scan the engine for codes and to look it over the car to find out why the light is on. Hopefully they will fix it before I pick it up.

 

It is a different tool.....you can-not service a airbag with an odb2 reader....it is a special airbag tool....
Just re-setting it, without finding the fault, even an intermitant one is unwise....it will come back, it will be an issue....I would not trust anybody but a mini dealer to fix it, and even then, they often replace the entire harness. But it could be a bad airbag, etc....allvery $$ to fix, and while there are work-arounds to turn off the light, the lack of an airbag in an emergency is a big thing. Frankly, I would not trust the dealer you are talking to...they already lied to you.......and proved they know nothing about Mini's.

 

Why are you willing to trust this dealer to "fix it before [you] pick it up?" Mistake, in my opinion.

 

The problem with getting MINI service is it needs to be done by the dealership, a MINI specialist, or some other European specialist that understands the system is designed by BMW. If the dealer really wants to make the sale, he or she needs to take it to "that" specialist. They need to provide you a receipt that shows the service was done by them. This can be done without displaying the cost of the service.

Realistically, if you are really interested in the MINI, purchase a service from CarFax or NADA and check the VIN. This will really tell you where the MINI was at, and you can check with the nearest MINI dealership to find out what the deal is. I'm not sure how much the dealer paid for that MINI as a trade-in, but I can guarantee he's making a few thousand if the VIN check shows it was bought at an auction. If that's the case, getting the airbag light fixed should not bite him too hard in the pocket.

Above all else, DO NOT ACCEPT a vehicle with the airbag light on. That means the circuit is DISABLED and will not protect you should the MINI be in a wreck.

 

I really dont trust anything the dealer tells me at this point. He did mention before that they have a specialist they bring in to deal with Mini's. He is suppose to bring him in to look at the car and find out why the light is on.

For all I know he could just reset the battery and tell me they fixed it. I will take the car to an authorized mini dealer after to look at it as I dont trust this dealer anymore.

They only reason I am getting it from them is the price is good for the car and it has low km's.