my cooper slowed down to 9 mph cooper said it was a computer problem and it is now fixed.
About 10 days later I’m going forty mph the car hits the brakes and will not go faster then 9 mph if I did not have my seat belt on I would have hit the window. cooper has had the car for over a week and has yet to find the problem. I told them I do not want a car that is going to stop on the express way. any one have any ideas.
Since your writing is a bit difficult to understand, I would like you to clarify something in your posting. When you said, “the car hits the brakes”, did mean that your car’s brakes were activated without you pressing on the brake pedal, or did the engine simply lose power?
The car came to a fast stop as if i slammed on the brakes.
So, it suddenly lost power, but there was no application of the brakes–either by you or by unknown forces?
No matter whether the brakes were applied (highly unlikely) or not, what you describe would fall into the category of a safety defect. If I were you, I would:
*Go to the NHTSA website and search for similar problems with Mini-Coopers of your model year.
*Post your problem on the NHTSA website.
*Print a copy of your posting on the NHTSA website.
*Request an appointment with the factory Zone Representative when that person next visits your dealership.
*Show the factory Zone Rep the print-out of your posting on the NHTSA site, and politely state that you will not rest until this defect is taken care of.
*Educate yourself about the “Lemon Law” in your state in order to determine when the number of days of “downtime” and/or the number of fruitless visits to the dealer’s service department qualify you for a settlement (refund/buyback of the vehicle/new vehicle at no cost to you) under the terms of the Lemon Law.
Remember to remain calm and rational, as nobody is likely to respond positively to a person who is raving and out of control. Just be firm in stating that this is an unacceptable safety-related defect, and that you have documented everything for your own protection in the event of an accident that is caused by this defect.
Thank you I did as you said and reported it I was suprised how many complaints there were for the same problem.
If there were a number of reports of the same problem, then you definitely should be able to get some “leverage” with the Factory Zone Rep. Hopefully the engineers are already working on a solution to this known problem.
The dealer has had my car for about 3 weeks and cannot fix the problem.
JerryThree weeks is unacceptable. Call the Cooper zone rep and complain. The zone rep may recommend another Cooper dealership which has the resources (of whatever kind) to fix this problem.
Having the car out of service for three weeks should enable you to invoke the “Lemon Law” in your state. If you have not already done so, you really need to read the details of this law.
However, if I recall correctly, you never told us how old this car is, and if it is beyond a certain number of months/years, none of these laws will apply. The devil is in the details, as the old saying goes, so read up on the details of that statute in your state.
The “lemon law” will also not apply if you bought the car used.
The fact that there are many of the same complaint says that your dealer is trying very hard not to fix the car for you. He KNOWS exactly what’s wrong with your car. There are probably dozens of factory Technical Service Bullitins (TSBs) on it.
I’m going to guess it has to do with excess vacuum being introduced into the power brake booster. This is causing the brakes to actuate. I had it happen on a Dodge once. I have no idea what would cause that, it’s just my theory.
this was a new 05 bought in Aug of 05 the veh has under 17,000 miles. I belive this does come under the lemon law, but the veh has to be out of service for total of 30 days, which it has been if you add in both times it was in for service for the same thing.
Normally, Lemon Laws count the total number of days of “downtime” for service. If the multiple visits and the age of your car qualify you for coverage under your state’s Lemon Law, then I would suggest that you begin the claim process with the Attorney General’s office or whatever agency handles that matter in your state.
They did in fact work with me to get a new car. BMW is great to work with.
Jerry
Glad to hear it worked out, did the just give you a new cooper?
it cost me $4.000 i went from a 2005 to a 07 but i opted to get a convert. that was 4000 more well worth it.
JerryVery cool, $4K for two model years difference is only about $170/month. So you went from a used 05 sedan to a new 07 convertible for $8K total, that sounds like a pretty good deal. Is the convertible normally a $4K premium?
base mini is $19k, base mini convertible is $23k, so yeah, it is.
It’s kinda weird that sitting in a Mini feels less cramped than the 2 BMW sedans I sat in(3 and 5 series sedan)
Those are surprisingly big on the inside, actually able to hold 4 real people. Have fun with the convertible.
I would like to thank those of you that helped with your answers. Because of the quick response from BMW when the time comes to buy a new car i would no doubt buy one of theirs.
Jerry