IMPORTANT. Have you had a power steering pump failure? Please vote YES or NO!!!

[alan earnshaw]

Quote: Originally Posted by enzothemaddog

What sort of noises did it make whilst having the failure. just a bit worried about steering failure especially when gunning it.
By the way, BMW sydney had to replace my coolant bottle, but not until after the whole thing exploded!

Do you think I could demand a replacement regardless of evidence of failure or not??

Hi enzothemaddog, the car did'nt really make any noise whilst having the failure. I only ever lost power steering at low speed, it just cut out and then back on in a flash after it did it 3 times I went straight to the dealer. When I picked the car up after getting it fixed I did notice how quite the steering was, so it had been getting louder over a period of weeks (the sound of the servo). If in dought get it checked.
I would hate to think I was just lucky with the exceptional service I recived from MINI Garage in Rushcutter Bay and it saddens me to read of the hassles some MINI owners are faced with from there Dealers.

[waynef]

Quote: Originally Posted by plotloss

Hi all

First post, may as well be a tail of woe

03 Cooper S, pump failed on M4 last week, not pleased, at all, going a bit quick.

Took over a week to fix, they gave me a Punto (the shame), lost the parts, no apology from anyone.

Going to get me some pliers and a blowtorch and head after BMW.

This is patently not on.

Nice to meet you BTW

"You must have struck unlucky." That's what I got told after my first failure by the dealer. That's all. Next time it was "This is all very strange, we've never heard of another failure." Which is obviously a lie because it was my second time! And the third time? They just handed me the keys, shrugged their shoulders and said, "Good luck Wayne."

Sounds like you got a bit of that "good luck" and averted serious consequencies matey. Maybe if you take your car to my dealer they'll say: "You must have struck lucky" therefore?

Yeah. Right.

Get a few sets of adjustable Molegrips and one of those large Calor gas canisters. Theres a few here that'll need 'em...

[plotloss]

Hi there,

Car is in process of being rejected as I no longer feel safe.

Its a ridiculous situation, the last new car I had before this one was a TVR and a 300 person operation in Blackpool with, lets face it, not the best reputation for customer service and reliability absolutely completely and utterly runs rings around supposedly the premier vehicle brand in the world on customer service and build quality.

The Cooper S is a fabulous little car, it amuses me on a daily basis but £20K odd for a car that you dont feel safe driving your family in is not on in the slightest.

Updates as and when they happen...

[waynef]

Quote: Originally Posted by plotloss

Hi there,

Car is in process of being rejected as I no longer feel safe.

Its a ridiculous situation, the last new car I had before this one was a TVR and a 300 person operation in Blackpool with, lets face it, not the best reputation for customer service and reliability absolutely completely and utterly runs rings around supposedly the premier vehicle brand in the world on customer service and build quality.

The Cooper S is a fabulous little car, it amuses me on a daily basis but £20K odd for a car that you dont feel safe driving your family in is not on in the slightest.

Updates as and when they happen...

Yikes,

Don't forget to retain everyone's name that you speak to, and the times and dates that things are agreed on. Also make sure that you clearly (and fairly) give the dealer (and your finance company if your using one because they are equally liable) adequate deadlines that you want things to happen, and that they understand these by recorded delivery letter. Call the dealership to ensure receipt of the letter and that it is being dealt with, and above all, copy all communication to BMW/MINI Customer services in Bracknell.

Your right. It should NOT happen. The best you can do is to hope that BMW and your dealer don't charge you a "Use charge" for the car. Because believe me, if their anything like mine, they will.

Finally, I hope your car was purchased AFTER March 2003, because as you may or may not already know, consumer law changes then will benefit you greatly (http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics1/saleandsupply.htm)

The http://www.whatcar.com web-site offer pre-formatted rejection letters for you use also that may help.

[waynef]

Hi everyone,

I've just taken a look at the "Top Gear Duffers" listings that I have contributed two items too, and they're there!

Take a look and if you want, why not contribute yourselves?
http://www.topgear.com/content/my_to...fers/YY/A0/37/


...by the way, I have just completed day 3 of non-MINI ownership and I've had no car break-down's yet. Is this somekind of record I ask myself?

Thank you people.

[waynef]

Crikey! I've even got my contribution on the "Top Gear 6-word Reviews" site too!

http://www.topgear.com/content/my_to...reviews/03/02/

Fame at last!

[waynef]

116 votes so far. Anymore would be very gratefully received.

Thanks indeed

[Boo]

I am overseas at the moment and told my father to take my Cooper S for a spin up the coast (he was attending a wedding)... After the 6 hour trip he was 100 metres away from the hotel driveway and all of a sudden the car steering won't turn anymore.... Called Mini assist who had to come and recover the car... He said they were awesome and arranged a hire car for him..

I am assuming that this is the same problem everyone else in this thread is having.
I hope it doesn't happen when i am on the track

[waynef]

Quote: Originally Posted by Boo

I am overseas at the moment and told my father to take my Cooper S for a spin up the coast (he was attending a wedding)... After the 6 hour trip he was 100 metres away from the hotel driveway and all of a sudden the car steering won't turn anymore.... Called Mini assist who had to come and recover the car... He said they were awesome and arranged a hire car for him..

I am assuming that this is the same problem everyone else in this thread is having.
I hope it doesn't happen when i am on the track

Hi Boo,

I am really sorry to hear about you and your fathers problems, and yes indeed, this is the same problem as many other have experienced here.

On the matter of hoping that it doesn't happen when your on the track... I hope so too, and I guess, so do BMW/MINI because they don't seem to be trying to solve this very serious issue, but instead proverbially "sweeping it under the carpet".

I averaged one failure every 4 months. If I were you I'd book your track day soon before June 2004 rolls around

Best of luck,

[waynef]

41 days on, since I started this thread, we've seen 124 votes.

Exactly 75% of those voters/drivers haven't had any steering failures.

Therefore 25% of those voters/drivers have had steering failures.
If your one of those unfortunate drivers to have a failure, you have almost a 1-in-6 chance of having another failure, or another, or another (like me).

Now I know that statistics can be made to look bad, but frankly, this is awful.

Any comments?

[gordonsayre]

I just had my first failure of power steering pump. MCS 04/10/03 build. About 6700 miles. Symptoms were driving at 30 mph, steering suddenly got very stiff. Drove another mile. Pulled to side of road, shut off engine. Re-start seemed to fix problem. Drove home. Fan noise continued to run. Ran down battery. Dealer has it now and is checking out. Downtown Mini service very good, I trust them. They did seem to be aware of this kind of problem.

[waynef]

Quote: Originally Posted by gordonsayre

I just had my first failure of power steering pump. MCS 04/10/03 build. About 6700 miles. Symptoms were driving at 30 mph, steering suddenly got very stiff. Drove another mile. Pulled to side of road, shut off engine. Re-start seemed to fix problem. Drove home. Fan noise continued to run. Ran down battery. Dealer has it now and is checking out. Downtown Mini service very good, I trust them. They did seem to be aware of this kind of problem.

Best of luck with it Gordon. I am pretty sure that by now, all the dealers are aware of this problem. Believe me.

[cymrucoopers]

Only joined the forum this week even though I've had the MCS since June!
Car is a May 2003 build & the power steering failed on Christmas Day whilst visiting my family!
The dealer was on hols until 5th January, so I was without the car until then, although I did start it up to test it every now & again.
I thought that it was an electrical problem because now & then on start up the power steering would work!
When I spoke to the dealer on Jan 5th it was booked in for that week. A mechanic from the dealer gave me a lift home & I told him the problem. He told me straight away that it would be a power steering pump failure, so it was obviously common knowledge by this point.
Worst part about it was the dealer scratched the door whilst it was being repaired!!!
Not a very happy chappy to say the least.
I still love the car to bits though & it does put a massive smile on my face when I drive it.
I would still buy another one tomorrow!

[alan earnshaw]

Quote: Originally Posted by cymrucoopers

Only joined the forum this week even though I've had the MCS since June!
Car is a May 2003 build & the power steering failed on Christmas Day whilst visiting my family!
The dealer was on hols until 5th January, so I was without the car until then, although I did start it up to test it every now & again.
I thought that it was an electrical problem because now & then on start up the power steering would work!
When I spoke to the dealer on Jan 5th it was booked in for that week. A mechanic from the dealer gave me a lift home & I told him the problem. He told me straight away that it would be a power steering pump failure, so it was obviously common knowledge by this point.
Worst part about it was the dealer scratched the door whilst it was being repaired!!!
Not a very happy chappy to say the least.
I still love the car to bits though & it does put a massive smile on my face when I drive it.
I would still buy another one tomorrow!

Was it the pump ? Mine was the steering rack, which was leaking and had to be replaced.
Are we looking at 2 problems with PAS on this thread

[cymrucoopers]

When I picked up the car I asked the dealer what the fault was & the staff at the service desk told me that they had replaced the power steering pump. I had no reason to believe otherwise.