NHTSA Complaint #10490781 — 2009 MINI COOPER S

VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO DEALERSHIP IN FEB 2012 FOR A RATTLING NOISE. SERVICE CENTER AT BRAMAN MIAMI SAID THAT THEY COULD NOT DUPLICATE THE NOISE, SO IT WAS ASSUMED THEY FOUND NOTHING WRONG WITH THE VEHICLE. PRIOR TO THIS, THE VEHICLE HAD BEEN IN THE SHOP 2-3 TIMES DUE ENGINE MALFUNCTION LIGHT, ROUGH IDLE AT COLD START AND LOSS OF TURBO POWER DUE TO LEAKAGE IN TURBO OIL FEED LINES. THIS WAS REPAIRED IN EARLY 2012/LATE 2011. IN DECEMBER OF 2012, WHILE DRIVING THE RATTLING NOISE OF THE COMPLAINT IN FEB 2012 INTENSIFIED AND OIL LIGHT ILLUMINATED WHILE DRIVING. CAR WAS PULLED OVER TO SAFE LOCATION. ONCE CAR WAS STOPPED, THE ENGINE MALFUNCTION LIGHT ALSO ILLUMINATED. DRIVER CHECKED OIL LEVEL, WHICH APPEARED LOW BUT WITHIN THE MARKS ON THE DIPSTICK. OIL SPLATTER WAS OBSERVED ON THE HOOD AND ON ENGINE. RUBBER GASKET FEEDING TO ENGINE WAS OBSERVED TO BE DISPLACED WHERE OIL APPEARED TO HAVE LEAKED OUT. VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO BRAMAN MIAMI. SERVICE DEPARTMENT REPORTED THAT FAILURE WAS CAUSED BY TIMING CHAIN/TENSIONER ISSUE. SERVICE DEPT IS CHARGING 17K USD FOR REPAIRS AS IT IS NOT FOUND TO BE UNDER THE SCOPE OF WARRANTY OF PREVIOUS REPAIRS TO THE TURBO OIL FEED LINES. MINI HAS BEEN CONTACTED TO SEE IF ANY RELIEF CAN BE PROVIDED AS THIS SEEMS TO BE A COMMON ISSUE WITH THESE VEHICLES. *TR