NHTSA Complaint #10534619 — 2007 MINI COOPER

I HAVE BEEN A MINI COOPER OWNER SINCE 2007 AND LOVED MY MINI. IT WAS A 6 SPEED AUTOMATIC AND EVEN THOUGH IT HAD APPROX. 127K MILES, IT DROVE GREAT AND I HAD NEVER EXPERIENCED ANY PROBLEMS WITH IT IN THE SIX YEARS I OWNED IT. IN JULY 2013, I WAS DRIVING DOWN A HIGHWAY AT 65MPH AND HEARD A VERY FAINT PERCOLATING SOUND COMING FROM INSIDE THE DASH. THE CAR WAS RUNNING FINE AND THERE WERE NO WARNING LIGHTS SO I KEPT DRIVING BECAUSE I WAS IN A DESERTED AREA AT NIGHT. APPROXIMATELY TWO MINUTES LATER, I SAW A FLAME OUTSIDE MY RIGHT PASSENGER SIDE WINDOW. I IMMEDIATELY STOPPED THE CAR AND SAW THERE WERE FLAMES COMING FROM BEHIND THE PASSENGER TIRE OF THE VEHICLE AND FROM UNDER THE HOOD. I CALLED 911 BUT WITHIN MINUTES, THE ENTIRE HOOD AND FRONT SEATS OF THE CAR WERE IN FLAMES. BY THE TIME THE FIRE DEPARTMENT ARRIVED, THE CAR WAS A COMPLETELY ENGULFED BY THE FIRE. NOTHING FROM INSIDE THE VEHICLE COULD BE RECOVERED. OTHER THAN THE FAINT PERCOLATING SOUND AND A SLIGHT ODOR IMMEDIATELY BEFORE I SAW THE FLAMES, THERE WAS NO WARNING. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT RULED THE FIRE AN UNDETERMINED MECHANICAL CAUSE AND SAID IT STARTED ON THE RIGHT PASSENGER SIDE OF THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT. *TR