NHTSA Complaint #10990672 — 2009 MINI COOPER S

I PURCHASED A BRAND NEW MINI COOPER S IN 2009 W/ STANDARD 3 YEARS OF FACTORY MAINTENANCE AND I LATER ADDED ON AN EXTENDED WARRANTY A FEW YEARS LATER. 2014 I ENTERED INTO A 3 YEAR LEASE ON A BMW. ASIDE FROM MAINTENANCE, THE MINI WAS MOSTLY GARAGED EXCEPT FOR MAINTENANCE UNTIL TH AFTER A MONTH OF DRIVING IT, I HEARD A TICKING SOUND THAT MADE ME THINK IT NEEDED OIL ADDED, DESPITE HAVING ONE ABOUT 2 MONTHS PRIOR. I ADDED THE MINI SYNTHETIC OIL TO THE CAR AND THE TICKING SOUND STOPPED FOR A WEEK OR TWO. THEN IT STARTED RATTLING AND SHAKING SEVERELY WHEN DRIVING LOW SPEEDS OR AT AN IDLE. I CHECKED THE ON BOARD DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEMS, WHICH IS SUPPOSED TO CHECK OIL LEVELS AND THE GENERAL HEALTH OF THE CAR. NO ISSUES CAME UP BUT I STOPPED DRIVING IT BECAUSE I SAW THE OIL LIGHT COME ON, AND I KNOW THAT COULDN'T BE GOOD, ESPECIALLY SINCE OIL WAS ADDED BETWEEN CHANGES. I HAD THE CAR TOWED TO AN INDEPENDENT MINI MECHANIC, THEY TOLD ME THAT THE TIMING CHAIN NEEDED TO BE REPLACED, THERE WERE HOLES IN THE TURBO LINE AND SOME VARIOUS OIL LEAKS. THEIR ESTIMATE WAS ROUGHLY $2500 TO MAKE THE CAR DRIVABLE AGAIN. SPOKE TO MINI CORPORATE, URGED ME TO TAKE IT TO MINI DEALER FOR DIAGNOSTICS SO CORPORATE TO SEE WHAT HELP THEY'D OFFER ME ON THESE ISSUES BECAUSE THEY KNEW THE TIMING CHAIN BELT WAS AN ISSUE AND THEY KNEW THE CAR BURNS THROUGH OIL 50% FASTER THAN THEIR ELECTRONIC SYSTEM AND OWNERS MANUAL SAYS. THEY WERE AWARE OF THIS IN 2008 AND IT AFFECTED SEVERAL MINI COOPERS TO THE EXTENT OF BLOWING OUT THEIR ENTIRE ENGINE. A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT WAS FILED BECAUSE MINI FAILED TO ISSUE A RECALL, WARN BUYERS, OR NOTIFY CURRENT ONES. THEY EXTENDED THE TIMING CHAIN BELT COVERAGE TO 7 YEARS OR 80K AFTER THE SUIT. MY CAR HAS 73K BUT IT'S 7 YEARS GOING ON 8. THE DEALER CONFIRMED DIAGNOSIS BUT MINI WON'T OFFER ANY HELP ON THE 3-4K REPAIRS. IF THIS HAPPENED 9 MONTHS AGO, THEY WOULD COVER IT.