NHTSA Complaint #10993957 — 2007 MINI COOPER

THE AIR BAG/SEAT BELT SYSTEM INDICATOR LAMPS ON THE DASH (BEHIND THE STEERING WHEEL) AND IN THE SPEEDOMETER CLUSTER (CENTER OF DASHBOARD) ARE ON WHILE DRIVING THE CAR WITH THE SEAT BELTS PROPERLY FASTENED. THIS BEGAN ON ABOUT 12/21/2014 WITH AN ODOMETER READING OF 81,190 MILES. SHORTLY AFTER THAT I CONTACTED THE MOTORWERKS MINI, BLOOMINGTON, MN, AND WAS TOLD THERE WAS NO RECALL ON THIS ISSUE AND IT WAS NOT COVERED BY WARRANTY. I ALSO CONTACTED MINI CUSTOMER RELATIONS AND CHECKED THE NHTSA.GOV SITE TO CONFIRM THIS. I KEPT WATCHING THE TAKATA RECALLS, BUT MY CAR WAS NEVER INCLUDED. I ALSO CALLED THE DEALERSHIP AND MINI CUSTOMER RELATIONS SEVERAL MORE TIME, BUT GOT THE SAME ANSWER. THEN ON 5/11/17, WE RECEIVED A LIMITED EXTENDED WARRANTY LETTER FROM MINI THAT COVERED THE SEAT OCCUPANCY MAT. THE PROBLEM WAS THAT MINI'S "POLICY" WAS TO FIRST HAVE THE PROBLEM DIAGNOSED AT A MINI DEALER 'AT OUR COST'. WE WENT AHEAD AND DID THAT, PAID ALMOST $148.50, ONLY TO BE TOLD THE ISSUE WAS WITH THE COMPUTER, OR POSSIBLY THE WIRING HARNESS AND NEITHER OF THOSE ISSUES ARE COVERED BY THE LIMITED WARRANTY EXTENSION. THE ESTIMATED REPAIR COST RANGED FROM ABOUT $1,300-$4,000. I HAVE THE DEALERSHIP INVOICE (#1MCS838674), DATED 5/19/17 (ODOMETER 97,852) IF NEEDED. AS OF TODAY, JUNE 8, 2017, THE LIGHTS ARE STILL ON AND THE ODOMETER READS 98,069 MILES (SEE ATTACHED PHOTOS). I AM REQUESTING THAT THE NHTSA REVIEW THIS ISSUE TO DETERMINE IF IS SYSTEMIC AND MIGHT WARRANT A FURTHER INVESTIGATION OR A MANDATED RECALL. IF MORE INFORMATION IS NEEDED, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. THANKS'''''..