NHTSA Complaint #11210203 — 2007 MINI COOPER S

I HAVE BEEN DRIVING MINI S 2007 FOR MORE THAN A YEAR WITH NO SERIOUS ISSUES OTHER THAN ONE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ISSUE, WHICH WAS RESOLVED SIMPLY BY A MECHANIC CHECK AT BMW SERVICE CENTER. ON SUNDAY EVENING MAY 26, 2019, AS I WAS PLANNING TO GO OUT, I OBSERVED THE STEERING ALERT SIGN ON. I TRIED RESTARTING AND SHUTTING OFF ENGINE MULTIPLE TIMES THINKING IT MAY BE AN ELECTRONIC ABERRATION WHICH MAY BE KICKED AWAY BY BRUTE FORCE OF RESTARTING THE IGNITION. AFTER 30-45 MINUTES OF THIS FRUITLESS EXERCISE, I TURNED MY ATTENTION ONLINE WHERE I FOUND NUMEROUS AUTO BLOGS OF STARTING THE CAR WITH JUMPERS BATTERY TO REPLACING POWER STEERING FLUID. SINCE MINI SERVICE WAS CLOSED, I HAD TO SEEK HELP FROM MY INSURANCE COMPANY. THEY SENT A PERSON AFTER TWO HOURS TO USE JUMPERS, BUT THAT DID NOT HELP EITHER. WE WERE ABLE TO CHECK THE POWER STEERING FLUID , AND THAT WAS ALSO FULL TO THE MARK. ON FURTHER RESEARCH ONLINE, I DISCOVERED TO MY UTTER DISAPPOINTMENT THAT MINI COOPERS HAVE BEEN PLAGUED WITH POWER STEERING ISSUES DUE TO INHERENT FLAW OF PLACEMENT AND DESIGN OF POWER STEERING PUMP. IT IS VERY WELL DOCUMENTED ACROSS REPUTED CAR JOURNALS/MAGAZINES THAT THE POWER STEERING PUMP FAILURE WILL DEFINITELY HAPPEN IN MINI COOPERS, AND THE ONLY VARIABLE IS THE TIME. I WAS THOROUGHLY CRESTFALLEN GIVEN I HAD PLACED SO MUCH TRUST IN THE BRAND AND THE QUALITY OF MINI COOPER. THE PURPOSE OF THIS COMPLAINT IS TWO PRONGED- ONE IS OBVIOUSLY TO HIGHLIGHT THE PROBLEM ONCE AGAIN AND MAKING SURE MINI ENGINEERS SOLVE THIS PROBLEM IN THEIR ENGINEERING DESIGN PROCESSES. SECOND- IS TO REQUEST TO HAVE THE POWER STEERING ISSUE FIXED IN MY CAR BY MINI. GIVEN THAT THE ISSUE HAS BASIS IN THE INHERENT FLAW OF THE DESIGN, I BELIEVE MINI COOPER WILL WAIVE OFF THE COST OF SERVICES AND PARTS TO GET THIS ISSUE FIXED. THIS IS NOT USUAL WEAR AND TEAR WHOSE COSTS SHOULD BE BORNE BY THE CUSTOMER.