NHTSA Complaint #11254721 — 2009 MINI COOPER

PASSENGERS OC3 SEAT OCCUPANCY MAT FAILED CAUSING THE PASSENGER SIDE AIR BAG TO BE DEACTIVATED. MINI HAD EXTENDED THE WARRANTY ON THIS FOR 10 YEARS AND 120,000 MILES. MY MINI WAS LESS THAN 10 YEARS OLD BUT DID HAVE 130,000 MILES ON 4/3/2019 WHEN I TOOK IT INTO THE DEALER. MINI HAS REFUSED TO REPLACE THIS DEFECTED PART EVEN THOUGHT THEY KNOW IT WAS DEFECTIVE BECAUSE THEY EXTENDED THE WARRANTY. THEY ALSO KNOW THAT ON PREVIOUS YEARS MODELS THEY WERE FORCED TO RECALL THIS PART AS I ALSO OWN A 2006 MINI THAT WENT BAD AND IT TOOK OVER A YEAR BEFORE THEY FINALLY DID A RECALL. MINI DOES NOT HAVE A WORKABLE CUSTOMER RELATIONS SYSTEM THAT ALLOWS THE CUSTOMER TO APPEAL THIS SAFETY DEFECT REPLACEMENT REJECTION. THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT MINI KNOW THEY HAVE A DEFECTIVE SAFETY SENSOR AND HAVE A HISTORY OF THIS BEING A BAD PART BUT ARE UNWILLING TO DO THE RIGHT THING AND REPLACE IT. THEY INSTEAD WANT THE CUSTOMER TO SPEND OVER $1,000 DOLLARS TO REPLACE IT FOR THEIR OWN SAFETY. THIS IS A BAD COMPANY DYNAMIC AND SHOWS NO CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY.