2011 MINI COOPER S COUNTRYMAN Power Train Problems

ON OCTOBER 7TH, 2014 THE KEY WOULD NOT COME OUT OF THE KEY SLOT. THE KEY IS NOT REQUIRED TO BE INSERTED TO START THE CAR BUT SIMPLY WITH YOU. HOWEVER, MY DAUGHTER HAD BORROWED THE CAR AND INSERTED THE KEY SO I HAVE NO WAY OF KNOWING IF THIS FAILURE OCCURRED ON THE DATE MENTIONED OR EARLIER. IT WAS IN FOR SERVICE ON AUGUST 25TH, 2014 SO SOMETIME BETWEEN THE TWO DATES THE FAILURE OCCURRED. I TOOK IT TO OUR LOCAL DEALER, MINI OF DES MOINES, AND THEY ALSO COULD NOT REMOVE THE KEY. THEY NOTICED THAT WITHOUT THE CAR RUNNING AND THE BRAKE PEDAL NOT DEPRESSED THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION SHIFTER COULD BE MOVED TO ANY POSITION. THEY DID NOT KNOW IF THIS WOULD OCCUR WITH THE CAR RUNNING, I.E. INADVERTENTLY HITTING THE SHIFTER INTO REVERSE OR PARK WHILE DRIVING. THEY ALSO DID NOT KNOW IF THE CAR WAS...

WITH JUST OVER 16000 MILES ON MY 2011 MINI COOPER S COUNTRYMAN, MY CLUTCH IS BURNED OUT! HAVING IT TOWED TO THE CLOSEST MINI DEALERSHIP AT 70 MILES AWAY, THEY ARE SAYING THE FAILURE IS DUE TO ABUSE AND IS NOT COVERED BY MINI USA WARRANTEE. I HAVE BEEN DRIVER FOR OVER 40 YEARS WITH MOST OF MY CARS BEING MANUAL TRANSMISSIONS AND HAVE NEVER HAD TO REPLACE A CLUTCH. AFTER SOME RESEARCH ONLINE, THE CLUTCH SEEMS TO BE AN ISSUE WITH THE 2011 & 2012 COUNTRYMAN MODELS AND NOW HAVE SAID...'AS PART OF THE CONTINUAL REFINEMENT AND OPTIMIZATION OF MINI VEHICLES' THEY WERE MODIFYING THE CLUTCH ON THEIR 2013 MODELS! I AM STILL IN NEGOTIATIONS WITH MINI USA ON WHO WILL PAY FOR THE REPAIRS ON WHAT I SEE AS DEFECTIVE PARTS THAT SHOULD HAVE A RECALL ON THEM.

VEHICLE STALLS FROM 1ST GEAR WITHOUT THE ASSISTANCE OF THE "SPORT" BUTTON (REGARDLESS OF TERRAIN). COMPONENTS IN THE DRIVE LINE COMBINED WITH THE STANDARD MINI CLUTCH LACK THE FEEL TO THE POINT OF CLUTCH ENGAGEMENT OFTEN CAUSING IT TO STALL. BMW/MINI DEALERSHIPS DENY ANY PROBLEM OCCURRING / EVER HAS OCCURRED. THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT NEEDS TO REFLECT VEHICLES WITH THE SAME ISSUES ALREADY IN OPERATION BUILT PRIOR TO THE LISTED DATE. OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM MINI USA: "AS PART OF THE CONTINUAL REFINEMENT AND OPTIMIZATION OF MINI VEHICLES, WE HAVE IMPROVED THE TAKE-OFF CONVENIENCE AND PERFORMANCE OF ALL OUR MINI COUNTRYMAN CLUTCHES BY IMPLEMENTING SOME SOFTWARE UPDATES AS WELL AS CHANGING THE CLUTCH FACING MATERIAL TO IMPROVE THE FEELING OF THE CLUTCH ENGAGEMENT. WE ARE SURE THAT THESE CHANGES WILL EVEN FURTHER IMPROVE THE CONVENIENCE OF OUR MINI COUNTRYMAN MODELS, AND WILL BE RECOGNIZED AND APPRECIATED BY OUR CUSTOMERS. THESE CHANGES COINCIDE...

AT 18XXX MILES THE CLUTCH IS GONE. TRANSFER CASE FOUND DEFECTIVE. THE CLUTCH HAS BEEN FAILING ON THE ALL4 MODELS ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND DEALERS ARE BLAMING USER ERROR, EVEN AS FAST AS 1500 MILES. $2500 FOR A NEW CLUTCH ON A BRAND NEW VEHICLE IS ABSURD. *TR

2011 MINI COUNTRYMAN S ALL4 MANUAL TRANSMISSION AFTER REPEATED INCIDENTS OF THE CLUTCH "SMOKING" UNDER HEAVY USE, AND REPORTING SAID INCIDENTS TO THE DEALER, AND HAVING THE DEALER INSPECT THE CAR AND CLAIM ALL WAS FINE, THE CLUTCH FINALLY WORE DOWN SUFFICIENTLY AND REQUIRED REPLACEMENT AT ONLY 4965 MILES. WE ARE VERY EXPERIENCED DRIVERS OF MANUAL TRANSMISSIONS AND DID NOT ABUSE THE CLUTCH IN ANY WAY. MINI USA COMPLETED THE REPAIR UNDER WARRANTY AS A GOODWILL MEASURE. THERE ARE NUMEROUS ACCOUNTS OF PREMATURE CLUTCH WEAR/FAILURE ON MINI ENTHUSIAST WEB SITES AND EVEN NATIONAL AUTOMOBILE PUBLICATIONS EXPERIENCED SAME (AUTOMOBILE MAGAZINE'S LONG TERM TEST CAR HAD CLUTCH FAILURE AT 15K MILES). *TT