10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 5 / 1
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 5 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 55,687 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
Passenger airbag warning light keeps flickering on and off. This happens a lot.
- Knightdale, NC, USA
Passenger seat occupancy sensor SRS light failed while one of my friend was trying to be seated in my car.
- Phoenix, AZ, USA
The contact owns a 2006 MINICooper. The contact stated that the air bag sensor illuminated intermittently over an extended period of time. An authorized dealer stated that the failure was caused by the floor sensor mat. The vehicle was scheduled for diagnostic testing and to be repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 84,000.
- Nashville, TN, USA
Airbag failure light came on... after researching this problem, this is a known issue but the manufacturer will not cover this under warranty. $700 to diagnose and fix the issue (conservative estimate) called MINIusa, and they will not issue a recall even though thousands of people have had the same issue.
- Asheville, NC, USA
The passenger airbag disabled light turns on intermittently, even when the passenger seat is occupied by an adult. The airbag might not deploy in an accident. The problem is caused by a faulty passenger seat occupancy sensor mat in the seat cushion. It failed once before and was replaced by the car dealer. Now the replacement sensor mat is also failing.
- San Francisco, CA, USA
Passenger seat occupancy sensor illuminates at all times indicating no passenger even when passenger is present, thereby preventing the airbag from deploying in an accident. This incident is extremely widespread and found on countless blogs on the internet. At this point, people are completely disabling the system through a device found online just to turn the light off - meanwhile putting their passengers at risk. BMW (manufacturer of MINIhas recalled the same item on numerous BMW's and extended the warranty on those parts due to the inherent safety concerns. How this has not been recalled yet or looked past for the MINIis completely baffling. Somebody appears to not be doing their job! so along with the other multiple posts on this particular site, I would like to add mine and request please that somebody look into this safety issue that is repeatedly costing MINIcustomers large sums of money or their safety. This is ridiculous. Thank you.
- Edina, MN, USA
The contact owns a 2006 MINICooper. The contact stated that the air bag warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local mechanic who performed a diagnostic which located a failure code at the front passenger seat sensor. The passenger front seat needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 65,000 and the current mileage was 89,200.
- Miami , FL, USA
The air bag system warning light in the gauge cluster is lit at all times and makes the car chime all the time too. The dealership tells me that this is because the sensor mat in the passenger seat has failed and must be replaced. The dealership also tells me that all of the air bags in the car are disabled as long as the warning light is on, putting all passengers in the vehicle in danger of sustaining greater injuries in the event of a crash. These cars are made by BMW, which has acknowledged the same problem in their own cars, and have recalled over 200,000 BMW's to fix it. I feel that they should be required to address this problem in MINIcoopers, too.
- Liberty, UT, USA
The contact owns a 2006 MINICooper S. the contact stated that the front passenger's air bag warning light on the rearview mirror was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the technician diagnosed that the seat pad sensor needed to be replaced. No repairs were performed to the vehicle. The manufacture was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 54,000 and the current mile was 67,000.
- San Diego, CA, USA
Airbag warning light on dash is illuminated after moving passenger seat back and forth. Unable to clear the light.
- Cedar Crest, NM, USA
An electronic board in the passenger front seat malfunctions causing the front passenger air bag to become disabled. Apparently, from all of the comments on the internet and your site, this problem is well known in that the electronic board has a flawed components. A replacement board from MINIwill also fail within time because no modifications or improvements have been made to this board. I have reviewed the complaints to the NHTSA and yet your organization has failed to require a recall.
- Cockeysville, MD, USA
Passenger seat airbag sensor has triggered the red airbag light on the dash board instrument cluster. Currently I am driving a vehicle without operating airbags as it is $1,000 for the part. It was already replaced twice in the past under warranty. I read that BMW just issued a recall for the passenger seat airbag sensor for their cars but not the MINIwhich is owned by BMW. Hopefully I am not going to fast when the power steering motor burns out...
- Raleigh, NC, USA
My 2006 MINICooper air bag lights (passenger seat light as well as dash board air bag system lights) are intermittently coming on and staying on when I start my MINIThe dashboard light apparently comes on when a fault is detected in the airbag system, and as a result the system is deactivated. This is very serious since I'm now driving in a MINICooper with no airbag protection. The seat light indicates the passenger air bag is turned off due to someone of light weight sitting in the passenger seat. This light is now coming on with any average adult or no one at all sitting in that seat. I decided to check the internet for this issue and was shocked to see how many people had the same issue. Even more shocking was repair cost for this issue. Dealers are charging customers $1000 to $2000 to replace the passenger seat sensor which appears to be the most common culprit. Instead of replacing the sensor itself, the entire seat needs to be replaced. Even saw some customers had the same issue reoccur 1 to 2 years after this fix. Spoke to my local BMW/MINIdealership who acknowledged that BMW had the same issue which is now under recall, but MINIdoes not have a recall. This issue needs to be recalled and fixed... someone is going to get killed because of it! I love MINIbut am highly disappointed with how this issue is being handled. My daughter wants to buy a MINII will strongly recommend she does not.
- Hamilton, VA, USA
The contact owns a 2006 MINICooper. The contact stated that the air bag light intermittently illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted about the failure. The failure mileage was 75,000.
- Hamilton, VA, USA
The seat sensor is faulty. It reads that someone under 30lbs is in it (disabling the airbag) the dash light verifies it is off. This problem is intermittent to this day. So if a crash occurs the sensor won't read correctly if anyone is in the seat or not, the airbag may not deploy and if it does will do so possibly with too much force.
- San Antonio , TX, USA
The red air bag warning light came on. It won't go out. The MINIdealer in birmingham said it's not covered under warranty. MINIusa said the same thing. However, BMW recalled their 2006 models for the same problem. Several other MINIowners are reporting the same problem. The owners' manual states that the air bags may not deploy properly in the event of a crash if the warning light is on. This is a safety issue, and MINIusa needs to address it.
- Montgomery, AL, USA
The air bag system warning light in the gauge cluster is lit at all times. The repair shop tells me that this is because the sensor mat in the passenger seat has failed and must be replaced. My research indicates that this is a very common issue that is unjustifiable expensive to repair. The repair shop also tells me that all of the air bags in the car are disabled as long as the warning light is on, putting all passengers in the vehicle in danger of sustaining greater injuries in the event of a crash. These cars are made by BMW, which apparently acknowledged the same problem in other cars they produced and made repairs. I feel that they should be required to address this problem in MINIcoopers, too, via a federally mandated recall campaign.
- Weare, NH, USA
The contact owns a 2006 MINICooper S. the contact stated that while driving 20 mph, the air bag warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection where they stated that the passenger's seat mat needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 45,000.
- Richmond, VA, USA
The contact owns a 2006 MINICooper. The contact stated that the front passenger's seat was occupied when the air bag deactivated warning message displayed. The contact stated that the dealer replaced the seat mat sensor but the repair did not remedy the issue. The contact took the vehicle back to the dealer for a diagnostic test, which confirmed that there was a defect in the seat mat sensor. The dealer did not replace the seat mat sensor. The failure mileage was 45,000.
- Honolulu, HI, USA
- Honolulu, HI, USA