2004 MINI Cooper S problems
Owners have filed 279 complaints about the 2004 MINI Cooper S with NHTSA. Steering accounts for 77.1% of them — far more than any other system, ahead of electrical system at 6.8%.
Complaints279
Crashes7
Fires8
Injuries4
Deaths0
What owners report breaking
Steering 77.1% · 215
Electrical system 6.8% · 19
Visibility 4.3% · 12
Air bags 2.9% · 8
Seats 1.1% · 3
Seat belts 1.1% · 3
Engine and engine cooling 1.1% · 3
Engine 0.7% · 2
Severity
Of those complaints, 7 describe a crash, 8 describe a fire and 4 report an injury.
Reading the numbers
Across the 8 model years of the MINI Cooper S in this data, 2004 ranks 3rd by complaint volume — 2005 draws the most.
Filing volume has held steady, 9 in the last three years against 8 in the three before.
The median odometer reading at the time of complaint was 74,271 miles.
In owners' own words
The power steering in my 2004 MINI Cooper S failed, leading to extremely difficult operation of the vehicle. At speed the car is ok, if a bit cumbersome. At low speeds or in a parking lot, a tremendous amount of effort is required to be able to control the car. At first, the problem was intermittent - restarting the car sometimes restored control. However, for the past few weeks the power steering is completely dead. Steering · reported at 93,500 miles
The contact owns a 2004 MINI Cooper S. The contact was driving 40 mph when the power steering malfunctioned and the vehicle became extremely difficult to steer. The contact took the vehicle to a local mechanic where he was advised that the power steering pump and the rack of the rack and pinion would need replacing. The mechanic replaced both the rack and power steering pump. The failure mileage was 70,000. Steering · reported at 70,000 miles
The power steering on my 2004 MINI Cooper S has failed several times without warning. The car is very difficult to steer when the pump strops working without warning and my wife nearly had an accident because of this intermittent failure. I checked online and there are many complaints about the very same problem.. Stopping the car and shutting the engine off and then restarting it, clears the problem. Steering · reported at 100,105 miles
Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.
Safety recalls
Checking NHTSA for open recalls…