Has anyone else been screwed by Mini cutting off the extended warranty for the High Pressure Fuel Pump AND the Class Action Lawsuit?

Our HPFP just went bad last week and we're learning that even though we're under mileage and time limits MINI USA won't apply the extended warranty to our car. We also learned that there was a Class Action Lawsuit for this same issue and that we just missed the cutoff for that as well (11/26/19)!

Super annoyed that despite a known factory issue with these HPFP AND a class action lawsuit we're stuck to pay for these repairs ourselves. Anyone else in the same boat?

2010 Cooper S, N14 engine.

 

Well sort of in the same boat although in Canada we don't have a class action lawsuit. I understand that Mini Canada does have some kind of extended warranty but they refuse to publish a list of affected VIN's and they say my VIN (2010 Cooper S with 100,000 kms) is not eligible.

 

The HPFP have gone cheaper and certainly there are after market products with 1 or 2 year warranty. I personally have 4 or 5 defective pumps sitting somewhere from replacements through out the years (working on minis for resale)

 

Any thoughts on this one from FCP Euro: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/min...sa-13517588879
PSA Brand.

 

I like FCPEURO for their life time warranty. If you buy it and let's say it fails, they will replace it for free as many times. Personally, I always look for the cheapest option. Ebay might have used ones for fifth of that price. My last experience with refurbished pumps wasn't too good. I returned a pump twice until I asked for a refund. At any rate, check your budget and these other options. If anything, make sure it comes with some sort of warranty.

 

The misery inflicted by defective High Pressure Fuel Pumps is extensively covered in this thread:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d-refresh.html
In that thread folks who have tried the cheap, Chinese pumps say that they don't last. One user said it failed within two months. I guess you get what you pay for. $540 USD is not cheap but that is likely the route I will take since it comes with a lifetime warranty. Having read the above noted thread along with other information gleaned from various sources, the bottom line on cause of failure of these defective pumps seems to be as follows:
The pumps fail because oil leaks out via the thermal compensator that is part of the pump and so far it appears that the compensator is not available separately. However there is a tool you can buy or build to identify if your pump has lost oil. This tool would help assure an owner that he/she is not wasting their money buying a new pump if the problem was in fact elsewhere.

 

My HPFP went this past August, first week of the month (2009 MCS). The service manager of my dealership told me that the warranty had just expired 7/31, but he pushed it through and got it covered under warranty. $0 out of pocket. I’ve had excellent service from my dealership- Mini of Bedford, NH.

 

Thanks. That's good to know that FCP Euro will stand by their warranty and no, I'm not willing to take a chance on a $150 ebay part. Looking like we'll try one from FCP.

 

Awesome, thank you for this great information. I'll go through all this later when I have some more time.

 

That’s odd. That warranty is supposed to go ten years or 120k miles. If you are under the mileage, they should honor it. I was actually about 8k past the 120k and they replaced mine a few months ago. Seattle Mini is pretty good. Have you tried a different dealership?

 

We spoke to one local dealership and I actually called MINI USA, but yeah, it might be worth calling one or two more just to be safe.

 

It’s worth a try at least. Some service writers and managers are way better than others.... same for dealerships. They seem pretty hit or miss whether you have a good one or a crappy one nearby.

 

i got my HPFP claim in under the deadline, the lawsuit went our way and payments will be sent out starting in january..almost a 2k repair bill. the car runs great now, seems to have more pep.
i got the notice of the class action lawsuit months ago, but didn't have any real issues until the beginning of november when i was getting the stalls and half check engine light repeatedly. before that, i only got the half check engine light twice and one stall in the 3 years of ownership.

 

I feel the pain. My 2009 MCS started having intermittent problems last November(2018). I took it to the dealership and they said they couldn't replicate the problem. I started the process of elimination (changed fuel filter, etc.) until the only thing left that could be the problem would be the fuel pump. I finally took it back in January and left it there with instructions to keep starting it until the problem could be duplicated. About ten days later, they called me and told me that they had gotten the car to duplicate the problem, and since I had eliminated all other possibilities, they reluctantly agreed that it was probably the fuel pump.
So I was happy since my car was a 2009, and it was January 2019, and I only had 70K miles, right? I mean, right?

Ha, ha, hardy har har. I was told that my car went into service on January 9th, and since it was now January 19th, that the fuel pump would not be covered under warranty. Keep in mind that my car is in excellent condition and that there is no maintenance that isn't done promptly and correctly. My engine is spotless; I doubt the mechanic even had to wash his hands after being under the hood. I was speechless. I cried. I pleaded. I bitched. But the dealership would not budge. I was past the deadline, even if it was only a few days, and even though I had brought the car in previously for what I suspected was a fuel pump issue, they were NOT covering it since they could not duplicate my complaint during the warranty period. I tried calling MINI USA, but they were no help either, referring back to the dealership.

To add insult to injury, they charged me a $159 diagnostic fee to tell me all this.

As I paid, I assured them that it was the last dollar they would ever see from me. I own 3 MINIs. I like the marque, and I like driving & working on them. But I'm really, really disappointed in how this was handled. And I'll never, ever, spend a dollar at MINI of Loveland, CO. And I'll tell this story over & over to everyone I know and tell them not to spend their money there, either.

P.S. I bought my fuel pump here, and installed it myself:

https://neominiparts.co.uk/high-pres...ine-9507-p.asp

 

That makes me incredibly sad to hear -- our MCS came from Loveland and at the time I thought I they were a decent place -- of course we were still under new car warranty then... The dealership in Columbus, OH sucks more. It's the way of BMW corporate... Too bad Mini had to embrace it...

 

Seandallen, it almost sounds like they deliberately wasted 10 days to diagnose the problem to make sure you were off warranty. But even if untrue, I think you have an excellent argument for full reimbursement under the extended warranty that allows $1300 per pump replacement. Do they have a small claims court in your jurisdiction? If they do, I would consider filing a small claim and then self-representing. In my area a claim can be filed for $50.

I took the same route and bought and installed the pump myself and will likely take Mini Canada to small claims court.

 

I am in the process of getting screwed. My Mini Countryman S ALL4 started to exhibit sputtering/miss fire at start up and then would barely run. I called the dealer to confirm my Mini was included in the extended warranty (2011 w/78k miles). Feeling confident I had my Mini towed to the dealer and agreed to the $150 diagnostic fee that would be waived if it was the HPFP. What did they come back with? About $3000 of work that should be done, with $900 of that required to be done before they could attempt to diagnose the high pressure full system. What do they need to replace first? The fuel level sensor. Now, I have not noted any issues with the level indication or the full consumption numbers and they cannot explain HOW this would cause misfires. They have only stated that this could be giving them "false readings". I could easiliy replace the level sensor assebly for less than $300, but would this really get me to the next step? They noted the fuel level sensor fault to be 00318D, but my reader gave me nothing related to the fuel level. My reader did give multiple misfires along with fuel pressure faults. They did note fuel fault 002BEE, which is related to high pressure fuel. Simply frustrating.

 

Somebody else should confirm this, please, but as far as I can tell, there is no connection between the fuel level sensor & the pump.
A wooden dip-stick would do the same job.

 

Here is what they gave me in writing:
Fuel Level Sensor: Faults sorted 002BEE high pressure fuel plausibility cold start pressure too low, 002EFE combustion misfires several cylinders detected, 002EFF combustion misfire cylinder 1 detected,, and 00318D tank fill level sensor deviation between consumption and fill level change.The fuel level sensor fault is the only one that is showing as permanent. Suspect faults for misfires related to fuel faults, will have to recheck after repairs. Performed test plan for high pressure system and found: fault has been stored for fuel level sensor which have high probability of being cause of problems in the fuel system, rectify fault first and if high pressure faults return then proceed with high pressure system diagnostics. Because of this failure we cannot replace the high pressure fuel pump unless we replace the fuel level sensor first and then recheck the system and find a failure from the high pressure fuel pump still occurring. We do not have the parts in stock so they would need to be ordered.

Even though they state "fault has been stored for fuel level sensor which have high probability of being cause of problems in the fuel system" above, verbally they told me they believe the HPFP would still need to be replaced. They just need to get through the procedural wicket of eliminating codes in sequence in order to even consider replacing the pump. What BS.

 

Hey Minirover,

They are giving you the runaround. Mini has designed and sells an inexpensive tool that can diagnose a bad high pressure fuel pump in a matter of minutes. Your shop should have this tool. Details of this tool and how it operates can be found here:
https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/r...nit/1VnXqS8AjN

More info about this tool and pump failures can be found here:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d-refresh.html

 

I was worried that i would be given the runaround like this, when my 12 MCS started giving misfire codes a couple weeks ago. I got a Bluetooth obd2 reader and the torque app to see what my fuel pressure at the rail was. When it would stutter,the fuel rail only had around 70psi of pressure, but when it would drive ok it would have about 700 at idle. When i called to make an appointment, i had them check my vin to see if it would be covered under the extended warranty, and he told me it would, and that the diagnostic fee would be waived it they found that it was the culprit. either mini of Cleveland is pretty honest, or maybe having the pressure information helped in not getting any extra fixes that weren't necessary. Fortunately, i got lucky and had it covered under warranty, and fixed the same day. Plus i got to use a new mcs for the day, and now I'm researching suspension upgrades for mine, since now i know how smooth it should ride lol. It's going to end up costing me a bucket of ducats anyway haha.

 

Following up. In the end, they did replace the HPFP under the extended warranty and at least did not charge me the $150 diagnostic fee to find the initial issue. I did have to pay $900 to replace the in tank pump/filter/level sensor assembly. As much as I wanted to tell them to shove it you know where, they had the Mini and no matter how much discussion they would not continue to the HPFP until the other component was replaced. Now my Mini has no such warranty parts, so I can go back to just doing the work myself and only have myself to blame.

To add insult to injury, when I went to pick the Mini up there was a crack in my windshield which was NOT there when it left my house on a flatbed. The dealer noted it being cracked on arrival. Now I have to deal with the tow truck company on that matter. Ugh!!!!

 

my daughters 2010 mini just had the fuel pump go out (while driving 2 days home from college due to Covid19 ... ) purchased originally 3/9/2010. Hoping the dealership wont be that exact since it almost left her stranded on the mountain pass in northern california!
Also we had the thermostat done at an independent shop (mini/bmw)and I am not happy that they didnt know about the extended warranty for that issue! They will be getting a call from me! Guess I should have gone to the dealership....
I will report back with what my dealership says Northwest Mini in Tacoma, WA.