A little back story first:This relates to the excessive heat in the driver footwell while driving for a bit.First complaint was on June 9 and was told no problem found.August 8 returned with second complaint and was told a bulletin was issued for the complaint and ordered the heater core insulation.August 26 the ordered heater core insulation was installed.Returned on October 2nd with same complaint to have the Mini Factory Rep look at my car and he ordered rubber replacement pedals from a Justacooper to "correct" the problem.October 16 replacement pedals installed drove for a bit but heat still coming from all of the pedals.On October 21 I told my SA the problem still remains and he said the rep was reviewing my cars history.

Anyway I have tried numerous times by telephone and email to contact my SA but no reply so yesterday so frustrated be on belief I contacted MINI USA directly and told the CSR about my complaints and she couldn't even reach my SA nor the Service Manager for that matter but managed to speak with the Customer Relations person at Vista MINI.I got a call from Vista MINI and was told no assistance for a replacement Mini and was told the same from MINI USA.

I've followed all of the procedures relating to Customer Assistance-Notification outlined in the 2008 Service & Warranty booklet to the letter and the final step is filing for a Florida Lemon Law.I sent a Motor Vehicle Defect Notification by certified mail to Vista MINI along with a copy to the Office of the Attorney General Lemon Law Research Unit in Florida.Now the wait for an answer begins.

Sorry for the long rant.

 

Im in the same boat as you right now. (But in CA, and for a different issue)

Hopefully it goes quickly for both of us and we can get on with life!

 

Just to make sure you have reasonable expectations, lemon laws apply to cars that have unfixable defects in material and workmanship, not cars that don't work as you think they should. If your car has about the same footwell heat as a typical Mini, then it is by design and you'll get nowhere.

Just curious, how does the problem manifest itself? Are you feeling heat from the pedals through your shoes?

- Mark

 

+1 Also curious!!! There maybe variations in one MINI to the next that are within acceptable design / build tolerance. Not to make light of your issue, but how hot is it? Is it too hot to touch and have you been able to check similar models to see how much variation there is?

 

Interesting. I remember when the Hot Footwell issue was hot, and it wasn't the pedals it was the vertical carpeted piece to the right of your right foot driver's side. The dude that was into it (I forget his screen name) measured the temp with an IR device. Just curious, but did anyone do that to the OPs car? I'd think if it was a temp issue making the car a lemon you'd need a number wrt your car and other cars as a start to have a good case.

 

First thank you all for your replies

The heat is coming from the firewall which then travels to all of the pedals causing them to get hot.So yes through my shoes/sneakers which makes it very uncomfortable to drive after around 15 minutes when the engine warms up.Lets just say "hot" foot comes to mind.

That was actually coming from the heater core and Mini issued a service bulletin to wrap the heater core which was the first thing I had taken care of.On one visit to service my SA did take a temp reading while driving around but I saw that the digital thermometer wasn't located where the heat was actually coming from (the pedals) when he returned back from his test drive.I did tell him that but it went in one ear and out the other.The other visits didn't get much done as stated.Bringing in my car now won't do much good since I was told no more help from the powers that be so filing for the Florida Lemon Law is my final option at this point.

 

So you can actually feel the heat on the pedals through your shoes to your feet? Those pedals must get really hot! I don't ever recall walking on hot asphalt during the summer and feeling any heat through my shoes, so those pedals must be really HOT! Have YOU measure the temp on the pedals?

 

Yes and yes they do.Personally no I haven't measured the temp but my SA "tried" but didn't measure it at the correct location.Even MINI USA is a bit ticked off at my SA but they told me the Factory Rep said no even though he never verified if the replacement pedals worked or not.

 

An IR image might be helpful of your MINI and maybe a MINI that does not produce a hot foot.

 

Good luck with you Lemon Law proceedings. Again, just to be sure you understand, you are going to have to show that your pedals are hotter than a non-defective car, not that they're hotter than you think they should be. If I were you, I'd drive your car for 30 minutes and measure the temp, then drive a new one on the same route and measure the temp. If yours is significantly hotter than you have a good case - they haven't fixed yours in multiple attempts. If they're the same, you're probably hosed.

- Mark

 

JCR,

I say go with it all the way! Several years ago, a couple friends and I drove cross-country in a Uhaul and the transmission housing got so hot, you could not lean your leg or feet against the cabin shroud or the floor board next to it; it would literally burn you if you left any exposed body part resting against it after only a few seconds and even with shoes on, it'd get unbearable.
Mini needs to step up.

Good luck!
Greg

 

I just went through it with a 2006 VW Jetta TDI last year here in GA. GA lemon laws say 30+ days and/or 3+ times to fix the same problem. The car was having engine shaking problems at idle which did not effect drivability. After the car spent about 35 days total at the same dealer, I told them to "park it" so I can figure out the next plan of action.

In my case, the Jetta was fully paid for, title without a lien. They came back to me and offered to buy the jetta for MILES/100000 plus damages to keep me quiet. To put it simply;

I had put 35000 miles on the car, so
100000-35000 = 65000
65000/100000 = 65/100

Purchase price was $25,000
65% of $25000 = $16250

They then offered me a settlement of $7000

Total buy back was $16250 + $7000 = $23250

So I drove the car for almost 2 years, 36,000 miles, got an average of 40MPG (diesel) and it only cost me about $2000 + fuel.

Not bad for 2 years of driving, no maintenence, and 35,000 miles.

Then I bought another lemon...

 

sikamini I will see about getting an IR image.Thank you.

markjenn I will see about getting the readings to have on hand for actual proof but the Mini Factory Rep already said to have them replace the stock S metal pedals with rubber pedals from a MC which proves there is a problem and I have all of the RO's with the complaints and possible fixes which still haven't corrected the heat issue.Thank you.

GregO thank you.

unclemeat that is great to hear but I am sorry to hear that you bought another lemon in your final comment.

 

Best of luck on a satisfactory resolve for your MINI, are you wanting a refund, or another (perfect) MINI?

Recall that you also had to suffer other issues with "Scrappy~2008".

For your 'Temperature Test Comparison' you might want another 'S' model.

I can tell you that with my Non-'S', I have found no trace of any of the heat problem that you have had and have never had any 'insulation' added.

I can confirm the there is heat in the plumbing down there, but have driven on four hour+ drives without any hot foot.

 

Thank you pilotart.I extremely happy with driving a MCS just not Scrappy mostly due to the continued heat issue in the driver footwell.And yes Scrappy has been unreliable as I had posted before with numerous problems.From what I understand with a Lemon Law filing the manufacturer will have a final chance to fix the vehicle and if they can't then either offer a replacement vehicle or a complete refund.

I think what finally put me over the edge was that the MINI CSR asked me why not just trade it in on a new one when I am asking for THEM to replace my problematic MCS.

 

This is just the dealer/rep trying to placate you in any way they can and proves nothing. Again, the LL bar is not to show the car has a "problem", you have to show your particular car is defective and they can't fix it in multiple attempts. The heat issue has to be specific TO YOUR PARTICULAR CAR.

- Mark

 

Sorry, but something sounds fishy....there are components between your pedals and engine bay which would MELT long before or soon after you felt the temps you say are heating up your foot pedals...........................And since this has been going on for what 4+ months......again doesn't make any sense........

 

One of the reasons for the time delays was that there was only 1 SA so appointments were not easy to make yet alone he was extremely hard to contact plus they only have 2 Mini techs so they can only work on a couple of cars at a time. Like I mentioned there have been multiple attempts to remedy the excessive heat in the driver footwell to the point they called in the Factory Rep.My first appointment was rescheduled due to the first Factory Rep left Mini and a different Factory Rep was then assigned.

 

Agreed the rubber on the pedals themselves would be melting along with the bottom of your shoes if they were hotter than asphalt in the summer. It is really easy to put an outside thermometer there to check to see what the temp is getting up too.

 

This forum has more lemons than any other forum that I visit.

I have a 2007 Miata, a 6-series BMW and a E-class Mercedes in addition to the 2009 Cooper S and none of the other cars have given me any problems. The Miata website is devoid of lemons and those cars are rock solid.

My first 2008 Cooper S was a lemon and now I am on the second one. I like the car, I like the dealer and the people at BMW NA but I do not understand why BMW keeps selling a car that was obviously not sufficiently engineered.

Somehow a well conducted national survey should identify the number of lemons and a qualified legal firm should start a class action whereby all US Mini owners receive compensation for past, present and future problems.

In the meantime I shall wait for the Alfa Romeo built Mini as I am willing to forgive the Italians things that I will not accept from the Brits.

Any idle legal eagles among us?

 

^^Ian I hear what you are saying but the majority of Mini's are not lemons and is rather rare but they still exist as you have already experienced along with few others here on NAM.All car enthusiast message boards tend to amplify the negative and suppress the positive.The benefit though is to be able to help each other when things go wrong and get opinions on what to do to correct it if possible.

Personally I have owned over 35 vehicles in the past and never ever had to even consider pursuing filing for a lemon law until now with my '08 MCS.Sure my other vehicles had minor problems with them but were fixed under warranty and never the same problem reoccurring.

Keep in mind there are many NAM members that haven't had any problems with their Mini's and those that have had a few problems.

 

Any idea where the heat is coming from?

 

I'm in South Miami and would love to experience the hot pedals on scrappy...You could also use LJ to get temps on another S.

BTW, have you for some reason been wearing these?

 

Can't quite agree with you here JCR.

Reading the various posts in NAM I see owners who absolutely love their cars, many of which have been baptized and elevated to family member status, and this boundless love makes them willing to excuse any digressions and shortcomings of their precious pets.

I agree that the little car has many endearing qualities, I bought one or two after all, but I look at the second one with a suspicious eye not quite trusting the little beast to behave and I approach it every day with renewed apprehension.

If the guys in Munich tried to instill some personality in the modern day Mini they have certainly succeeded, the car is every bit as oxymoronic as its sixties predecessor. I should know, I had one of those as well.

 

Well since I am not an engineer I can only take a guess at this point.The original heat problem on the MCS was in the driver footwell came from the heater core which is located behind a panel inside the center stack on the left side.The TSB said to add insulation to the heater core which is located behind the panel.Some said that took care of most of the heat issue where mine still continued.Personally I feel the heat is coming from the engine compartment thru the firewall and heating all of the pedals once the engine warms up.

Good point Ian.