NHTSA expands Mini Cooper power steering investigation 05/10/2011
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has announced that it will be expanding its investigation into power steering problems on Mini Coopers, bringing the number of vehicles potentially affected by the issue up to 60,000.
The watchdog agency initially began looking into the issue in September, after they received more than 300 complaints about the malfunction. BMW, which makes the vehicle, reported nearly 200 complaints of its own along with 4,500 warranty claims related to power steering.
According to the automaker, the complaints vary as to the exact nature of the issue. All involve some loss of power steering assist, making the vehicle extremely difficult to control. However, some of the complaints said that the issue was temporary while others have been of a more permanent nature. The German manufacturer says there have been at least five crashes and three fires as a result of the issue, with only minor injuries sustained.
Given the apparent widespread nature of the problem, it's likely that the expanded investigation will lead to a recall. BMW theorizes that a permanent loss of control may be related to the electronics, while temporary losses are likely malfunctions with a cooling fan.
At this time, the NHTSA says it is only looking at vehicles from the 2004 and 2005 model years.