The British hot hatch just got hotter. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 12 complaints were received in regards to MINI Cooper S engine fires, 5 of them resulted to total vehicle loss. Concerned that this is not an isolated incident, NHTSA has announced an investigation on 36,000 2007-2008 Mini Cooper S, Mini Cooper S, and 2008 Mini Clubman models.
The good news is no accident, crash, or injury were reported as a result of the fires. In fact, Eight complaints reported that a fire occurred while the vehicles were parked with its ignition off. However, as engine fire reports have increased in the past year, NHTSA submitted these complaints as Early Warning Reporting data in hopes to address the anomaly before more Minis are affected.
Mini’s parent company, BMW, has yet to return a message in regards to the matter.
NHTSA have conducted previous Mini investigations concerning power steering failures.
[Source: Detroit News]