Mini have announced that they are going to be recalling nearly 240,000 cars because of a fault that can potentially cause vehicles to catch fire. The company said that there are around 30,000 cars in the UK that have this fault. The company has been receiving complaints for many months from drivers saying that cars have caught fire when they have been unattended.
Others have said that the problem has occurred when they are driving and they will suddenly see smoke rising from underneath the bonnet. The manufacturer of Minis, BMW, has, up until now, stated that there was no problem with the cars. In an about turn, the company has just stated that they are investigating a problem with the cars and it appears that the fault is affecting models built between 2006 and 2011.
It is believed that the malfunction is because of a circuit board which controls the cooling system. If this circuit board fails then the water pump is unable to cool the car and this can cause the engine to catch fire. Several incidents have been reported in the UK but only two are being investigated by authorities. In the United States there are 12 incidents currently under investigation.
It is expected within the next few weeks that owners are going to be given a recall notice. A spokesperson for the manufacturer has stated that the chance of something actually happening to your car is very low and they have urged people to continue using the vehicles.
He specifically pointed out that there have been no injuries or deaths because of the fault. He stated, “Vehicle owners are going to have to go to the dealership and have a new water pump installed, this is all that is required. It should be a relatively simple and easy problem to fix.”
