2012 MINI Cooper Countryman Transmission and drivetrain Problems

“Engine light came on so I went in for a diagnostic. I live 2.5 hours from a Mini service center. The diagnostic at autozone just listed a bunch of misfires and nothing else. That explained the harsh sounding start and sputtering. As days have gone by, car will lose power in the middle of traffic, struggle up hills, fail to maintain speed limit, and struggle to start in the morning. All these events have occurred less than a month after being serviced at seattle Mini. …”

“Upon entering an exit only line on the highway at the end of a 400 mile journey, traffic backed up and came to a stop in the exit only lane. When traffic started moving again, my car which has a manual transmission would not shift from neutral into 1st gear (or any gear). I was stopped and unable to move with traffic moving 50-60 MPH behind me and next to me. Cars slammed on brakes to avoid hitting me and one almost hit me after slamming on its breaks and turning sideways. It was one of the most terrifying experiences I have ever encountered. …”

“The driver side window motor died and needed to be replaced. The transfer case and drive shaft both needed to be replaced after only 14000 miles on a 2012 vehicle. The vehicle has been making a terrible grinding noise and rusting out from the axles but was told it was safe to drive until they could fit me in for an appointment. The grinding continuously got worse until when they took in the car today realized the problem was much worse than anticipated. It seems I am not the first individual to have such a problem with the vehicle as well.”

“From the very beginning, I have had difficulty with my 2012 countryman all4 s clutch. The car simply will not go up hills. Living in the mountain west, this is a big problem. I have been in multiple situations where the car will not engage, resulting in stalling and a burning clutch. I've had to stop and motion for people to go around me to avoid rolling back into them. I took it in twice shortly after purchasing and was told there was nothing wrong with the car. Not surprisingly, at 9,500 miles, my clutch completely burned out 200 miles from home. …”

“On a 2012 Mini countryman s all4 with manual transmission, starting at 15500 miles on the car, began noticing odd response to the throttle when accelerating on the highway. The clutch would engage and engine increase revs (200-400 RPM) to accelerate while not depressing the clutch pedal. This worsened over the next 500 miles until the RPM difference was 2000-4000 RPM. Finally, the clutch gave completely, with smoke billowing from the hood and obvious smell of burnt plate, even though I had not engaged the pedal while traveling on the highway in high gear. …”