2003 MINI Cooper Visibility (wipers, defrost, mirrors) Problems

“Drain hose from sunroof drain running down a-pillar came dislodged through normal wear and tear causing massive flooding to the interior of my car. It was rendered unserviceable and totaled, on june 16, 2014, but uncovered by insurance. This was nothing that I was aware of that was an issue, nor were any recalls ever issued on this issue. …”

“Both passenger and drivers side windows are stuttering when I try to roll them up or down. This is when I am even able to get them to work. Found that when the weather is hot, they won't work at all!! Meaning I am having to wait for it to cool down to roll the windows down if I am lucky and have on one occasion got stuck in my vehicle because the car door handle also would open the door from the inside and I couldn't open the window to open the door, which was very dangerous since I had a child with me. …”

“While driving my 2003 Mini Cooper, I noticed a crack in the bottom middle of the windshield. The crack began under the trim, moved up, turned a few inches up, and then spread toward the passenger side. Two weeks later, I brought the car in for it's first scheduled oil service, where I asked the service advisor, peter wark of Mini of the main line in bala cynwyd, pa, about the windshield. He proceeded to take the point of a small screwdriver and run it along the crack. …”

“I will be installing what will be the third manual 5-speed transmission in my Mini. Same problem, seems to be the final drive bearing is failing likely due to lack of lubrication. I have records of all service and check it regularly and it has never been low. The bearing is apparently not getting a proper supply of fluid. Problem number two, my power steering pump failed on me once. It exploded while I was driving. The hoses basically got too hot and blew up. I fortunately was able to limp it to a shop without any fire. …”

“The windshield on my 2003 Mini suffered a 5 inch crack after being hit by a small pebble. The whole windshield had to be replaced because it wasn't repairable due 1-1/2 inches of it being subsurface. On my other cars, a 1993 lexus ls400 and a 1993 isuzu rodeo 4wd, neither car has ever suffered a cracked windshield due to a pebble hit. What's worse is the 2003 Mini windshield cracked just 11 days after owning the car. The replacement was not covered by my aaa insurance.”