CSR

MINI · NHTSA safety record

2013 MINI Cooper

Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.

47

Complaints

1

Crashes

0

Fires

0

Injuries

0

Deaths

Owners of the 2013 MINI Cooper have filed 47 safety complaints with NHTSA between August 2013 and April 2025. The most complained-about system is the electrical system, named in 19 of them (40%). The typical failure was reported at 37,000 miles, the median across the 19 complaints that gave an odometer reading.

NHTSA has issued 1 recall covering this vehicle.

Recalls (1)

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

23V337000 · May 11, 2023

The defect
BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2008-2014 MINI Clubman Cooper, Clubman Cooper S, Clubman John Cooper Works, and 2007-2013 MINI Hardtop 2-Door Cooper, Cooper S, and John Cooper Works vehicles sold, or ever registered, in Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington D.C., and Wisconsin. The electronic control module in the driver's side footwell area may short-circuit, due to corrosion from water and road salt.
The risk
An electrical short-circuit can increase the risk of a fire.
The remedy
Dealers will inspect the sunroof drains, interior footwell area, and FRM and, depending upon the results of the inspection, certain components will be replaced. Owner notification letters were mailed May 13, 2024. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-866-825-1525.

BMW of North America, LLC · up to 97,933 vehicles across all model years covered

What owners report

Complaints naming each system. One complaint can name several, so these add up to more than 47.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 19 40%
AIR BAGS 12 26%
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 5 11%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 5 11%
ENGINE 4 9%
SEAT BELTS 4 9%
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 3 6%
POWER TRAIN 3 6%
ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 2 4%
SEATS 2 4%
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 2 4%
VISIBILITY/WIPER 2 4%

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2024 at 13.

2013 2024 2025
2013 to 2025

In owners' own words

Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.

AIR BAGS

crash · towed · 37,500 miles

I WAS INVOLVED IN A CAR ACCIDENT ON 10/15/2015 WHICH I REAR ENDED A PICKUP TRUCK. I WAS GOING ROUGHLY 45-50 MPH WHEN THE TRUCK IN FRONT SLAMMED THEIR BRAKES WHICH CAUSED ME TO CRASH INTO HIS REAR END OF THE TRUCK. THE FRONT OF THE CAR IS IN BAD SHAPE AND LUCKILY I WAS NOT INJURED. HOWEVER, THE AIRBAGS IN THE CAR DID NOT DEPLOY WHICH I FIND VERY DISTURBING.

NHTSA complaint 10783526. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS
Error code is 93C3 Passenger Seat Occupancy Detector. This seems to be a known problem on almost every Mini Cooper and should be recalled and replaced. Car barely has 63k miles on it.

NHTSA complaint 11654599. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Thermostat sensor malfunction. Mini coopers all around world had issues with the first generation thermostats and sensors, they created an entirely new system for all new minis with a new thermostat house and different sensor type. Yet they did not recall all the other minis when they don’t even sell the old thermostat anymore. So the new house and sensor won’t fit on the first gen models. This is a worldwide issue with first gen models

NHTSA complaint 11645399. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS
Passenger occupancy sensor malfunctions all the time and there are hundreds of claims regarding this issue but was never addressed by the manufacturer The same issue prompted a recall in older models but has not been corrected in newer ones

NHTSA complaint 11621760. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SEATS
As per NHTSA there was a recall the replace OC3 SEAT OCCUPANCY MAT but I never received recall notice and just passed 10 years with 40K millage and started getting air bag light, dealer is not replacing it under warranty, if they was a recall they should have replaced my seat earlier so that I would not have this issue today. is there a way to extend warranty to longer time or recall all the cars and replace them so that we do not have to spend 2k to replace it? "01 11 16_OC3 SEAT OCCUPANCY MAT: LIMITED WARRANTY EXTENSION TO 10 YEARS/120,000 MILES"

NHTSA complaint 11617003. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Blinkers stopped working and windows are no long rolling down

NHTSA complaint 11609881. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The contact owns a 2013 Mini Cooper. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V337000 (Electrical System) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted, and it was confirmed that the part was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

NHTSA complaint 11595123. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the MINI Cooper

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2019 12 2
2017 28 3
2016 28 4
2015 56 6
2014 34 7
2012 66 1
2011 83 1
2010 92 2

Other 2013 MINI models

Every MINI on this site — 29 vehicles, 45 recall campaigns and 0 open investigation s.

If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. What each state asks for , read from the statutes.

Where these numbers come from

A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.

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