Do you remember when Toyota had a recall and the press tried to crucify it, without good reason, whilst motoring journalists who knew better wrote pieces explaining why these recalls happen and why such big numbers of cars were involved, well one of the darlings of the industry has just announced a major recall, effecting almost a quarter of a million cars worldwide and almost 30,000 in the UK.
BMW who make the Mini have said a possible fault with the cars electric water pump could lead to an “engine related fire”
The Mini’s that are being recalled include the Cooper S and John Cooper Works models which were built between March 2006 and January 2011 and effected customers will receive a letter inviting them to have the water pump replaced free of charge at a Mini dealership. The repair is expected to take around an hour to complete.
BMW say that there was a “very low incidence” of the fault and that vehicles are still safe to drive.
So there you have it. Recalls are common and for the main part, the problem has probably only been found in a few vehicles, but unlike many other industries, the motor trade steps up to the plate, irrespective of the cost to them of doing so and rather than the press banging them around the head for announcing a recall, they should be glad that this sector of industry has the integrity it does.
As for the British built Mini, well it goes from strength to strength as around 200,000 cars are built each year at the Oxford plant, many for export to the Mini’s biggest market in the USA, although we are told that in 2012, the fastest growing market for Mini was China!
