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MINI Recalls 30,456 Cars for Poor Side Impact Protection

We’re used to seeing cars being called back for airbag issues (remember Takata?) or for small engineering or assembly errors. We’re definitely not used to them being called back because your life might be in danger because of a side impact.
2015 MINI Cooper 1 photo
Photo: Florin Profir
MINI is breaking the rule with its latest campaign, calling 30,456 Cooper, Cooper S and John Cooper Works models back to their dealers to solve an issue that has been brought to light just recently by the NHTSA.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the cars they tested showed poor results in terms of side impact protection.

In the affected vehicles, rear-seat passengers could be at a higher risk of injury after a severe side impact. It should be mentioned that this is not due to a malfunction, but it appears to be an issue determined by poor engineering and design in the first place.

To fix this issue, it seems like MINI will be fitting additional energy absorption material between the rear interior side panels and the body of the car. How exactly this will help  and how much of that material will actually be installed remains to be seen.

Owners of the affected 2014-2015 model year vehicles will be notified via mail beginning September 12 and will have their cars fixed for free at MINI dealerships. According to them, no reports of injuries have been recorded so far, related to this particular issue.

4,130 additional MINIs in Canada have also been diagnosed with this problem and will go through the same process.
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