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Dream Car Turns Into Nightmare for Branford Resident

For Sarah Charlow, buying her dream car became a huge nightmare.

Last June, Charlow purchased a Mini Cooper from a used car dealership and had it checked by a mechanic before the purchase, but the Branford resident had no idea she would run into so many problems with her new car.

Charlow said the manufacturer offered a 10-year extended warranty for up to 120,000 miles due to a known issue with the fuel pump.

In November, she took the car in when the check engine light came on and the fix was covered under warranty.

Then about a month later, the light came on again. This time, the dealership pinpointed the fuel pump as the cause.

By that time, Sarah was 1,500 miles over the warranty coverage.

She believed if the issue had been diagnosed during the first visit, she would have been within the required mileage.

So, Charlow called the car company, and an agent told her Mini Cooper had to diagnose the problem itself. She ended up driving to and from Mini Cooper’s location several times an hour each way and spent nearly $1,300 on diagnostic charges and repairs.

Mini Cooper eventually denied her claim because she was over the mileage limit.

NBC Connecticut contacted Mini USA on her behalf. Charlow said a representative from the company called her and said they would refund her the cost of repairs: $1,284.

NBC Connecticut reached out to Mini USA for comment and are waiting to hear back.

Charlow told said she is expecting to get a check next week.

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