VIN: [xxx], delivered Sept. 2004. Current mileage 49,940 this car was ordered via MINIcom. The only drivers are a 63 yr female and a 63 yr male. No children have ever driven this car, nor has it been raced, driven hard, simply driven to work and back last week I was driving to work, a 11 mile trip max speed on a 55 mph highway. The front end made a huge noise, the car shook, and I stopped. I had to call a towing service, as I felt the car was undrivable. The service towed the car to MINIof nashville, where I was told the "harmonic balancer" broke, and it then broke the front axle. What" I asked, is a harmonic balancer" and what does it do", after a lengthy conversation, I find out that if the car is too old, the rubber dries out and this can happen. For a part to wear out, I am stuck with $2,000 repair bill. This car is not too old, it has less than 50,000 miles on it and is always garaged. If the parts MINIuses on a car and if MINIknows that they wear out then MINIshould fully disclose this, as consumers can make informed decisions when making decisions on car purchases. This is not what I expect from a MINIthis car was gently driven, well taken care of. Your "harmonic balancer" is defective, you should make the buyers of your cars aware of the defect, put yourself in positions to make it right. This car was undrivable, I could have had a serious accident at high speed if a broken axle occurred while on a long trip, let alone the inconvenience of repairs, hotel stays, and other interruptions. I am expecting MINImake this repair as a warrantied item, covering the cost, labor to repair defective parts. The invoice is dated 29 April 2011, MINIof nashville, I am customer # 31442. The invoice reads as follows: The driver states while driving it sounded like something fell out from underneath the MINI11 - replaced dampner. 1035 C there are many incidents of this on the web. I firmly believe this is the result of using inferior parts. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of inform

- Franklin, TN, USA