Hello all,

I am considering purchase of a 2007 MINI Cooper S. It has 25k on it, British green, premium package, cold weather, HIFI Stereo, Bluetooth and sports package. It currently has non-mini rims with Michelin Arctic Alpines, which kind of works out as it is winter here. I went and test drove it today and took it over to the dealer for a look see. Everything looked great, checked out at the dealer.

Here is the bad part it has a prior salvage title and was a repo. The price is awesome though, $12k out the door. The bank currently owns it.

I looked it over for panel alignment and over spray and saw nothing.

Run away or jump on it?

 

What caused the salvage title, 'carfax report would help, perhaps'.

Good price, if they would negotiate, 10K would make me forget the salvage title.

Good luck.

Don

 

If the salvage title is due to flood damage, run and don't look back. If, crash damage, check the tires for uneven wear, but if checked out at the dealer, you probably have a great deal as long as you plan on keeping it for a substantial period of time. (The salvage title will make it much more difficult to sell).

 

Autocheck, rated it an 84. Unfortunately it didn't say much about the details of the accident. Car only had 6000 miles on it when it happened.

 

I would track down the previous owner or shop that did the salvage repair. I've rebuilt several wrecked MINI's just fine, but some have also been sent to the grave.
You need to be really careful with a car with salvage history. People that are selling it are alot of time flat out LIARs. The biggest thing they will tell you is that it was a theft recovery, or repo. That way you don't get scared of damage to it or start looking, but this alot of times is just a lie. Take it to someone to have it checked out, and you can also have carmax check it. They have expensive paint gauges that will tell you what panels have been painted, that will give you a place to start looking. Hope that helps, just be careful. A good shop that does a rebuild will do what I do and take pics before they start to show what the damage was and you can compare to the fixed version.

 

That's a tough question. I certainly would offer less, there can't be too many folks willing to take a chance on it. If everything checks out, the only real problem will be selling it.
Please let us know what happens.

 

Even though $10 or $12k seems cheap by comparison for a 2007 MCS with only 25k on the clock, it's not exactly a small chunk of change for most people (definitely not myself!). If the car is totally worthless in the long run then it'll be an expensive venture. I would have to be beyond certain that it was just fine before considering spending any money on what might become a much more expensive project.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone. Having the dealer check it out makes me feel pretty confident. Spoke with the bank today and they agreed to sell it for $10500. Picking it up tomorrow. Here is a picture.

 

Forget it. The car will have little or no resale value. Salvage titles indicate the car was a wreck.

 

Brought it home today. It is a blast. Funnest car since my Fiat X19. Hopefully it stays that way.