I've been looking around for a used JCW, and am a particularly big fan of mellow yellow - kind of a tough combo to find.

Found this car out-of-state from Autotrader, at first seems like a semi-reasonable deal:

http://hi-line-garage.ebizautos.com/...s-4902862.html

But I'm a bit concerned about the Carfax - clutch was replaced at 1100 miles, looks like it moved around between states, and was auctioned off.

I'm guessing it's probably got a "history", and I should just move on... appreciate any advice (i.e. "stay the hell away!!").

 

there have been some JCW lemons (independent of color ), stories of which have been shared on this board. I'd recommend search for 'lemon' in just the JCW section, or the wider 2nd gen mini sections to find them, read, and decide.

 

The car does have the warrenty so if anything was wrong it would be covered. As far as the clutch being replaced it was probably because the original owner could not drive a stick and glazed it. JCW's do not come with an automatic and someone just had to have one even though they could not drive it properly. Corvette ZO6's always had a clutch problem because the idiots just had to have a ZO6 but could not drive a stick. A high performance car with a heavy duty sticky clutch is not meant for people that can't drive a stick to learn on. They will burn up or glaze the clutch every time.
That yellow looks great and I'm sure it is probably a good car.
Ronnie948

 

Frankly, the idea of buying an out-of-state car scares the daylights out of me. Has anybody done it successfully, and are there guides/tips on how to make sure you don't get ripped off? Forgive me if this is a FAQ.

There's been quite a few cars I've seen locally that look great on the internet, but a test drive reveals lots of problems (i.e. abused engine/tranny, scratches in weird places, smells, etc.).

 

Get the VIN and call the BMW/MINI dealership in your area and check on what service records the dealership has. I have bought out of state and had no problems, but you have to do a thorough check. You could also pay to have the out of state dealership do their 100 point inspection. Then compare the answers you get with the warranty to see if you agree that everything you might be concerned about would be covered. I would also ask point blank if the car has ever been in an accident regardless of the carfax.

 

Can't really provide an opinion on the car, but it looks like it was a BMW or Mini employee vehicle. The locations match BMW offices and it's typical that employees would have a car for a year or so. In terms of the clutch, I would suspect a defect to be so short-lived. I think the real issue is how is the current one.

 

If it was a BMW/MINI owned car it would not have been titled and would have been on a MSO .The car was a repo , a lemon law car or just a normal trade in .

I will sell you a jcw with less miles for less money

 

Not true... reps drive cars on manufactuter tags with MSO, but all other BMW employees are entitled to participate in 6 month or 1 year leases and these cars are tagged and titled to BMWNA.

EDIT: Looking at the carfax, this absolutely was a MINI USA car... either a press fleet car or employee lease car. Either way, the BMWNA cars are registered in Montvale or Woodcliff Lake and it also lists that it was sold at auction as a "manufacturer vehicle"... the only cars listed in this category are the ones sold by the manufacturer (ex: BMW of North America)... even off-lease cars sold by BMW Financial Services will not be listed in this category, they get listed as "Fleet/Lease Vehicle".

 

I recently purchased a used 09 JCW (Chili Red) and my only concern with your yellow car is the lack of Sport Suspension. I would recommend you have the dealer photo copy the original window sticker and send it to you. The dealer I purchased from missed a significant number of options in his advertisement. The lack of Sport Suspension is not a deal breaker, but something you might want to upgrade in the future. As someone suggested, contact the original Mini Dealer and talk with their service department - ask them point blank if this car was near-lemon status. If no red flags appear, start dealing!!! I get this grin from ear to ear every time I start my JCW, the handling, the torque, the looks you get...the car is awesome.

 

I have actually seen this car it looks great

 

The "original dealer" was MINI USA. This car was just purchased at auction about 2 weeks ago by this dealership, it was originally a factory car. So... it's unlikely that it was a lemon, just more likely that it might have been driven hard by the previous operator(s).

 

yes I am very late to reply to this post.


You mentioned the original dealer was MINI USA and the clutch was repalced at 1100 miles.


If the original owner really was MINI USA then the car was a demo for the press and/or Motoring Advisors during training. That would explain the clutch being burned out quite quickly.

 

Very true. It's been a while, so who knows the story on that car, but I do remember going to the "Ride and Drive" for the R56 in 2007 (wow... was that really 4 years ago? ) and watching driver after driver slowly kill the clutch on one of the MCS's until it finally went up in a puff of smoke on the autocross track. The next year when I went to the Clubman "Ride and Drive", all of the cars on the autocross track were automatics.