Got a question for you all:
I'm shopping for a pre-owned Mini - most likely a 2007 to buy next year.
I live in sunny, snow free, rust free, high tax rate, pricey California.
I'll get to the point:
Where, because of the inclimate weather, would you not buy a used car?
Stupid question?
Florida/southern states; because of the unrelenting heat and high humidity?
Northeast; because of the snow/salted roads?
Anywhere but here... used Mini resale is much too high. Have moola in a few months... will travel.
Input or is this too dumb to even approach?
There, whatever reputation I might have had/will have is toast.
Thanks.

 

It's a generalization but I'd shy away from used cars in the Northeast due to salt, and likely urban driving(stop/go-pot holed roads).

Cars from the south are generally a safe bet-a long as they are not on the coast where the salt air can be harsh. The SW has good dry air but when a MINI enters the equation it's gets tougher. There are many that really go the extra measure to care for their MINI and there is a lot that have been modded heavily and driven hard so I'm afraid you'll have to take them case by case.

 

I live in the South & have never seen any adverse effects on a car due to humidity or heat. I mean it gets hot here but nothing like the temps in AZ plus our cars are not really exposed to harsh winters

 

According to Peter Egan, the best place to buy any used car is the Southwest. Dry, Dry, Dry.

 

The best place to purchase a MINI is HERE on NAM from someone who has taken care of their MINI the NAM way. Second to that is a local MINI Club member who is active. I live in SE PA and Hendrix will never be seeing salt or Winter weather.

Our MINI was purchased (adopted) locally after my wife in a "Karma state" decided to check E-Bay and found one at a great price 10 miles from our house. It was fate!!!! We put a deposit on Hendrix in less than 24 hours

I wish you the best of luck with your search.

 

Given decent rust protection in most newer cars, it's far more related to "previous owner" than it is to "region". As such, I agree with speedwing above...

 

I agree with MDK on the Southwest cars.The more oppurtunities because of milder climate means more driving.I know of lots of winding roads here in SoCal,so lots of MINIs go for weekend drives.Also,there's a very good article in the latest issue of MC2 about used MINIs.There are a variety of drivers and cars out there,I'll bet you'll find some that are commuters and always garaged.I've read that some MINIs in the Northeast only come out when the weather is pleasant,otherwise they are garaged.I hope you have time to spend shopping,good luck on your purchase,and HAPPY MOTORING!

 

When I was looking on eBay I saw a dealer somewhere had in his ad that you should be very careful about buying out of Texas. His comment was that a bunch of the Katrina cars from Luisiana wound up there and somehow the flood damage doesn't show up on Carfax reports if they run them through Texas. Don't know if there's any truth to that or not, but one I looked at on eBay at a dealership in Texas did show on Carfax as having originally been a Luisiana car, so I avoided it just to be safe even though it had a clean report....

 

I live in the northeast/midwest with snow/salt and don't have any issues... Only rust thus far was on the stock exhaust and my lug-nuts, oh and my drivers side door hinge for some reason...lol

-Cody

 

I think anyplace that has had a recent flood or tropical storm/hurricane would be a no-no. Houston, New Orleans, etc--many of the Southern cities have periodic flooding in at least parts of the city. When used car shopping I've seen several cars over the years that I was sure had been flooded.

Car Fax might work for cars that go through repair shops, but plenty of them are just dried out and dumped before the electronics go bad.