So I am a proud new owner of a 2006 Mini Cooper S JCW with Checkmate Package Its sonic blue with a silver roof ill post a pic after i write my story...anyway i have had the MINI for almost two weeks and what started as a happy story turned horrific once i noticed some oil in the driveway...ohhhh my God! that was the first thought that went through my head second though was f*** my wife is gonna kill me...lol so i set up an appointment at the MINI dealer and figured wtf id rather have them do an inspection and check everything out and change the oil to make sure its done right... i like working on my own cars but with a MINI i dont have the tools or the time where im currently, so MINI dealer here we are... So the guy takes her in the back and starts taking her apart and some time goes by i talked with everyone at the dealer explained to everyone i had a Mini and it was getting serviced and so on (Just side note i like the new two seaters but i still like my R53 better) so im waiting and waiting and then comes the news...

Here we go "YOU GOT ALL KINDS OF STUFF LEAKING" OHHHHHHH NOOOOO FML Yup thats the first thought that went through my head... so heres the list " You need the following stuff fixed we need to replace the 1.)WATER PUMP, 2.)ENGINE OIL COOLER SEALS, 3.) POWER STEERING PRESSURE LINE, 4.)CRANK SENSOR O-RING, 5.) BOTH UPPER STRUT MOUNTS, 6.)FOUR WHEEL ALIGNMENT, AND 7.) REAR BRAKES ARE AT 2.5MM...Holy Dog-shi* Batman

Sooooooooooooooooooo after i took a deep breath though of every bad think i could possibly think of i took the paperwork from the servive guy and did what us married men hate doing when something is wrong and i picked up the phone and called the wife...



So we decided lets get items 1-4 fixed for now and save items 5-7 for a leter date...so the nighmare was the bill which was $1,347.09 (OIL CHANGE INCLUDED ) that hurt a little i would rather have been kicked in the ***** every hour on the hour for an entire week then to have to pay that but i did because i love my MINI and i wanted her back...

(FYI Pricing on items 5-7 to be repaired $1,574.00)

I waited for a couple of hours for the wife to pick me up the good news is she called the guy we purchased the car from and complained to him and wanted to let him know how he lied to us that the car was not up to service on all maintenance and there were some issues that needed to be addressed he did advertise the car in 100% mechanical condition...BUYER BEWARE yeah i missed that part i should have had it inspected but i took the mans word i didnt think he would lie to me about it...I honestly dont believe he knew but after the wife got off the phone with him i guess he felt bad so he sent us a check for $1,000 dollars to cover some of the expenses so in the end we have an outstanding citizens award going out to the man i purchased my MINI from and im a little happier then i was before he decided to send me a check.

Moral of the story is before you purchase any used car get it inspected by the dealer or a friend that knows what hes doing i didnt do either and now i have to eat it a little bit but the good thing is that after i get the 1k back i would have only paid $12,500 for the MINI and to me shes still worth every penny and more and im happy with having her. we have plenty of years ahead of us because i am planning on keeping her for a long time... So this nightmare had a pretty good ending today, but well see what happens...with that I'm signing out and hope theres some people out there that will read this and comment back and give me a virtual pat on the back and tell me to keep my head up because its been a long and rough day for me and i just needed to share my story with my fellow MINI friends...Thanks for reading...

I still love the MINI and would not trade her...

 

Now I understand the slight attachment to the MINI cone.
Best to both of you and your MINI.

 

Congrats and good luck. Glad to hear it is working out. Post some pics and REMEMBER to Wave!

 

Yes now you understand lol thank you.

 

Learn to enjoy working on it, its part of the fun and will save you $$$$. Welcome to the checkmate club

 

We just sold a used car and we were glad that the gal brought a mechanic friend with her to check it out. We took good care of it but things do start to go wrong when the cars get older! And we didn't want to sell it and have someone unhappy. Glad it worked out for you, you will really enjoy your MINI now! Keep a good eye on your OIL!!

 

i dont know how to add my picture its on another thread wont let me post it here again hmmmmm idk.

 

Thanks for the advice ill keep that in mind for the future.

 

Nice story! lol!

Kinda the same story with me (about how much was actually spent on the car). Hubby, of course, came with me to look at a MINI I really wanted from a private seller. It was kind of a "if I don't make an offer on this car, I'm screwed cuz I just accepted an offer on my current car" sorta deal. The MINI had a few missing things, a few scratches (where a horse tried to eat it), and rock chips up the wazoo on the hood. As much as hubby did not think I should get it, hey! I really only spent $500 on this car, having sold my car for $8k, and offering $8500 for the MINI Good deal in my book. Even though the a-pillar flew off last month on the freeway, and the rear emblem was scratched beyond repair, and the window regulator being broken, and the ABS & TPMS lights going bazerk...It all STILL has cost less than $500 The regulator came with the car anyway.

SO! The seller definitely did the right thing by sending you that check. I woulda been pissed had that happened to me, but lucky for me, the seller told us everything about the car (that he at least had knowledge of). Now post pics cuz I wanna see this blue with the silver roof

 

Most of the time, photos are hyperlinked. Did you have the photo on a website somewhere, like Flickr or Photostream? You have to go back to the original location and copy that location, then you hit the 'image' link in the message text and paste the photo location into that. Then it will load the photo, though what you are really doing is linking to the place where the photo is hosted.

 

i dont know how to link it im having trouble figuring it out but i have two other pics i have not posted on here...so here they are.

the jeep next to it is my other ride...

I do the JEEP WAVE and the MINI WAVE
Well and the BIKE WAVE i have 2008 Ninja as well lol

 

The seller told us everything he knew... to be honest i really didnt expect him to do the noble thing by giving us some money for it. It was nice of him to do this and im grateful that he did but he really didnt have to... I got the car for 12,500 after the 1,000 back it is a 2006 Mini Cooper S John Cooper works with the Checkmate Package and everything in the car is like new it was very well taken care of on the outside its just the previous owner didnt keep up with the maintenance because he only drove it 4,000 miles since 2010 so 2,000 miles a year. it was garaged the entire time he owned it. He has 3 Mini's some of the problems that the vehicle had would only have been noticed on a longer drive he only would drive it around town and the biggest problem is he went to Jiffy Lube to get an oil change on a MINI wrong move there not gonna notice anything they change the oil and push you out... they dont care... but all in all im happy with the car proud MINI owner

 

Maybe one day when i get a third car lol i need it to get back and forth to work im not trying to drive my jeep lol that thing gets 13 mpg so im trying to drive the MINI as much as possible and i know how to take stuff apart, but the problem is putting it all back together without zip ties a hammer and a power drill

I see your from Central IL maybe well run in to each other one day ill be back up in the Chicagoland area at the end of this year...

 

Boils down that if you buy a used car private owner get it inspected. I am going through something similar with my 93 BMW 525iT. I ended having to put a used engine in it. Though evverything you quoted on this thread is still more then I have put in this BMW so far. That is pretty awesome of him throwing $1k at you to help because I wouldn't have. I would have laughed all the way to the bank. On the other hand it is nicer to buy used through a dealership because if something is wrong you take it back to them and ask them wtf they are thinking and get them to fix or you can take them to court.

 

I agree, you live and you learn this was my first time purchasing a car from a private seller i was thinking of getting it inspected but he had all the service records and everything from the previous owners so it wasn't his fault plus the MINI has 95k on her so i guess its expected to have some issues ... so im still happy with my purchase.

 

As long as your happy and can deal with it then no big deal. But since he gave you a grand to help you might as well get the other stuff and spend the money anyway so it is all done at one time.

 

That really is not a big deal...most of that was seals minus the water pump. A bit pricey, but as mentioned, if you did the work yourself, it would of probably only cost you $300-$400....

Glad it is all sorted and you are able to enjoy it again....

Just remember to check your oil levels or you may end up like this guy!

http://s159.photobucket.com/albums/t...ebuild%202012/

 

I'm trying to avoid that for a while when i hit about 200k on the odometer then i would like to do a rebuild with all the performance goodies that are out there...my goal is 300 -350 to the wheels ... ill make sure to post that build on here once i get there, but for now im just gonna drive it and enjoy it.

 

Your MINI is Space Blue, a very nice limited edition color.