I'm on my quest for my first Mini. I'm looking for a 2011-2013 automatic hardtop, not sure yet about S v. Justa. I'm starting to see some cars online that are former rental or fleet cars, which I guess can mean one and the same. Are those generally not worth looking at since I wouldn't know how they were driven? I also see a 2103 that had a curious Carfax. It said "engine checked" and then 3 months later was repossessed and this dealer, a non-Mini dealer, got it at auction. I would try to get maintenance records and do a PPI, but should I generally avoid these types of vehicles? Anybody buy a car that fell into one of these categories? Thanks!

 

First, you never know how ANY used car was driven unless it's being sold by the original owner and you know them personally. I wouldn't have any issues with a repo - stuff happens. Would not buy fleet - you can be pretty sure those were ridden hard and put away wet...

 

Rental mini's, aka "zip cars" seem to get driven pretty hard by occasional drivers...usually rented BY THE HOUR for city use, I would suggest they are mostly very hard city miles....

 

I suspected the fleet cars were probably put through their paces and not in a good way. I'm looking at some cars on non-Mini dealer lots and wondering if I should really try to get one from a Mini dealer given they should know how to prep the car for sale. I've usually done well getting say a Toyota from an Infiniti dealer. Definitely cheaper than from a Toyota dealer for basically the same car. However, a Mini is not a Toyota. Is it possible a Ford mechanic has messed up a Mini getting it ready for the lot just because they don't deal with Minis often? Can a PPI catch that kind of stuff or no? I don't want to be too paranoid...