Good afternoon NAM!

I received an EXTREMELY thoughtful gift this Christmas in the form of a '15 Countryman. Unfortunately, the salesman at the Las Vegas MINI either was misinformed or malicious when talking about the car's "finer" points.

- The salesman stressed that the car has a turbo. It's a base model Countryman, which means no turbo.

- The salesman also forgot to mention that the car was previously owned by a (what smells like) very smokey chimney. My father, who purchased the car, lost his sense of smell, so he didn't notice it until we received the car.

Does anyone have any input or influence with MINI of Las Vegas? We're from California, so I'm not even sure what we'd be able to do.

I'm not familiar with car buying; I still have my '05 Cooper S as my daily driver (getting closer to 200k miles).

Any insight would be tremendously appreciated.

 

Complaining to management would be first step. Unfortunately proving verbal assurances by a salesperson is tough and if you luck out management will be responsive to you.

Mentioning as a backup plan to them that you will post the outcome on NAM if you aren't treated fairly can't hurt your cause. Don't start off with this threat, keep it in reserve.

Possibly the salesperson was confused with F vs R series Countryman.

 

You can get rid of the smokey smell (at least most of it). Take it to a detail shop and have the interior thoroughly cleaned and the rug/headliner shampooed..

 

Thanks Minnie! Yeah, management will be involved. Ideally we want to return this one for the full price we paid, and then order a new 2018 Countryman S. Whether they're willing/responsive determines if we'll be purchasing through them, or a more local dealer.

I appreciate the info AZdsrt, but I don't think I want to pay for a full detail on a car that shouldn't have been sold to us without disclosing the smoke in the first place. I'm at least mildly allergic to smoke, so it's not something I really want to deal with. Thanks though!

 

No problem. They should have disclosed to you that it was a smokers car..

 

If you do keep it, sometimes a shampoo treatment won’t always work especially for bad smoke. You need what is called an ozone treatment. It takes a few hours but works. I’d make them pay it

It sounds like the salesperson just didn’t know the product. I’m not sure it was malicious but rather not knowing.

Regardless tell the GM, rate bad in the survey they will send and also I’d call mini USA

 

Incompetence is not an excuse. If you are a salesperson it is your job to know your products, anything less is unacceptable.


I would be unbelievably pissed if I was you. Never trust car dealers.

 

KBB shows the private sales value of the car as $5k less than what we paid for it. So I'm a bit miffed on my dad's part. Especially since they kept going on and on about how awesome the turbo is on the car. The turbo that doesn't exist.

 

To be fair, private sale KBB != Dealer KBB. Dealers do have more overhead and usually spend a deal more money reconditioning than your Craigslist seller would.

 

My original statement didn't offer it as an excuse, only that it was a possible reason for the salesperson misinforming the customer.

Over the years I've found that most car salespeople have been less than knowledgeable about the product. Sale managers want people who can sell, total product knowledge is secondary to BS capabilities.

When I bought my Countryman the sales guy insisted that all MINIs were built in England.

 

True, and I'd understand that, except that my dad paid extra to have them test the car, make sure it works, and everything. Then when we received the car and were looking it over, there was dirt and debris under the seats. Topical cleaning at best, and nothing done about the smoke smell.

MINI is my lifetime brand, but I definitely won't be referring anyone to Las Vegas MINI.

 

Op, give some coffee grounds a try to remove the smoke. Go buy a couple bags of coffee grounds, open them, and leave in the sealed car for a solid day. I've heard stories of it being successful but havent tried it myself. Regardless, its a cheap thing to try before you go shelving out money for a detail

 

Unfortunate but an educated buyer will always get a better deal. Never have I relied on a salespersons knowledge, (or lack there of).

 

+1 Glad I read the whole thread and found this. I was going to suggest that exact thing. I know for a fact that coffee grounds work well.