With all the comments lately about value vs. asking price, I thought I'd provide a link to what I think is the DoD (deal of the day).

Before we start, I have no interest in the sale of said vehicle and I do not know the seller.

So here it is a 2005 MCS Hyper Blue with Black, all 3 packages plus HK and only 9400 miles - Buy it now price: $22,800

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mini-Mini-Cooper-S-2002-Present-Mini-CooperS-runs-
and-looks-like-new_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ107009QQitemZ460853 9990QQrdZ1

Good luck

 

I noticed the last thing the seller purchased was a "guest membership" to buy and sell salvaged vehicles.
Then I noticed the water marks around the HK speaker in the door and the door sill below.

 

Hmm I see what looks like a water/salt mark on the sill, but the rest of the photo is rather low quality.

He's listing it with a clear title and with an eBay Auto Check report link, but like I said I don't know this guy.......... my comments were based solely on options, mileage and the buy it now price.

Buy smart and spend the money for the carfax/ebay autocheck thing

 

Hi All, I just checked the records through experian autocheck...it does check out with no damage ever recorded. Who knows if there is anything that is not recorded. Salt marks could be from winter driving...John

 

I'm not so sure the car checks out ok.

If you look carefully at this picture, you can see that not only has the car been wet before, it is wet right now!

 

Just because a carfax report comes up clean does not mean this car was not flooded. It just means it was not flooded AND reported to insurance/DMV etc. This car could have been flooded and the owner decided to clean it up and sell instead of filling an insurance claim. Just a thought but this would explain the low price...

 

Nice catch! He's also bought parts for two other vehicles (Caravan and Camry) in the last month. I'd definitely stay away from this MINI.

 

Man remind me to never do another one of these threads!

So, the seller bought a radio & a fan for the Caravan & a radio for a Camry and that means he's a cheat. It would have been more telling if he bought a gross of paper towels.

As I said in the first post, my reason was to show price vs. value since folks were getting wrapped around the axel (no pun intended) with a seller's asking price. Now we have a car at the $$$$ that you guys say all the other cars should be at, but since it is, it must be a ripoff???

I have zero experience with Carfax and eBay's Auto checker but don't these services have a money back warranty? Never mind I answered my own question, yes they do!
Seems to me that a buyer would be protected against just what everyone is concerned about???

 

as an FYI ...

http://www.cnn.com/2006/AUTOS/01/27/...ars/index.html

 

For better or worse, when it comes to eBay I always start off assuming that people are dishonest and I'm going to get screwed, and then work backward from there if their feedback looks good.

I didn't mean for my post to be construed as criticism for you posting the link. I certainly agree with your intent.

 

I've bought and sold several cars on Ebay. The best thing to do is, email them and ask if you can pick the item up in person and pay by cashiers check. If they say no and give any excuse at all, then you know its a scam. If they say yes, your usually OK as long as their feedback is OK. Whether or not you actually pick up in person is irrelevant, its just a means to see if the seller is Legit. Anyway, I'd say this car is probably OK, just ask him if its been flooded, wrecked, painted or damaged in any way and your going to have it inspected before payment. If he says OK, then, its probably legit.

Who knows though, but, its always worked for me.