My dealer is offering an 06 Cooper that has 6300 miles on it, but these miles were put on in the past 6-9months as a service department loaner. They will extend warranty to 100k/2013. Aside from the discussion of cost & options, what are peoples thoughts on this. Is it crazy to even consider a loaner? or if the price is right does it seem a reasonable way to get a used mini.

I have had the car myself when mine was in for service - I have not driven it since it had 3500miles on it and it was in fine shape then, no extraordinary wear and tear on what was obvious. I have to look at it closely again, but just fishing for feedback.

What do you do with a loaner? Do you kick the sh-t out of it, drive it like its stolen so they say? Or do you treat it with respect, it is somebody else's property after all.

 

With the extended warranty, I wouldn't be overly concerned -- if the price is right.

 

I agree with low miles and the are willing to put the extended warranty on it....come on down if the price is right! I say go for it!

 

I bought an '06 MCS from Morristown Mini w/ CPO... But it was a 1-user car.

I generally don't trash loaner cars... cause if 'everyone does' then the dealer won't do it anymore...

BTW, my car (aug'05 build-date) was purchased for ~20K w/ 8300mi on it...
Dark silver, cloth, 17", Not-so-lights, LSD, Cruise/mlt.fxn wheel, and dark-silver int. color line.

The CPO is from Mini (MINInext... not the dealer) and is 6yr/100K.
The dealer had the 'ridiculously' low price to clear out inventory, and they felt that this car would not move b/c lack of options...

I put my deposit down on Fri. night, and some one walked in Sat. trying to buy it.

If it has been abused, and breaks, then Mini fixes it... that's the beauty of warranties

I'd go for it if the price is right, and the dealer wants to negotiate...

 

Just make sure what the warranty is exactly. You don't want to find out it is a limited warranty after the MINI 4 year 50,000 miles run out.
Get everything in writing.

 

I drive every car like it's mine, and that's not always "Driving Miss Daisy" style. I'd be more concerned with the clutch wear, since that's not a warranty covered part. Hard to say what driver may have let their teenager learn to drive stick on the dealer's loaner car...

 

I use loaners to practice hand-brake turns

 

I would be very careful (actually if it were me I probably would not consider a loaner car unless it was ridiculously cheap) - loaners do have a tendency to be thrashed by the loanees as well as the dealer (didn't one guy say a dealership used their cars in autocross or something?).

As I understand it sometimes the car ended up as a loaner car because it was damaged in transport and needed too many repairs to be sold as new, or was a customer buyback, or a demo, etc, and it is hard to determine the history since it was never titled and you have to rely on what they tell you. Perhaps an independent pre-purchase inspection would be a good idea, as well as a sales contract stating that the car has not been in an accident or repainted, something like that. Also request a DME print out to see about high revs (if the Mini has that like BMWs).

In the end, even though things might be covered under warranty if indeed the car was harshly used and has prematurely wearing parts (I'd make sure they cover that since typically warranty does not cover wear and tear as the see it) it is no fun wasting time at the dealer and having to deal with service. One thing you can be certain of, as a loaner or demo I'll bet the oil was rarely given time to warm up properly before people drove it hard - might want to ask how that could effect the engine and if they changed the oil ever or would check the spark plugs and other related engine-y things.

Perhaps look around a bit more to see what is out there - a car might have more miles but having one caring owner is better then multiple inconsistent ones and a murky history IMHO.

 

I'd generally consider a loaner to have less value than a similar year/mile used car. I don't think the negotiations are going to go anywhere, so they will probably sell it off the lot to somebody who has no idea it was a loaner..

 

Doh, you mean I wrote all that for nothing?

 

well, I'm getting loaner in two weeks... I guess I should go find an Autocross or DE or something... no more babying this thing!

 

Not at all - much appreciated.

I think the general consensus is that you do/should treat a loaner well, but there is still the fear/fact that somebody is going to beat on it. So if you are going to buy one you are really never going to know how it was treated, nor will the dealer. They can offer an extended warrantee, but that will not compensate you for things that are not covered, nor your time wasted dealing with issues if they come up. So the net result is greater risk, and that should translate to lower cost.

The dealer likely will not see it that way and we are just not likely to reach a middle ground. No worries - it was a whim to get my wife a cooper. I've got one already and I'm happy as a clam.

 

I'd also factor in how close you live to the dealership. If it's around the corner, great. If it's an hour away, any type of warranty work can be a pain. Also, I'd wait quite a while before even thinking about the type of modifications that my lead to warranty issues.

 

I've had some low mileage loaners that seemed like they were beat to he-- and some others that were in very good shape. It wildly varies but I personally would never buy a MINI that was used as a loaner or a demo car.

 

I guess I'm just crazy, but I would have no qualms about buying a loaner, especially with the 100,000 mile warranty the dealer is offering.

 

Obviously lots of different feelings about this.