<rant>
As I investigate returning into the MINI fold, I've been perusing the various big-name used car online ad sites. One that I like is cars.com.

According to the site, there are 21 used Pacemans (Pacemen?) available nationwide. And of those 21 used Pacemans, 11 are used JCWs! Again, according to the site. (And all of these are at dealerships, NOT private sellers.)

Of course, the odds of there being 11 used Paceman JCWs with them being so new and rare... And, not surprising, they actually aren't JCWs. None of them, as best I can determine from the descriptions and photos. (Like there could be a Copper JCW Paceman? or one with 17 inch wheels? No JCW logos? You get the idea.)

Why do dealerships do that? And most of these are MINI dealerships - Why advertise a car as being something that it's not? It's not as though someone wouldn't notice!

</rant>

 

The problem appears to be with the Cars.Com listings. The first one I looked at clearly stated it was an "S" model although Cars.Com titles it a JCW. Each of the dealers have their own websites.

 

I've spent an inordinate amount of time looking at used Mini on Cars.com. It's very common to see them listed as S and AWD when looking at the photos, the lack of emblems denoting S and ALL4 aren't on the cars. Following up at the dealer specific websites, they are also listed incorrectly. The best I can tell is some listings are absolutely wrong while other dealers list JCW if they have ANY of the JCW packages, not inclusive of the engine.

I think a far more common issue is listing cars as the incorrect transmission or listing leather interior when it's really leatherette.

 

Snitty is on to something.

You can see here that JCW "appearance packages" are now allowed for the CM and PM. http://www.motoringfile.com/2013/06/...and+Podcast%29

It doesn't mean that you are getting the JCW engine or performance package. Whatever they want to call it.

 

Folks, cars.com is an automated website. Nobody from cars.com puts the cars on the page.. Nor do the dealers.. The dealers list "a car" with basic specs... Cars.com does some filling in of the blanks...

 

also possible that the dealers use "keywords" and use them a tad too heavily. ie- Dealer says to himself, "self, I think this hot S model might also attract someone looking for a JCW so I'll include JCW as a keyword"? ditto tranny. Many people "want a stick but end up in an automatic. Consumers are goofy that way. Just depends. Not everyone is the consumate enthusiast though most here are. Also possible that this is just accceptable industry practice? After all we are talking about the auto industry here.

 

I've had the same problems with the dealer websites as well. When I did a search for the all4 S on the dealer sites, I would get results for S models, but about half were clearly not all4 models. It can be really hard to tell options on some of the minis unless you are looking at an actual spec sheet that lists the factory build codes.

If you're unsure, you should be able to contact the dealer and get the spec sheet that lists the build codes (if it's a mini dealer), or enter the VIN here:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...vindecoder.php

That link will at least tell you the correct model (S/JCW/all4, etc) but the options aren't always correct. For my car it said halogen headlights, but I have the xenons.