I bought my MINI off of the dealer's lot, so I missed out on all of that ordering, tracking, waiting fun. :impatient
Because of this, I have no knowledge of any delays in shipment due to damage repairs at VPC.
Is there a definitive way to find out if my MINI had any repairs at VPC? Would my dealer know (and would they share this info)?

 

If the damage is over $500 they have to disclose it at least here in CA by law. You have a black car so it would be easy to see if there was some paint work done. But I wouldn't worry about.......just go out and drive!

 

Did you find something questionable? If not, don't waste time worrying, like Rossii said. Get to drivin'!

 

Thanks for the replies. I have my reasons for asking, so is there a way?

 

Maybe yes. Care to share what you found or think is wrong with the car?

 

If damage over a certain $$$ amount is found and repaired at the VPC then it is reported on the national system known as DCS. This can be seen by the dealer. Keep in mind the car could have had a scratch or in my case windsheild replaced which is under the reportable $$$ amount and not disclosed to the dealer.

What damage do you think happened to your car?

 

OK, if you must know...
My MINI will not drive, accelerate, coast, decelerate, brake or otherwise locomote in a straight line. It is all over the place. My friendly dealer told me (at 4500 miles) that I would have to pay for an alignment. Before I do so, I want to cover all bases. The MINI has not encountered any solid objects and is not driven hard.
And, yes, I check the tire pressures regularly and have rotated the tires.

 

3Cocinas, in all honesty, I think you are making a storm inside a glass of water for yourself....

It is very likely that your car was not properly aligned either at the factory or VPC. Aligment problems are not uncommon in new cars and having one does not automatically means that your car was damaged or it was involved in an accident before it was ultimately delivered to you.

If you are going to go thru all this trouble to avoid paying a $75 4-wheel aligment, I think you are wasting your time, seriously.

Did you noticed the problem when you first picked up the car? Why did you wait until 4,500 miles to do something about it? The policy at most MINI dealers in regards to factory or VPC aligment/tire balancing snafus is that they will do it under warranty up to the 2,000 mile mark. If you wait after 2K miles, it comes out of your pocket.

I doubt very much your car has frame damage, seriously. That sort of damage is way above the $5K threshold for disclosure and in some states, could make the car illegal for sale as a brand new vehicle.

Get the car to a professional tire shop equipped with aligment equipment ASAP. The computer will determine how "bad" the aligment is. If the technician encounters difficulty aligning the car, then you may have grounds to look into the problem further.

But please, stop wasting your time!

 

I'm just glad we could pry the secret out! I would have a mechanic that you know and trust check the car out, it should be obvious to an experienced mechanic if it had significant damage that was repaired. That will set your mind at ease, or give you reason to go back to the dealer with some concrete findings.

 

No damage was posted in the VIN history of the car. Yay!