http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/car/736955151.html

I m seriously considering this MCS06. Any thoughts?

 

Looks pretty nice, loaded, and super clean. A sluxbox though? Get a manual, you'll be happier.

 

thanks! Just wondering if this was a good deal though?

 

I would be a little scared of a buyback. Obviously, the original owner was not happy!!

 

that low of a mileage car for the year is great! But, i would stand clear of the auto trans. it takes away a lot of power and takes a great deal of the "drivers" feel from the car as well.

FYI I bought my 04 S with all the mods listed below in my signature for 16,500 I had 40K miles on it, but still a smoking deal. the car your looking at is probably worth 18-20K tops, I would think.

 

Nice car, about 4 grand too much IMO...and for me the auto tranny would mean no deal.

 

the lemon law buy back is kinda iffy , n i dunno if it is the glare or not but if u look at the front licence plate it lookds jacked up. if the plate is jacked u dont know why its messed up or if its been fixed. hey i could tell ya i didnt hit a deer w/ my xtreme n sell that to. i have a personal friend who does body work so yea "there was never any body work done" get my drift

 

Don't you know it's cool to have a bent and scuffed front licence plate? People take them off the cars and destress them like that.

My front plate is a mess...

 

This is just my opinion, but the low miles is a little scary to me. Car's don't like to hang around and not be driven. Of course, it depends on when this car was bought...late '05 or early '07...late '05 would mean this car has only had 7k put on it in more than two and a half years. Some people might like that, but as for me...it's a little scary. The car is barely even broke in...so it's hard to say what you're getting.(In reality, you never do when you buy a car) If the car was only driven once or twice a week (far enough to warm up), and that's why it has low miles...I wouldn't worry. ...but if it set around for six or more months without being driven much...I'd have second thoughts. I had another car that I seldom drove. (I put around 300-400 miles on it in a 7-month period.) The results weren't good. The oil did strange things. Of course, it wasn't a MINI, and it wasn't running synthetic oil. So, if the low miles are fine with you, it should still have 1-2 years of warranty left...which can give you some peace of mind. It's a buyer's market. The price is okay for a fully loaded MINI, and you could probably get them to come down a little. This is just me rambling ...but I hope it helps. Take care and best of luck!

Seth

 

just looking at the leather seats you can see the car is like new.

the AT maybe is not the most wanted in the mini market, but if you don't like the MT I will choose the AT since the mini MT is hard even for people who always use MT.

about the miles, some people use the mini as second car (like me), so is normal to find mini's with low miles. (mine is 06 with 10k miles)
sometimes I don't use it in a week, sometimes everday.. but I doubt someone who like cars will stay a month or more without using a mini having one in the garage!

 

That is a very nice looking MINI. A 2006 with 7,000 miles. Hmmm.

How can a 2006 only have that mileage? Where has this car been sitting all of this time? A lemon law buy back for stalling twice? I'm finding that very hard to believe. There has to be much more to that story. Buying a car with a lemon law title can assure who ever buys the car a greatly reduced value at trade in sale time.

My advice would be to run far away from this MINI.

 

I bought my 2003 two weeks ago with 13,600 miles on it for $17,000. And the only issue I had was the AC wasnt working on the ride back, had it serviced for $120(dealer reimbursed) and for now its holding the charge and working fine. But most MINI's I looked at were low miles, so I assume people dont drive them much or as weekend toys only.

 

just a note on the lemon law buy back issue.
I do some work for a couple of dealers. mostly graphics and some body work. I see dealers buying back cars that had a repetitive complaint quite often. They buy it back and sell it at auction. the paperwork will have the original complaint(s) and also the repair done each time, with dates. it is law for the dealership selling the vehicle to supply this information.

 

Nothing unusual about the low mileage. Many MINIs are used as "toys" and rarely driven, so finding one with very low mileage shouldn't scare anyone off IMO.

 

What scares me off is the lemon law tag, not the low miles. Low miles is always a bonus, but low miles + lemon law is the deal breaker for me.

I could never understand having a car & not driving it much. For many folks it is a great way to buy an almost new car at used car prices. Thank you to all of the folks who do that.

 

I agree with some of the others here, I would really get something in writing from whoever you are getting this from concerning the "only stalling twice" as an issue for the lemon law.

Yeah, the auto tranny would be a no-go for me, I would really look for a six speed.

Good luck!

 

If i was you, i would take a look in the market place here on NAM or local club page

 

If it's a buy back...DON'T BUY IT. Period

It takes a lot of effort to get a buy back from the dealer/factory..you can be guaranteed that there is much more to the story than what is being told in the ad.

 

Thanks for everyone who replied. I have decided against buying it. Got the carfax this morning and found it has had 3 owners in 2 years!

 

Keep looking, there is a good MINI out there waiting for you.

Good luck on your search.