I tried buying a Mini long distance and it was hard to justify to the wife spending 25k on a car you've never laid eyes on, or a plane ticket. She wasn't much on board for driving a Mini from Pennsylvania area to Alaska.

I was totally in love with the idea of course. The seller wouldn't come down a lousy 900 bucks. So I passed after fighting with him for 3 weeks. Ended up finding my 06 here locally the next week!!! so moral of the story, you will find what you're looking for, just be patient.

 

Actually, my best car experience was buying a MINI in Florida, when I lived in CA. Divorce sale. Flew down on a SWA free ticket, picked me up at the airport, opened up his air conditioned garage and there it was, the best looking MINI. 2002: body kit. featured here in a calendar and another calendar. I then sold it 3 years later for a 250 dollar loss. Ah, that MINI. So as you very well might be correct, sometimes you have to travel far to get that perfect one. Oh and on the way home I did MINIs on the Dragon and route 66, hard to beat that entire experience! I still miss that MINI! mmm

If you need a Co-Driver next time I will volunteer for that route!!!

 

It's amazing how resale value held up so well before 2008. Even in SoCal where dealers are numerous, it was almost impossible to get one at MSRP, especially if you want a convertible. Good thing I didn't pull the trigger until recently and got one at ~$2k below dealer's trade-in value (using Edmunds.com, the lowest valuation I could find). The sale manager turned me away 2 weeks earlier but then changed his mind. Perhaps he met his quota for the month. If they made $ on the deal, whoever traded it in got shafted real good.

It's true - the best time to buy is when you don't need one.

 

I remember then. I checked in Socal on a road trip. Universal MINI and Mini in Long Beach. All MSRP. I lucked out on that car! Best time to buy one, when you want one, not need one!! Totally agree with you!!!

 

For most normal people that would be normal maintenance. I wouldn't worry much about it. like everyone else check it over very well. Also look for an crash damages there is a small chance that it was wrecked and recently fixed.