I am looking at buying this 2006 Mini Cooper S vert.
It is a one owner with 29500 miles on the clock.
The weird thing is that the Carfax only shows one oil change (2008) and one wiring harness repair (in 2006 when the car was 3 months old).
I know service could have been done at home or at an ind. shop, but I can not be sure.
The miles are GREAT for this age, but sitting around is not good on a car either.
So..
1. Do I jump on this one owner Mini with all the extras I have been looking for... or should I pass on this one because of incomplete service history?

2. Also, if I buy an extemded service contract, could they refuse a repair 3 years down the line because of a lack of service records before I even got the car with 29000 miles on it?

thanks

 

Carfax is pretty spotty. Have an independent MINI mechanic inspect it prior to purchase. It will be money well spent.

Dave

 

I change my own oil every 5k miles. F%$k Carfax.

 

Techincally MINI would only do an oil change at 15k. So it would techincially be due again at 30k. So yes it is possible. I would not advise it or ever recommend it. MINI has changed the intervals to 10k now.

 

OR annually . .. . MINI will pay for an oil change per the computer OR AND every 12 months (see threads about silly MINI changing oil at 12 months, and one month later because the computers says it is time)

but in any case having a MINI mechanic take a look at it is a good idea, but not fail safe.

I look at this like paying for a home inspection b4 buying. After 4 experiences I'm convinced this is one of the greatest rip-off businesses in the world. Example: had home inspection b4 buying and got "all good". Two weeks after moving in 'fridge fails from rusted out coil. Inspector's response - how was I supposed to see that?

DUH

If you know someone YOU TRUST to check the car do it - ABSOLUTELY. Or if there is a local MINI owners group get a recommendation ....

But going cold can be a waste of $$

 

If anything was done nondealer, it most likly will not showup on car fax....
Smaller mini centric shops, and diy's will NEVER appear....
Folks tend to over use carfax...it just can rule out a car that has been wrecked, burnt, or flooded, but even then, a fair number don't appear...so you MUST still look. Have a local mini guy...a look is woth a million bucks, but a prepurchase from a random shop might not be much help if you already know much about cars....

 

I researched different models for a year and 06 S models (manual) are pretty solid. I had my mini inspected before purchase by a independent mini specialist. They should be able to give you a good indication if it's a good car or a lemon.

 

I live in Panama City beach, fl but the car is 7 hours north of me near Atlanta, ga. So I don't really have access to a local Mini guy at least not one I know or trust.
I guess I could let a local Atlanta mini dealer look over the car.
Perhaps I should look into the local mini club near ATlanta.
Well, so far I am hearing "proceed with caution".
How should I let the mileage affect my decision? Good for low mileage?... Or bad for a car that sits around most of the time unused??

 

Not all services will show on the car fax report, even if they were done at the same shop or at the same time, my 05 S showed services at Prestige MINI on the report but when I went to the dealer to ask for a service record it came back with extra work done that did not show up on car fax and they were done on the same work order paperwork. Car fax is not a good source of info when it comes to service history, but it should say where it was done and it could have the phone number as well, called them and ask if they could provide you with some extra info, not all dealers do this keep in mind but if you ask politely the should be able to.
Call the dealer and have a pre inspection... It doesn't have to be at the dealer good luck also I think that at 29k you won't find an extensive service history

 

Atlanta?, you have one of the top MINI independent shops there.

Way Motor Works.

http://www.waymotorworks.com/directions.html

Dave

 

I wouldn't overthink the "sitting around unused" aspect. Most really low-mileage cars that I'm aware of from the Miata world (whence I just came) are either pampered summer-only cars that spend their winters in nice garages and have regular changes of their liquids, or are driven by people like me - I work at home and only drive a couple thousand miles a year, but it's many trips per week, so things don't get a chance to lock up. It's not like you're looking at a 30-year-old barn find that hasn't been driven for ages and has a bonnet full of shriveled gaskets.

 

Well i guess that just leaves me with my question about an extended service contract:
If I buy an extended service contract, could they refuse a repair 3 years down the line because of a lack of service records before I even got the car with 29000 miles on it?

 

Probably best to directly ask the seller of the contract BEFORE you buy

 

carfax is that great of a tool, its more of a guideline... carfax says my old car 2000 chevy impala has 1,120,000 miles, cause somewhere down the line the excede mileage limitations on my title, but if you look at my service history which all the oil changes were done by me, leave just the registrations on carfax and a transmission flush.... but you can clearly tell within 3 months from moving the reg from mass to maine thats when i did 1 million miles? sure i did, 100 mph a day 24/7 for 3 months wouldnt even get me there, but they still report it.... good for them

 

Another vote here for a pre-purchase inspection. Get in touch with WMW and see what they might charge for a PPI, then negotiate with the seller on getting the car to WMW or whatever mechanic you choose. It's money well-spent.

Here's a resource that might help too: http://www.minirepairshops.com/

 

if this car is close to WAY and you can get it there for him to check it...Way is in Atlanta, no?

do it ... referring to my earlier post this IS a place you can trust to know your particular car.

 

Thanks for all your input
I'm going to see the mini tomorrow.

The extended warranty companies I checked with want almost $4000.00 for coverage until 80k or 100k.
Insanity

 

If you can get a 100k warranty that covers EVERYTHING (except wearable items like shocks, clutch, brake pads and such) then I suggest DO IT. I paid about 2200$ for mine thru carmax, and I've had close to 8k in repairs done for only $50 deductibles! Minis are just not cheap to repair, unless you can DIY. The car is over 6 years old now, even though it's not been driven a lot, when YOU start driving it, stuffs gonna start crapping out. Just my 2 cents!

 

I was looking at a car a few years ago so I checked Carfax, it did not have anything on the vehicle. I had a vehicle with two know accidents and Carfax did not show either of those.
Do the normal checks, how does it drive, are the strut towers mushroomed, are the strut mounts torn, how many mods have been made and by who, are the tires original, how much curb rash? You are looking to see how they took care of the vehicle, they could have used it as a weekend racer or just a weekend driver.

 

CarFax the biggest rip off out there. My in laws bought a Chevy Tahoe that had the whole front end replaced including frame rails at 4,000 miles and years later it's still not documented.
A good PPI will include paint depth measurement so you will know both the mechanical condition and if any panels have been resprayed. If there is paint work on the exterior panels, the shop can dig in and determine extent and quality of the collision repair.