Why do I just imagine a HO Cabrio pulling a trailer with a CR or PW ?

 

I just had a pepper white 06 jcw mcs cabrio shipped from Oklahoma but would have driven it if I had the time. It was born to drive.

 

Gladded you liked that one !

Hmmmm... 160-some HPs, might just be enough.

Hey, Drsms22, mind if I ask you how much it cost to ship a car halfway across the US ?

Doubt I'll go that route, though. Putting 3,000 or so miles on the convertible in a few days sounds like BIG FUN. Besides, just talked to my dad (my bestestest friend in the whole world) and he may make the trip with me.

 

Go for it. You only live once.

 

That's how I see it.

 

HO ly cow! I didn't even know you were contemplating another one! Talk about sneeky..just about as sneeky as I was getting mine the day before the World Record Event. But you get the prize!

I am so happy that you are going to be a poligiMINIous family! You and Marina will have to discuss how to handle three beauties in the family!

Yes, you NEED to come to MOTD next year. That is a must!

And yes you NEED to do your own MTTS! We can call it HOTTS!!! Oh gosh I crack myself up! HOTTS. I wonder if we can get you a grille badge and stuff! I am certain that you will be able to find MINIs in each state willing to motor with you back to us. We will have to have a HOTTS wrap up party once you return with your new baby!

I can't wait to hear the report coming back from the dealer after Sunday!

 

You know if you get it you're going to force me into getting another one.

 

I say do the drive back. Bring lots of blue painter tape too, then you can recreate this audi drivers adventure!

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=2918517

 

You crack me up, Stacey !! If only I could fit PoligiMINIous on a MD license plate ! And HOTTS... woooooooooo, I think you're on to something here ! T-Shirts, Hats, Badges... I can see it all now.

Yeah, we're a little sneaky... but not as sneaky as YOU, keeping your new baby a secret until the last moment ! We just started looking around a couple weeks ago. No, YOU, my friend retain your title of Miss Sneaky USA !

Come on, Chris... you can do it !! Put away the and get out the .

OH MAN... those guys are INSANE !! But I guess the paint on that Audi was well protected during their... ummmmm.... trip.

No, can't recreate their adventure. I only can take one week off at work.
And hey, that painters blue just doesn't look right on a MCSC, so I think I'll pass on that.

 

NEVER underestimate my sneakiness!!
Jay loved poligiminious so much, it is his email...poligimini!! You could always try for PLGIMNI... We thought about doing that with our FL tags, but NAH, eaiser this way.. Maybe for the Clubman we want!... So we shall see what the next generation of MINI brings! Already picked out my color scheme and amd ready to build it!

 

Look at that, just got the second one and you're already planning #3 !

Yeah, when I'm ready to trade in Bergey (CR - shhhhhhhhhhhh, don't let him hear that), I already have plans for my next color and mods.

PLGMINI... not sure many people would get that. They might mistake us for Pilgrims.

 

My wife will drive it for you! For us its two people in one MINI, so that works out well for everyone. Besides, we have a HO Cabrio, so she is already "qualified" to drive a Hot Orange MINI.

That looks like a nice MINI. If you decide to get it and your return drive takes you through or near SE Missouri, let us know and we'll bring our HO MC out to play.

 

I'll keep that GENEROUS offer in mind, Mishka !!

The route back would take us through the heart of Missouri and then we'd catch I-55 North to I-70.

How far are you from the boot heel in SE Missouri ? I used to be stationed in Blytheville, Arkansas back in the 80s. No offense, but I hope you're far from there because that was my worst assignment of the 9 I had while serving in the Air Force. But a couple hours from there, either in Missouri or north of Little Rock, and it's much nicer. MUCH nicer.

 

The sacrifices friends will make for you.

We are about an hour and a half north of Blytheville. I can understand why Blytheville was not one of your top duty stations.

We live in Dexter, which is on US 60 about 20 miles west of I 55. There are some nice curvy roads just west of us. Let us know your route and we'll see about meeting you.

 

Getting ready to leave.

Camera - check
Check List - check
Tools - check
Flash light - check
Address - check


Yep...think we're ready

 

You said it !! Good people out there in Southern CA, no doubt !! And now I see the folks in MO are also very friendly.

Hour and a half north of Blytheville. If memory serves me, you're in the foothills of the Ozarks. Like I said, it gets much nicer once you get away from that small corner of NE Arkansas and SE Missouri.

Yep, if we buy that MCSC out in San Diego, I'll definitely let you know if the route brings us close to your home.

Thanks again !




Sounds like you are ! Don't forget to kick the tires. Thanks, Tiggy !!

 

Wow! That's a real pretty car! Love the two-tone seats. 3 MINIs?? I only WISH I could have that many! (jealousssss). Go for it!

 

Yep, love the interior on that HO MCS... would love it more if it had interior CHROME, but hey, it's still very nice.

No jealousy allowed on NAM !!! Envy, now that's another thing !

 

We're home already...not a good sign, I know.

I'm sorry, Chris. I know how excited y'all were about the possibilities this MCS might hold.

As you know, we had an appt. with Lola at Noon. Obviously, if we liked the visual inspection we were going to want to take it out for a test drive. However, Lola was the ONLY person working today, the car was tucked into the furtherst most recesses of the showroom, and there was no way she was going to get that MINI out or allow us to drive it, leaving her at the dealership, or leaving the dealership unattended.

I'll give you our complete report (we did a full inspection anyway), however here were the deal breakers as far as we were concerned:

1) There was a puddle of liquid under the car. We determined it was coolant. We thought, perhaps, it came from another vehicle...so we checked the resevoir - it was dry. You'd think, knowing we were coming in, the dealer would have at least "faked it" and mopped the floor.

2) The strut tower on the passenger of the MINI had the telltale signs of mushrooming. The rubber strut tower top had the initial signs of cracking, and there was a slight bend of the metal - nowhere to go from here but get worse over time.

3) Sadly, the cabrio top looked as if it was off a 5-10 yr old 'vert...it was sunfaded, had the white markings from where the roll bar is, and looked as though wax had made its way onto it.

4) There were scuff marks and road rash on all 4 wheels. These too, didn't appear to be off a car showing only 9,029 miles on the Odo.

5) The combo leather/cloth seats looked nice at first blush, but upon closer inspection there were "rub" marks in the leather, and snags in the cloth - particularly on the passenger side.

If I had to guess, this MINI was a lease turn-in that this "euro cars" dealership obtained at auction. It was likely owned by a non-MINI enthusiast. It did not appear appear to have been loved or taken care of. With the fading we saw (paint/cabrio top), it's doubtful it was garaged.

Here are the rest of our observations:

Condition:
Wheels - scuffs and road rash on all 4
Tires - good
Paint - no dents, dings - but some sun-fading/swirls
Trim - needs some attention, but no defects
Windshield - good (non-rain-sensor)
Wiper Blades - new
Interior - ok for used, not good or excellent
Lights (In/Out) - all working, it does have Xenons
Actual Miles - 9,029
Service Timer - 9,250
Stereo - Works
Speakers - non H/K, working
Locks/Doors - fine
Windows/Seals - fine
Dash - clean
Toggles - missing fogs, all working
Floor Mats - carpet, need to be cleaned
Glove Compartment/latch - clean, working - has dealer installed aux input
Keys - x2 + valet - only 1 key available

Strut Towers - mushrooming on passenger side
Motor Mounts - good
CAI - didn't take the top cover off to check filter once we saw coolant leak
Pulley - stock
Belts - visible ones were good
Oil - clean
Plugs - clean
Brakes - outers, good condition
Coolant - leaking onto floor, resevoir empty
Wiring - harnesses - visible ones were clean, didn't go further
Jack Pads - all 4 were there
Battery - clean

Top - condition/functionality - poor

Boot - Tow Hook/Jack - still with the MINI

Windscreen (?) - none

Service Record - not available
Number of previous owners - unknown
Trade-In, Or? - auction
How long on lot? - 8 days
Visible Mods/De-mod having been done - none

We could not possibly recommend you spend further time pursuing this MINI, as we would not consider purchasing it ourselves.

Mike's going to load the pics we took in the next post. Standby.

 

Wax?

Curb Rash

Stock Pulley

Leakage... off to the right hard to see... look for Blue

Coolant on floor

Snags


Scuffs

Strut Towers Drivers side

Passenger side

 

Wow, Tiggy & Mike, that's a GREAT report ! Thanks so much for taking the time to look it over so thoroughly, even though you probably could have stopped after seeing the coolant leak underneath and a couple other problems. These are things that don't show up on dealer's photos so having your eyes at my disposal was REALLY helpful !!

Yeah, those are definitely deal-breakers. And you're probably right, must have been a leased vehicle or even a loaner for the service dept to be in that kind of shape and only 9,000 miles on it.

Well, on to some others. Roxanne has seen some other colors this weekend. So now in addition to HO, LY, and PH--Hyper Blue is on the list of possibilities. There's one at a dealership in Nashville, TN... we'll see if we can't have that one shipped to the local dealership for us to check out, or maybe a NAMer in that area can check it out for us.

More to come on our search for a MCSC !

THANKS again for all your help ! I might have to ship a bushel of Maryland Blue Crabs out there to thank you.

 

This is why it is very hard to purchase a car over the net without looking at it with your eyes first. I am in the market for a Mini s convert also and I am very picky. I found that car searching the net also and it looked almost perfect in the pics. But I was burnt purchasing a car on Ebay a few years back and will never buy another without looking at it in person first. Unless I find some great people like the ones that went and checked it out and took pics for you. The car I got burnt on looked perfect. I asked for certain pics and they were emailed to me. everything looked great. The seller said it was perfect. Spent more than the car was worth because I wanted it. When it arrived and it was coming of the truck within seconds I was sick. It was repainted and blisters everywhere. I called the seller and his answer to me was it looked perfect to him . Pictures hide alot of flaws. Lucky you found out before you either went on a waisted trip or got burnt . I have learned. Never trust car dealers

 

But you can trust your friends on NAM - mostly. I can't imagine that one MINI enthusiast would personally steer another MINI enthusiast wrong. Of course, I've been called naive before. And I'd never want anyone to buy a used car just because I said so...but what I can do, and am always willing to do, is go check one out for peeps.

I like looking at MINIs. And I approached this with the mentality of....would I buy it? If so, it might be worth Chris's time to come out here and decide for himself if it's the MINI for him.

Unfortunately, this one wasn't "the one". But I'm happy to keep trying. Find more MINIs in San Diego, and we'll be there to do a first inspection.

 

Although I am not in the market, I appreciate what tig/mike did. While I most likely wouldn't buy a car on another person's say-so, the kind of information tig provided would certainly allow me to know to pass or not, depending on what my particular priorities might be, without having to go see for myself. So, Thanks! Tig/Mike

 

Yep, Mike and Tig's eyes were VERY helpful and if one of them will PM my their address, I'd like to show my appreciation in a small way.

So, just about a half hour ago, we did buy a MCSC from a fellow NAMer... without seeing it in person. But I feel confident this was a good decision. We got a great deal on a GORGEOUS car that has no doubt been taken care of by a MINI enthusiast.