Can you kind folks take a look at this picture and tell me if you see anything that doesn't seem quite "right"? I went and looked at this car today, and aside from minor normal wear & tear issues, everything looked good with the exception of one thing - the rear ride height. Maybe I'm just fixating on it, but I don't recall having seen this much "tuck" on the rear of an S car before - coupe or cabrio - without it having some sort of lowering kit. I'd be shocked if this car did, as the Carfax shows it was a 1-owner lease for ~4 years. I wouldn't imagine there'd be many mods done on a leased vehicle... Anyway, without further adieu, here she is:

 

maybe its got coilovers lol. somebody never got around to putting the back back up otherwise something isnt right obviously

 

That does look odd to me. I can't see the top of the tire. It looks much different than the front tire. But both my '05 MCS and my '06 MCC are stock, so I'm no expert.

 

Hmm... I also just noticed that it has black plates on top of the strut towers (not connected by a bar) that another '05 I am looking at does not have. Perhaps it has been modded?

 

interesting. I took a look at the picture before reading your post or any of the following posts and the first thing i noticed was the rear looks really low. Maybe its the photo, but the rear definitely looks as if it is not stock or something is going on back there

Maybe take a look at the rear suspension and see if anything looks not stock

 

ah, it possibly has been modded (minimally at least). The black plates are strut tower defenders made by m7, cravenspeed, or the like. They protect the struts from becoming mushroomed from heavy impacts, etc.

They are good, and a lot of people do have them on their cars.

 

Alright - here's the eBay ad with all the pictures of the vehicle. There is a link in the ad to the Carfax report, also.

Link to eBay ad

- It shows it as a 1-owner vehicle, but I see it was sold a couple times before being registered to the 1st owner - is this a common practice? Possible demo vehicle?

- Aside from the rear squat and the strut tower plates, anybody see anything else?

- Finally, I ran this vehicle's specs through KBB, and it spat back a price of $23k in "Excellent" condition. I would say this car appears to be in "Good" condition - not "Excellent". There are some miscellaneous scratches on the inside and out, curb rash on a couple wheels, etc. That said, this car is being sold at Infiniti of Oakland. Why would an Infiniti dealer go out of their way to buy a Mini at auction (Carfax), only to advertise it for ~$4k below KBB?

The more I think about this, the more something doesn't seem right about it.

 

Here are some tips...

Title: the car was sold 3 times... 1) P&W to Auto World. 2) Auto World to the 1st Owner who registered it in Arizona. P&W and Auto World are dealers so no title/registration was issued. It looks like the owner couldn't find a Mini of his/her liking so the dealer had it located and shipped to AZ. 3) The final transaction was at an auction house, meaning the owner returned the car after the lease and the dealer sold it at an auction... it probably sat on the lot too long. Btw, don't believe Carfax; it's NOT perfect. With exception of DMV and factory dealers, a lot of the data is volunteered. If the parties agreed to repair major damages w/o getting the insurance companies involved, it will never show on Carfax. I've seen cars with frame damage repair have clean titles and I've also seen "car wash" performed by the dealers show on Carfax!!! So if you're interested in a car, learn as much as you can about it. Bring a flashlight and look at the undercarriage, in and around the engine bay. It sounds funny but this is what dealers do when you trade in your car.

Pix/Description: if you're interested in the car, go test drive it and bring a list of things you want to check and ask about. Photos are 2-dimensional and deceiving depending on the angle/perspective/lighting. Despite the rear wheel gap looking like it's lowered, the car appears leveled. However, the 2 (tail-pipe like) tubes sticking out of the rear bumper are for a bike rack attachment (modification). If the rear end was overloaded often enough, it will sag. I can see the rubber seal where the convertible top meets the windshield frame (driver side) is torn and lots of scratches on interior rear panels. The black plates on the strut towers don't necessarily mean the suspension was modded. They are there to prevent the weak sheet metal from deforming - a defect from the factory. Aftermarket suspension components (springs, struts, shocks, sway-bars) *usually* have colors other than black. There's no side curtain airbags in a Cabrios. Man, they steam-cleaned the engine bay real good... everything has a thick coat of Armor All.

Service history: Use the VIN# and ask a Mini dealer to give you the service history of the car. Some dealers are reluctant; just tell them you've already bought the car and will bring it in to their dealer for service. As this car has close to 50k on the clock, I suggest doing leak-down (compression) test.

Cars are bought and sold by independent dealers because they think there's a profit to be made or loss to be prevented/minimized. For example, AutoNation (the biggest dealer network in the nation) went out and scooped up as many new/used Toyota Priuses as they could when gas prices were north of $4. Gas prices then plummeted and they're now stuck with more than 500,000 hybrids across the nation. Luxury Motors probably thinks they can sell this Mini cabrio because it's desirable to the demographic of the Bay Area.

KBB: here's a tip... NEVER NEVER NEVER use KBB as a guide to buy a used car. It's the biggest joke the auto industry and the banks have played on consumers!!! Try Edmunds.com and drop another $2000 below "Trade-In" as your starting point. It's a buyer's market right now; I'm talking from recent experience. The Trade-In value for this car (according to Edmunds) is $17,180 but whatever the dealer's actual cost is, we don't know. All I can say is I've been to auctions and have seen cars sold for quite cheap. Personally, I wouldn't pay more than $15,300 for this car just from seeing the pix. See what other sellers/dealers are asking and use that info to back your negotiation. And watch a car as it sits on the dealer's lot. The longer it's there, the more willing they are to sell.

California Emission Control System Warranty: Keep in mind a little important fact many Californians don't know about (even the dealers). The factory Supercharger and Turbocharger on any Mini with first (original) and current registration in California qualifies for the 7yrs/70k from the original date of sale. No other state has this benefit. Since this Mini was first registered in AZ, this warranty doesn't apply. And of course, you'd would have to prove to the dealer that you have maintained the car as specified by the User's Manual for warranty service to be honored.

Good luck with your search... and whatever $$ you saved using my tips, send it my way!!

 

deleted... double post

 

Cadenza, thank you for such an amazing, detailed synopsis! I test drove the car the day I made my original post. I was my first time test driving an S cabrio, but not my first time in a Mini. I am considering the car, but am more interested in others in my geographical area. Hopefully, I will be able to get an eyes-and-hands-on look at those in the coming days while this car is fresh in my memory. My impressions after the drive were that the car seemed alright. I didn't notice any strange shimmies, rattles, squeaks, etc. I may have made the mistake of doing the freeway portion of the drive with the top down, though - the wind noise could have possibly obscured something less obvious.

Good catch on the bike rack mount. I noticed the attachment points when I did my walk-around (the dealer didn't know what they were, btw, but I did), but I didn't put 2 and 2 together regarding the possible link between them and the sagging rear. I've looked at many cabrio pics since my original post, and I can't seem to find any that have the same appearance in terms of rear wheel gap. I even found another '05 S cabrio on the market with an 04 build (by VIN) like the one above, and its ride height appears completely normal.

Finally, and this was something I had been thinking in the back of my mind all along, but it wasn't until you pointed out the shininess of the engine that I confirmed my suspicions - the salesman who took me around said they just got the car in. It was a little dusty/dirty, and anytime I noticed something like curb rash on the wheels, those scratches on the rear interior panels, etc., he said, "That will all be taken care of - we haven't had the detailer go over the car yet."

1 word - bullsh!t. The car is clearly as shiny as a new penny in the eBay photos above, and those were taken *before* my visit. They didn't just get the car in, and the detailer HAS cleaned the car up. It's just dirty again, either from being joyridden by the dealer staff, or from sitting out back in the elements (where it was when I arrived) for days or possibly weeks. Even if the items I pointed out *were* to be taken care of at no charge, it doesn't instill me with the greatest level of confidence knowing that I've essentially caught the salesman in a lie.

Thanks again for your comments. They are quite helpful and are greatly appreciated.