Hey all,

So heres the scoop, hubby buys me a 2006 mini cooper s convertible for 10 yrs of putting up with him..

I saw the car on ebay at infinity of Oakland, showed my hubby the car. " I would like something like this, you sweet thing"

So we go out try a few used ones round about, but they were not in as good condition or they were not S. Then I come across the car again on cars.com with sale pending. I mention it to my hubby and he then admits its him. I told him to bid for it on ebay as they have buyer protection.

We then send my cousin out to test drive it.....he drove round the street not at any great speed neither. The guy shows the tires are new "look he says" cousin looks at tires he is pointing at. OHHHHHHH cool.

Cousin says yeah its fine looks good...(must mention cousin is ski instructor) So hubby goes down to oakland, gets shown same tire. Pays cash for the car, arranges shipping to WA state.

Car arrives and i jump for joy give my hubby lots of lovin...We then take it to mini dealers to have a minor repair done...I noticed that when we drove there that things were falling out of the cup holder, the gps fell off its stand...small stuff like that. So I mention it to mini dealer, they call back a few days later you have 3 bold tires and the suspension needs replacing.

So we get estimates for repair and send it off to shaun our sales guy...
no reply....call, oh Shaun no longer works here... So we then try to get in touch with anyone...finally we get the general manager....Hey did you get our estimate...who should I address the bill too. The GM says " I am not paying anything you bought the car AS IS....which is true. However its does not give you the right to sell us a damaged car....with three bold tires.
Well the shipper did it.. we would never sell a car with three bold tires and a damaged suspension...
So here we are with a mini I cannot drive until I get 4 new tires and have the suspension done...which we will get done shortly...However I thought I would share my story with you as a lesson learned...we are fighting it but who knows what will happen....but definatly be wary of infinity of oakland, stupid husbands and Transport drivers lol.
Any advice would be most welcome.
Denise

 

Got any pics of the car? Is it Cool Blue Metallic, by chance? I test drove a convertible from that same dealer many months ago - curious if it's the same one...

 

yeah its in my gallery

 

hahahahah there it is lol

 

Sorry 'bout that - just noticed it was in your gallery at the same time you posted those responses. So - good news and bad news. Good news is, the car I test drove at Infiniti of Oakland *months* ago is not the same one you purchased. The car I test drove was a cool blue S convertible, but it had different wheels and a blue top. Bad news is I found some "holes" in the salesman's story when I went to look at the car that suggested he was being less-than-honest with me about the car, its condition/history, etc.

I wish you all the best, though I don't expect you'll get a lot of help from IoO. Welcome to NAM - once you get new tires and your suspension taken care of, you'll hopefully be all set and will love your new Mini!

 

Thanks for the reply, I am looking for new tires now, cos apparently the Russian transport driver has the others...lol

I will keep posting any events that maybe helpfull to others and yeah I cannot wait to go motoring in my mini.

Denise

 

I'm glad you're taking a good attitude about this and are not blaming the car for the bald tires, still.............

Why wouldn't you do a pre-purchase inspection?

I think you're trying to suggest that the dealer sold the car as-is and the damage occured in transportation, but then you didn't inspect the car when it was delivered to you? If you had at that point you could have refused delivery, or at least called the dealership and explained about the bald tires and bent or broken suspension, at that point they may have been able to get the shipper to pay for it and at least you wouldn't have been on the hook.

Live and learn, eh?

Hope you enjoy your car once it's straightened out, but I think I'd take it to a good MINI dealer and have it looked over - like you should have done before you bought it.

 

Hey Dave,

Stupid you betcha However when the vehicle arrived it was 8pm and pouring with rain, The driver could not speak very good english, it looked perfectly strapped, it was off loaded with no problems ...like falling of the back. I should actually, now you mention it, ask the shippers in which order did they load the truck. Perhaps it had to loaded on and off the truck, but I am sure they loaded it according to delivery address as we were last.
Me and my husband would not have known to look at the suspension. My husband did not get a pre-inspection stupid you betcha...but we did the carfax thing, I do wish we had bid on it on Ebay as we could have had a little recourse... I wrote this post so that other people will learn from our stupidity lol.
However all is not lost as we will have the suspension fixed and get new tires
and the other great thing is I have now discovered this site, so if we decide to buy another mini I will be able to get good advice.
Thanks for the reply
Denise

 

Yeah.. i would have inspected the car prior to inspection.. whats a little rain, compared to what you purchased the mini for..
i purchased my mini and had it delivered to me in Germany.. it was at the dealership 2 weeks.. as they inspected and made sure there was nothing wrong with it.. then when i took ownership i went over the car..
fast forward.. we moved to the states.. car delivered to charleston via ship.. first stop.. the dealership..
Whenever i have service on the car.. they leave it on the lift until i have looked at it, and the work they performed. Its your money, you have every right to make sure the car is to your satisfaction.. I ordered my mini site unseen.. but as soon as i had it, every inch of it was seen for sure! Too bad someone hadnt taken pictures of your mini with the good tires on it, so you had proof.. I doubt the truck driver even cared about the tires on your mini, there are much more lucrative things to take off the car I would think..