Afraid I'm making a big purchase mistake! Please help with the vehicle's history
 

I should have seen the red flags before putting down a 'non-refundable' $2000 deposit, but the car had all the options my wife wanted and I pulled the trigger.

We're scheduled to pick up the car tomorrow (Wednesday). I'm really concerned now because the AutoCheck report says it's had 3 owners over its 4 year life and most recently it was sold at auction.

Does anyone have access to the car's repair/maintenance history from the dealership computer? As you might guess, I'd like to know if the car's had any major problems that show up in the system. Please PM me privately if necessary.

Here's the listing: http://www.ebay.com/itm/201045360557...84.m1497.l2649

It's a 2010 S hatchback with 36,000 miles and fortunately it has 3 months left on its 4 year/50,000 mile warranty.

Thanks for any help you can offer!

Right in your auction is a link for an auto history report "powered by autocheck". That should give you the history you are looking for, for only $11. (Or at least the leads you need to do the legwork to answer your questions, i.e. where it was serviced, etc.)

Hope it all works out for you.

Your seller/dealer has a 100% feedback which is a good sign.

Yeah, I've got the autocheck report already, but that wouldn't necessarily tell about the service work done at the dealership. That's the info I'd really like to know about.

Here's a link to a listing of MINI dealerships in your area. http://www.miniusa.com/content/miniu...-a-dealer.html

Give one a call and see if they'd be willing to check the maintenance record using the VIN. The MINI dealers I've dealt with over the years have been very helpful in this regard. It's not 100% but it can give you an idea of what was going on. That many owners in that time frame isn't necessarily bad. Some folks just find Minis not to their tastes once they get it home.

Can't you just call any mini dealership and get a service record based on the vin number?

Well, I'll certainly give that a try. I thought that information was proprietary though.

With my current Z3, I was able to get a screen-shot of the car's history from the BMW dealer's computer showing its maintenance history, but the info is not technically supposed to be released to the public. I was lucky enough to find an insider who grabbed a screen shot for me.

If it was serviced at the dealer, it should be indicated on the carfax. I wouldn't necessarily worry about the previous owners, as long as the car drives ok now.

The 3 owner thing could be misleading. It could have been a manufacturer demo, service car, rental car. All being an "owner". Sold at auction? Not a biggie either. Tons and tons of cars are sold at auctions. Some dealers do not want to deal with a foreign / european car. So they just sell them to a wholesaler and clean their hands of what they think may be a potential headache.

As long as the accident record is clear I wouldn't worry too much. Plus you do have some warranty left. So when you pick it up I'd just schedule an appointment at a MINI dealer so it can be looked over before the warranty expires. Plus they can check for any updates or recalls. After the initial visit, there will be little need to head back. Another thing it may have is pre-paid maintenance. I was suprised to find that out when I bought mine. Pre-paid maintenance carries over to whoever has the vehicle. So I got a couple free services from the dealer :grin:

So I'll close out with my opinion. I think you'll be fine. I also think you will Love that car :wink:

The CarFax will show some service history but not all and just a few details, but you should be able to get the dealer that was used for service at the time, if the dealer is near you I would go in person and show interest in servicing the car at their location get to know you SA and ask very nicely if they could give you a print out of the service history, one dealer will not have the service done by another dealer in some cases or most cases, when I got my car that's what I did since I just had what Car Fax had but I was able to get the print out from the dealer with the PO information removed of course, I even had my fan replaced for free thanks to the 2 years warranty on parts and labor, the OP had the work done and then it failed on me and the changed it :-) now I have another 2 years warranty on that part. Note that the are not supposed to give you that info at least not obligated. Good luck, the car looks great by the way, take it to the dealer and ask them to check it for you 3 months go really fast, oh and get rid of the Run craps..I mean Run flats as soon as you have a chance they suck and expensive to replace and will give you a horrible ride :-(

Dealerships have a central history performed at any dealer so they should be able to give you the info without much trouble.

I wouldn't worry about owner's/auction. I bought my 2006 F-250 from a dealer when it was 2 years old with 20,000 miles, it showed 3 owners. Why? Well first was original owner, second was the dealer he traded it in at, they then put it up for auction and the Ford dealer I got it from bought it, making them the 3rd owner. The truck as been great and now has 120,000 miles with only replacing a turbo under warranty at 36K miles...

+1

Yes, a dealer will look up the service history, given a VIN. I just did this a few days ago when I had my mini in for service. The SA wouldn't give me a print out, but did let me look at the screen. It was interesting reading..

Well, my wife and I picked up the Mini today and it seems fine. We swung around to the dealer in Baltimore and they replaced the heat shield and a 'washer' that was part of the timing chain tensioner. They said the auxilliary pump for the turbo (the recall) was already done. They also changed out a visor that had broken and replaced a plastic part on the 'keyfob' with a metal part--they said the plastic fades over time.

I'm quite happy with the result, though the engine isn't as quiet as some on here have mentioned theirs are. Also, the front rotors and brakes will need to be replaced soon. For almost $800 though, I told the service guy I'd do that myself.

Thanks to those who made suggestions--I suppose I was having a little buyer's remorse, and was getting over anxious about the whole thing.

If it is a 2010 model, you are already leagues ahead of us N14 guys.
So far the N18 has been a very sturdy engine compared to the 2007 ~ 2010 N14.

Judging from the mileage, I would say do a transmission fluid flush just to be safe.
And start doing oil changes every 5000 on the dot.
Also, take a look at your 4 year old coolant.
If you do the brakes yourself, it'll only cost you approx $200 in parts.
Lastly is the battery, but I suppose that can wait until this autumn or winter.

Good Luck & Have Fun!

I purchased my MCS last March 13th and (anniversary tomorrow :)) it had three owners. Just get the whole car checked out thoroughly from a trustworthy dealer! I suspect at least one had to be a repo, whoever owned it the longest had a child. There's some edge wear on the belt strap from pulling it down in the right rear seat, the inside threads are worn a bit.

Sorry to be a troll. But to clarify for others on here, the 2010 has the N14 engine. You are correct with the 2007-2010 statement. But that includes 2010 models. 2011 was the first model year for the N18

Oh, sorry, my bad, thanks for clearing that up!
please ignore my previous statement regarding the N18 vs N14.
For the others, sorry to get your hopes up.

there is no such thing as nonrefundable deposit

Yeah, I was wondering about the legality of that. That's why I put it in quotes in my original post.

I won't say which dealer because I'm not sure if I'm allowed to do this but I do work at a Mini dealer and that car has had 2 high pressure fuel pumps, aux water pump, and standard maintenance, it also needs the turbo heat shield recall done. Nothing major or out of the ordinary but it hasn't had a warranty repair at a dealer since November of 2012.

Thank you! That's exactly the kind of info I was looking for.

Two high pressure fuel pumps seems a bit excessive for a car with 36,000 miles on it though.

The heat shield was just replaced yesterday.

Congratulations. Good looking MINI btw :)