Soldato
- Joined
- 18 Mar 2010
- Posts
- 4,084
Really pleased for you, well done.
Purchased a lemon , any comeback?
- Thread starter sanaxe1
- Start date
Soldato
I know this probably isn't what you want to hear, but I really wouldn't spend £2k on a 15 year old mini. Whilst she might love them they aren't that reliable, are are relatively difficult to work on and expensive to repair.
We have a 2010 Countryman and there's no way I'd want to run it without the extended BMW warranty. In the last 12 months it's had over £2k of warranty repairs done to it.
If funds are tight £2k will get you a lovely 2007-2008 Ford Focus or similar that will be cheaper to run/maintain.
If funds aren't tight get a newer Mini through BMW and take out the extended warranty after 12 months.
We have a 2010 Countryman and there's no way I'd want to run it without the extended BMW warranty. In the last 12 months it's had over £2k of warranty repairs done to it.
If funds are tight £2k will get you a lovely 2007-2008 Ford Focus or similar that will be cheaper to run/maintain.
If funds aren't tight get a newer Mini through BMW and take out the extended warranty after 12 months.
Soldato
Congrats on the refund, seems it went quite painlessly.
I also agree with the above about a mini, reliability aside which is subjective (but I happen to agree), they are expensive for what they are.
I also agree with the above about a mini, reliability aside which is subjective (but I happen to agree), they are expensive for what they are.
Don
Well, that was unexpected. Usually this sort of thing is a massive fight.
So here is the story. I phoned up the owner and told him I wasn't very happy. I told him all of the issues and he said I had to bring it back to him so he can confirm the problems.
When I arrived he was abit arsey and not willing to give a refund saying it's a 15 year old car what do you expect. He said the brakes and exhaust had passed the MOT so they were fine. One of his mechanics revved the engine and The exhaust sounded like a massive boy racer exhaust and I said seriously you think that's fine? He said well what's your definition of fine as the exhaust works , it's passed its MOT the only thing wrong with it is the sound which is a personal preference as some people like it loud....
Then he seemed to change and said wait 2 hours and I'll get it sorted. I went off for food and Within that time he put new disks and pads on the front, put a full brand new exhaust on the car , put a new central locking reciever in and got the keys coded. He apologized for the problems gave me £20 for petrol and got the car out to me. Car sounded and drove great. He demonstrated that the central locking on the keys worked and the alarm doesn't go off. He did this 3 times and then the 4th time it didn't work . He got his mechanics to look at it for 5 mins said it might need a whole new central locking unit. Apologized and said he will refund me. And then refunded my card.
When I arrived he was abit arsey and not willing to give a refund saying it's a 15 year old car what do you expect. He said the brakes and exhaust had passed the MOT so they were fine. One of his mechanics revved the engine and The exhaust sounded like a massive boy racer exhaust and I said seriously you think that's fine? He said well what's your definition of fine as the exhaust works , it's passed its MOT the only thing wrong with it is the sound which is a personal preference as some people like it loud....
Then he seemed to change and said wait 2 hours and I'll get it sorted. I went off for food and Within that time he put new disks and pads on the front, put a full brand new exhaust on the car , put a new central locking reciever in and got the keys coded. He apologized for the problems gave me £20 for petrol and got the car out to me. Car sounded and drove great. He demonstrated that the central locking on the keys worked and the alarm doesn't go off. He did this 3 times and then the 4th time it didn't work . He got his mechanics to look at it for 5 mins said it might need a whole new central locking unit. Apologized and said he will refund me. And then refunded my card.
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Soldato
Everythingwentbetterthanexpected.jpg
Nice result, well done!
Nice result, well done!
Man of Honour
Good result!
Just one point - lots of mentions in this thread around garages now being able to "block" you from driving away a car that has failed/is dangerous/whatever following the MOT.
This is not true. You can do whatever you like. The legality if you are stopped by the police whilst driving on the road is a separate issue, don't confuse the two.
Just one point - lots of mentions in this thread around garages now being able to "block" you from driving away a car that has failed/is dangerous/whatever following the MOT.
This is not true. You can do whatever you like. The legality if you are stopped by the police whilst driving on the road is a separate issue, don't confuse the two.
Associate
What are you going to buy for your girlfriend? I think unfortunately you can pick 2 out of these 3:
-A reliable car
-A fancy car
-A cheap car
Cut your cloth to your makings.
-A reliable car
-A fancy car
-A cheap car
Cut your cloth to your makings.
It was funny as he was very apologetic but never admitted it was his fault.
First he blamed the other guys at his company. He had been away when the car arrived so he left them to deal with it and apparently things go to pot when hes not there.
Second he blamed the MOT place saying he just trusts what they say. IF it pass's he puts it up for sale if it fails he fixes it due to the high turnover they have.
Third he blamed the whole of Birmingham as he said its full of dodgy people, dodgy MOT places and abit rough.
First he blamed the other guys at his company. He had been away when the car arrived so he left them to deal with it and apparently things go to pot when hes not there.
Second he blamed the MOT place saying he just trusts what they say. IF it pass's he puts it up for sale if it fails he fixes it due to the high turnover they have.
Third he blamed the whole of Birmingham as he said its full of dodgy people, dodgy MOT places and abit rough.
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Soldato
- Joined
- 22 Aug 2004
- Posts
- 7,606
Not targeted at the OP, but we have seen a few threads lately where people have bought old cars and expected far more out of them than is really possible. IMO a 15 year old car, is a few years or very close to the scrap heap.
You can either run it into the ground, or invest in it (time, own work or money), and get it back up to a suitable level. At that age you should expect to get your hands dirty, or stump up the cash
You can either run it into the ground, or invest in it (time, own work or money), and get it back up to a suitable level. At that age you should expect to get your hands dirty, or stump up the cash
As for the car i think its going to have to be a mini, i will have a hard time convincing her of anything else. She has always wanted one and when she saw the one i just brought she fell in love with it and was gutted when i had to take it back. I don't really want to be spending more than £2500 as shes hardly going to use it. I'd be surprised if she did 1500 miles a year. She only works 0.7 miles from our house and all of her friends and family live close to us, if we did any long trips we would take my car anyway.
This is a car i'm going to be looking at today. It will have a RAC inspection if i'm interested in buying it.
:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classi...=20&price-to=2500&make=MINI&colour=Red&page=1
This is a car i'm going to be looking at today. It will have a RAC inspection if i'm interested in buying it.
:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classi...=20&price-to=2500&make=MINI&colour=Red&page=1
Soldato
I'd be careful - there's no mention of full service history on that one, which normally means it doesn't have it. Also check it's MOT history. It's not hugely remarkable, but it has very recently been flagged up for an oil leak from the engine (likely rocker cover gasket) and brake pipes being corroded. I'm also betting it doesn't have a good service history as it's only done seemingly 2-3k miles a year and people tend to ignore servicing when they do such low mileage.
And again, it seems to be very expensive for what it is!
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thanks, it says Full service history in the subtitle at the top of the advert. I'll ask to see if it are any receipts for work done for the oil leak.
Soldato
Oh! So it does. Yeah on these kinds of cars, dealers use all sorts of phrases to cover up the fact it doesn't have a full service history - "Great service history", "full recent service" or just don't mention it at all in the hope that someone won't notice etc etc
This one appears to have had the lower control arm bushes already done also which is a common weak spot and a pain in the arse job to do.
And you're definitely right to get a post 04 car (facelift), especially on the normal R50. Prior to 04, they came with the midland gearbox which was crap and well known for destroying itself. 04 and after they came with the Getrag gearbox which is what the MCS used and was much more reliable. The facelift models also had numerous updates which just made them much better than prefacelift cars.