As many of you know, I purchased an '05 Hot Orange S convertible last week while I was on my anniversary vacation up at Nags Head. (why all that is important, I don't know.... )

I bought the car off a dealer in Colorado for 21999 buy it now. It only as 15K miles and was presented as "in excellent condition" for everything.

When I received the car, it had many scratches in it. Being in the bodyshop business, I took care of them because I'm **** and refuse to put paint on my "new" car.

I managed to wetsand and buff the majority of them. Many of them I had to brushtouch and then wetsand and buff them.

Let me preface some of this. The dealer paid for shipping with the "buy it now" price. Because I'm in the bodyshop business, I have written more than my share of transportation claim estimates. Having said that, I paid an add'l 350 to have the car shipped in an enclosed trailer.

It was shipped in an enclosed trailer and then transferred to another truck in Ohio before it was shipped to North Carolina. The sheet I received from the trucking company showed marks all over the car.

After calling the dealer, his sheet from the first shipping company only had 3 supposed scratches showing on it.

This is not the main problem but I wanted to give you a little background.

Right now, I've got the body in pretty close to perfect shape, removed half a dozen dings and painted a flare. I'm happy with the body.

Okay, now on to the main problem. The car was advertised with certain features. Among this list of features was automatic climate control, fog lamps, telescoping steering wheel and CD changer.

Though I've never heard of telescoping steering wheel, it wasn't a big deal. My problem is the other items.

I called the dealer and explained my dissatisfaction with what I think is pretty darn close to false advertising.

The dealer is being cool and told me he wants me to be happy. Since he can't obviously do anything with the car, he can only make a monetary settlement with me or buy the car back. I asked him his offer and he said he would give me 750 dollars back.

I told him to call his trucking company and pick the car up for that kind of money. At this point, for him to pick the car up, it would cost him (according to him) 750 bucks to have the car brought back and 350 to reimburse me for my transportation cost.

That's 1100 bucks just for him to buy the car back, have to sell it again and possibly sell the car for less.

I told him I would settle for 2000 back and he said he'd think about it tonight.

Do you think I'm being unreasonable? The automatic climate control and fog lamps were some of the main options I was looking for. I can live without them but I would have looked at another car.

Am I being fair? I'm not looking to rip anyone off but fair is fair.

Thoughts? Opinions?

Thanks,

Mark

 

OrangeCrush..

Sorry about the sad entrance to the MINI world.

Considering what was promised to you in the original deal and the amount of work you had to put in, I think what you are asking for is reasonable.

If the dealer does not like it, he can take the car back.

Hope everything works out alright...

 

Didn't the original pictures show it didn't have automatic climate control? Or did the seller not even bother taking pictures of the interior?

 

Yes, he did put many pics but now that I look back, there was not one of the actual dash. The fog lamps were my stupidity, I confused the fog lamps with the turnsignals so when I looked at the pics, I thought they were foglamps.

Granted, I guess it's my responsibility to ensure I'm getting what I'm buying but in all fairness, I was relying on his ad as being factual.

Thanks,

Mark

 

http://go-motorcars.ebizautos.com/de...e-2728749.html


Is that the one you bought? I remember the thread you made had that pictures, that seller has quite a few pictures, and it says nothing about the climate control or fogs, but maybe it's a different ad, or he/she listed the eBay ad differently?

 

That is the ad but his ad from his website.... not the ebay ad.

Here's the one from ebay.

You can see not only does it mention automatic climate control, it offers dual zone climate control, telescoping steering wheel, fog lamps and CD changer and EXCELLENT paint.

 

Just for the record, I'm not so much complaining as much as asking if my request is unfair.

I understand I'm buying a used car, sight unseen. The dealer is offering to work with me so I'm not really complaining. I just wanted to be fair... not looking to take advantage of the dealer.

Just checking member's thoughts....

Mark

 

My thoughts.

I hate my Auto Climate Control as it seems to have a mind of it's own. My guess is that a lot of others feel the same way. Other options in that package I love like the heated seats but if I didn’t have the Auto Climate at this point I would be happy.

And Artoo is a 2003 and I don’t ever think that I used the fog lights even once. I do have the Xenons and love those but probably would love good quality halogens just the same.

If you can get some cash from them get an auto-up module, euro parcel shelf, and Parrot Bluetooth and you won’t notice you don’t have the rest.

Rich

 

Rich,

Thanks for the advice. Is the auto-up for the windows? What's different between the euro shelf and a normal parcel shelf (is there a normal parcel shelf?)

I'll look up the parrot bluetooth, I'd like to have a good bluetooth setup in that car.

If I get the money from him, I'm going to also look at installing cruise and I would like the foglamps.

Thanks,

Mark

 

That paint looks pretty good in the pictures. Is it possible the trucking company damaged it. If so, they have some liability as I am sure the shipment was insured.

 

$2000 is not unreasonable, no wonder used car salesmen are at the bottom of the pile.

L'Ben...without a scratch! XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Loco,

I agree but two things... pics online are VERY DECECPTIVE... I don't mean on purpose but they just hide a lot of stuff and if a dealer or anyone is trying to hide something...well, that's too easy.

The other problem is it was shipped by one carrier and exchanged to another in Ohio. Though they have conflicting reports on the paint sheet, you know where that's going... each one will blame the other, blah, blah, blah.

Anyway, I've got the paint I'd say an 8 out of 10. There's a couple of really light scratches on the rt door that unless I paint it, they won't come out.

And there must have been some sap on the hood in a couple of spts. One wetsanded out and the other discolored the basecoat. It's smaller than the size of a dime.

Having been in the bodyshop business for 25 years, I tend to be **** about paint.... I guess if if I wanted it perfect, I should have bought new...lol. I just wasn't expecting the paint to be in the condition it was based on the pics and the fact it had 15K miles on it.

15K miles on a 4-5 year old car (I know minis aren't available yet as '09s but we've already fixed some '09s for other manufacturers so technically the model year is available) is pretty low.

Anyway, we'll see where it goes....

Thanks,

Mark



Thanks NJP, I wasn't thinking it was out of line either considering. I don't think the salesman purposely tried to decieve anyone. I think the mis-stating of the options was just a mistake (albeit still a mistake and misleading) and the paint condition may have been out of his control.

 

FYI Any MINI parts guy could have run the VIN and printed you out all the options that came on the car. I'd say you got a pretty fair price ..... but yes he did falsely represent the options. I think you need to get something back and are being pretty fair about it. From the pictures it is hard to see the fog light openings and the center dash console. If you can get at least $1K back .... I'd say keep the MINI.

 

Just got off the phone with the dealer. He said he would offer me back 1300 bucks or I could return the car. He said he wouldn't pay the 350.00 I paid for enclosed shipping.

Guess I just paid 350 bucks for a weeks worth of test driving...lol. I told him to come pick it up.

I'm pretty **** about my cars and especially paint. I could have lived with it but if he's gonna take it back, I'll find one that is in perfect shape.

I think this time I'll make sure I can check it out physically first and preferably buy it from a mini owner. They tend to be as **** about their cars as I am.

Oh well... I'll find the one I want yet.

Thanks,

Mark

 

wow, I would have taken the 1300. That was a good price for that car with only 15k on it. I hate the automatic climate control in my mini.

 

i thought the original price for a 15k car was reasonable. i also think $1300 back is fair from dealer. as with anything used, it is never really going to be perfect. and i say that as i am probably more **** than you. in the end you must be the one with a smile on your face. good luck

 

So which ebay buyer are you? I see that car sold twice. Once on March 10 and it has a negative feedback stating that the car was listed with 14 options and only had 4.
Sold on March 10th and on March 22.
http://feedback.ebay.com/ebaymotors/...d=190208197187

Seems like a sloppy seller. He's had a couple dings for being clueless and at least one mutually removed.


I think you could go either way. If he knocks $1300 off the price, thats a good deal on the car. But if it's not the car you want, then send it back otherwise you'll look at it every day and not be 100% in lust with it.
The bummer is that you did a bunch of work on it for free. :(

Next time take the VIN from ebay and call 866.ASK.MINI and ask them to tell you what options are on the car. Good number to have on speed dial when you're trolling car lots locally also. That was a great resource for me.

 

Go with your gut feeling. My sense is that if the dealer has been deceptive to this point then there is no telling what else they have been deceptive about. You are better off finding a dealer you trust and having a good feeling about the car and your experience. Besides, you have improved the car that you are sending back, he should pay you for your labor.

 

You're right... the price is more fair now but I'm just too ****. I want the paint in better shape than it is.



I was the latter but I hadn't left feedback yet. I'm not even going to leave feedback since it'll only serve to have him retaliate by doing likewise.

I had read his feedback but many times buyers are unreasonable. Anyway, it was worth the 350 to make sure I like the car.


On the bright side, I have been searching all evening and found something I really like. The difference is I can drive 90 minutes and physically check it out.

This is what I'm going to look at tomorrow.







The mini is an '06 S convertible with less than 11K miles. According to the owner, NOT ONE SCRATCH, DING or MARK on it.

He wants 22500 for it. Even a better deal than I had.

Mark

 

Sorry your Hot Orange MINI didn't work out, but like was said before, you have to be happy with your purchase.

FWIW, the new car you're looking at doesn't have front fog lights. Still looks like a nice MINI, and hopefully it will work out for you.

 

WHAT??? No fog lights???

That's cool. I prefer fog lights but I'd rather not have them and not pay for them than pay for them and not receive them.

My main reason for sending the car back are the scratches. There was a set of scratches about the width of your hand that were 6-8" long on the rear of the door and carried onto the qtr panel about 3-4".

I wetsanded most of that out but there are still a few of them I'm going to have to deal with unless I want to paint the door and qtr.

Guess this one wasn't meant to be.

Mark

 

Sorry to hear about the MINI you purchased. Hope that the next one will be IT!

 

Good luck with the new find. Where is it? I'm in Winston area if you want someone to help.

 

This other cabrio looks like a very good deal -- and you won't have to retrofit the cruise control into this one.

 

Thanks. I've got the address but not familiar with WS that much so I was just going to use my navigation.

Fortunately, WS is about an hour and a half so I'll be able to physically check it out myself.

I really appreciate the offer.



It'll be nice to be able to just drive it instead of working on it...

Mark