8 replies to this topic

[jo9632]

Hello everyone

 

I'm new to this site and joined because I hoped to get a bit of advice about a Mini I am currently in the process of buying. Here's what I want to know:-

 

Evans Halshaw have been advising me it has a part service history however, I have been finding it difficult to get the history out of them and today they have told me that the only history they have a record of is the service they carried out on 27.5.16 when they took possession of the car from the previous owner.

 

They told me to ring BMW and enquire about the service history as they said it's all online and they can't access BMW database (obviously for security reasons although I don't know why they couldn't have done the ringing round). Anyway, I rang BMW and they confirmed the car has no service history.

 

My issue is now whether to buy the car and how significant this lack of service history is. Having never had a Mini before I am totally inexperienced in this area.

 

The car is a 2011 plate. It has 30k miles on the clock. Evans Halshaw carried out it's first known service on 27th May 2016, it comes with a 3 month warranty and and I'm buying an extra 2 year warranty for an extra £400. I'm paying £7992 for the car and it's a Mini One convertible.

 

I was told the previous owners had finance on it but couldn't afford the repayments so sold it. Putting 2 & 2 together, this might explain why it wasn't serviced if they struggled to afford the car.

 

I really don't know what to do at the moment and advice on the significance of this service issue would be appreciated. I'm supposed to be picking the car up tomorrow.

 

 

[alex-95]

Wrong forum, this forum is for classic minis try mini2 or total minis forums.

[Anthony30]

Don't bother IMO. Plenty of other cars around. Don't trust the sellers word that It's been religiously serviced every year. The dealership might have serviced it, and removed a very long overdue service light.

[jo9632]

Ok thank you both. Advice much appreciated

[slidehammer]

I agree with Anthony plenty about, get one with full service history, traders have to offer 3 months warranty as a minimum its the law not a favour!. If it was a rarer limited edition or something but not a Mini 1

[CityEPete]

I wouldn't touch it, best case sceanario would be if they let BMW do a full service and stamp the book before selling it, of course they wont and you'll have a game selling it later.

[humph]

Without a service history I wouldn't touch it, too many with a history out there.  Before you walk away though visit your local MINI service point with the reg and they should be able to pull up any services/work done by MINI main dealers and give you a print out of it all.  Most MINIs are sold with the TLC service pack which should cover the first few services (3 i think) so, unless the original owner didn't bother buying a pack, chances are MINI will have done services. The fact that the TLC has expired as the car is 5 years old may have been a contributing factor in deciding to sell the car. The car is on variable servicing so check how many miles are left until the next service, this is done through the stalks on the steering column (check the manual, if there isn't one run away).

[CityEPete]

The OP has already checked with BMW, they say it has no service history.

[Screwdriver]

I agree with the majority on this forum. New Mini's are expensive to fix and they are not rare, so find a loved car. It pays in the long run.