Hello,

I'm looking to buy my first Mini, met with the people and kicked the tires today. Looking for advice on whether to continue purchase or bail, or purchase and be mindful. Any advice is appreciated. I don't see a Countryman forum here so please tell me if I'm unwelcome or moderators please move the thread.

2013 Countryman S ALL4, 1.6L Turbo with paint that looks like JCW package but isn't, 83,000 miles. Auto transmission. Michigan (USA) car, kept in a heated garage. Timing change replaced May 2019 as car diagnosed "out-of-time" (chain stretched) by itself at approx. 81k miles. Car still drove normally and was serviced immediately according to buyers, who* seem rather affluent/well-off/can afford to have things fixed.

Car was owned by the wife of a couple who between them have had 7 BMW/Minis overall and seem to know the vehicles well and love this car. I didn't drive it, I had them spin me around and all sounded, felt, and seemed superb.

We have agreed on a price of 9k. As things stand I will bring them a cashiers check next weekend and pickup the car. So I have until then to panic and bail.

They said they changed the oil every 10k per the manual. I balked at this and they said the on board computer tells them when to change the oil, and it depends on conditions. One year they took a couple vacations and didn't drive the car as often and didn't change the oil for almost 15k according to dealer records. Oh yeah, Carfax didn't have ANY service records but they had their dealership print out the vehicles history (which they only had saved back to 2015). Looking in the oil fill cap with a pen light showed no significant carbon buildup, but the 2 lobes of camshaft available to me did have visible dark lines where they contact the lifter. I didn't touch them to see if I could feel wear, thought that would make them uncomfortable. Also, they/I never brought up whether she would add oil between changes as I didn't know about blow-by/oil consumption that my research thus far has indicated as common.

The car sounded great, felt great. The couple seems super honest and nice. They are both software engineers in automotive, seem like they have the money to keep their cars pristine, and seem honest and up front. The husband said BMW did reimburse them for part of the stretched timing chain repair, which he said is why he loves BMW / MINI, that they stand behind their products well.

I'm a Jeep guy. Parents had GM my whole life but I fell in love with Jeeps. I've rebuilt both a 4.0 in-line six in a 96 Grand Cherokee and my current 4.7L V8 in my 08 Grand Cherokee. So, I'm handy, but the sellers husbands explanation of all the whiz-bang self monitoring functions of the car makes me wonder if this cars maintenance is more than I'm capable of handling.

So I suppose, anyone want to say "RUN!" or "No worries" or maybe, "Hey, check these things out/ask these questions when you go to make payment and pick the car up?"

Thanks,

Justin