[rascal]

I've noticed that quite a few people have rejected their MINIs for various reasons - Has anyone got any idea what BMW do when they get these cars back? Just wondering....

[mr.bill]

I don't know what the policy is in the UK, but here, rejected cars are usually "reconditioned" and sold as "demo" units. They are sometimes auctioned off to used car dealers along with the "repos" and "rental cars." An unsuspecting person who buys a used car expects a few problems and is generally more forgiving than someone who plunks down the hard cash for a new vehicle, only to be plagued with problems.

A friend's wife bought a Fiat Spyder from a used car dealer a few years ago, used. It looked almost new, but it had problem after problem. She was in the parking lot at a shopping mall when a man approached her and said "Hey, that used to be my car! I bought it new and had so much trouble with it that I made the dealer buy it back." She had so many problems with it that she traded it in. I assume someone else bought it. I heard "FIAT" stands for "Fix It Again Tony."

[Mr T]

Presumably resell them as used?

[Clutch Cargo]

Re-sold to a bigger fool! Yow, that's cold. I assumed they'd go to a chop shop of some kind, aren't the parts worth more than the whole?

If I were a car company that cared about build quality, I'd want the rejected cars sent to a lab for full hands-on deconstruction and analysis. Are BMW's engineers having to work only with sketchy anecdotal reports, filtered thru salesmen? It would explain why it's taking so long to even acknowledge the quality issues.

[Racer]

About 5 years ago there was an article in Car about how motor co's stock piled their rejects and prototypes - The example was Ferrari - They were just left to rot!

[An_S_4_Me]

Did anyone see the article in Top Gear (I think it was last month) with the place that mashes up brand new cars for the manufacturers, on one occasion they squashed a brand new McLaren F1 in fully working condition, something to do with taxes and it being cheaper and easier to squish them?

Man that must have been painful to watch

[cmt]

I am also under the impression that they resell them.

[mooser]

Don't they just put them on one of those rotating platforms in a closed showroom?

Or what about the motorshows - send them back to BMW and the design bods can hack them up etc.

Then they'll never be sold to unsuspecting plebs.

If they are sold onto buyers the law should be changed to indicate the exact history of the car and the price reduced to reflect its problem status. Surely BMW can afford to write off a few cars a year.

I bet if an insurance company found out the car had been rejected they'd find yet another excuse not to pay out!

[mini maniac]

When my car was returned in november i was told it would be sent back to the factory as a test car. That car is now for sale at my original suplying dealer for slightly over what i paid for it new.

[foggie]

Having rejected our car two weeks ago, we went back to dealers to change to a mini loan car 2 days later and saw our car in the carpark next to the recently delivered cars with the number plates on the back seat. Looking in absolute mint condition having had a full valet. We had to re-assign our no. plate, so it was obvious that it was being sold on to some poor unsuspecting soul almost overnight.

Next time I am in the dealers, I will found exactly where it has gone.

I just hope that nobody who has bought it has registered on mini2 purring how nice it is, cos I wouldnt wish it on my worst enemy.

Anyway, only 3 weeks until cooper2 arrives.

[ricardo]

Why don't we start a "rejects register" on MINI2, listing all the chassis numbers of cars we know were rejected and the reason for rejection?

[rich]

Quote:

Originally posted by ricardo
Why don't we start a "rejects register" on MINI2, listing all the chassis numbers of cars we know were rejected and the reason for rejection?

Now that's a good idea

...Keeps the bar-stewards honest

[orie's_mini]

Quote:

Originally posted by foggie
Having rejected our car two weeks ago, we went back to dealers to change to a mini loan car 2 days later and saw our car in the carpark next to the recently delivered cars with the number plates on the back seat. Looking in absolute mint condition having had a full valet. We had to re-assign our no. plate, so it was obvious that it was being sold on to some poor unsuspecting soul almost overnight.

this explains why a month ago there weren't even a 2nd hand MINI for sale in Switzerland and now there are more than 20 Ones and Coopers and at prices = or > than new

[fearofmanc]

Anybody else log the large selection of low-mileage, premium-priced MINIs advertised by a certain MINI dealer in the Motoring section of today's Daily Telegraph? Not seen an ad like that before. Hmmm...and it makes me wonder...

[rjwatson]

I think that it is fair game for BMW to sell these rejects. With a waiting list of a number of months for BMW MINI's then surely people buying them will enquire as to the origins of the cars. If they still choose to go ahead with the deal at this point, well they have no cause for complaint!

I think at the end of the day it comes down to supply and demand. I read with joy every week The Sunday Times motoring classifieds showing BMW MINI's for sale at well over list price.

[ricardo]

Quote:

Originally posted by rjwatson
With a waiting list of a number of months for BMW MINI's then surely people buying them will enquire as to the origins of the cars.

If I was looking at buying one of these returned or rejected cars, I much rather know precise details of what was wrong from a source independent of the dealer - ideally the previous owner. That way I could make sure that the faults had been sorted and pay a reasonable price.

That's why I still think we should make a list on this site of "MINIs with a history." For example, I rejected a MINI before it was actually registered in my name. This was because the roof had been damaged in the dealers and had to be filled. I didn't fancy a "damaged-repaired" new car so the car will have gone to a new home. Do you think the dealer told the buyer it had been repaired? Or would it have simply been sold as a cancelled order?

[R1]

I saw my first second hand MINI Cooper today outside of a MINI dealership.
It was on the forcourt of an Audi dealer! Didn't see the price.

[Apial]

My reject was bought by a guy in the parts dept after being used as a demo. He is really thrilled to bits with it as it has given him major grief according to one of his colleagues.

I genuinely feel sorry for him. The car was irresistable. It is a shame though.

[ricardo]

Quote:

Originally posted by Martyn
...Would you sooner buy a used car with a brand new exhaust, or the same car with its old exhaust for example ???

The one without the filler in the roof.

[baldie]

My rejected Cooper is now on my local dealers forecourt for list price.

Look out for ST51 GHA.

Dave