Second Hand Car Advice

scaredofdebt

Hi,

I've just bought an '08 Mini Clubman diesel. The dealer (independent) gave a 30 day warranty free with the car.

During the test-drive I noticed a warning light on the dash, the car was low on fuel and I asked the dealer what it meant and he told me it meant the car was low on fuel. Car drove fine and is still driving fine.

After buying the car I filled it with diesel but the warning light stayed on - after reading the manual and looking more carefully I think the warning light means the car is due a service.

However, it could be masking other issues and I am concerned about this. Before buying the car I checked the service history and the last service was 7 months ago and about 5k miles ago. The dealer said that it wouldn't need another service for another 5 months or so, obviously depending on my mileage. I've done around 300 miles in the car since getting it.

So the question is, do I let the dealer know first of all or is it best to get it looked at by a Mini dealership to see if there are any other issues?

If it's just a service then that's fine, I would expect to be reimbursed at least some of the cost by the dealer as I've been misled at best, but getting money back later will no doubt not be easy.

If I go to the dealer I am concerned that the other possible issues may not come to light until too late.

Very happy with the car other than this, but not if it needs a service every 5k miles!

Cheers.

fivetide

Let the dealer know. Seems strange.

Have you checked the oil level? What does the manual say? Does this light come on for any other reason such as low screenwash? A lot of things could come under the banner of the car saying "i need something looked at"

The dealer has told you a porkie pie though so I would have the car back to them and an opportunity for them to correct the fault.

goonarmy

What does the light look like?

scaredofdebt

The manual says there are a variety of reasons for the light to come on, screen wash is one, I have topped this up. It does bring up a service light when you first switch it on but it's easy to miss as it disappears after a few seconds and the constant warning light is always there next to the odometer.

Will check the oil level tonight, thanks for the tip.

The dealer is over 100 miles away so it's not easy to pop over and see them, there aren't many of these available second-hand so we had to make a journey to get it.

scaredofdebt

goonarmy wrote: »

What does the light look like?

It's a yellow triangle with an exclamation mark inside it, the manual says it means there is a fault code logged in the computer that needs a diagnostic tool to read. Not very helpful.

There are dozens of possible faults but the service light does come on briefly when you first start the car so I assume it relates to that. However, I am concerned there may be other issues.

Car drives fine though, but you never know with these modern cars with their computers and bells and whistles!

fivetide

Tyre pressures?

I would work through the list. It may well be an old code that just wants clearing but call the dealer anyway just in case and ask about the best approach. They might agree to let you take it to a local place to have the code checked at their cost. If you get it checked, then try to bill them they may well say no. The first call will tell you what sort of a dealer you are working with!

goonarmy

Certainly not low fuel warning then. Get the dealer to sort it, also be wary, they've been less than honest already

scaredofdebt

Update.

I filled the screen wash again (wife drove the car since I filled it originally and she wouldn't have noticed the warning) and the warning disappeared, then came on again when the fuel got low. Went off after refueling.

So the dealer was correct about the fuel but it was masked by also being low on washer fluid.

Thanks for the input everyone, case closed!

Foxy-Stoat_3

The newer BMW's have the warning triangle and normally a symbol when you start the car or push the check button.....will give you a little picture of the problem...blub out, low coolant, screen wash, fuel etc etc....

If you read the manual you will get a better idea.

arcon5

You can't seriously expect any dealer in the right mind to reimburse you the cost of a service when it was serviced 7 months ago?!?!