[Back in a Subie]

My fiancee is considering trading in our Mini for a Volvo C30 (she has a thing for hot hatches) and there is a blue 2013 T5 R-design Polestar (#92/250 made) on the lot at Muller Auto Group in Highland Park. If any of you guys happen to be near to there, would you mind stopping by and taking a through look at it for us and report back here? It would be much appreciated!

[Back in a Subie]

Mr. UdubBadger is going to try and take a look for me, thanks man!

[Wingnut335]

Actually I checked out the car earlier today. I was going to be in the area, but didn't want to mention anything on the forums until I got back.

[Wingnut335]

To make a long story short, I can't believe a car with such low mileage could be so beat up on the inside. The interior isn't completely destroyed or anything, but considering it has less than 7k miles, I was expecting to see a car in pristine condition. Apparently the previous owner had a smaller dog that she brought everywhere. The leather seats in both the front and back have scratches, the metal center console has a couple dings in it and the drivers side door card clearly has claw marks.

There's also a few scratches and dings on the exterior, but most significantly, there is a couple scrapes on the rear bumper where the paint came off. They aren't exactly a deal breaker since the largest scratch is about 2.5" long and about 1/4" wide which means they could be easily touched up.

Aside from some aesthetics issues, the car drove great. It was actually a lot faster and held onto the road a lot better than I expected. The only thing I found rather challenging was getting used to the clutch on this car. The point where it grabs is a lot higher than most cars I've driven. I don't think anything is wrong with it... just the way the car was designed.

If you have any specific questions, just ask. I'd be more than happy to advise you.

[Back in a Subie]

Awesome, and thanks a ton for checking it out for me. I will let my fiancee know what you saw and report back any questions she has. Price seemed rather good so I was wondering what the deal was.

Thanks again!

[mashimarho]

Sweet lookin' car.

[Back in a Subie]

Wingnut335, I have thought of a couple questions that I am sure that I will be asked.

How bad was the leather scratched up? Could it be made less noticeable with a good leather treatment or are the seats basically ruined? The door card and center console can be replaced and the bumper repainted. Also, you mentioned some dings in the body work; are any in weird places that can't be easily popped, like wheel arches?

[Wingnut335]

The good news is that the leather had no tears or perforations... the bad news is there are some pretty deep scratches. I've seen leatherique do some amazing things with old, dry leather, but not sure how it would handle removing claw marks.

At a minimum, I think a good leather cleaning and reconditioning would make it look a thousand times better. The door card and console aren't really in horrible shape. If you look at the dealer's listing, you can actually see the small dings on the metal trim... I believe there are about 3 or 4 of them.

The bumper can definitely be repainted, but the color looks pretty tough to match. I would probably just touch it up in the meantime since it didn't look terrible.

The dings were your classic not caring who you parked next too situation. Nothing broke or scratched up the paint... in fact I have a paintless dent guy who would probably repair the 4-6 dings for a couple hundred bucks. None of the dings were in awkward locations.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

[Wingnut335]

I took a few photos while I was there, and had some time to resize them and upload them here..... hopefully these help show you what I saw when I was looking at Polestar. It's actually pretty difficult to see the scratches in my photos and unfortunately, it's actually a bit worse in person. In my last pic you can't even see the scratches in the leather, but ironically, that was the worst seat of them all.

I just realized I didn't take any pics of the door dings. Again, they were all smaller ones, but still worth noting.

If you can get a good deal on the car, I wouldn't hesitate. It's a really unique car that plenty fun to zip around in.

[Back in a Subie]

Wow, that is a great help! I will show her the photos when she gets home from work. Thanks again, seriously appreciated.

[mashimarho]

Pretty cool how you found help like that.

[Back in a Subie]

I know, far above and beyond. I owe Wingnut335 a beer or car wash or something, for sure.

[Wingnut335]

Hey, no problem! Just trying to help a fellow car enthusiast. If it saves you a trip or at least helps you on making a decision, then I'm happy.

* I do have to mention.... I was only expecting it to take about an hour and a half to check out the car, but it ended up taking 3 hours due to a pile up on a local highway. At first I was a little aggravated thinking.... "of course... no good deed goes unpunished", but then I realized that I was being a little self centered and at that point just hoped no one got hurt in the accident.

Anyways, if you have anymore questions about the car, just let me know.

[Wingnut335]

Originally Posted by Mi330xi

I know, far above and beyond. I owe Wingnut335 a beer or car wash or something, for sure.

You owe me nothing Mi330xi. Glad to help... maybe next time someone needs a favor up in your neck of the woods, help them out if you can.

[sirdaft1]

Originally Posted by Wingnut335

You owe me nothing Mi330xi. Glad to help... maybe next time someone needs a favor up in your neck of the woods, help them out if you can.

Legit dude here.

[iceberg87]

@Wingnut335
What a Great Guy...!!

[Back in a Subie]

Wingnut335, do you remember the name of the person who assisted you at the dealership?

[Wingnut335]

Yup... I initially spoke with someone named Tim in used car sales, but when I actually went to the dealership I was working with a guy named Ben Cybulski. Ben's a really nice guy and really easy to get along with.... in fact he convinced me to give the Subaru BRZ a test drive while I was there .

[Back in a Subie]

How did the BRZ compare?

[Wingnut335]

Hate to say it, but I may be picking up a BRZ as a daily driver. That car was a blast to drive. It only has 200hp, but take it on a curve, drop it to second gear and floor it and the car will kick out the back end. I was also surprised how much nicer the interior was than I had expected it to be. Although I do have to say the nav screen looked terrible in comparison to the one in my E90.

Overall for $26k or so, I have to say you can't really go wrong with the BRZ.

[Wingnut335]

Mi330xi, did you end up passing on the Polestar? I couldn't help but notice that the dealership still had it listed for sale.

[Back in a Subie]

No, I think that my fiancee is pretty seriously considering this C30 still. It is just that the Mini is in for its annual service at the dealership (closest one is an hour away) and we need to go pick it up before we can trade it in. Tim at Muller has the dings popped and bumper repainted. Possibly this weekend we will make the drive over. Thanks again for all of your help, it really has been invaluable.