Buying a used MINI Cooper automatic, what should I check about the gearbox before paying?

[baylorwells]

I have been saving for almost a year to buy my first European car, and I finally found a 2016 MINI Cooper with an automatic gearbox that looks perfect in the pictures. The seller wants a fair price, the interior is clean, and the mileage is around 95,000 kilometers. But my uncle keeps telling me that the gearbox is the most expensive part to fix on these cars, so I should be careful before I hand over any money. I took it for a short test drive yesterday and everything felt normal to me, but I really am not an expert. The only thing I noticed was a tiny pause when I went from reverse to drive, and the seller said it is normal for this car. I am not so sure. A friend of mine suggested I find a MINI Cooper gearbox specialist near Industrial Area 11 and ask them to do a proper check before I buy, because he said it is cheaper to pay for an inspection than to buy a car with a hidden problem. That sounds smart, but I have never done this before, so I do not know what to ask. I also read a page about MINI gearbox issues online, mostly to learn the warning signs, and it talked about things like slipping, rough shifting, and old fluid. It helped, but I still feel nervous. So here are my questions. Is it normal to ask a seller to let you take the car to a workshop for a check? What if the seller says no, is that a bad sign? How much does a gearbox inspection usually cost, and can they check the fluid and scan for error codes in one visit? Also, should I ask for the service record, and what should I look for in it? I have heard some sellers reset the warning lights just before a sale, so I wonder if a scan can catch that. My budget is tight, so if the car needs a big repair soon, I would rather walk away and keep looking. If any of you bought a used MINI and had gearbox surprises later, please tell me what happened and what you wish you had checked. Thanks a lot for reading this.