I'm not quite a Mini owner yet, but I've got my eye on a few. A friend has been a member here for a while and referred me, so I was hoping I could get some expert input on a particular used Mini.

It's a 2003 Mini Cooper S with 104,500 miles, British racing green w/charcoal grey leather interior. The owner has full service records available, and the car was never smoked in. It has the following options:

* driver airbag
* AC
* alloy wheels (16")
* cruise control
* CD player

* passenger airbag
* rear window defroster
* heated seats
* leather seats (charcoal grey)
* power door locks

* power mirrors
* power windows
* power steering
* sunroof
* tilt wheel

The seller is asking $9500 OBO. I've seen the car. It looks very clean, both inside and under the hood. Pictures are available. Now, everyone I've talked to is turned off by the high mileage, but this isn't a POS car we're talking about

I welcome any and all comments/advice.

 

The thing is though that it is a high mileage car. At that mileage expect a few things to go wrong. For example the supercharger (roughly $2000 to fix), power steering pump (probably above $1000), bushings are probably shot to hell (unless the owner recently had them replaced), might be time for a new clutch and brakes.

If you have your heart set on this vehicle I would try and ask the seller to lower the price. If you can afford another $5000 you can find a lower mileage 05-06 which is a little more reliable.

Who knows though, maybe that MINI is a tank. There are owners on here that have 150,000 miles on their MINI and the supercharger and clutch are still in great condition.

 

The miles would scare me away also sorry but thats just me & my .02
I would search for another used car with low miles they have a bunch out there . Some people don't motor in their Coopers that much Hum not me LOL !

 

I would feel a lot better in such a high mileage car at $8000 or $8500, that way I wouldn't worry so much about having to spend $2000 or $3000 in repairs the first year of ownership. If you can get 2 years without any major expenses, it would be a good deal.

 

According to Edmunds, that car is worth about $9000. http://www.edmunds.com/used/2003/min...tion=vdpresult
The mileage isn't unreasonable for a 2003, but you want to have something in the bank because odds are something will go south before too long on any car with 100k miles. It's worth trying to talk the seller down, just depends how much you're in love with the car, the color, the options, etc.

 

i would not take it as its early model and high miles....wait n there wiull be other coming along..

 

I'm sure for $9,500.00, you can get something a little newer with fewer miles.