Hi to All,

I am looking at buying a one-owner 2004 Mini Cooper with 65K on the clock. The owner is a colleague who is retiring from his US job and moving to Ireland - hence no point in shipping the car overseas.

It is a 2004 Pepper White Mini Cooper with the 5-speed, sunroof and the Sport Package - asking price is $10,300 which is $1K below the KBB estimate for this car. I have driven the car and it appears to be solid and it drives and handles well. It also has new BRidgestone Potenzas with about 5K on them and I am getting a set of steel wheels for winter snows.

I have spoken to my service adviser at my BMW dealer and he is ready to perform a pre-purchase inspection on the car - the sale is contingent on the car passing this which is fine with the seller.

My colleague has been upfront about having the car having had the power steering replaced under warranty as well as some other issues during his ownership and minor bodywork dings which have been corrected. He says the muffler is going south which I would correct by fitting a Borla cat-back system. I'm also thinking of having the local auto upholstery shop throw on after-market seat heaters as this car lacks the cold weather package.

What do you think and what should I be looking at/worried about?

Thanks for your thoughts and advice.

 

Congratulations! We'll be looking forward to welcoming you into the Pepper White fold.

There's a used MINI buyers guide in the MotoringFile.com archives that would probably be a good thing to read -- here's a link:

http://www.motoringfile.com/mini-r50r53-buyers-guide/

Beyond that, I see the fact that the power steering pump has been replaced as a big plus point in your favor. The electric side of the pump is a bit of an Achilles Heel in the 1st Gen design and was probably going to go out at some time anyway. The prior owner likely saved you the trouble.

No CVT, so that removes another potential concern (i.e., high cost to replace)

In addition to the normal safety-related items like brakes and lighting and mechanicals like the tranny and clutch, some additional things I'd have the tech look at during the inspection:
-- Lower control arm bushings (make sure they haven't stated to dry out and crack)
-- Strut towers (check for any mushrooming)
-- Door sills (the rubber door gasket is easily pulled up from the door frames and you can check for any signs of rust under there)
-- Crankshaft seal and the crack sensor O-ring seal (mentioned in the MF article; I just replaced the O-ring on my '05)
-- Power steering pump cooling fan (make sure the bearing isn't full of debris and the fan turns freely; consider getting a cover for the fan if it doesn't already have one. Here is one source <--link )
-- Battery (see if it still has the original; if so, consider a replacement)
-- Accessory drive belt (it will occasionally throw a tooth as it ages; usually can hear an extra tapping noise if this has happened)
-- Check the maintenance records to see if the oxygen sensor has been replaced (MINI has extended the warranty on this item to 10 years/100K miles recognizing some premature failures)

That's all I can think of offhand. I suspect some other (and smarter) folks will be along in this thread to share their knowledge too.

Good luck with the purchase!

 

Hey Gil-Galad,

This is very helpful and I will pass it on to my PPI guy - and am looking forward to joining the Pepper White fold. Now I know for sure that the last realm that is fair and free between the Mountains and the Sea is Eastern Iowa.

Cheers,

Geo.

 

Welcome to the forum, sounds like you have winner in the should I buy it contest.