Hello

I currently own a 2003 Honda S2000 and while I love the car and would hate to see it go, I cannot enjoy it with my wife and child since its a 2 seater.

While a Mini is not RWD and a convertible, From what I have read, it sounds to be small, nimble, fun to drive and has a back seat which my daughter could use.

I have been considering buying a 2008 Mini Cooper S. I would trade in my s2000 for this it, unless I get lowballed for it, which is almost an eventuality, I suppose.

It seems to be a base Cooper S, grey and white combo with 16" wheels. It has 20K on it and obviously a manual gearbox. It has some rockchips up front, but all in all decent shape insider and out. I will go drive it obviously

Anyone else switch from a s2000?

So, some Mini related questions:

1) What should I look for issues wise? Noise, vibrations, certain worn parts etc?
2) Should I buy an extended warranty? I am worried about how expensive they are to fix when they break? :(

As far as plans goes, I would do bolt-on parts mainly exhaust, wheels, suspension and such. Just a fun play toy.

Any other advice at all? I will go this week and see if I can drive it.

Oh, I am a British aficionado. My other toy is of British descent...

 

Although I don't own an S2K, my mom does (), and we switch cars quite often and she absolutely loves driving my car (05' S convertible). Comparing maintenance, the S2K even though a high end Honda, requires less than the MINI. But with basic maintenance MINI's are fantastic daily drivers, I've never had a (serious) problem with either of the two that I've owned. As far as rattles and such go the R53 and R52 (1st gen and convertible) will probably rattle a bit more than the Honda. Not so sure about the 2nd gen. The MINI obviously it isn't as fast as the Honda in a straight line, but it's just as much fun to drive and handles easily as well, especially for a FWD . As far as the wife and child go the MINI is WAY more practical. Fold one of the seats down and you have room for all 3 of you and your luggage for a trip. Most of the time my mom borrows my car whenever she needs to haul anything bigger than a set of golf clubs. The MINI is definitely an awesome alternative (more practical but just as fun) to the S2K. And if you want to stick to a drop top look for a cabrio, you can usually find them with lower miles and in great condition. Just my 2 cents

 

Off topic, but your garage is disturbingly clean.

Nice bike!

 

Thanks so much for the reply - Curious - what do you mean by need more basic maintenance? I would think engine and tranny fluids is all? My s2000 needs rear diff fluid changed as well.

I am wondering how well the turbos hold up? I come from a Mitsu Evo background and all to familiar with boost, mods etc -but I wouldn't doing anything too crazy?

I cannot find a mini S vert around here in the midwest to save my life.

My other options are a 135i vert/coupe or 335i vert/coupe which is closer to the S, but with back seats. I would have to sell my triumph to justify buying it tho :(

 

Thanks, my garage is labor of love. I try and keep it clean, but gets messy. The pic was taken on a good day...

 

First off, clean bike! My dad owns a newer Scrambler (one of the last ones built in England IIRC) and loves it. What I did about a month ago when I got my '05 S is have the dealer (non-MINI) let me take it over to a MINI dealer and have them do a pre-purchase inspection. They found several things that needed replacing such as the motor mounts and some worn bushings. If yours is at a MINI dealer I'm going to assume they already did this checkup. Don't let the FWD fool you, MINIs are very "zippy" with almost no torque steer. I wanted an S2K so badly but am happy with the MINI as it is way more practical for a college student! I can't share any advice on the newer turbo models or specific stuff to look for, but I will recommend having a MINI dealer do an inspection and see what they turn up with.

 

Thanks, the thruxton is a 2010 with 1500 miles on it. I don't ride her much anymore with the family and she just sits...

My DD is a 2009 Tacoma TRD Edition. But, it chugs gas like a sorority girl doing a kegstand. So, I am going to retire her for home use and winter only.

The s2000 is a play/summer car, but its boring to go out and drive without my wife and child or leave them at home when I cruise. The s2000 only has 45000 miles on it which is low for a 2003.

It is at a MINI dealer. I would hope they looked it over.

I would drive the Mini daily in nice weather and do ice cream runs on the weekend etc.

The cheapest 135i vert I can find is almost 35K used. I would have to sell the thruxton to justify that big a purchase. :(

 

There really is no comparing the 2 cars I think. I have a 350Z, my gf mcs and my good friend an S2000. I have driven all of them and I honestly have more fun driving the Mini over all of them. Now if your talking going to the track and stuff like that I would take the 350Z or the S2000 first. Not because of the handling or power but just for the fact that they are rwd.

You will not regret getting a Mini I can tell you that much. S2000 feels kind of go-karty mini feel like a go kart

ps. Don't trade in the S2000 sell it privately they are worth well over kbb.

 

Went in to look at the car today and it was not there sitting out. Lump in my throat - Yep, she was sold earlier today.

Oh well, more time to research and look for another one, I suppose!

 

Damn that sucks!!!

Me and my gf were driving to the dealership to go test drive a 12 MCS all black (everything) and on the highway we saw the exact same one she was so mad she thought they sold it on us (she didn't know I put the deposit on it for her bday present).

 

All the advice I can give is do thorough research before buying. I made the mistake of buying my '06 R53 without doing any research on common problems/what to look for. I needed a car, loved the way it drove, and bought it on an impulse. Now, one month later, and $1000 later, it has a new tie rod end, new LCA bushings, new front sway bar bushings, and needs at least a new passenger side engine mount. I also had to order a new Alta foam air filter, because the previous owner clearly never oiled it, and it is now falling apart. All of these problems, I found out, after having already bought the WMW 15% pulley pack (woops). On the bright side, I've never been in a car that is more fun to drive and I can't wait to put my pulley on and get some more boost...I'm just going have to wait until I order a new motor mount since disconnecting the passenger side mount is part of the pulley installation anyway.

All this being said, overall, I still did come out on top for what I paid for the car. In my lack of knowledge, I didn't realize just how much these cars are truly worth, I just knew how much I was willing to pay and the dealer didn't want to see me walk out of the door

 

Thanks for the advice.

I found another grey cooper S in town with 31K miles at a non-mini dealer.

I also found a silver with black stripe Cooper S with 20K at another non-mini dealer.

I may have to go look at these and see what they have to say.

So, I have a question - I see some Mini's with spoke wheels and others with star shaped wheels - Is one more expensive than the other. The grey one has the spokes while the silver has the star wheels...

Thanks!

 

If you go to the mini website and build your own it will give you a rough idea of what the options are worth. My GF's mini with everything it has puts it up to almost $31k we got it for $23k used with the mini-next warranty.

 

Ok, I should say, the MINI doesn't require THAT much more maintenance, but it is definitely more expensive. and like someone else said. you absolutely will not regret buying a MINI.