I am considering my first MINI purchase. After some research I am think the oldest should be a 2004, but 05-06 is a little better. Either way no matter the year I am getting a standard transmission. My problem is the are more 04 models in my price range. I am thinking I should avoid the S model so I won't have supercharger issues but am wondering how prevalent the supercharger issues are.

The car I am currently interested in is a 2004 MINI Cooper S with 90k miles and is supposedly in excellent condition. Should I avoid buying an 04 altogether? Should I avoid buying an S model altogether. I will be using the car as a daily driver and travel about 60 miles a day round trip.

 

We owned a 2004 S (6-speed manual) and liked it a lot. The S is a lot more fun than the base MINI - it has a lot more pep and the supercharger sounds wonderful. What you need to do is have someone knowledgeable take a close look at the car - at 90K there could be some major maintenance ahead. If you are a do-it-yourselfer then costs will be less - but you have to have some skills to manage that work. MINI dealers are expensive. Do some searching on this forum to see what kinds of things might need attention.

Good Luck!

David