Buying a 2004 1st gen Cooper
 

Colleague of mine was going to buy a new car, so I asked him to give me first refusal on his 2004 Cooper. Well, he didn't really know what he wanted money-wise and said that he wanted to see what Carmax would give him first. I guess they offered him $4500 or less, because that's what he came back to me with as an asking price, which I was quite happy to accept. We'll take delivery next month, after a family member of his gets done using it while visiting.

It's a very well looked after, one-owner car, with only 67k on the clock and a pretty comprehensive service history. It's silver in color, which is not a favorite, if I'm honest, but beggars can't be choosers. In fact, I think it would look better with a black roof and matched bonnet stripes and/or door mirrors, but we'll see. It does have the Midlands 5-speed, which I'm not completely thrilled about. What is the highest mileage anyone has been able to get out of one of those before it imploded...is there any data like that out there?

The car is going to my wife's granddaughter as her first car. She's basically known that she wanted a MINI ever since she was 7 or 8 years old, and she's now of driving age. In all that time she's only wavered once, saying that she might be OK with a Prius instead, if we couldn't find her a MINI. So she's basically as happy as a pig in mud.

I come from a background of classic Minis (I still have 2, and a MGB). I've only ever driven a MINI once before the test drive of this particular car, when I was loaned a RHD Cooper S by MINI for a week-long visit to the UK (that car eventually went to stunt driver Russ Swift). So I did kind of know what to expect in the way it should drive and handle, even though that's now been a few years.

I've advised my wife that the money saved over the KBB pricing for a vehicle in similar condition should be put aside for the (inevitable?) gearbox replacement. On the plus side, swapping a reconditioned gearbox in would be something I could easily do, so it really would only be the cost of the box if we go with another Midlands. I'm even toying with the idea of doing the S 6-speed swap instead, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Hey, maybe we'll be super lucky and the gearbox will last her until she's ready for something new/different! I can hope, right? :thumbsup:

Sounds like you are getting a good deal. Maybe silver will be HER favorite color :thumbsup: Good luck and let us know how it turns out. Make sure to get a photo of the grand daughter when she first sees the car, hopefully it will be priceless!

Welcome to NAM, mwalsh5757 and congrats on your new MINI. Can't wait to see some pics.:popcorn:

Good price. :thumbsup:

Enjoy your new to you Cooper. I have a 2004 R53, different animal, but have had good luck with it. I picked mine up with about 70,000 and it now has almost 135,000. Favorite car I have ever owned, hands down.

We have two R50's of that vintage, a 2002 and 2003. IMHO the fear factor around the Midlands transmission is overblown. Yes, if you drive and shift hard and generally abuse it you will probably get it to fail. We have one car with 108k and another with 132k and both transmissions are fine.

You certainly can drive a MINI in a fun and spirited manner without abusing the transmission. Do that and you will probably get pretty good life out of your transmission.

Enjoy your car! The first generation of the new MINI's are the best- take care of it, hold on to it as you own a future classic.

Val