sorry if i am posting in the wrong section. but i am looking to purchase a mini to just cruise around in, maybe throw some spring and some tires and just cruise around town in. I am going to look at a 2007 base with 140k miles on it. i know its kinda high mileage but its not gonna be a daily. and everything i my price range is super junk or has higher mileage. is there anything i should know , look out for or stay away from? thanks for your help.

 

If it is a non turbo 2007 should be ok besides the mileage just take it to a MINI Specialist to do a good inspection before buying. If it is a turbo 07 S I would probably pass. Too many things to check if you budget is that tight. The turbo puts a lot of extra strain on the motor and without knowing all its history and who and how it was maintained I would do a regular MINI non turbo car just to drive around. Still plenty of fun and better mileage.

 

When trying to find a MINI I would recommend trying to find the lowest mileage, best maintained, least modified MINI you can find. If your budget is tight be cautious of a Mini with mileage that high as the clutch may be at the end of its life cycle. Clutch on a Mini is pricey. Good luck with your search.

 

So I looked at the mini, what a joke. It was garbage and had a check engine light.. But I'm going to look at another one that is a little more then my budget but seems a lot better anything I should look for? This is the new one I'm going to look at http://nh.craigslist.org/cto/5004096771.html

 

Welcome, I did alot of research before I bought mine and the 04-06 seem to be really good years.

 

NH rider-

I've been searching for 2 months on the Boston, NH, and VT (Burlington) CL and cars.com for a private sale (they usually are honest Mini folks and have service
records).

If you can stand waiting and test driving a bunch, the right one will turn up.

I ended up driving 3 hours to Burlington VT for mine. My backup purchase was in Shrewsbury MA if the VT one fell thru.

Check around to what others on NAM are suggesting about high mileage automatics... I ended up going with a manual transmission and loving every minute...that includes Route 93 traffic and tolls

-MD