Drove a super clean 2011 cooper s. Absolutely loved it. Car was spotless. My only concern was the price and lack of warranty. Am i overthinking the warranty? I do my own work so i'm not overly concerned about the normal issues with these cars. I wasn't real happy with the deal either. they claimed to have lowered the price from 16k to 13k but 13k is all they really are listed for anyway. Then they added $900 for "options". I felt that with a reasonable deal i could be right where i want to be but they were pretty far off to me.

 

A lot of it depends on whether or not you plan on performing your own maintenance, or if you have a small shop/independent mechanic who will take care of your needs. As for the MINI dealer, when the warranty is over so is the love...get ready to pay!

I recently purchased a 2015 MINI NEXT CPO and the dealer gave me a 4-year/75,000 mile warranty. So basically I'm safe until Oct 2019.

The price - at $13,000 appears to be fair. Almost any 2011 car (in decent shape) will cost that much. How many miles are on the car?

Is there a MINI dealer near you? Have you checked their stock of MINI NEXT cars? Also if you buy from CaxMax you can purchase MaxCare, which is a decent warranty.

 

Read up on the N14 vs N18 engine comments here on this forum. Not sure when the change over happened but 2011 might come with the older engine.

Based on this forum the general consensus is to get the N18.

You will read a lot about not owning a MINI without a warranty. I am firmly in the camp that a properly maintained MINI will last and aftermarket warranties are not worth it.

I plan on driving my R59S with the N18 well past 100k miles.

That said I agree going the CPO route; free extended maintenance and confidence that MINI considers the car "like new". Make sure to factor in the cost of the free maintenance when comparing prices between CPO and non-CPO.

I have now owned 2 daily driver MINIs and have been very satisfied.

 

Car is at a nissan dealer. Across the street from the mini dealer oddly enough. Car is super clean and was obviously well taken care of. It has 62,000 on it. It says in the listing that its a DOHC motor. Would that be the newer motor? Most of the older ones i see are SOHC. I do my own work to a point and have a mechanic at work for the rest so i'm not too worried about it. I'm more frustrated with the buy at this point. The prices on these cars are all over the map.

 

The turbo MINIs are DOHC. The 2011 would be the N18 motor which is the motor you want in a MINI.

 

The N14 ended with the 2010 S model, the exception is the JCW which used the N14 thru 2012. An easy thing to do is plug the last seven numbers in the BMW VIN decoder and you will know the engine type. (the URL has changed; therefore, I can't give you a link) Avoid the N14 engine...too many probs.

If you can do your own maintenance...then you're good to go!

I'd still recommend that you go across the street and check the prices on their MINI NEXT cars, at least this will give you a warranty of 2 years/50,000 miles at a minimum...and you can negotiate for even longer.

Good luck to you!

 

Not all warranties are created equal. Some warranty companies that we deal with make it virtually impossible for the owners to actually collect on repairs made. Caveat Emptor.

 

I would have them take a peek at the intake valves for carbon build up before pulling the trigger. If they are carboned up, it's an easy fix at their expense. Good luck.

 

i just found a jcw, same year. less mileage and i get a warranty. My friend knows all the players around here in the used car business and he said minis are tanking price wise locally.

Mini dealer has almost no used minis. Mostly Countryman when they do

 

+1 They fixed some things with the N18, but they still do have their quirks. If you're DIY capable, you should be fine and shouldn't worry too much about warranty. If you're concerned with pricing, price compare with truecar.com, check on craigs list, cars.com, carsdirect.com, and see what they're going for with similar options/miles. Good luck!

 

If it's a 2011 JCW...that means N14...run.

Stick with the 2011 at the Nissan dealer.

 

This is the new VIN decoder: http://www.bmwvin.com

You can check the engine type and options using it.

Again good luck to you.

 

I really like the 2011 i drove. I think the price is pretty reasonable from what i've seen. Just tired of playing games.

 

I'm one of these. I've had my '13 Justa about two years now and it has been absolutely trouble free. However, after all the doom and gloom I've read on various Mini Cooper forums I realize owning one of these cars is a lot like playing Russian roulette. I agree aftermarket warranties are not worth it. I consider them snake oil. One of the advantages of buying a new Mini is it comes with a very long warranty. I'll trade mine in before it expires.

 

I hear ya. I usually buy new but this will be our third vehicle. Mostly for my trips to work and the mountains where i want better mpg than my silverado.

 

I looked up the vin on the second one. I think someone just put jcw rims and a sticker on the back. it shows as a n18 motor on a vin lookup

 

If it's a factory JCW you can tell by the placement of the JCW badge on the front/rear. Factory JCW's will have the JCW badge on the right hand side of the trunk where the Cooper S logo normally is, as well as a JCW badge on the lower right side of the center low air dam. And I think they should all have the aero side vents, instead of the ones that say S.

 

Good news...N18 engine. It gives you another option.

 

I'm so frustrated with the first one. Its been on there lot for 4 months and as far as i can tell no one has even test driven it. The mileage is pretty much the same as when it arrived. I would think they would want to move it. My friend works in used cars and he said that for whatever reason mini's have been dead the last few months. I see on at a local dealer thats been there for 6 months.


UPDATE: They just called and one to make a deal. Hope to pick it up today.

 

Cool! Let us know what happens.... If you buy it...post a few pics too!

 

got it for 12,500 out the door. I think thats pretty good. Has a AEM intake on it. Love it. Pics soon

 

 

Nice! Thanks for sharing the picture with us and congrats. The price is fair...$12,500 for a 2011 with 62,000 miles. You did well.

 

I'm having problems with my right foot....seems to be going to the floor alot

 

That's a very good buy! Enjoy.