Ok, this is awkward as I have no Mini yet...

But my daughter has her heart set on one and I've been doing research as to which models and years would be the most reliable.

So far I'm leaning towards the Tritec engine with either the manual trans or the Aisin Warner automatic.

Am I correct in thinking there was 1.3L, 1.6L and 1.6L supercharged versions of the Tritec? Was it a supercharger or turbocharger?

Lastly, am I on the right track for the best reliability?

Thanks for the advice!

 

Welcome to NAM! 2002-2006 MINI Cooper S 1.6L W11 (R53) is supercharged. 2002-2006 MINI Cooper Base 1.6L W10 (R50) is naturally aspirated. 2007 is when they introduced the turbocharged engine and dropped the supercharged one. Recommendation is to try and steer clear from the CVT transmission in the Cooper model as those have been known to have issues. When they fail they also cost a pretty penny to fix. There is the R53 6 speed Agitronic transmission. This is the transmission that has the shift paddles behind the steering wheel. It doesn't seem to have as many issues. Check out the buyer's guide here for the first gen MINI to help give you a good idea on what to look out for. If you do want a first gen a recommendation would be to keep your eyes out for a 2005-2006. Good luck with your search and be sure to let us know what you end up with.

 

Hello.


R53 is the chassis and its the 1.6L SOHC Supercharged with an Aisin 6 speed automatic 05-06 are the preferred years.

 

Welcome and good luck with your search. It's a great car, for first, intermediate or even last car. The guys above are the experts, I defer to them for advice. Only thing I'd mention is the obvious... manuals can be more fun to drive, unless you have to drive in the city all the time.

Eastern Washington... close to Spokane?

 

Welcome, best advise would be to get service records and have it inspected prior to purchasing it.

 

I just bought a 06 MCS with the Aisin Warner automatic with the paddle shifters,
when looking at one see if you can get it on a rack or get a mini dealership to go over it or an independent shop.

After I bought mine I had to take it to mini to do a recall fix for the passenger side airbag problem, during that fix they did an inspection of the vehicle and found many issues that I had missed because I didn't ask to get it on a rack, Most of the issues are no big deal but still costly if I don't do it myself.

If I would have found these issues before buying it I might have passed on this car or had the problems addressed first or price lowered to reflect costs of repairs.

Okay so things to look that are common in the 02-06, lower cntrl arm bushings, oil pan gasket, crank position sensor O ring witch sometimes can make it seem like the oil pan gasket is also leaking as it drips down to the front of the oil pan,
power steering lines can leak so look for steering fluid gunk on the lines and on the top of the pump,
another hard one to see would be the oil filter housing gasket.

these items are somewhat normal issues that I have seen or read about.

these are thing that were wrong with mine at the tune of 3k to have mini fix or less than 1k if I fix myself as the parts are not that expensive.

I should have looked better at the car.

A good video to watch before buying .
This guy also has many videos of how to fix/work on the coopers.

 

Thank you all for the help and advice!

I'm near the center of the state, almost a couple hundred miles west of Spokane. We've got time to shop around, its a couple years before she gets her license but I want her to have it a little early so she can practice some of the basic maintenance stuff - oil changes, check and change belts, check fluids, etc.

I'll help her buy it, but then its hers!! Although I'll help with any major wrenching.

 

I did a lot of searching all over the U.S. on cars dot com and cargurus dot com. What I liked about those sites was the ability to customize a search for model, year, transmission, miles, price, among other choices. The Minis farther south will have less chance of salted road exposure, so fewer rust welded bolts to mess with. Also, body panels will probably be in better shape.

If you find a good buy, and they do pop up, don't wait too long. I found that if you don't act, they may not be there the next time you go to see the car on the site. You can save individual cars on those sites or even save an entire search.

The sooner you buy it, the sooner you can make sure you get to drive it some before your daughter gets her license and then have to ask her for the keys!! A good excuse to drive it would be to make sure it's still safe and running right. You might enjoy those "check" rides a lot! Here's hoping you find a well loved and maintained Mini. Most of the ones I saw were generally in good shape and well cared for.

Pop into the forum anytime and let us know what you end up getting.

 

+1 Found my first car on Cars.com.

 

Sounds good. good luck. Should be more MINIs local near spokane and seattle.

 

Well, here I am again 3 years later - we just bought a 2004 MC with the 5 speed manual transmission - and my daughter LOVES the car! She's already started some very minor wrenching on it. Fluid top offs and she put the new license plates on. The Bentley service manuals are on their way, and I've started instructing her on the use of an OBD II code reader. The car has no major pressing issues, I think we did pretty well for $2400. Straight body and drives good. There's a slight howl that may be the trans, but the clutch is brand new. I'm aware the 5 speeds are weak. She knows to be gentle with it, the easier she is on it, the longer it will last before we have to drop it out and overhaul it (I have a shop).

I had her spend a year in an old Ford Tempo that's been handed down through the family, that car is an automatic and was easier to learn to drive in before she started learning to shift a manual trans. And if she crashed it... oh well.

So far so good on getting familiar with the manual transaxle, we had it out twice today on some back roads and she's getting the hang of coordinating the clutch and gas when pulling away from a stop. Shifting while driving is already fairly smooth. This clutch and trans seems to be very forgiving; I learned to drive on an old VW that wasn't!