Hello from South FL !!!
I have a chance to get a 07 r56s with only 25k on the clock. It is love at first sight & drive. This thing is in great condition the out side has a few dings, some rim rash and the inside is like brand new.
My problem with pulling the trigger is all the horrific stories I've read on here and across the interwebs. There seems to be a absolute love with the car itself, yet a real disgust for the product. I'm fairly mechanical so many things I'd be capable of fixing...I don't want to ramble...I guess I just want to know are the 2007s-09s really that bad.

 

I own an '08 Clubman S that was FULL of problems due to poor maintenance or inadequate repair by the previous owner and yet, I LOVE my Clubby... It HAS been time and money consuming however. I liken it to a new expensive hobby. I never get bored because there's always something to do on it, but the parts and time are pretty expensive when taken in total. I am getting to know a TON about my vehicle though and if you're going to pretend like a car has a soul like so many Mini owners do, then you might as well get to know the thing intimately I guess... :p

If you just want to drive the danged thing and sleep better, look for a post '10 with the later N18 engine and save yourself...

 

Don't do it...low miles is great but it's still 10 years old now. Go for the 2011+ MCS like dkdzyn suggests, with a more reliable engine. Even though I bought a used 08 MCS and it never left me stranded from 38k to 78k miles, I wouldn't really recommend it now when there's the 2011-2013 update. There are quite a few 2013 MCS that are certified and come with a 6yr/100k warranty (lease returns) on the market recently.

 

If you can find a 2012 built March or later you will get the bosch fuel pump instead of the continental brand which fails every 30k and costs $1k parts only.

 

Buying a used car is like rolling dice but with a Gen2 S without the N18 engine the odds of getting snake eyes are a little bit greater.

 

Thank you....that helps.

 

THANKS...I was just so infatuated with that one, I never really thought about a certified one. I will definitely have to check that out.

 

My 2010 Clubman S has been completely trouble free. I wouldn't hesitate to buy a low mileage MINI like the one you are looking at.

 

Go 2011+ and find a clean one. You'll thank me later.

 

I think the mini as a daily driver, with the associated heat cycling, wears out rather quickly. It is great to hear that your car has treated you well but if I'm not mistaken you have multiple vehicles and only drive the mini 5k per year? I live on an island and drive more than that (~8k per year). I've had the usual failure of things in 37k miles (2012 S hardtop): thermostat, hpfp, and coils. While I was doing those things I replaced related items to avoid ripping it all open again: water pump, water pipe, plugs, diverter valve. I do oil every 5k and a 2.5 qt drain/fill of the auto tranny fluid every 10k.

 

I bought a higher mileage 2007 R56 N14 that needed some love, after doing the timing chain, water pump, turbo oil lines, trans fluid, oil filter housing gaskets, thermostat housing and water pipe and all the other basic maintenance it was gtg for another 100K. If you can get a good deal on the N14 it may be worth it. Good luck.

 

Only if it is a good deal if your planning to do all the stuff ECSTuning mentioned. For the average joe taking his car to the shop that would cost upwards of $2000. Granted if you get a steal on the car maybe it's worth it... and you said you could do some of the work yourself which is always a plus... Keep in mind as well that not everybody has had problems with their 2nd Gen car. You only read about the ones that did... but as others have said, if money wise it is close I'd get the newest model I could afford..

 

It would definitely be a daily driver, so the miles would rack up quickly. I will be taking all of your advice in making a decision. As silly as it sounds it was just that one test drive and now I'm hooked...I will be getting a MINI something.
Thank you all.

 

First welcome to NAM and as most stated people with issues with there mini is due to Poor Maintenance of the MC more then anything or pure neglect in General I am a Proud owner of a R52 which i purchased from an original owner who took care of it with Regular Maintenance and original odometer reading of 200015 thousand when i bought it and now has 20019 thousand on it since my purchase and run great cold air and is mint condition so it up to you to get it to that level again welcome and motor on don't let stories steer you from enjoying the MC its by far one of my best Vehicles owned to date




Top down and Rally stripes done side top and back

 

Not fair comparison, completely different generation/engine! Great looking car btw

 

Well you have some info. I'd recommend assuming the repairs we listed are going to happen down the road and put aside some $$$. Can't really do some things preventatively but you get warning signs before getting stranded somewhere. If your car turns out to be trouble free then have a nice dinner instead! We all keep our cars because they are way more fun to drive than a toyota, etc where all you do is change oil and fill with gas (although the new honda civics may start to be contenders) so being prepared for good ole german reliability should keep you smiling and on the road more than not.

 

Thanks your absolutely Right on the engine part but in any case you take care of the lady she treats you right

 

Perhaps obviously, I agree with your recommendation on buying an end of 2nd gen 2013 MINI of desired config. By chance since I didn't buy new, we also agree on primary body color!

Also agree on searching for a low mileage lease turn in, however those are becoming scarce due to expiration of those leases which by now are into 3rd gen 2014 model year lease turn-ins. The dealer where I bought mine May 2016 shows (4) 2013 MCS in inventory (3 hardtops with prox 15k miles and 1 coupe').

One point of clarification though relates to CPO extended warranty, which is quite a bit less than your stated 6yr/100k as copied from that dealer's website description;
MINI CERTIFIED DETAILS * Roadside Assistance * Vehicle History * 195 Point Inspection * Transferable Warranty * Limited Warranty: 12 Month/25,000 Mile (whichever comes first) after new car warranty expires or from certified purchase date (for MINI Certified Pre-Owned program), 12 Month/25,000 Mile (whichever comes first) after new car warranty expires or from certified purchase date.

 

"Low miles" Mini with the N18 or an N16 non turbo from 2012 on if you're going to depend on it for daily driver duty would be best. If it's going to be an occasional car, and the Mini has been well maintained, then it's a good go hobby car. There are plenty of Minis out there that have reliably gone 200-300k miles.

Mini's are known to have or develop problems, mostly due to poor maintenance, so in buying used we all take a chance. On the other hand, a good running Mini is about the most fun vehicle that a any car enthusiast can drive.

That heart and gut thing. Whatever you decide to do, if it's a used Mini, take it in and have a reliable mechanic look it over well. Find an independent Mini outfit if you can. Get recommendations. I still have the heart and gut thing going, but I love to drive my Mini.

 

Thank you for that clarification, I'm 100% wrong on the CPO warranty timeline! So in total, the CPO warranty covers for 5yr/75k miles from in-service date. Did they change it in the recent past? I always believed CPO was +2yr/50k miles in addition to the factory warranty, making it 6yr/100k total.

Seems like all my advice is outdated I must be referencing when I was searching for my MINI last May, that was prime time for 2013 lease returns and now it's the 2014 lease returns.

I also purchased used, and I fell in love with White Silver at first glance. There weren't very many 2013 JCWs on the market so when this one popped up I was aggressive and picked it up ASAP!

 

WOW...Nice Ride!

 

I had a 2009 MINI Cooper base hardtop, original owner and I had very good luck with it. The only woes I had were:

-Around 90k I needed a new water pump and some belts.

-Needs a throttle body cleaning every 40k--yes I use 92...and top tier. Once my MINI maint. was up, I took it for oil changes every 3k.

-Around 95k it blew an engine coil--the first non-MINI mechanic I took it to thought it was potentially a tranny issue (completely wrong thank god). Then I took it to AAMCO, they checked out the tranny and said it was totally fine, had them do the coil and spark plugs, fluids $700--so that one stung a bit.

Other than that though, I did not have any problems. My mom now has that car and I just bought a new 2017 Cooper 4 door S.

 

Any pictures of these so called Minis?

 

I think you should pass, if this is your attitude. These cars are so fun to drive, but on the other side, they require a bunch of maintaining to stay fun, so you also need to enjoy the maintaining end also.
There are so many whiners, when the things go wrong, but you will see, the many here get on it and fix their car up again, to go out and have more great fun. These are driver cars and like any racing type car, they need lots of fixing!

 

The new so called '17
The 'so called 09

I hope my new one doesn't require lots of fixing because, like I had mentioned, my 2009 was pretty much worry free. It was my daily driver doing slightly more than 10k miles per year for 9 years. Everything that ever needed to be done was simply maintenance parts that any car would need at those intervals.

Parts are not the cheapest for MINI, but my reasoning was that I would rather pay for a few more expensive parts rather than get nickel and dimed the whole way for a bunch of junk like my Chevy blazer and dodge neon did.