Interested in joining this club, need some opinions on a R52 I found for sale
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Interested in joining this club, need some opinions on a R52 I found for sale
Hi all!
I've been a long time fan of Mini Coopers, thanks to "The Italian Job" (2003), but never seriously considered being an owner.
Fast forward to now where I drive a boring, gas guzzling SUV (after coming from a very fun 2004 Acura TSX 6MT), and I'm looking for something a bit more fun, mod friendly, and relatively inexpensive.
I thought about convertibles, cheaper ones, and all I saw for sale locally were old Chrysler Sebrings. Wasn't interested in that at all. Then I came across a 2005 Mini Cooper S convertible for sale locally for around $4300. I thought, that doesn't seem to bad. Contacted the owner for a night test drive.
Turns out that this "owner" is of course a wholesale buyer. It had been sitting for most of the winter, and had a CEL that cleared it self once I restarted the car at a gas station to inspect it better in the gas station lighting.
I loved the pull this little car had! And driving a manual was fun after almost a year of not driving it. However, the car was not without its faults. I spoke to others who were familiar with Mini's in general, and said that the rattling that I heard and stiff ride was unfortunately a known characteristic of Mini Coopers. Here's some other observations that I made, some VIN check results, along with some quick photos I took:
05 Mini Cooper S Convertible
110xxx miles
Airbag light
Dent in hood, front lights (wired?)
Alignment (pulls left)
Rattles in door panel, in rear hatch area
Driver seat bottom leather seam ripped
Driver seatback adjustment faulty (maybe I didn't know how to work it properly?)
Driver rear seat stuck, won't fold down
Hood latch release replacement
Curb rash on wheels
Things to check
PPI
Tire tread depth
Suspension
Photos here: http://imgur.com/a/Y308W
I've been a long time fan of Mini Coopers, thanks to "The Italian Job" (2003), but never seriously considered being an owner.
Fast forward to now where I drive a boring, gas guzzling SUV (after coming from a very fun 2004 Acura TSX 6MT), and I'm looking for something a bit more fun, mod friendly, and relatively inexpensive.
I thought about convertibles, cheaper ones, and all I saw for sale locally were old Chrysler Sebrings. Wasn't interested in that at all. Then I came across a 2005 Mini Cooper S convertible for sale locally for around $4300. I thought, that doesn't seem to bad. Contacted the owner for a night test drive.
Turns out that this "owner" is of course a wholesale buyer. It had been sitting for most of the winter, and had a CEL that cleared it self once I restarted the car at a gas station to inspect it better in the gas station lighting.
I loved the pull this little car had! And driving a manual was fun after almost a year of not driving it. However, the car was not without its faults. I spoke to others who were familiar with Mini's in general, and said that the rattling that I heard and stiff ride was unfortunately a known characteristic of Mini Coopers. Here's some other observations that I made, some VIN check results, along with some quick photos I took:
05 Mini Cooper S Convertible
110xxx miles
Airbag light
Dent in hood, front lights (wired?)
Alignment (pulls left)
Rattles in door panel, in rear hatch area
Driver seat bottom leather seam ripped
Driver seatback adjustment faulty (maybe I didn't know how to work it properly?)
Driver rear seat stuck, won't fold down
Hood latch release replacement
Curb rash on wheels
Things to check
PPI
Tire tread depth
Suspension
Photos here: http://imgur.com/a/Y308W