Greetings from Chitown
#1
03-14-2018, 09:33 PM
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Woodstock, IL
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Greetings from Chitown
Hey all,
Just another gear head that "acquired " his first european auto. The car is a 2009 MCS in LIB. The car has had 3 owners. The first being a servant of our country that bought the car at Mini of Pensacola. Unfortunately he was KIA in 2011. He was meticulous about the car and the car presented as new.
The car was sold back to the dealer it was originally purchased from and was offered for sale w 8900 miles. The 2nd and 3rd owners where my 71 y/o father and younger brother. My parents are snow birds and spend 3 months in JAX every year at a condo that they own. They needed a car to use when they where at their condo and my brother thought a mini would be a fun car to have for weekend use.
The car was used very little by my brother and spent a lot of the next 8 years in an underground parking garage. It was used mainly by my parents as my brother has 2 young boyz and not a lot of free time.
Without getting into too much more detail, my mother has a long surgical history. After her most recent surgery, she was having trouble getting in and out of the car. They decided to reluctantly offer the car up for sale. My brother approached me with the idea of purchasing the car. He felt that my dad was "emotionally attached to the car " and really wanted to keep it in the family. A deal was struck.
My girlfriend and I decided to road trip down to JAX. We drove down in my parents 2003 M45 and spent a week hanging out with my family.
We used the Mini when we where in FL and road tripped it to Saint Augustine. Prior to our use my father communicated that he felt the clutch was slipping under heavy acceleration. During our use, we found that the clutch was indeed slipping but only when the turbo began to make boost. If driven easily it would cruse at highway speeds without a problem. We had the oil changed and hit the road.
I am 6'5" and could not believe how comfortable I was in the car. I have always loved smaller cars and currently own a 2014 WRX hatch. The car fit me far better than my WRX and even the Infinity that we drove down. The 1200 mile trip went flawlessly and we averaged just over 30 mpg cruising at 75-80 mph. The car is so much more solid than my WRX and I feel more connected to the road. I believe that the WRX is on borrowed time as the Mini is better in every way except for the back seat. I have other cars for people movers and plan to use the Mini as a summer car.
I know this a long story from someone that is new to the site. The back story is what draws me in on most of vehicle purchases. I just wanted to share mine for the people that are out there like me.
Stay Safe and never take today for granted
Eric
Just another gear head that "acquired " his first european auto. The car is a 2009 MCS in LIB. The car has had 3 owners. The first being a servant of our country that bought the car at Mini of Pensacola. Unfortunately he was KIA in 2011. He was meticulous about the car and the car presented as new.
The car was sold back to the dealer it was originally purchased from and was offered for sale w 8900 miles. The 2nd and 3rd owners where my 71 y/o father and younger brother. My parents are snow birds and spend 3 months in JAX every year at a condo that they own. They needed a car to use when they where at their condo and my brother thought a mini would be a fun car to have for weekend use.
The car was used very little by my brother and spent a lot of the next 8 years in an underground parking garage. It was used mainly by my parents as my brother has 2 young boyz and not a lot of free time.
Without getting into too much more detail, my mother has a long surgical history. After her most recent surgery, she was having trouble getting in and out of the car. They decided to reluctantly offer the car up for sale. My brother approached me with the idea of purchasing the car. He felt that my dad was "emotionally attached to the car " and really wanted to keep it in the family. A deal was struck.
My girlfriend and I decided to road trip down to JAX. We drove down in my parents 2003 M45 and spent a week hanging out with my family.
We used the Mini when we where in FL and road tripped it to Saint Augustine. Prior to our use my father communicated that he felt the clutch was slipping under heavy acceleration. During our use, we found that the clutch was indeed slipping but only when the turbo began to make boost. If driven easily it would cruse at highway speeds without a problem. We had the oil changed and hit the road.
I am 6'5" and could not believe how comfortable I was in the car. I have always loved smaller cars and currently own a 2014 WRX hatch. The car fit me far better than my WRX and even the Infinity that we drove down. The 1200 mile trip went flawlessly and we averaged just over 30 mpg cruising at 75-80 mph. The car is so much more solid than my WRX and I feel more connected to the road. I believe that the WRX is on borrowed time as the Mini is better in every way except for the back seat. I have other cars for people movers and plan to use the Mini as a summer car.
I know this a long story from someone that is new to the site. The back story is what draws me in on most of vehicle purchases. I just wanted to share mine for the people that are out there like me.
Stay Safe and never take today for granted
Eric
#2
03-15-2018, 04:23 AM
6th Gear - An Official NAM Greeter
#3
03-15-2018, 06:14 AM
OVERDRIVE
#5
03-15-2018, 06:54 AM
Platinum Sponsor
Welcome and a great story. We need pics 
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MINI Guru/ MINI Owner Since 2004 | NEW Lifetime Part Replacement | Local Pickup
Milltek | Genuine MINI | Forge Motorsport | NM Engineering | ECS Performance | M7 Speed
Customer Service Hours: 8am-8pm EST|Sales Team Hours: 8am-11pm | SAT 10am-7pm 800.924.5172
#7
03-15-2018, 08:33 AM
Welcome to the neighborhood. It's nice that you could keep the car in the family. As said before, check your oil level at least every fill up if not more often and change the oil at 5K. Check with the dealer to see if the timing chain work was ever done. The N14 is known to eat them. Mini replaced the timing chain cassette on my R56 at 100K miles at no cost to me because it still had the original chain tensioner. You need to think about replacing that clutch too. Look for an independent Mini/BMW tech for work like this because it will/can save you a lot of money. There should be a local Mini club that can point you toward a dependable shop.
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#11
03-20-2018, 08:15 PM
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