JCWs are hard to find...
 

How rare are these things??? Looking for a F56 JCW hardtop. Only found 2 available on Carmax nationwide and also only 2 locally. Unfortunately, the only one that was in my price range, the seller has been unresponsive...

They are fairly rare because they were so expensive. One the R53, I believe it was a $10,000 option on top of the price of the already expensive Cooper S. It was not entirely uncommon for one to come close to $40,000 in the 2000's. I am not sure what it cost on the R56, but it probably wasn't cheap. Then again, MINIs were never cheap cars to buy or maintain ( I have a well optioned regular 2005 R50 Cooper and the window sticker exceeded $22,000!). The only cheapness came from BMW who decided to cheap out on a lot of areas which lead to them being an unreliable mess in many cases. Just be ready to do some work if you plan to buy a cheap JCW because it probably will not be in good condition and will not have seen proper maintenance. If you want an inexpensive option, consider a regular Cooper S. They can be had for under $5,000 if you shop around and will give you a less expensive entry point into MINI ownership. Don't just shop price though, shop condition and maintenance. A bad one will cost many times the price difference between it and a good one to put right, and may have too high mileage to ever come close to recouping the investment.

The F56 JCWs have a much better engine that the R53s and the R56s. Just try to get a history on any MINI you buy(i.e. CarFax).

R56 JCWs started around 31k or so, I think. Mine is fully optioned minus recaros and the sticker says 43k :o which is insane for a mini. I wouldn't buy a 2nd gen JCW unless it was a 2013 or newer with the updated engine, mine's currently at 45k with zero problems knock on wood. Reliability on the 3rd gen seem generally good so I wouldn't hesitate to jump on a good deal for the jcw if you find one.

2 of my 3 2006 JCW's are highly optioned and listed for $36,xxxx :O

Yep, not that many around and when I see them and people know what they are, they are $$$. My R58 JCW was 45K new. Of course, i got it used and far far less. Not many F56 JCWs local, most are near big cities and are in FL, Cali or New York Metro area. Good luck on the search. Check cars.com, car guru, local big dealer, car max sometimes have them, but thats where most MINIs I have heard go to die. Like they have issues. If they are newer you should be fine. The F56 models you don't have to really worry about.

Better than the R56 maybe . . but not better than the R53!! But thats just my opinion.

Hi and welcome to NAM!
They are pretty rare, but the latest model has many out there, as the R53 set the pace and now many want one.
The gen 2 Minis' have been known to have engine issues, so I would stay with the gen 1 or gen 3s.
Gen 1s will most likely have some used and abused ones cheap, but you will be putting a lot of money into bring them back up to a good standard. if you have mechanical skills, a R53 JCW, is the go-kart of street cars, with exceptional handling, and the superchargers they sport, have nice linear power!
The gen 3s are larger, in better shape due to age and more were made, they use a turbo and have a bit of lag, before the power increases! They may be faster too! They make great horse power!

Put a WTB in the marketplace section here. Might get you some attention.

The cheapest JCW I have ever seen was an R53 about a month ago. It was $2500! I restrained myself from looking at it because I already had my R50 driving me to tears with it's exceedingly complicated issues and I didn't need another bundle of joy/pain consuming even more of my finances. (I spent about $3200 so far on my R50 including purchase, with some of that being cost overruns due to parts I didn't end up needing. The same jobs on a JCW would likely cost another $500-1000)

Wow thats cheap.

I've seen a few F56 JCWs on Carmax recently. Granted, they aren't cheap, but they are cheaper than a new one. Both my '15 F56 MCS and my wife's '16 R60 SAll4 are Carmax purchases.

https://www.carmax.com/cars?search=M...Cooper%20Works

I have the original dealer paperwork with mine and it is also in that range. That is obscene for a hot hatch today, let alone in 2006...


You still have that one you picked up from Lancaster? I shouldn't have balked on that purchase. :lol:

CarGurus shows 47 2015-2018 F56 JCW hardtops for sale right now in the USA

14 Manuals
33 Autos (including some 2017s with stupid low mileage from short term leases)

(I don't know how to share a search result)

Fixed that for you. :grin:

Thank you, I did a search based on what I was looking for and found 11 that matched but all on the East Coast

Road Trip!

No, seriously, this could be the most fun you have with a new car.

Back in 2011 I flew from New England to Nebraska to get the exact car I wanted. Drive home was 1,400 mile of getting to know my car.