Hello!

I currently do not own a MINI (I know, I know) but am looking over my options around the area and am getting pretty excited to become an owner in the near future.

I have some questions, but I'm thankful to have a wealth of knowledge and information on the forum that I'll be looking through before making any purchase.

Looking forward to joining the club!

 

Hi and welcome to NAM!
Will it be new, or used?
What do you want out of it?
Can you do some wrenching ?
What will be it's purpose?

 

It's going to be used so I know what to anticipate if I ever lease or buy a future model. I want to get my feet wet with a used one. I actually just reached out to a dealer a few hours away with an '11 S base, so I'm excited about that.

I want some fun out of it. I want to find some car meets in the area and meet other enthusiasts (maybe car girls, too?) and overall something I look forward to getting into for 5 minutes or 5 hours in my commute.

I don't know the first thing about wrenching but I'm more than willing to learn from somebody by a YouTube video medium or having someone show me or even DIY.

It's main purpose will be my daily. I don't live far from work so I won't be racking up miles or fuel costs which is a great benefit since it takes premium but overall it'll be to get me to A and back to B.

This is it if you want to take a look or give advice! https://www.kalscars.com/vehicle-det...7ed52ec282b768

 

That doesn't look too bad to me based on the price and mileage. But I haven't looked into that generation of Mini's as much.
I'm not sure about your area, but I hear Mini's have a fairly good community of owners who do meet up at times.

And it's surprising how much you can learn from message boards and YouTube DIYs if you are willing to try. My wife is often impressed by my "knowledge and ability" which mostly comes straight from message boards! Some activities sounds intimidating, but are actually fairly straightforward and you can save a lot of money (brakes are a prime example). I probably will become less handy (which isn't necessarily bad) since the new Minis come with service included, but I'll still try to work on mine between scheduled maintenance.

 

Your warm welcome to me has made a good impression and I'm hoping the folks I meet are as nice as you.

I've been watching videos from owners about what they like and what they dislike, in-cabin tours and around the vehicle, too. I fell in love when I saw them and I'm hoping to keep the same fire if/when I check out the one I posted.

I know to watch for the death rattle and I'm going to make a checklist of things to check from watching a certain Youtuber when I go to test-drive.

If I get this one, I'll definitely be active here and looking for mods/tips/repair advice/communities within my area, so I'm looking forward to the involvement.

What type do you guys have?

 

That one has the yellow triangle'/exclamation point symbol in the readout. That means there is a stored code. I would find out what that is & have them fix it before buying. FWIW most MINI ads I see have that symbol showing! Mine had it (Didn't know enough to question it when I bought) & it ended up only being the licence plate bulbs burnt out ( I was lucky).

 

That is as good point!

I haven't purchased a used car by myself but my plan was to bring my OBDII with to read codes and see what comes up.

 

Great idea to learn as much as you can before you make a purchase. Check out the Gen 2 section for concerns that others have addressed.

Try to find an independent shop to evaluate a MINI before you make the purchase.

My advice is to buy the best maintained MINI in your budget you can find. The later the year within each generation tend to be more reliable. The different generations have different personalities. The first is more raw and have the most go-cart handling that MINI is famous for. The third (current) generation is the most civilized. The second generation may be a great compromise.

 

I've heard a lot of good things about Gen 2 and that Gen 3 takes away some of the "go-kart" factor of the MINI but people love it all the same.

So many options!

 

I would advise test driving both a Gen 1 and Gen 2 to decide which feel you prefer. Then start seeking which one you like better with the options, budget, and style you want.

 

Welcome to NAM. Isn't it so exciting when you're hunting for your first mini!
I drove both the 1st and 2nd gen MCS hatches, then randomly settled on a 2nd gen Clubman (which I love to bits!).
Definitely take your OBD II scan tool and look into the codes. The only thing I'm going to say is, please try test driving a manual version as its a different character to the automatics IMO.

 

I don’t actually know how to drive a stick-shift.

I used to own a motorcycle so I know how to shift gears that way. I’m going to guess it’s the same method only you’re manipulating different objects.

 

I learned how to drive manual transmission on a brand new RX-8. I didn't want to be "that guy" who bought an automatic sports car. (Also, the MT RX-8 had more power.)
For that first week, I was thinking that I made a really bad decision (nervousness, stalls, and traffic), but 15 years later, I'm glad that I took the plunge!

 

Welcome to NAM!

Come visit me in the Twin Cities, I love enabling people to drive standard! Like you mentioned, the operation is transferable between motorcycle and car, but different muscle groups are doing different things. All you need is a little bit of time to practice so you don't feel like a fool on the test drive. =P

I highly encourage you to try to find a way to get some manual practice so that you can at least consider standard MINIs. An automatic in a fun car is a deal breaker for me and all MINIs are fun cars!

(My offer is 110% genuine, PM me if you want to try to set something up.)

 

I learned to drive a stick test driving cars in the 1980s and my first new car was a manual. It took me about 3 test drives and the drive home from the dealership to get comfortable.

If you changed gears on a motorcycle, and drove a motorcycle for that matter, I would say consider the manual in your MINI. It is more of a pure driving experience. It will not save you gas or be any faster but you will enjoy driving much more UNLESS you have a stop-and-go highway or city commute. I love my MINI when I am driving back country roads. I hate my MINI when I drive it to work in rush hour. (I realize many love to drive a manual even in these conditions, however, they have likely driven a stick far longer than you and me.)

 

If I pick up a MINI sooner than later, I'll hit you up!

 

Don't be afraid to drive a MT as they are not really too hard!, Just remember to use the hand brake when stopped on a upward hill, it will then be easy to take off and have the fun the MT offers! Not a big deal!
ps. Do not sit at a trafic light with the clutch pressed in. It will wear out the clutch and throw out bearing quickly!

 

Once you learn a manual its more fun.

 

Just think, teenagers around the world have managed to -- until recently -- learn on manuals for years! So you will have no trouble picking it up. The car will tell you if you are doing something wrong. I agree with @ECS Tuning that it is definitely more fun. It's also a bit of anti-theft protection, against automatic only thieves!

 

Like everyone else has already mentioned, driving a manual isn't hard and only takes a a few days to get used to it (even for a total noobie like me). Coming from a motorbike shouldn't be difficult at all for you.
I drive my mini as a daily even in traffic that's stop and go and have no complaints
Try it and you won't regret it later. My wife and I test drove many automatics first and never quite got the "zing" factor Minis are known for. This changed completely when we test drove a manual (it helped that it was a JCW too)

 

I'm always game for cruising the western WI alphabet roads, but my thought was you could spend an afternoon with my FIAT to have some confidence in your driving before a test drive. Sorry I can't volunteer the wife's JCW. ;]

 

Welcome to the forum.
there is nothing wrong with signing up and getting in here before you buy. There are a ton of smart folks here to learn from. Just about anything you may need to fix has already been done before by someone here, so it’s a great resource for DIY info too.
have fun!
ps. The little triangle usually does mean a stored code, but will also appear on the odometer if you are low on gas or have the traction control turned off. So if you see it in a photo, it may not absolutely mean there is a stored code. But it’s likely that there are some on almost any used Mini. I know of several shops that won’t clear them after they work on them.
But as a general rule of thumb, if you are looking at one, have it inspected, if not, at the very least have the codes read, to give you an idea of any issue it’s had or does have.

 

Hope you get in the Mini scene!

 

Thank you for the insight. I’ve been trying to think of a way to afford this car, as they don’t bank with customers from out of state.

This would be my first vehicle purchase alone, so I’m trying to do some research!

 

The good thing is there are a lot of Mini’s around these days. If something doesn’t seem right, walk away, there are plenty of others out there. Find a well maintained one with service records.