I'm looking to buy a used cooper and have found one I like in a 2014 cooper s with ~72k miles at a dealership. I was wondering if there was anything in particular I should look for in the car if I go to see it other than the usual check carfax, listen for rattles, and other general used car buying things. Am I getting myself into a possible headache with expensive maintenance/common repairs coming up in the near future? This would be my main car and I wouldn't really have money set aside for anything expensive shortly after buying. I've heard talk of unreliability with minis and it does worry me a bit but I would really like to avoid sitting myself in a used corolla or something of that type for the next 5 years for the sake of reliability.

I tried using the search feature on the forums to look for any existing threads but my searches brought up parts sales and such.

Thanks in advance for any insight!

 

Most people who acquire higher mileage MINIs are looking for a project car -- they have the interest, knowledge, time, and tools to tinker and they want to mod out or track a fully-depreciated car that the can buy cheaply and spend their money on mods.

Find out the date the car was first placed in service. It is a 2014. Was it sold in 2013, 2014, or 2015? That will give you a sense of how much it was driven each year. Also, how many owners?

Have belt and hoses and brakes been renewed? Fluids changed?

Then, of course, were all scheduled maintenance visits done? Where/when were they done? A MINI dealer can print out the entire service history. You'll want a hard copy to review before considering this car.

Were any and all factory service updates/recalls done? Is the software current?

Will the dealer add a MINI extended service/protection plan as part of the deal? At what price and what is included in the plan? And what is excluded from coverage?

Some people really enjoy their MINI's and drive them hard. 72K miles of 'spirited' driving often doesn't leave much left of suspension and driveline components such as shocks, bushings, shafts, brake discs... to name but a few.

On the other hand, if the car was somebody's commuter car, driven mostly on the expressway to and from the office, then maybe this car has had an easy life. However, even in such a case, the cooling system, and all the other fluids, are tired, as are seals and internal drive parts.

After 50,000 miles, the risks go up and thus, the price that should be paid by a knowledgeable buyer, should be low. And if it's on a MINI dealer's lot, it better be a creampuff -- and the dealer better say, in writing, how, specifically, they will stake their reputation on the car.

Good luck.

 

Prepurchase inspection by qualified Mini mechanic. Preferably one who knows 3rd gen cars.

 

Thanks for the tips! Seeing as how it's on sale from a non-Mini dealer can I still get extended warranty? It's had 16k mi/yr put on it and I guess since it's a fairly optioned out S the driver must have at least been an enthusiast, or enthusiastic about the car so I suppose the worry about how they drove it is real. By qualified mechanic is that meaning a Mini dealer mechanic?

It's listed for $11.8k, but as someone who's owned an old Audi before I know how expensive repairs can get with German cars. Maybe owning a Mini will have to wait until I can afford to buy a brand new one?

There are other minis in my area but sadly the ones from actual Mini dealers, while fairly low in miles, would cost me more than I will be able to afford in the immediate future. Seems like I may be trying to bat above my league for a Mini.

 

I recently(2 weeks ago) purchased Mini Cooper S myself, but mine is 2016 and has less than 20K miles on it. I also heard all the stories about mini cars reliability, but I pulled the trigger and got it as it still has the warranty which was a relief for me.

Here is what I have personally done:
1) I checked the car's Carfax history, the factory warranty that is left, tire condition, body for any accident or damage(minor dings are ok) of the frame in particular.
2) Any leaks under the car, brake pads/rotor condition. All the fluids(the quality of them too) as was mentioned by another user.
3) When test driving the car, listen for any "wobble/clunk" sound coming form the suspension(possibly rear) when driving on uneven roads.
4) Check if the transmission doesn't slip and changes gears properly. You might feel when transmission changes gears, but it should be pretty smooth without any jerkiness
5) When turning right/left, check to see/hear if wheel bearing are good and there was no wheel damage
6) Check to see if the alignment of wheels is correct(visualizing tires and any pulls to either side) and the steering wheel is positioned straight when you drive straight
7) Any possible smoke or liquid coming out of the exhaust. When you touch the liquid, check to see that it isn't a fuel(should have no fuel odor)
8) Some plastics might rattle, as a matter of fact, I went to the dealer and asked them to check the C Pillar which made a rattle noise and tech guy added some felt tape which helped to correct the issue about 70%. Next week I am going there again so he can add more felt tape on the bottom where it mostly needed. I also found another spot above the driver's door, but that area is small and won't take much time.
9) Test drive the car the way you would normally drive the vehicle. If you need to do 100 MPH, do it. Need to change lanes in a spirited manner, check the effectiveness of brakes! Turn into a corner with some enjoyment - DO IT! Many people feel bad driving the car semi-hard, then after buying, they regret as the car doesn't bring them joy.

I test drove with a sales guy that moved from CA to WA(my state) and he also enjoys fast rides and was very happy when I test drove the car "my way". He told me that most people test drive very slowly which ruins the "test drive" purpose!

 

All of us on this forum deeply understand the desire to motor in a MINI, so we are pulling for you to get one for yourself. They are special cars. But you are wise to hesitate on a higher mileage car offered by a non-MINI dealer.

Sometimes the deals are better when a used MINI is purchased from a non-MINI dealer because MINI isn't the brand people come to a non-MINI store looking for. And if your non-MINI dealer is willing to reach out to a MINI dealer to get all of the service data stored in the MINI system, and if the history is good and the car is independently confirmed to be in excellent condition, then, at the right price, it might be worth driving home.

But there is possibly a good reason why this particular car is not on a MINI dealer's lot. And you do not want to discover that reason a few months down the road, especially if it's not a situation where you can feel comfortable putting money into repairs -- sometimes 4 figures at a pop.

A word about Carfax... the data they report is only the data they have. They cannot, and do not, guarantee that they will take responsibility for an unreported collision repair or other maintenance work that may have been done but not recorded in the systems from which they pull their data. A clean Carfax is more about giving the dealer a reason to increase the asking price of a car.

And, yes, there is always a way to get some sort of extended service contract -- not really an extension of the factory warranty-- just a usually over-priced contract that will, under very specific circumstances, pay for repairs to some things. Usually these third party contracts have little value and they are filled with escape clauses. "Oh, we see here that the service due at 20,000 miles was done at 23,000 miles but is says right here that all scheduled services must be performed when due. Sorry, even though the 20,000 mile service was basically an oil change, we won't cover your blown tranny because the 20k service was done late." They say no and you have to fight them at your expense, while your car sits inoperable in the driveway.

 

That's some really good information. I guess I'll have to really think about whether I want to pay more and wait for a certified mini of the type I want before jumping in or if the available lot has something I'm willing to take a jump into.

Is there a way to check the engine running hours for the car on these minis? Saw somewhere that using that and the odometer could give you a rough idea what kind of driving it's done. Though a high average mph could just be someone ripping it on local roads as opposed to calm highway miles, I thought knowing would help.

One of the things narrowing the buying field is my desire to own a manual car. I've been seeing people say favorable things about the automatic though which makes me think maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to go for one of those since there are so many around me. I'm sort of half-half on whether I want a manual for the fun or auto for the convenience. Anyone know if there is anything wonky with the auto like weird shifting points or instances of feeling sluggish in comparison to the manual?

 

I would suggest you visit a MINI dealer and drive some cars and ask all of your excellent questions. Perhaps have a chat with the MINI service manager regarding what-all can be learned from reading a MINI key or from plugging a MINI into their diagnostic machine.

The more you learn, the more of a discriminating MINI buyer you will become.

Option 2 is to drive the one you've already found -- take it on a thorough test as has been suggested by Imperial. If the car feels right and you can get an independent evaluation and some solid history on the car -- at least enough history to confirm that all scheduled maintenance has been done -- then, if it feels right, make a really low offer, knowing you might be doing a clutch or brakes or other driveline work somewhere down the line, perhaps soon. But if there is no documentation of complete and consistent service, or if an independent evaluation raises any issues, walk away regardless of price.

FWIW, currently there are too many MINIs chasing too few customers. Dealers are dealing and it is truly easy to search dealers within whatever geographical range makes sense to you. Many people can't find what they want locally but snag just what they want in an adjacent region. Not unusual for people to fly to where the car is and drive it home.

Leasing a new, built to order MINI might cost you a couple of grand in drive offs and then $300/month for 3 years, and, while at the lease end you're starting over, if you buy a 6 year old MINI with 72Kmiles and who knows what troubles lurking, 3 years down the road you'll have a car with almost zero value and possibly over 100,000 miles on it, plus you will have paid for any and all maintenance, tires, etc. Whereas with a well-negotiated lease, and a very careful, disciplined deal, given today's incentives, you get exactly what you want and, over the life of the lease, you will have spent about what the car your now considering will cost you, maybe less. And you're driving a brand new car, under full warranty, with 3 years of scheduled service included. I'm not saying leasing is for everyone, but if your credit is good and you take care of your things, and you don't drive a ton of miles each year, and you enjoy that new car smell.... livin' in a world of possibilities.

So, I would call a MINI dealer, tell them what you're looking to spend on a used MINI, and ask what they could do on a lease for the same $. Who knows??? If you haven't already, look at the Art of the Deal sticky in this 3rd Gen section. And Motor!!

 

Just a suggestion, but I learned from experience when I was looking for a used Countryman S All4. Watch AutoTrader, etc. about 3 years after a new model year where you will find "an absolute ton" of cars coming off lease that are on dealer lots. Dealers want to move these cars fast, and most either have existing warranties or you can negotiate an extended warranty. We found our 2015 Light Coffee CMS All4 this way, and we absolutely love it! It only had 15k miles on it too! Now that 2015 is 4 years past, finding the color, etc. we were looking for diminished to practically zero! But in the spring/summer of 2018 there were many available that met our criteria!

 

I've thought about a lease but I'd really like a car I can buy and just use and own for a lengthy period of time which may be counter intuitive with a car with 72k on it. I'll keep an eye out for some lower mileage cars that fit my budget and not buy this one unless I get one heck of a price on it like 8k or something haha.

Appreciate all the good advice! Looks like I know what I need to do now. All in all even if I don't end up in a Mini like I hope, I'll still have learned tons from the search for one.

Thanks to everyone!

 

I actually went to a mini dealer to test drive one of the base 2016 coopers with auto trans and felt the car rumble and the body shake when near stopping speeds. It would entirely go away, sound and shake when i let it coast or apply some gas, but if I brake and just crawl it happened, both in drive and reverse. They told me it's normal for the car and that it's been checked over since it's certified pre owned. I still got into a 2019 cooper base to check it out and while it did get louder when nearly stopped, it had the rumble which sounds like the engine, but it didn't shake the body. I also got into a 2016 cooper s to compare and that one didn't shake at all.

Is the dealer right? Is that kind of movement normal? The sales woman said "perhaps it's because the S has a twin turbo that it doesn't shake," and from there I knew I couldn't expect her to have an answer no matter how many other possible explanations she gave.

 

Was it a manual or auto? Our 4dr Cooper base auto does not shake. Was it in Green mode perhaps and shutting down or if a manual a problem with the clutch/transmission.

Sales people generally don't know the products anymore. They are trained to overcome sales objections, etc. but technical knowledge is probably considered a negative as they don't want them bogged down in those kinds of discussions with the small percentage of buyers who know that stuff.

 

hey, FWIW, I'm a new owner myself of a '15 Cooper S (manual trans/40k). I test drove a '13 with like 15k miles on it, a 18 f56 non s with an automatic, a Countryman non S and a clubman non S, both with an a/t. the last one was the 15 MCS with a stick. The clubman was my favorite with the a/t. but the stick was the best overall. I know about that weird *** shimmy you're talking about and the only thing I could think was that it had something up with the crossmember. My advice is whichever you choose, make sure you explore the warranty. Like I said, i've had mine about six weeks (as of monday) and they've already warranted both control arms, my fuel cap and re-hung my dealer installed JCW exhaust. Each time they've given me a loaner and i couldn't be happier. Just for ref, my prior car was a '12 Audi A4 quattro. Good luck and post pics!

 

It was an auto and I tried changing the driving modes and turning the engine shut off feature, both on and off settings. It just shook the whole car.

 

Possibly some rust on the rotors from sitting at the lot?

 

 

It didn't feel like rust on the brakes, if felt like something rattling the entire chassis of the car. I know what rusty or bad brakes feel like since i've ridden my share of them either from lack of funds or lack of knowledge.

Yeah I don't mind getting a base cooper after having driven one today but I did think I should opt for the manual though after having driven all automatics at the dealership. Something just tells me that if the mini is to be my only car for the foreseeable future I want a manual to be able to enjoy driving. Having driven an automatic for 3 years now, even with turbo charged power available I ended up just using it as a plain commuter car without an ounce of enjoyment.

It seems certified manual minis are a rarity around me since I can't seem to find a single one. Maybe I'll wait to see if i can find a deal on some 2016s that come back this year after their 3 year leases are done.

All in all it sucks since the cooper S I found nearby pretty much has everything I want except being from a non mini dealer and 72k miles attached to a $12k asking price.

 

Does the 2014 model you were inquiring about, have DDC(Dynamic Damper Control)?

2016 models should be pretty good and possibly MINI rectified most issues that 2014, 2015 models had...

I paid $18.6K for my 2016 Cooper S with 19.5K miles and 1.5 years of factory warranty. Oil change was done in MINI dealerships in 6 months intervals(according to Carfax) and car was originally purchased from CA and later this year was traded-in to BMW or FORD dealer in WA state.
The car is still under 3y/36000 maintenance program and I thought my car won't qualify for this as MINI did revise their rules for complimentary maintenance in 2017 which stated that "original purchaser only"...but since mine was 2016 model, MINI of Seattle did an oil change + inspection for free.

 

Yes it does have the Dynamic Dampening. Wanted to try and take it for a test drive but they said it was being serviced..

 

That is nice, as DDC is optional and not many people get it. It took me some time to find a car with this option + the one that I like

I wonder "car being serviced" - what could this mean. I don't think it is just a simple oil change...as it doesn't take long

 

Whenever I went to test drive a used car, if it was being serviced it usually meant someone else was test driving it or was buying it.

 

Haha, who knows. Could be. Maybe it was getting its inspection updated or maybe that's the case.