Hey folks, so I'm looking to buy a pre-owned Mini in the next few months, hopefully January.
So this post is both for what should I look out for and if anything is thinking of selling one soon.
I used to have a 2007 R56 manual which I loved but ended up selling it because of high miles and now the bug bit me to buy a 3rd gen.
Just in general I want to know what I should look out for in terms of maintenance and known issues.
This will be my daily.
My perfect next mini is an F56:
Must have roof rails
Led Lights
6spd Manual
Harmon Kardon
It would be nice if I could find one with nice options, maybe upgraded suspsension, nav screen etc...

Thanks

 

Depending on how close you are to a MINI dealer they have cars that come off 2 year lease and loaner cars. The loaner cars have low miles so they can still sell them with a new car warranty. Certified cars are off lease that have documented service and won't have a lot of mileage so people don't get dinged when turning them in for going over mileage unless they bought extra mileage going in.

LED and manual transmission will be off lease cars, dealers won't put a manual in their loaner car fleet due to low numbers of people who can drive them.

Unless someone ordered the car with roof rails (front to back) you will probably have a hard time time finding one with them. They can be installed after the sale but most dealers won't touch it since you have to drill holes in the roof to mount the bars and take the headliner out for the install. You can buy the bars and have a body shop install them, find the shop before you buy them to make sure you have someone to install them. Ask the dealer for instructions so you can share with the body shop so they know what they are getting into.

I have seen only a few F56S with optional sport suspension, most have the standard suspension. A 25mm Way Motor Works or NM Engineering rear sway bar will help a lot.

 

Appreciate the thorough response.
I will start my search!