Alright, I think ima bite the bullet and sell, trade rather, my 02 R50 with 83k miles on it for an 04 IB/W Cooper S only has 39k miles, 2 owners (first owner leased it for 4 years), has multi-steering wheel, 2-tone cloth heated seats, sunroof, foglamps, xenons, on-board computer. They want $14,659 for it.
They are giving me $7,500 for my R50 (which I still owe $6,500 on). I paid $10,600 for my R50 (taxes, etc) so I am taking a $3,000 hit.
If I put $2,000 down plus trade in with 5%interest on 60 month loan, my payment will be $260/month versus my current $179/month payment.

Aside from the math:
I absolutely love the IndyBlue (favorite color!) Not crazy about the cloth seats but I can change those later. I plan on tracking my MINI and from what I've gathered the R50's Midlands can't take that use/abuse which is why instead of paying $3,000 for a 6speed swap, I am just going for an S.
Plus, it does have half the miles my current R50 has.
My R50 was in an accident so that counts agasint me for resale value as well as I am the 5th owner.

Do you think I am getting ripped off or does this sound like a fair deal? Do you honestly think I can get more from a private sale (autotrader, etc), like $9,500? I know if I hold out I'll more than likely miss the opportunity to buy this S although I guess there will always be another one. However, this R53 is pretty sweet, it is loaded and in good condition and still fairly young.

I know I would be content in my R50, especially if I get an exhaust and tune. It's just the reliability issue of the transmission that makes me re-think keeping it.

Any advice is greatly appreciated and encouraged!

Thanks

 

If you want to track your car, you'll do far better with an '05 or '06 as the tranny has a closer gear ratio, cutting almost a full second off the stock 0-60 times between the '04 and '05 model year. Better yet, find an '05 with a limited-slip, though, you can retrofit with a Quaife at the next clutch change.

Need to know how long you've had the car to know if you're taking a bath. If you got a couple year's use out of it, probably not. If you can take some time to find a buyer yourself, obviously, you'll do much better than trading in. Same goes on the buying side: don't buy from a dealer.Doing it yourself takes a lot longer and takes some work, but it sure improves the deals.

 

Buy my uncle's 2003 MCS, not quite 25K miles, electric blue, no cloth seats and only $13.5K. Yep, I do have a financial interest. More info in the market section.

 

Yup check the Market Place here on NAM. The is three 05s and one 06 MCS under $14,700. Plus there is one 05 MCS $800 over the budget, but with nearly all the RMW goodies and 1.8 engine by RMW.

 

Yeah and it also has 115k miles on it...and I don't like silver.

By the way, I'm buying a cooper for my daily. I'll only be taking it to the track a few times a year just to have fun and learn to be a better driver. So, nothing serious. I can't really get wrapped up in competition as I don't have the money or time (work 2 jobs and go to school), so that .8 of a second is not gonna matter much to me.

I've had my R50 since this past fall (baught in aug). So, 6 months of use.
If I sold it privately, I could probably get $9,000 for it. So, that's a $1,500 loss if you want to see it that way.

I'm sure there are good cars here on NAM but the trick would be driving distance to meet and look at the car which again, I don't have the time to do. I need to deal locally i.e., within 100 mile radius.
Plus, there is that struggle to get the timing right - find a car to buy while at same time selling mine at same time so I'm not sitting on 2 cars.

Your uncles R53 sounds nice but I don't want electric blue. Very good price though I must say. But, if I'm going through the whole buying car deal, I want to get exactly what I want and stick with it, no regrets or sacrifices.


On a more sentimental note, I do love my Justa. It just looks so classic. Chrome on black & white. Plus, the lack of scoop&face-lift makes it look close to the classic mini. I have a ball driving it. Just did on my way home from work. I don't know if it's just me but the Justas seem to corner/handle slightly better than the S. Which is weird because they have same chasis and suspension although the S suspension is stiffer.
Further still, nothing and I mean NOTHING will ever replace the roar of the DDM intake! Love the sound. But then again...the AGS sounds pretty wicked...
I'm sure in time the super charger whine will grow on me. It already has begun.

 

Well, took the R53 to be inspected...
P/S fan doesn't work
Cooling fan (speed1) doesn't work
Needs new tie-tods(left&right)
Front 2 rims are bent (makes the steering wheel shimmy above 50mph)
It will need an alignment after new tierods/rims.
Other than that looks good

However, the dealer is only knocking off $360 off the price...
shouldn't this stuff be taken care of before they even try to sell it??
Or, atleast have their mechanics fix it before I buy it?

 

Ps fan...$133, the fan, about $100, tie rods, a few bucks, alighnment, $100....the rims...depends...if you like the car...you can diy the fix for the price cut, except the rims....but if you use dealer pricing, and their shop rate, the fan cooling fan is closer to $300, ps fan is $180, plus a few hours...so they might give you $800 off...sounds like a negogating tactic...they know you like the car...you spent $$ to get it looked at.

 

Yeah...
It just takes the fun out of buying a car when you have to do work on it right away...and not fun stuff either (like an intake, one-ball, shift-kit, etc)

Would I be out of line if I asked for another $200 off in order to atleast cover the cost of the fans? I don't want to be petty but this stuff really should have been fixed before it went on the lot for sale...

Also, I'm a little unsure about it's service history. Called the Dealer to run the VIN # and they only have 2 services! I guess in a way that means nothing was wrong with it but at the same time was the oil not being changed!? Sure, they could have changed it themselves or at a non-dealer shop but why? It was under warranty...plus they lived in Ohio so a dealership is right there so it's not like it is far away.

I just don't want to buy a car that has been abused.
I mean, what the heck did they do to bend the rims and mess up the tie-rods? Were they off-roading or something? Did they go into a ditch? It could be anything...

 

run, don't walk away from that car.

 

If you like it...I'd look very closely...any good dealer should fix all of it...for free. The tie-rods and rims are the only part that makes me wonder...the fans are both VERY common...heck 75% of most gen1 mini have had one or the other replaced....or need too. My car, has had both.
Like I said...the rims and the tierods....tierods are a bit of a wear item...rims are reparible/replacable....

 

I'm calling today. These repairs take all of the fun out of buying a car. I'm putting 2grand down, I don't have another grand just laying around to put into a "new-to-me" car to fix right from start. If they don't fix it for me, at no cost to me, then I'm walking. The fans, especially the P/S I can understand. The R50 I bought needed both of those a month into ownership. Of course, I didn't know anything about MINIs then. But the suspension...that should be fixed for sure.

 

Update:
A local MINI owner has offered to give me 2 free S-lite rims (to match mine)
Dealer said they would cut me a $300 check to cover the cost of tirods, fitting tyres to wheels+balancing, and my alignment.
So, that leaves me with replacing the 2 fans (P/S+Cooling)
Found a cooling fan for ~$90 and the P/S fan is $154 so after shipping I'm looking at about $260 for that.
I'm sure 1 out of 3 MINIs for sale need atleast 1 or the other of those fixed so...not that big of an issue.

 

Waymotorworks has the ps fans for 133$ I think...a vendor, cheap shipping too!!
Sounds like a better deal ( the discount/fix)...since it is tax refund season, dealers are expecting lots of sales in the next few weeks...hense the had bargining I bet!!

 

Update:
They knocked the price down from $14,636 to $14,360
They are replacing tirods and doing alignment free of charge
They are fitting the tires to the wheels free of charge

Now, my only concern is if the jolt or whatever happend to bend the rims caused damage to rest of suspension i.e, struts, shocks, rand and pinion, etc

Had a BMW mechanic check it out. Said he didn't see any leaks or visible damage to rack & pinion, shocks, struts, etc.
Just still a little iffy. I've found a rack for sale for like $260ish so not too bad, I'm sure labor won't be too cheap unless I DIY it.

What's everyone's concensus now? It runs good, looks good. Doesn't look abused or neglected.

 

If the rack looks like it is in good shape.....no leaks....and it drives fine, I would not sweat it. If there is no vibrations after the alighnment, and it tracks straight, and you have already had the car checked out....sounds mechanical it is fine....probably as good or batter than the next car you look at! Sucks you have to do some work on a "new" car....but that is a choice you are making to get one you like....and a better $$ too!!
Sounds like the suspension is sorted (The rack is mucho $$$ labor to install....IF you ever need to do one, since the number of hours is do hi...do new).

 

the 1G steering rack, which is a Rover technical holdover from the developmental days, can "look" fine, but have issues with internal 0-rings blowing out and not showing visible ground leaks. the bellows tehn fill up with that expensive hydraulic fluid then one day y're merrily motoring along and BAM the hydraulic fluid balloon bursts, leaving U 1) stranded and 2) $1,500 lighter for a new PS rack. happened to me twice with my long-gone R53, thankfully under warranty.

why do U think BMW went with the all-electric system for 2G? the previous electro-hydraulic version was a SA's nightmare.

If you're not going to run from that car, then caveat emptor. but then I say that with all 1G MINIs.

 

Thanks Syd. I'm really not wanting to risk $1,500. I'm sure that car took a good wallop to bend both rims and tirods. I doubt it was only a pothole or railroad tracks that did this....*gulp*
I should really just keep looking or stick with my R50. I love it. Just not the midlands...

Unfortunately I cannot afford anything but a 1G MINI at this time. But, that's okay. I've driven the new 2G MINIs and they're fantastic but I still prefer the looks of the 1G. The 2G are superior in performance though.

 

Just got off the phone with way. He said those racks are pretty hard to break so I shouldn't worry about it. Said he replaced 3 in the past 7 years.

But thanks for warning me sequence.