Need some insight please. About me, I do not drive all that much, and when I do it is on weekends and an occasional road trip. I currently drive a 02 Cooper S. I bought it from the original owner with 52k on it a few months back. Being an older car I had to get a personal loan in order to purchase it. It's in decent shape, has two door dings and the rear hatch has a small dent. Mechanically as far as I can tell it's sound. I LOVE the rawness that the first gen coopers have, and I love the supercharger sound! My dilema is that as I mentioned, it has it's imperfections and for someone who nit picks everything, they bother me. Door dings, scratches etc and the fact that I have a personal loan on it with HIGH interest.

My other option that I am looking at is a 08 Cooper S clubman with 81k on it. The body on it is near perfect. It has more room for the dog and such, also a one owner. I would also be able to get a conventional auto loan on the clubman. My concern is with the newer turbo motors and their reliability. Being it has higher miles on it I'm not sure what I may be getting into with the clubman.

Cliff notes:
Love R53's, but mine is old and on a personal loan with hight interest
No cash to look and find a lower mileage R53, and my credit union only finances newer cars
clubman motor scares me

 

Keep the R53... R56 with higher milage is not worth the gamble IMO.

 

Such a personal choice...
The low-mileage R53 makes you happy to drive it, with it's raw, visceral qualities. The chips and dings bother you though. I can understand that, but it's how you feel behind the wheel that matters most.

But that's a tough argument to have with your eyes, which are so superficial.

My R53 has 5 rock chips and dents in the bonnet (hood). A friend of mine recently forgot to set his parking brake, and his R56 rolled backwards into my car, damaging the bumper. While having it estimated to be repaired, (at his cost), I also had an estimate to have the bonnet (hood) fixed up and resprayed. The cost? about 800 bucks.

I'm going to pay to have those fixed out of my pocket, because I can scrounge up the 800 bucks, and finally not feel depressed every time I wash the front of the car.

So, I guess I recommend getting an estimate from a body shop for how much it'll cost to fix your dents and dings. It may help your decision-making process to know that.

 

Talk to your local Paintless Dent Removal folks. PDR can do wonders, and the good outfits will tell you when they can't fix something. It's great for door dings, and doesn't cost nearly as much as bondo-and-respray.