Im new here but a life long rev head,
My personal car is a 69 bb corvette im restro modding in a road race theme,

While i am a gear head and know "cars"
i dont know minis i did look over the sticky on buying but wanted to get a more person to person weed things down type feedback, whatever i decide to buy i do need something in the next 2 to 6 weeks, but wont just buy stupid.

The mini will be the main car and my wife wants me to add a push/brush bar, roof rack and fog driving lights,
Shes into stuff like fury road and tankgirl so that rally car look gets to her, i like it too,

I am in eustis florida, ive been looking around craigslist and my budget figure seems about right with what im seeing listed, not brand new ones, used ones,

But the hurdles, what years/gens do i look at?
Are there years to avoid, things to avoid, short order pros and cons,

I like turbos but are they good on these cars or avoid them,
Can i still use a roof rack with sun roofs,
What are cool must have options,

While manual trans is fun the way we will use this car auto will be better, i guess gear box wouldnt be a deal killer on a nice one,

What mileage is considered high on these, i am mostly looking at under 100k, but should i open that up, im old school thinking when it comes to miles

I know many people avoid things like rebuilt titles or even just overhauled engines but those things really do not matter to me if price is right,

Okay, guess thats a good basic run down from my end now give me some info from your end of knowing and owning these cars,

And by all means posts pictures and examples of good ones and crap ones.

Cheers
B

 

Good thing about NAM is you should get lots of opinions here. The Gen1 Minis have the Tritec Engine that has a cast iron block and with proper maintenance has proven to be a tank. The early year Gen2 had the N14 Prince engine that many think is better as a boat anchor than a car engine. In later years the N18 replaced the N14 with less issues. The Gen3's have a BMW engine.

Each of the Generations have some Frequently Asked Question areas and suggest you do some checking out. Should pick up good information for use in making up your mind. If you do buy one, bring the car up to the Appalachians and drive some roads like the Tail of the Dragon, the Snake and the Back of the Dragon. All roads where the corvettes, camaros and mustangs pull over and then try to keep up with the MINIs.

 

How do i know which gen 2s or one i like has the prince boat anchor?

 

Welcome to the forum

 

Start with a '11 or newer. That was the first year with the n18 engine..

 

Okay, a few questions,

Does the "S" mean it always has turbo, and do all turbos have the hood hole,

What does "base" mean?

Why do people hate the prince engine?

 

Spend a week or two just reading the forum and you'll pick all this stuff up. The FAQs at the top of each generation section are full of great info and will help you figure out exactly what car you're looking for and the questions to ask the seller.

Good luck and hope you find the right MINI.

 

From my own experience buying used cars, here are the necessary tools you'll need to assess a potential sale:
-A good OBD II reader
-A jack (to see if there's any leaks, dents, or rust).
-A pressure test kit (can be "rented" free from any automotive parts store).
-A flashlight (check the drive belt, hoses, and coolant over flow tank, etc).

 

Do not rush out take your time to decide and what color you think you like and plug those colors in on your search.
I wanted Pepper White I had that in 2008 with lounge red interior great car but was rear ended. So 10 yrs later want another and plugged in pepper white ,Gray & Silver.
Well that did not work for I bought a chili red 2006 Mini S supercharged,6 speed with 45K miles and always garaged. I gave up the color I wanted for a low mileage well kept car and I am very pleased that I did.
The Mini is a beauty and the person I bought it from was honest and gave me so much information.
But what I am going to say now is that I found a Pepper White with Lounge red interior but automatic and was in Florida my old one was 6 speed but I thought 66 yrs old I would settle for automatic glad I did not.
But that 2009 Mini in Florida and living in NJ scared me for I was nervous about flooded cars down there and did not want to travel from NJ to Florida and find that out or find out 6 speed is in my blood for Mini cars.
I just feel that Mini to me needs 6 speed. Test drive both and make sure before you buy..

I might add that my 2008 was more luxury than the car I bought 2 days ago. My 2008 I feel I could have driven cross country with it compared to my now 2006 . I drove 2006 home 90 miles and it run the turnpike at 75 mph
at approx 3000 rpm no problem but it is a more raw car with harsher ride and more road noise but I smiled all the way home. For I will not be driving cross country but maybe a day through covered bridges
and Delaware River run of 150 miles day rides. So this 2006 on those little back roads of curves and covered bridges is perfect.. Something you need to decide what you want Mini for. And I have to add you need a S if
you have a corvette. I just gave up Lotus Evora for Mini S and Vanderhall and very pleased .

You hear Mini's are like on riding on rails and this is true to a small point of your riding on rails.. My 2008 was a disappointment 10 yrs ago for I was into corvettes and crouch rockets ect and the Mini front track width is really
narrow compared to my slingshot that is turbo'ed and probably 10" wider than my Mini and my SS was 6 inches wider than my Lotus. So just want to give you a heads up that these are fun cars and they
do go around corners fast but not like a Lotus or a corvette so just keep that in mind ..

good Luck in your Mini Search

 

If your not concerned about max power get the Base model, non turbo or Supercharger in 1st Gens and you bypass most any engine problems there might have been. Not saying there is anything wrong with those cars/engines but the SC will wear out, same with turbos, no bypass valves to worry about etc.. The base models for the most part of any year model didn't have engine problems to speak of...

 

Thanks guys,

You all are kinder to a newbie than some guys on the vette forum i haunt,

The 69 vette is our fun car, while i have no problem daily driving it we do things like garage sales where the vette isnt practical,
I used tge xterra for that but it needs a new supercharger so that is why im car shopping, need a driver while i get the xterra up to par, i have had great luck from the xterra,

My wife tina found a spooky review site, really beat minis to death on needing lots of repairs and being very unreliable,

So give me some real personal feedback on that, and keep in mind i am a gear head not a person Who is scared to change oil,

 

You'll find plenty of threads on NAM dumping on Mini. My only complaint about the Mini brand is they are stupid expensive to maintain and repair. Just like any other European sports car.

 

That was the beauty of my '06 Just-a, ( non super charger model ) Bought it new, drove it for alittle over 160,000 miles over an 8-9 year period with only having to replace the thermostat gasket 3 times ( known problem ) both front axles, at 100,000 ( due probably to me lowering it quite a bit ) and the front upper engine mount a few times ( again a known problem, after market has better options then OEM just never bought one ) All while using it as a DD and a few track days and numerous Auto-x weekends...sure I went thru brake pads and tires of course... all the while only changing the oil when the computer told me to. ( roughly every 15,000 miles )

 

1st Gen model years were 2002 - 2006 for Hardtops and 2005 - 2008 Convertibles.

1st Gen Cooper S models are supercharged and 2nd Gen Cooper S models are turbocharged.

Problematic:

• Midlands (manual) transmission used in 1st Gen (2002 - 2004) Cooper models
• CVT (automatic) transmission used in all 1st Gen Cooper models
• N14 engine used in 2nd Gen (2007 - 2010) Cooper S models and 2nd Gen (2009 - 2012) JCW models

 

If you google N18 vs N14, you can find plenty of info on the differences (visually and technically), but the easiest method I have found is to run the VIN through something like myminivin.com. It will tell you what options the car left the factory with (so not the deal installed options), too. The N18 is in the '12+ cars except for the JCW which got it partway through '12, so some '12 JCWs have the N14. I am mostly looking for JCWs, so that's where the VIN search really comes in handy. That and some ads are surprisingly terrible. You'd think they just don't want to sell the car sometimes...

 

Again, thanks everyone,

Tomorrow im popped in a little car lot near me just to take a closer gander at a mini there, i have no idea year or anything,

So the "S" is always either supercharged or turbo charged?
Do they always have the hood hole?

 

Yes. No hole it's a Base Model..

 

Do a search on facebook market place.
That is were I found the one I bought.
Auto Trader another place to look.
Look at mileage, car fax ,accidents , etc

 

Pros and Cons to each. After researching, the GEN 1 6spd fit my needs the best. Its not my daily, its just fun.

You'll get widely varying opinions on whats good and bad etc. I personally like the supercharger over the turbo, but that's just me. Do yourself a favor, drive one of each. Drive a manual and drive an auto. I heard the early auto trans are garbage and more expensive than the car is worth to fix, but I've no real experience with it.

I started a thread asking who drives their mini daily, some people are getting a lot of life out of the GEN 1!

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ini-daily.html

 

When I decided 2 weeks ago to buy a Mini again and my thoughts were on 2011 to 2013.
And only because of reading here on forum the cons of other years.
My old Mini S was a 2008 and it was a beautiful car for the 1 1/2 yrs owned before rear ended. And anything newer than a 2013 should be called a Maxi Mini for they are just to big and ugly in my eyes .
But through all the hundred of minis I looked at was surprised how many are automatics.
And most mini's looked at had over 100k miles on them..I am not buying no car with over 50k miles and a 6 speed for all the horror stories of bad automatics that most 4k to replace.
But Like I said couple days ago take your time and one with lower miles will show up.
A friend called me he saw very low miles Mini in Georgia ,I live in NJ and it had 10k miles on2009 6 speed and I found it online and read the car fax and it was in 2 accidents in past year ..
Not traveling that far and taking a chance on car in 2 accidents.
So we just had heavy snow here in NJ and have not had a chance to drive my little toy since I got it home Saturday ..So waiting for snow to melt here.

 

The N18 was used in Cooper S models effective with 2011 model year production and in JCW models effective with 2013 model year production.

 

I have been researching the hell out if it trying to remove myths from facts,
Like most i have a budget to try to follow but do in general buy as much as you can afford,
Find any patterns in minis for sale, ive noticed more S than base,
And not much newer than about 2012 2013,
But im not sure i dont like the look of the early ones better,
Around or just over 100k seems the normal miles and im old school hard for me to consider 80k isnt high miles and after 100k is junk,
Its how a person cared for the car,

The cvt, this was used in first gen non S models and in this case i would avoid it, the belt is the weak link and when it goes it will take this expensive trans with it,
I cant imagine the market was big on the auto base model,
Sadly im guessing a lot of those cars went to the junkyard,

I saw an ad for a 2010 and the fellow said he didnt like it anymore that it was too slow for him he had several aftermaket hop up items on it some i consider cheesy,
It had about 80k on it and he wanted like 9800,

Well we know from his ad he watched fast and furious too many times and is some kid racer who did beat the **** out of the car
So i move on to the next possibility

I see pros and cons with gen 1 and 2,
And sure a turbo or sc are very different creatures,
My xrerra has a sc and i cant imagine driving one with out it
Same when i had a turbo pt looser,

Im not really getting any great patterns to used minis that are offered, any ideas?

 

The problem with longing for a car is that many things make it very tempting.
If I were in the market for another Mini, here's what I'd look for:
-Stuff that has wear but is fixable like interior trim, badges, etc (no structural dents and rust) and not too expensive.
-Documentation and service history. If the owner has a stack of receipts and documents, that's a good sign the car was maintained.
-Is the car still under warranty.

Bring your smartphone and price out what'll need to be replaced. It can be a real bargaining chip. New BMW/Mini parts are expensive.
Check for hood/trunk/door gaps. It can be a sign the car was in an accident.
Have enough money for a paint job for your hood and enough for a windshield (Mini's are magnets for rock-chips).

Take lots of test drives. As long as you give people/dealerships ample free time to schedule, most people will let you drive their cars for free.

 

The two generations also have a different "drive" characteristics ... the 1st Gen being "raw" and the 2nd more "refined".

You need to do some test drives and decide which Gen and which model you prefer.

 

My dd is a 69 corvette 454, its "raw" ;-)
And my wife is a fury road tomboy,

I agree, i need to drive all options...