Local dealership has a 09 JCW mini with 85k miles. 6 speed manual. Red exterior with black leather interior with red accent. Looking up the vin it has the n14 motor. Dealer is asking $12900. Kbb says anywhere between $10-12. Thoughts?
Anything to check for?

 

Get the maintenance history and ensure all the "usual" N14 faults have been replaced ---
Timing chain, tensioner, guides, etc
HPFP
Aux coolant pump
Thermostat housing
Turbo oil feed hose
Valve cover (PCV system)
And probably more ---

Hold out for an N18 version if you can.

 

As somebody else said, it is the N14 engine that may have issues and it has high mileage.

I would pass and look for 2013 and up with less 40K.

 

I'd check for oil leaks and see if the timing chain has been replaced. Otherwise it's hard to say. If they have maint records that would be best as that is the biggest issue with these cars as previous owners slack on maint.

 

I picked up mine last year for around that price, 2009 JCW 60k on it. since, i have replaced 2 ignition coil(1 week after i bought it). HPFP, fuel filter. thermostat, oil cooler seals (pain to get to), Cleaned out the carbon build up (was leaned over for 2 days scrubbing and scraping away), diverter valve since it failed (most recent faliure) . On the side i did front and rear brakes pads and rotors new they were almost out when i bought it. I did most of the work one it except the HPFP since it was still covered under warranty. all this was done in about 1yr. id say thats been quite a bit but i really like that car. runs strong and very quick and nimble as i use it to commute to work thru major traffic in houston tx.

 

As someone stated above, these cars can be maintenance nightmares. I bought my '09 JCW with 45k miles on it. Thermostat housing, both fuel pumps, vacuum pump, timing chain, clutch, wheel bearing and the second timing chain failed causing catastrophic engine failure. I have a $12k paperweight despite having spent $6k in repairs so far (and that is with a maintenance contract through my mini dealer). Mini has refused to help me with any of these and my engine failed one month after the deadline for the class-action settlement. I loved the damned thing when it was running but that's been a long time ago.

 

If I were to get an n14 mini with anything over 65k I would throw 2k in maintenance just as piece of mind. That 2k with the labor done by me. Telling you from experience JCWs n14s are definitely built better and seem to have fewer problems. Aside from water pumps thermostat and oil leaks everything else goes back less frequent on it. Aside from that the normal JCW owner is pretty good at taking care of their car.
I've seen more clutches then chains