Hello,

My gf and I are looking to buy a used Mini Cooper. We are pretty new to this mania, but we're sure we'll love it.

I'm looking around now for 2005 and newer MINI (non-S) hopefully with remaining factory warranty and have some questions:

1) What's the automatic trans on 2005/6? Is it CVT or is it 4spd/5spd?
2) Any particular issues I should look out for? I see there are some engine fire (seems to be pre-2005 mostly), rusts, trouble starting. Anything else?
3) What are some must-have feature?

Thanks!

 

The auto is a CVT, but if either/both of you can drive stick, go for it. I have an '03 with 63K miles, no rust and no fires. Knocks on wood. I have no trouble starting and in the going on 2 years I've had mine have done nothing other than routine maintenance. If I had to list 3 must haves, I'd say Xenons, the sunroof, and if you live in a cold winter climate, the cold weather package. My heated leather has saved my rear from a most certain cold ride to work many times.

 

The rust is trivial, the fires are few and far between.
Go for a manual if you can drive one. In my area an autobox is an automatic $1500 deduction in value.
02-04 is the Mini the Designers wanted...
05-06 is the Mini the Accountants wanted....
07 up is the Mini EuroNcap wanted...

 

Why not shoot for a 04? I picked up mine for $15900 w/21500miles. It is still under warranty until Nov 08. Stay away from the Auto(CVT) at all costs. I have read and heard about many people having lots of trouble with that trans.

 

Thanks for the replies.

^^^ Oh, me likie. That's one hot Mini! And yes, manual rulz.... I'm currently driving an '01 BMW 330i w/ 5sp manual (sport pkg of course). However... the Mini will be mostly for my gf, who *could* drive a manual, but strongly prefer not to.

As for the model year, I have a copy of the Consumer Report 2008 Buying Guide. It lists the reliability of each model year and basically 02/03 has several quality areas of concerns such as body hardware / integrity, power equipments, and engine cooling. 04 scores average. But 05 and 06 scored above average over all, and 06 actually have excellent rating. I know I can get a non-S 05 w/ about 20k miles on the clock for $17k from a dealer. That's $1k difference, compare to 04 in your example.

That said, I know that I will probably most likely won't have issues w/ an 04. But I'm willing to spend the difference for 1 more year of factory warranty. Just to make me sleep better at night.

 

Yes sleeping easier is important, but if you do your homework and really check out the Mini before you buy it you could save a ton of cash. I took mine straight to a Mini dealer before I agreed to purchase. $1000 is a good amount of coin that could be used for Mods, gas, etc.... $17000 is kind of high for a regular cooper. Also you need to figure in taxes too. Since you are buying from a dealer you could be looking at $1100 just in sales tax. Some states for example like Georgia does not collect tax on vehicles purchased from a private party.

 

Yes, that's exactly why I'm trying to get as much info from forums like this before I buy. Thanks! So if $17k is high for a non-S '05, that's a good info to have. I can try to budge the dealer more maybe I'll start out at $15k. The particular example of '05 Mini is blue which is not the color we are going for anyway, so we are still waiting / searching on the right one.

I'm in NJ, and yes private party sale means I'll pay tax when I register the car at the DMV. I also willing to buy from private party as long as the Mini have a fair amount of factory warranty left. It's all about saving $ and sleeping better at night while getting the right Mini that makes my gf happy.

 

Dude as for the Mini in question, pass on it. It will always be eating at you about how you settled for a color you did not particularly like. I actually shopped around for about 6 hard months before I found what I wanted. I wanted a 6 speed, 17in rims, leather(blue/black or in my case red/black), no more than 30,000 minle and zenon lights. If it did not have any of those options I walked away. So if they did have those options and the price was too high I also walked. Its funny how many people out there were way over priced on their Mini for sale. Try craigslist ( http://newjersey.craigslist.org/sear...=mini%20cooper )to get a idea of what is out there and the prices people are charging. Be sure to check other cities that you would not mind traveling to check out the car. Every now and then there is a good deal on ebay, but I would only bid on cars that I can inspect before I pay one red cent. Ebay too is a tool you could use to get market value. You know bluebook and NADA suck! I find they make owners happy that their ride books at a given price usually a inflated number. What I noticed, if the Mini you buy gets stolen or totaled insurance companies never give book value. They do come close to NADA value. So what ever a insurance company pays in the event of a total loss is what I consider a vehicle to be worth.

 

If the girl friend is set on an auto, then go with a Cooper S. It has a 6sp. auto that is stronger and kinda fun to play with the paddles.

 

Mmm... actually while the S will be very fun car, the reliability rating is below average and she will not be using that extra hp anyway.

I'm going to try to get my gf to practice on my old Miata first. If she's comfortable enough then I'll have option to get the 5spd non-S Mini.

 

For reference, I paid $14,600 for an '05 Mini (automatic, sun roof, etc) with close to 50,000 miles on it. And it's been worth every penny.

 

I did a lot of search prior to buying my Mini (see sig)

try to avoid CVT trans (non-S, 02-06) minis as well as manual transmissions on non-S 02-06 Minis. Starting 05, I believe, S came with 6-speed Aisin (Toyota owned) proper automatic transmissions and the manual transmission is a Getrag unit (correct me if i'm wrong).

If you do a search, there are lots of topics covered on common issues with the Mini.

I had to get an automatic so I went for the 05+. The Aisin unit is a bit sluggish, jerky and disappointing overall but they do the job and they are pretty much bulletproof (as far as I've heard). 05+ are generally built better with several upgrades such as less-rattling dashboard and new 3-spoke steering wheel, mp3-capable cd-player etc etc.

Just for a reference, I live in Southern Cali and got my 06 with 12500 miles for 22K including tax and registration.

 

Uh... I'm confused, then you mean I should avoid all non-S Minis prior to 07? There were only 2 types of trans rt? Auto (CVT) and Manual.... unless you implying there's option of getting something else? I'm confused.

We have a budget of around $16k. So far, from my research I'm hoping to get an '05 or '06 with auto. Maybe I can avoid CVT, that'd be great. But I need to know which year non-S comes w/ non-CVT trans? Thanks!

 

i have an 05 blue xenon , sunroof, stripes, heated seats,
sirius and HK stereo.. big boom box !! LOL

auto tranny CVT ? its called..

no problems. still under warrenty 24k miles.. i love this car.
fun to dirve.. hard to keep under the speed limit

my only concern is dealer is 3.5 hours away..

 

I can see why you're getting confused by the previous posts.

All of the first generation ('02-'06) MC (non-S) vehicles with automatics have the CVT transmission.

The first gen MCS (superchared) automatic vehicles built from '02-'04 also have the CVT. For '05-'06 the MCS was offered with a true six-speed conventional automatic vice the CVT.

On the manual transmissions, the '02-'04 MINI MC (non-S) cars came with a 5-speed Midlands that often did not live up to reliability expectations. For '05-'06 they switched to a 5-speed Getrag tranny that seems by most accounts to be pretty solid. I believe all of the first gen MCS vehicles with manual transmission came with a 6-speed Getrag (though I'm not totally sure of this last claim).

Whatever you decide, I think you'll be happy with any '05 or '06 MINI -- most of the bugs had been worked out in these model years and they likely offer, on average, the most reliable MINIs you can own.

 

Always a good resource for buyers:
http://www.motoringfile.com/mini-r50r53-buyers-guide/

 

Awesome! Thanks!

Great info indeed. And very much same conclusion as the Consumer Report:

 

Showed pic of this very nice looking Pure Silver Mini to the gf, and this one has manual trans on it. She's sold. LOL

I've got the go-ahead to look for manual trans cars now. Yippeee!

 

If your budget is 17k or so, I'd be looking for an "S". I picked up an "S" for my wife a little less then a year ago for $19k, fully loaded except NAV with only 16k miles on the odo - the only downside was a Dec 04 in service date, which cuts down the length of the warranty. It seemed like a pretty decent deal at the time and I'd think you could do better now - probably fairly easy if you don't mind a couple of extra miles on it.

 

The CVT tranny seems to have a fairly high failure ratio and appears to need to be replaced when broken. I have seen the number of $8000.00 to fix. Thats a big number when you are trying to save money! Also from reading here it appears that some have bought the cars and have had problems right away. Probably why the car was beening sold. Having factory warranty is a good thing but some have had trouble with the dealers on getting them fixed. The Cooper S eliminates the CVT and has a normal auto tranny. These seem to be a lot more reliable. If she is needing an auto tranny I would look at the S which may be cheaper in the long run. Just my opinion. Good luck!

 

Hello,

Thanks for all your input. So we ended up w/ an '05 CPO MINI from Princeton MINI. It's white with black top. And yes, it got CVT. (gf rulz on that one. :( ) It was just about on budget at $17k. The dealer has sticker at $19,999, I was surprised to get it down that low... Considering I get the MINI NEXT warranty until 12/2010, I'm OK with CVT. At that point I'll probably trade it in for an '07 anyway.

It got good amount of options, including sport seat, leather seats, heated seats / washer / mirrors, auto climate control, sun roof, and DSC. It came at 25k miles. Right now I need to find front license plate mount because this car is off-lease from PA, which do not have front plate. Haha.

I must say this car is too cute. If it was other color, say blue or red, I would have a hard time giving it up to my gf and just drive it myself. Haha. It's the most fun car to drive, ever. I'd say it's even more fun to drive than my previous '99 Mazda Miata (given to my dad since few years back). This totally get me thinking of trading in my '01 BMW 330i and get myself a MINI too! I couldn't believe how tenacious it holds on to a curve. OMG. Absolutely delicious. And this is w/ the stock 15" rims! Can't imagine how this would be w/ say 17" and summer tires. My only complain is the funky cup holder. When I'm the passenger my knee keep knocking the base rubber piece and poping it out. Oh well...

Anyway, here it is. And yes... my gf already named the car. LOL







Here's my girl giving it a whirl:



Even doggies loves it:

 

Gotta disagree with you on your reasoning.

The 05-06 is the designers finally getting what they intended in the first place.

 

How was the 05-06 preferable to accountants over the 02-04?

I don't think it was accountants who drove the change in gearing.

 

I live in PA and I think I still have my front plate holder from my '04. Your welcome to it if I can find it. Maybe you will want to join us on the Jim Thorpe Run in June. One of the best organized runs around. You can find details on nemini.org.

 

Or you can get a front plate holder from GoMiniGo. It fits into the front tow ring hole.