Anything I should look out for?

I have seen some of the earlier models have had auto transmission problems, so I think I may go with a manual, regardless of year.

Other than that, anything "lemon like" in 2004-2005-2006 that I should look out for.

Sticking with those years because I am not financing and budget doesn't allow newer model.

If I get a 2006, it may still be on warranty? Do these come with a 4 year, 50,000 mile manufacturer warranty?

Thanks in advance for the tips.

 

This my first appearance on this forum, but I lurked and before I bought my 05 MCS, I had the dealer do a PPI in the shock towers. My car has 45,000 miles and 17" runflats. The car checked out fine, but that combination of wheel/tire can cause problems, it seems. Thanks everyone for the heads-up.

Chris Kueny
05 MCS Hyper Blue and Black
"Bruiser"

 

The early models had manual tranny problems as well...just so you don't walk blinding into a manual thinking it's necessarily "safer"...

The 05/06 models were considerably more reliable than the 02-04s, simply because they took the opportunity to iron out the kinks. 05 is also when the manual tranny became more reliable, I believe (someone will correct me if I'm wrong)...

There is a 4-year, 50k warranty, and a 3-year, 36k maintenance plan (oil changes, brakes, inspections, etc).

Some things to look out for: mushrooming strut towers, broken motor mounts, steering column clunks (usually caused by bad knuckle joints), rough/stumbly cold starts (although this is pretty common and doesn't usually indicate anything is wrong persay...it just scares people!), and thermostat leaks. I think those are most of the most common issues overall...oh and power window motor failure.

I would say, take any one you're seriously interested in to a dealer or other trusted mechanic to inspect. Someone who specializes in MINIs will know what to look for, but any good mechanic is better than none at all.

 

05 at a minimum for age. I read all I could before plunging in and buying one.

Let me mention the runflat tyres are HORRID, I just pulled mine off after a month of owning my 06 so if the car has low tread tyres use that to your advantage in the deal knowing you might as well go for non runflats.

My windscreen cracked in the third week, stress crack but I have been told this is very common by many MINI owners

they went to coated rotors in the SC as well in 05.

Best of luck in your hunt. Peter

 

all the advices here are true and if you do a search, you will find even more
useful infos like i did

I gathered a lot of infos before which model/year mini I wanted and
I would advice you to opt for 05+ models.

 

Also I believe it was in 05 they changed the weight of the crank pulley to be less, giving better throttle response. Also has a smaller 1st gear. Also they offered the LSD as an option....

Or at least that is what I would be looking for

 

Thanks everyone. OK, 05+ is now on the list, older off.

I live in SF and I imagine a SF car that has had to deal with the designated WORST ROADS IN THE U.S. may make a difference.

People around here, friends included, go through "front ends" about every three years. So I better stick to a flatland car given your tips on the front end issues.

So they come with a 4 year, 50k warranty. That's good. If I get an 05-06 I'll still get some protection.

I think since my budget is limited, I might be sticking with an 05 [$20k cash, no loan.]

Definitely will need to take to a Mini specialist.

I'm hoping that a low mile car won't have too many problems.

I have read that the run flat tires are expensive, don't last long and are a crappy ride. Will seek a discount on the car if it has those.

Won't be buying until next week, so I'll keep looking for posts in here and elsewhere.

You guys have been a big help.

 

Welcome to NAM and the wide world of Minis! Since there are so many options available out there -- both things thrown in by the dealers as well as options on the cars themselves -- I'd suggest you go around looking at all the options on the '05+ models that you can. I thought I wanted a few options, and when I saw them/felt them/used them in person, I was totally turned off. Same with the colors. AND the dealers -- some people have had very bad experiences with dealers, so if you can get a lead on good ones in your area, you're ahead of the game.

In the end, these kinds of considerations could weigh one prospective vehicle against another, and make your final decision easier! Happy Hunting.

 

I'm definitely looking to ditch the run-flats next time around too. Being in the SF area, definitely check the strut towers for mushrooming! If the one you get is good, get the M7 Strut Tower Plates and reinforcement brace...a simple mod that will save you big bucks!

Let us know what you get.

 

After posting this link for the 20th time, I'm beginning to think that NAM should just create a sticky for it:

http://www.motoringfile.com/mini-r50r53-buyers-guide/

As you'll see from this great article, your decision to look at 05+ is the right one.

 

this is very helpful

 

Wow, that article is sobering. Makes the <05 look like total POS. Also, appears that even an 05 needs to be a later produced unit, mid 05 or later.

Scary.... I have to reconsider my buying decision. My leaning toward a manual seems well founded after reading that article. My suspicions were correct when seeing ads on Minis that said "new transmission, car has 50k miles." I thought at the time, "Why do all these Minis have to have new trannys at 50k miles?"

That's a pretty serious flaw, especially if sticking the owner with the $8k bill on an out of warranty car. Seems the car is worthy of lemon status, or recall. Obviously, those sellers I see on Craig's List are sick after having the tranny replaced at 50k to 60k miles. What a hit that was.

Thanks for posting. It should be a sticky.

 

I read a ton here and asked a lot of questions. I am picking up my 05' on Saturday based on this forums recommendations. The previous years seem to have a lot of issues, and the gearing/powerband is different sarting in 05'... as well as a **** ton of other upgrades.

 

I really wanted to avoid both cvt and midlands, and to do so, my only option was an +05 MCS with automatic. Although It got a little out of my budget,
it's a bargain compare to possibly having my transmission replaced out of my pocket you know.

 

A good decision, especially since the general rule is to get the max vehicle one can afford. Nothing wrong in stretching the budget when getting something as substantial as a car.

I only want to put about $18k cash into one [remember, no financing], but now on reading the Forums tips, looks like I will stretch it to $20 to $21k. By the time I buy next week [when my $ come in] will probably max out my cash to $24k

But I know six months from now I won't regret the decision, like you. But at buying time it's a killer.

Oh, I "rented" a Mini convertible today, to drive to San Jose and back [City Car Share here in San Francisco.] It's a Chili Red 2007. Automatic.

http://www.citycarshare.org/miniconv.do

Love the car, the way the top works, the ride, etc. But totally hate that CVT tranny. Does not do well on the hills here in SF.

Now I am thinking getting a convertible. My three hour test ride was a hoot. Meh... looks like $24k is going out the door.

My review:

Sound system [base system, still sounded good to my trailer trash ears]

Top - [Quiet when up. Love the one button operation.]

Comfort [seats nice, feel the bumps, but I am in shape so sport car feel is fine.]

Cornering [What a hoot at high speeds]

Stability [very responsive and stable on the road.]

Power [even though not an S, still good power to me.]

Top Down [with windows up, top down, as fun a ride as one can get.]

AC [Blew very cold. Definitely not mouse air. Car did not overheat with AC on. I like that in a car.]

Top [good construction, quality feel. As good as was on my Mercedes SL. Good to see they did not cut corners on the top.]

Speedo [Like the little digital indicator on the tach. As you know, the center dash speedo is awkward. Nice that they thought to put that little LED readout on the tach. That tells me that the manufacturer thinks about what it is doing when designing the car.]

Style [The whole way down from San Jose and back EVERYONE was hanging back and looking at the Mini. In SF lots of girls were eyeballing it. People like the Mini. I would not get a car strictly because it's a looker, but was nice to see I was so popular. ]

Zipping [The car rocks in SF where little cars get to dart in and out of lanes, etc. I joked with my female passenger that the Mini should have an "excuse me" horn, that says "excuse me" as I rudely cut in and out of traffic. The Mini is so, well.... mini, that it neatly slices and dices through congestion. I got a few taxi drivers mad who did not like that I was beating their butts on the road, so that is why I need the "excuse me" horn.]

CVT Automatic [Hated it. On the freeway when I punched it the car lagged and slipped as it decided what it wanted to do. On the hills in SF it was plenty powerful and all but when I punched it to dart in and out of traffic I could tell that a manual transmission and the S would make the Mini a road demon in the City.]

Mirrors [You all know that rear visibility sucks on the Mini. I am used to putting convex mirrors on both mirrors on any car I have. The Mini really needs those. Even when I turned my head to see what was in back, I still did not see that clearly. So when I get mine, first thing those $1.99 convex mirrors get applied to the mirrors on the doors.]

Climate Control [My Mini that I took on the joyride did not have climate control. Manual controls kind of suck albeit that is what I have had on two of my last cars, 4Runners. But I have had climate controls on my other cars. So while it is not a deal breaker, would like to find a Mini with climate control.]

Interior [While most cars employ plastics, I could do without the headlight and wiper controls looking like cheap plastic crap from China. Generally I like the fit and finish of the interior, but seems that some areas are delicate. E.g., I would have to be careful using cleaners on some plastic parts because they look like the painted surfaces are easy to damage. Kind of odd, some parts look of good quality, for example the dash, steering wheel, seats, but other parts look almost toy like and cheap.

Rattles [I hate rattles. Even though this was a convertible, did not hear any rattles. Love that.]

Anyway, did not mean to go on and on, but what the heck, it's my thread. Just ignore me.

Thanks for all the tips and saving my butt from making a bad purchase. No thanks for causing the additional $5k to $7k drain on my wallet. Anyone want to PayPal me a few $ to help me out.

 

honest (possibly dumb) question...

they still make cars without AC?

 

The auto climate control sucks. I ordered it on my 04, did not order it on my 06. My 04 S has had one thing go wrong with it. The auto lock on the passenger side went out a couplke weeks ago. You really can't knock the 04. It has 60 some thousand miles on it.

The performance is much better on the 05-06 models. My 06 has had a multitude of problems with it. Bad tranny right out of the box. It took me 18k miles to convince the dealer there was a problem with the shift forks. It also had a bad motor mount. With all that said if I had to choose I would still go with the 06.

If you go with a standard cooper they fixed the tranny in 05.

 

What I meant by climate control is that you set it to a temp and the car maintains it automatically, by alternating between heat, cool air and off.

Manual means you set the fan, temp switch on a sliding scale and turning the AC on and off.

Seems to me I recall seeing economy cars [the Toyota Corolla CE] without AC, but all the car lots had AC on even those units, but it was an add on.

I think most people end up getting AC rather than save the $600 to $800. Climate control, as opposed to manual controls, still remains an option on medium priced cars.

 

Did you have a CVT or manual, the one with the "bad tranny?"

 

05 to 06 is the way to go, just make sure the build date on the door is 01/2005 or newer for all the improvements.

 

That's a good question. I remember up north lots of cars didn't have A/C. Work trucks here in SC sometimes don't. I wonder if they all just have it to make it easier to build them all the same.

 

As stated depends on which transmission you are considering.

I have a 2003 MCS with getrag 6 speed transmission and at 45,000 miles it's working just fine. In fact the whole car is doing fine and is as trouble free as the new small Hondas I also have.

 

I dunno... but I just wonder because the only way a car doesn't have a/c around here is if it is broken.

 

I assume the A/C is broken when I see any car with the windows down on a hot day.

I do assume that ALL cars [last 15 years] have A/C.

But manufacturers like to add on an $800 charge for A/C on their base models.

I suspect a car without A/C is a special order item or added on by the dealer at significant extra cost.

Back on topic, even though one member says Climate Control is worthless [probably true, most are imprecise for any number of reasons] I wonder how many Minis have CC. So far it seems about 20% or so.

 

I'm glad to hear you've made such a wise decision in getting a Mini. I was loaned a convertible automatic while waiting out a snafu on my first MCS, and I really hated the visibility with the top up, especially out the back window. It made me dead-set against a convertible, actually. I have so much more visibility in the hard-tops, and I feel not only safer, but less closter phobic. I guess the inside darkness just seemed to close for me, and I am NOT closter phobic! I also hated the automatic - just as you said, not enough punch on a regular basis.

Good luck, and Happy Motoring.