i need help with buying my first mini. actually mabye even buying a car all together. i live in new york city and i havent really had a need to buy a car, the last one that i had was an old chevy monte carlo, impossible to find parking and guzzled gas, but i was given to me. i would like to buy a used mini, i've been searching the market for weeks and i cant seem to find a good price for the amount of mileage and years they have on them. im willing to spend about $15,000 depending on the year and miles. what i would like to know from you mini drivers is:
1. what is the typical lifespan of a mini (in terms of mileage) ?
2. what is a good price for a used mini S from 2002 to 2006 with high or low mileage?
3. where would be the best place to buy? whether it be an independant seller within this forum or a used car dealer.

it seems ridiculous to me that a 5 year old car with 70k+ miles on it can almost get its msrp price, but thats just me.

this is my second post so keep in mind im a noob.

thank you

 

1) not yet detirmeined.
2) check the blue book for your area what they sell for
3) E-bay, Carigs list, here on NAM

We sll should hope that they hold ther value. (me 02 owner)

Hopefully someone will respond to this post that lives in your are and is a MINI GEARHEAD that will take you under there wing.

 

Welcome to the forum. Yeah, it does seem hard to believe that a used Mini can fetch a price at MSRP or even higher in some circumstances. But, that just shows how popular these cars really are. Good luck with your search. These cars are worth every penny.

 

Well i'll tell you this, I bought my 2004 MINI S 1 year ago for $23k from the dealer. abouttt 30k miles on it. so for 15 i dunno what youll find. high mileage 02/03? maybe.

 

You could check out the following place on the internet:
http://www.minitraderonline.com/

This is where I found my 05' MCS. You need to take into account the fact that gas keeps going up each day and that your trying to blend performance, economy, and style all together. That really puts a Mini Cooper in first place. If you want to keep the price down a bit, try looking for a straight MC and not an "S" model. Also, you can always start a bid a bit lower than asking price. If memory serves me, there are some very nice mini's up and down the east coast, just start looking outside of NY city. Good luck...

 

thanks for all of your help. please keep it coming.

 

yeah thats a good tip, look for a non s model. but ive seen some s models for 15 you jus gotta search private owners not dealers! good luck! ; ) youll love them!

 

When I was shopping for mine, I had a bunch of options I wanted on it, and my wife's constraining factor was that it had to be Pure Silver. So, that narrowed it down a lot.

I decided that I would broaden my search to "the continental USA" and if need be take a driving-vacation to get it home. I searched Ebay, Craigslist, and Autotrader for a month before the right deal came along.

All I can tell you is the resale on these cars is high, which is great for the seller, not you. If you get one, you'll see they're worth it though. From my experience, there are dealers buying up Mini's because they know there's an easy $1000-$2000 mark-up from private sellers with little to no work required. That being said, find a private seller. In my area (Detroit-ish), there were no used ones at the dealership, and almost all the ones for sale were used car dealers.

Also, with gas prices going the way they are, the demand has seemed to increase significantly with Minis. Get your car loan in order (if needed), make sure you have a Paypal account if you want to do a quick good faith deposit, and be ready to act on buying it quickly. Not saying don't be thorough, just be ready to move pretty quickly.

This site:
http://www.motoringfile.com/mini-r50r53-buyers-guide/
is rather helpful, too.

Don

 

If I heard the sales man at mini in Tacoma correctly, the wait time for a new mini is getting back up to the six to eight month wait period. I'm just blown away with gas prices. Just two months ago, this was just about a non-issue.

The mini dealership here in the Puget Sound does have some used "certified" coopers, however I was very unimpressed with them. The least expensive one was $25K and it had over 50k miles on it and you could tell it was driven very hard.

One thing I forgot to mention in my first post was that I'm also willing to replace, or fix things if need be. I can't believe it but my wife was in total agreement with me as well. I'll just replace things as I can pay cash for them.

I'm basing my thought process totally on "gas prices". I don't think any of us will see them come down again.

 

Greets fellow Mini seeker! I too am on the quest to find the right Mini. If gas price is a concern you may want to look elsewhere, I understand that the Cooper S require a minimum of 91 octane (the best available here in Colorado) . Local Mini dealers/AutoTrader/Craigslist are all great sources for cars, If you are desperate you might be able to score a good deal on an auction. GL/HF!

 

Also try Autotrader.com and Cars.com

I looked at both of these sites as well as Craigslist.com and found the one I want on Cars.com from a private seller.

Best wishes in your search,
Charles

P.S. I second the comment about be ready to move on the one you find. It took me about a week to search and within about 2 days to decide and seal the deal for a car.