Hello again, I initially posted in the welcome section but I feel this thread is beyond the hey hello stuff. So my wife wants a mini no big deal I like the looks of the car and well her current care is quite boring (06 prius)

Today I went and looked at what was suppose to be a stock 02 cooper S upon arriving I had to wait for the car to get back from the shop. I guess as they were moving it around this morning or yesterday the air bag light came on. No big deal they are having this fixed at a larger but still local European repair shop.

Anyway the car came back unfixed since I drove 50 miles to look at it, but its going back to be repaired.

The main part of this post. The car is not stock, it has a cold air intake and an balora (spelling) cat back. Are these things to be concerned about. The interior also shows considerable wear for a 65000 mile car I think. Most of the paint is wore off of the door handles. Is this a normal thing since the handles are just painted plastic?

Driving impressions, this thing screams! Its like driving a shifter cart. I own a pretty modified mustang gt and it feels as if this car pulls as hard. Shift smooth, corners like its on rails. You all own them so you know what I speak of.

Driving concerns, feels like there is a slight lag at about 3k rpm before the supercharger starts to whine. Is this a normal? I know with the cold air intake that the supercharger will be more noisy but it shouldnt lag. Almost like its waiting to come on boost if you will.

During my inspection I found zero rust of mushroomed shock towers. All seemed normal except the air bag light and what i considered a worn interior. Also the cup holder has been removed but the tube isnt scratched.

Numbers the want 11k for the car which is slightly lower than most that I have looked at and is what kbb says it worth for my area, they wont budge on the price since they are already 600 into the repair of the airbags and it still isnt finished. Trade in for my car is 10200 which I consider very fair. After all said and done about 1300 bucks to take it home.

So please advise away. I have two more to look at but neither one of them are cooper S's and both of them are first gen's ones and 03 and the other a 05 both with decent miles and both with sunroofs for around 11k also.

 

How do you feel about the car in your gut? The CAI & exhaust shouldn't be things to worry about, though they could mean someone drove the car good & hard. Probably not Nana's grocery getter. The mileage ain't bad for eight years old, but as you noted the interior is well worn. If the airbag gets fixed & everything else checks out, why not? If the primary driver likes it, it sounds OK.

BTW, I can hear my supercharger kick in before 3K, but that's when it really seems to pull.

HTH

 

Friday: Thanks for the insight, its not that I cant go with the primary drivers input with this one, but she has the MINI bug real bad if you know what I mean. If it were up to her she would have had the fist one we drove which was a base cooper with the cvt, because it was cheap.

I just got back from the dealer ship where I was stalked by a very well trained guard dog I mean salesman. The sad thing is I got mad before I even really looked at a new one and left. Owell checkered flag MINI I didnt want one anyways! LOL

 

Sometimes it helps to talk to a salesperson, you really can't get the MINI to answer many questions, they seem to be rather closed mouth.