Took delivery of the above-mentioned car. Was bought sight-unseen from a dealer in the Chicago area, and shipped to Texas. Car had <20K miles on the clock when I took delivery. Thankfully it was pretty much as advertised (like new), though the independent inspector was a bit too keen in scoring the car 100%!

This will be my daily commuter - I'd like to reduce wear and tear on my other car, and reduce fuel cost.

All-in-all, I'm very happy with the car. It's fun - love the heavy steering and clutch. Have experienced no rattles or otherwise unpleasant noises. The supercharger whine is terrific and fun, and the handling - as everyone before me has said - is very go-kart like. My only criticism are that the seats are a tad too hard. But I'd read about that issue coming into ownership.

I did drive a 2nd gen MCS before I made the decision and was a bit put off by its styling, lighter and twitchier steering. Don't get me wrong, I would have gladly bought a 2nd gen - but a low mileage 1st gen was too good to turn down.

Oh - and in case anyone's wondering - it's BRG/B. The colour wasn't any close to the top of my list of favourites when I researched the car, but thankfully I think it looks terrific in the flesh. Much better than in photos for some reason.

Anyway - that's my story, and I'm sticking to it!

Oh - as an aside - I took the car to Discount Tire as the left rear tire (a runflat) registered no air. This thing still had the original OEM tire on the back - both rear tires as a matter of fact. The tire practically disintegrated as they tried to take it off the rim. Apparently it was manufactured in '04. So will be replacing the rears - and would suggest anyone else think of doing the same if they've been on for 7+ years!

 

First off, congrats on the MINI! I took delivery of an '05 about a month ago and I love it to pieces. I'm surprised you found one with so little mileage! Glad everything came out okay. The MINI dealer here had about a 1k "pre-purchase inspection" bill but I practically stole the car so fixing it up was worth it. It was mostly things you would expect from a 7 year old car anyway...

I was honestly surprised by the heavier steering in the MINI. One of my friends just bought a 2013 Mustang and the steering on that thing was like a feather in comparison. To me the clutch wasn't very different from driving my old jeep.

I agree that the BRG/B combo looks much better in person than in any photos. The pictures just don't do it justice!

 

Congrats w/ such a great find. Non run-flats would make the ride much better!

 

As far as I am concerned you got the "Best of the Best". My 05 MCS has 111500 miles on it and I am as happy today as I was when I picked it up 7+ years ago. So happy I found an 05 "Justa" for my daughter and it has a build date 3 months after mine. Great cars!

I would say for anyone looking for a good Used MINI that a low mileage 05 or 06 are the ones to get.

IMHO

 

Love British Racing Green! Congrats!

 

Definitely get some non-runflat tires. Will make your ride AND handling better.

Congrats and post some pics

 

I love my '05 MCS as well.

Seriously, go get a 15% underdrive pulley.

The car goes from being "fun to drive" to being "a blast to drive."

Ask anyone who has one.

 

Thanks all. Unfortunately I've come to the disappointing conclusion that the car is cursed. Here's why:
* Battery was flat when it was delivered; had to jump start it (now it starts/runs fine)
* 2nd time I drove it I got it a low tire pressure warning. Turns out one of the runflats wasn't holding air
* Took it Discount Tire who severed the tire when attempting to diagnose the issue (said the tire was old, sidewall very brittle). Put non-RFTs on rear to match non-RFTs on front (why the previous owner had mixed tire types on there was beyond me. Discount Tire managed to scratch a wheel during install, but thankfully have offered to fix said wheel
* Today, during my commute to work (and in less than 1 week of ownership), I hit a massive pothole which blew a front tire (not one of the new ones), and scratched another wheel
* Had to get the car towed to an independent dealer to get the tire/wheel fixed, and a general service

Only silver lining is that independent called and said the car's in top mechanical shape; just needs new fluids. Still love it though

 

Sounds like a rough start. after hitting a pot hole that hard, make sure you check your strut tower didn't get messed up (it should look flat with no"mushrooming". It 's a common issue on these cars....