Hey Everyone,

So recently, I've decided I want to pursue my dream in buying myself a Mini. I've always loved Mini's and have always wanted one. I've always been a Jeep guy, and in a Jeep now, but I want something fun, quick and agile.

My search is a little low budget, I don't want to take on payments with a new car, so I want something I can buy outright and own.

Knowing my budget, I'll pretty much only be searching for a 1st Gen Mini. I only want a stick; my Jeep is an auto, and I miss having a standard, and I know they're typically more reliable. I would LOVE an S, but I'll be happy with whatever I can find for the right price.

What I'm wondering, is what are common things I should watch out for, thing's to avoid when shopping around, signs of excessive wear, common failures, etc. I know when it comes to Jeeps, we have PLENTY of common issues to watch out for, so I'm just looking for some heads up on what to look out for.

Thanks in advance!

Derek

 

Well first off what would be your top of the line budget?

This is a good read as-well to get some knowledge on the mini: http://www.motoringfile.com/mini-r50r53-buyers-guide/

 

Go to the forum search and under 1st generation, there is a thread for stock issues and problems.

This will tell you all that you want to know and some things that you probably don't. Hahahahah........

 

you want a MINI or a Mini?

MINI





mini

 

Hey Captbj are you going to the British car show in Winter Gardens in April? If so you owe me a ride and I look forward to meeting you.

 

I purchased an R53 last year, and I am extremely happy with it. Maybe I can help a little.

First of all, the S model is actually not that much more expensive. In fact, when I was looking to buy, I often saw that convertible "Justacoopers" (what people call the R50) were often just as or more expensive than R53s. So it depends what's important to you.

Second (and this is probably the most important thing), try to find a good mechanic who is familiar with MINIs whom you trust to do a pre-sale inspection on any car you're interested in. Where are you located? Maybe some people here can recommend a mechanic to you.

The '05 R53 that I ended up with was my fourth attempt. The first one was an '07 R56 from Carmax, which I had inspected by some random mechanic who told me it was fine, but had serious problems that became apparent after a week of driving. Carmax ended up not wanting to fix it because the problems were so bad, and returned my money. I also put a downpayment on an '08 R56, which a dealership had just serviced. I called the dealership to ask them about the car, and they said they didn't see any problem with it and it was running fine, but were not allowed to tell me anything more about it. Luckily here in Miami I found Luis Sanchez of Precision Autowerks, who inspected that car and found that the car had been totalled in the past and had been shoddily repaired. He saved me from another bad option (an overpriced R53) before I landed on a good deal. Anyway, I say this just to show the importance of getting someone familiar with MINIs to inspect the car for you. Any mechanic won't do.

Don't overpay for a gen 1 car either -- many people think they are more desirable than a newer model because of their looks or certain driving characteristics, but they are still old cars. I paid $12,000 for my R53 with 68K miles, which needed about $1000 worth of repairs done to it immediately (not including new brakes and tires), and which I knew ahead of time before purchasing because of the presale inspection. Saved me $5K over the other R53 I almost bought which needed the same repairs. But there are better deals out there. The gen1 coopers seem to have very reliable engines, but there are design flaws and parts that WILL need to be replaced, and you have to factor that into the price you are willing to pay.

Here is a helpful site with some info about the different years and what to look out for:

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

If you want to inspect things yourself, I'm not a mechanic, but I can share a couple things that
I learned. Some of these things are in the link I gave you above:

1. Mushrooming strut towers. Google this and you'll find plenty of info on what it looks like. I would stay away from ones that have this problem.
2. Lower control arm bushings. If they haven't been already replaced, they either will fail or have already failed. Not a deal breaker, it's just something you have to factor into the price. There are aftermarket options that are more durable.
3. Crankshaft damper: at about 60K miles, these typically fail, and most gen 1 coopers have reached that point. As with LCAs, it's just something you have to factor into the price, and there are aftermarket options that are more durable.

This is why having a good mechanic might help you find a great deal. There are really cheap options out there, and you don't have to wonder whether something is horribly wrong with it if you know a good MINI mechanic who can inspect it whom you trust.

 

Wow is all I can say to your story.

 

both the regular cooper and the S are fun cars. i bought an S becasue i wanted the power and everything else thats better about it .... but you can find mini for pretty cheap, i got 2002 cooper s for 7k with 125k miles.. with winter package and nav system, sunroof. the only thing that would make it better would be if i had the H/K stereo and or it was a JCW cooperS. and the only reason i bought this one is becasue the the tach and speedo are on the stering column i hate hate hate the big speedo in the middle. and the body is in very good shape even the under side very little almost no rust.

another thing with the S is the PTO gears on the super charger grind them selvs to nothing... because on the S the superchagrer drives the water pump.

 

Haha, yeah it's kind of a joke with my friends what trouble it cost me to get my MINI. The thing that was most surprising was the dealership servicing a car and not noticing that it had been in a wreck. When my mechanic put the car on a lift, he showed me where the frame was bent and then stretched out again, and the exhaust pipe crumpled because it was rear-ended, and pulled out the lining on the door showing repairs to the roof as well, causing leaks. You would think a MINI dealer would have caught that

But in the end, I'm actually very happy it turned out that way -- it was a sign to get an R53! haha!