Always liked minis and been thinking about getting one for some time. A local dealer has a 2012 countryman base. Its got 50k miles and the dealership is asking $14,900.
http://www.lawautomotivegroup.net/Ve...-IN/2668557233

I'm not worried about space since I have a Chevy traverse. I normally drive my old Pontiac Grand Prix that hit 240k miles which I think might be time to upgrade.

What's your thoughts on the countryman and any issues? What the asking price?
Thanks

 

I found the base lacking in power, seemed like a rental car.

 

My 2011 base is fine and it has a 'sport mode' which helps out. I dont miss the power of the turbo car nor do i miss the maintenance/repairs associated with one.

 

If possible, drive an S model and then that Base model to get a better understanding of the difference between the two engine versions.
We love our S, have had it for a bit over a year now.
We have the rear bucket seats but could totally see how useful the bench seating version would be in many cases.

 

Really don't have much of a choice around here . There is no Mini dealers and not too many other dealerships have them. If they do they are models with 80k- up on mileage. I think this one has the Sport mode. It looks the button in one of the pics.

Are there things to check for if I test drove it? 50k miles don't seem too bad for a 2012 but I wanna make sure it hasn't been abused or driven hard.

 

The 6speed clutch was an issue in the 11-12 year models I think. Just get a feel of it and see if there is slipping

 

Yes, ah the Clutch issue. Huge amount of threads around here on it.
We have 37,xxx miles and are fine with our clutch, but it may have been upgraded to the later clutch assembly by the previous owner if they had a problem with it.
The All 4 models showed up mostly first with failing discs , Mini finally came out with a fix for all versions of the Countryman.
See if there's any Maintenance history to the vehicle you're looking at.
Oil changes and correct oil level are important on both the earlier engines and the 2012 and later versions, but the earlier versions are more known for tensioner/chain / oil consumption issues.
The 2012 will hopefully be more trouble free with their updated designs .

 

the dealership website description shows it has an auto trans but i drove by there today and indeed has a 6 speed manual. Car looks really good inside and out. Carfax doesnt show anything other than at 39k miles (after first owner traded it in) that the car was sold as a Mini Next certified pre owned car. Doesnt show any accidents or anything alarming.

 

Carfax is not a reliable tool for car purchase. It is a selling tool for the dealer. Not all events show up. Proceed at your own risk.

 

Not to attempt to hijack a thread but I am also considering a Countryman. From the searches I've done I'm seeing that lots of people state that the 2011-2012 6MT Countryman S models seem to have more engine/transmission issues than the 13-15 models, especially with regards to the All4 models. That said, coming across a 13-15 All4 in the used market seem to be nigh-impossible at this point while I found a pretty decent deal on a Next-certified 2012 All4 that a dealer is willing to drag from Texas to GA. There are also some less-than-decent deals on 2013-2014 Countryman S models out there, but they seem to be flying off the lots before I can make a trip to go see them.

I see loads of people with 2011-2012 All4s mentioned in their signatures so I wanted to ask for a frank opinion - is it worth waiting for the 2013-2015 All4 model or is a Certified Next car with a warranty worth jumping in on if it's a 2012? I've read about transfer case failures but I'm not sure if this is common or if it's just because a bunch of folks are seeking out advice online.

If the overall consensus is to veer away from the All4, then I'm going to have to decide on waiting for a Next certified Mini Countryman, or to trust a 2013-2015 model that might not have the Next warranty. Still not sure where to go from there, but part of me thinks that the "reason" to own the Countryman is the All4 setup.

 

Also found another 2012 countryman which is pretty much the same exact options, same color, but has silver wheels and 2000 less miles and they are asking $2000 less than the dealership I mentioned above. Actually this one is a mini dealer .

 

Another Manual Trans model? Or an Auto?
Other than a rear hatch latch giving us some trouble that was replaced under warranty, we haven't done anything to our Countryman other than me changing the oil/filter, the engine air filter, washing and waxing, wiper blades etc..
I did add rear seat cupholders on the floor at the end of the center console using Mini Factory parts, but that was easy.
We also had to get snow tires and another Rim set to mount them on since the Run Flat Pirellis that the car came with are notoriously bad in snow[ basically 2-3 season tire compound], but I was pretty sure going into the buying of the car via info from the Tire Rack that the tires wouldn't handle winter driving, so it wasn't really much of a surprise to me, just my wife.....
Both our cars are CPO's, so there's some ext. warranty life going into the Fall of 2017 for items that fail and are covered. Hopefully we won't need it much as they age and put on miles......
So, based on our experiences with both cars, I'm not afraid to recommend them to others, but there are many stories from MINI owners out there to counter what we've lived with....Others have not been so lucky..

 

I am also in the market for a Countryman for my wife. She drives a Fiat and it's just too small as we are planning a family. By the time we buy we're hoping there will be more 13+ MY's available on the used market.

 

Three year lease vehicles should be popping up.

 

Exactly...
I don't like buying used vehicles with more than 30k on em so a 3 year lease return would be perfecto. I have noticed, however, that the vehicles on the lot here never have nav or sun roofs... which is strange. I may have to widen my search.

 

Yea, the Nav is harder to find but the Dual sunroofs are easier.

 

Here in Chicago I've actually not seen a Countryman without a sunroof....
Mini Connect or NAV, well yeah, those two are much harder to find. I think NAV more than the Mini Connect option....

 

Nav equipped are hard to come by because aftermarket ones are so cheap with free traffic and map upgrades. Funny thing is I have seen ppl with garmins even tho they have a OEM nav.

 

Too true....