Hi. I hope some people can give me a little guidance on this. I gave a 2004 Mini Cooper CVT with 71K that is in great condition. new tires, brakes, interior is mint and always garaged. Chili Red, white top and lots of options. There is a code that says EP on the dash and this is a transmission issue. The car feels like it is stuck in 1st gear and revs very high but goes very slow. The car is still movable. What are my options? Sell? Part out? Repair transmission ? I would rather move on and get something new. I tried to find a person on Long Island, NY to repair the transmission but can find no one that is reasonable. Spoke to European Transmissions but he is in Cummings, GA and not worth having towed down there as am not sure what is wrong. Any suggestions or offers would be appreciated.

 

It's normally around $6,000 - $7,500 to have the CVT replaced, I think.

I'd say it may be worth having it shipped to Cummings, GA if he can do the work at a decent price and if you know the CVT is actually bad.

It sounds like you've had the car for awhile, correct?

In my opinion parting out a car is not worth it, unless you've got the spare time to deal with it.

I doubt you will be able to sell it for more than $500 if the CVT is bad.

The last resort is to donate the car...especially if you're ready to move on.

 

I guess it would depend on how much you like the car...you could have a local shop remove the tranny ship it to GA.... Then have it reinstalled...might need to then tow it to a mini dealer to get the adaptations reset, but it's an option...
Same for selling it to somebody who fixes cars as a non-runner.... Might not make $$, but an option, as is a trade as a push/pull/tow deal....
Since it sounds like you would like to move into something newer, and don't want to spend $4000+ on it (You could have a local shop toss a used tranny in it, but since they fail so often, it would be Russian roulette...).
Parting out a car is a long process....and many don't have the time....that's why salvage yard exist....it's an option...but once you sell off a few items, you end up with a hulk in the yard for months....
My gut says from a $$ standpoint, the car is totaled if you need daily transportation.... The cost to get a rental for month to get it fixed plus repair might be more than the value....
If you had time, YPU might be able to fix it kinda cheap, with a bit of risk with a tranny swap, then sell it to limit your losses, but that is more time and effort... Many folks just want to write a check and be done. I'm guessing since labor rates on LI are so high,that will play into your decision.

 

What's the car worth in the Long Island area if it's running? Since it has low miles $5,000 maybe? It sounds like it's too nice to part out.

If you can find a shop to put in a used tranny I think that would be the best way to go. Get it running and sell it as fast as you can. Not worth it if they don't charge you a fair price though. So of it's more than maybe $2,500 to install it forget it.

If fixing it isn't an option sell it as is. Put it on Craigslist and hope you don't get too many crazy people offering nothing for it. With only 70k miles on it I think you should be able to get at least 1500 to 2000 out of it. Just need to find the right person.

And like zippy said, always the option of trading it in on a new car. You almost always get screwed that way, even if the car is running, but there is no hassle.

 

You can source a used transmission on www.car-part.com and then have a local shop install it. When we did transmission replacements at the shop I worked at we would source used ones on that site and then install them if someone did not want to do a rebuild.