I found an 03 s with 123K at a lot, I took it to a mini cooper mech. Found a few issues.


tie rods need replaced
steering rack needs replaced
RR wheel bearing needs replaced
Lower radiator support needs replaced, for some reason it was missing
Drivers side needs new window regulator
power steering hose leaking
valve cover gasket leaking


Since there is no maintenance history he recommended replacing the timing belt, water pump, thermostat, plugs, wires and coil pack.


How much of this stuff can I do myself? I am pretty mech inclined but if I need a specialized tool I don't have it.


I took the car back to the lot and gave them my "must" have fixes. I wont know till tomorrow if they will be willing to fix any of the things.


They are asking 6K, the mech said with the work it needs its worth 3K. I can tell they wont sell it to me for 3K.


Any advice would be great.

 

6k is crazy in good condition!

I have an 06 base and I'm only asking 5K

 

It's worth $4k, max

 

Nope to the 6k, this sounds like a no credit bad credit lot. They can get more than a car is worth because people with no credit can't go anywhere else.

Also find a different mechanic. If he told you timing belt needs to be replaced he never looked and knows nothing about the motor. It's a timing chain.

 

They're asking way too much. Definitely replace normal wear items, plugs, serpentine belt, ALL fluids, check compression, brake pads and discs, struts - for starters.
A second opinion would be worth the trouble too. No idea where you are so here's a directory of BMW/MINI shops that might help.
http://www.minirepairshops.com/

 

Walk away - there are plenty more minis out there. Get your own financing and buy from a private owner if you are going to stay in this low of a $range. Between profit and overhead there is no way you can get value for vehicle buying from a dealer.
Another thought is that if you cant work on cars, either you will be incredibly lucky or on the side of the road in this dollar range. You will be buying a car with 100k miles racked up. It will need parts and maintenance. There were some cars in the for sale, ads here at twice that price that were likely to be relatively troublefree, but anything $6k or under is going to need work.

Good Luck
Bruce

 

What? I paid less than 5k for mine with 122k miles and it runs like a top. Haven't had any major issues yet.

There certainly are better condition for less money cars out there. Not everyone can afford to spend that much on a car. There's absolutely no reason to spend 6k on an R53.

 

LOL, sarcasm follows, forgive me, not trying to troll the thread or slam you, Just my opinion follows:
So your FSD's were bought just to improve handling? When you remove the old struts see if you can compress them easily, compare that to the FSD's. Don't feel quite the same do they? CV boots look good as the day the car was assembled? Car have Original coil, FCABs, motor mounts and are all still solid performers? AC compressor clutch never replaced, how about slave cylinder? No oil leaks from CPS or OFHG? Original Coolant Reservoir?

No argument you can buy a R53 for $4-6k but its gonna come with +100k miles at that price and all the above wear out. Maybe OP finds a gem that all maintenance was performed at that price, maybe you did, but all the above are pretty normal wear items on the R53. if you don't work on them and haven't done your homework the odds stack up against you at that price, especially from a dealer. Its not a Toyota

 

As a matter of fact yes. They are still in a box, I planned to lower the car a tad and was gonna install them at the same time. Still rides great on factory suspension.

Yes I replaced the control arm bushings and motor mounts, but I replaced my mounts with stiffer mounts hoping to help with throttle lag, this is my first Drive by wire and I didn't realize that caused as much lag as it does.

I will say that the only thing that needed to be addressed in my mind was the control arm bushings, but no one else that drove my car could feel a problem with them. They were still intact when I pulled them just really really soft.

Boots are solid and yes still original coil. I have replaced plug wires but I did that with the new plugs when I did my reduction pulley.

My cps, oil filter housing, and coolant tank have not shown the first sign of a leak, they are all original.

Being a Toyota doesn't magically prevent rubber from wearing out, which most of the items described are made of. But no one is modifying a camry for performance, so the slight spongey-ness from these worn parts is seen as negligible.

Now my car did have a radiator fan resistor go bad but that was easy to repair.

I also have a full stack of maintenance history from checkered flag minI performing all the routine stuff as well as replacing the valve cover and oil pan gaskets. This goes back to the original 2 owners.

 

The car is at a local Chevy dealer and not a buy here pay here lot, I have excellent credit so don't assume anything. As far as the timing "belt" I meant chain. type O on my part. I trust this mech. All they work on is foreign cars for 52 years. So when they tell me what they found and their opinion I trust them.


I am waiting to here back from the lot to see if they are willing to fix the issues or sell the car for what the mech said it's worth 3K the way it sits.


If they are unwilling to do either I have no problem walking away and keep looking.

 

That is way too high with all the work it needs, why spend another $3K into a high mileage base Cooper that is worth $4K?

Keep looking, plenty of Mini's available for about $6K to $7K in better shape.

Here is a decent S that has had a lot of recent work completed with a new clutch and flywheel.

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/5924367096.html

 

A higher price does not make a more reliable car, that's got 145k on it. My car had less for less money. And had a full maintenance history.

 

$6K for a 03 justa is too much, with all those problems WAAAAYYYY TOO MUCH!!!

Run away. All the things you're looking to do, you will be disappointed in not having an R53 or better. There are tons of R53's out there in good to great condition for $5K-$6K. Hopefully you're paying cash, sux to pay for fixes on top of a car payment. I'm sure no dealer is going to give you a warranty.

 

If you can find a seller that has some common sense, in other words they have listed the car for what KBB says it is worth, you can get one very good car for $6k with a lot less miles. The biggest problem is the person that bought the car on a dealer lot and then turns around a couple months later and tries to sell the car at dealer type prices.

 

Check out the Website CarGurus for your search.


Here is a list of listings in my area for 05-06 Mini's.


It would not make sense to search cross-country since the shipping and travel would negate any savings.










https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/invent...sModified=true

 

$6k is too much. I've had two long time customers just sell their cars that neither of them needed any repairs for $5500.

 

If you tie rod joints are done I will bet that the inner and outer ball joints on the control arm are done as well as the control arm bushings. At 123,000 these are normal issues with the Mini. The struts and strut mounts could be done as well. just finished completely doing the front end on a 03 R53 with 150,000 and what a huge difference it made. If you are coming to a Mini from any other car other than a Mini you will not know how bad it is until you get underneath and start finding out all that is wrong. People do not buy Minis to drive them like little old ladies on their way to church, especially the S models.