Year: 2006
Make: MINI
Model: Hardtop
Price: $1
Mileage: 100
Color: red
Private or Dealer Listing: Private Listing
Location (Region): Midwestern

I bought a hard top 04 JCW with 34k miles. I was having a hard time finding one so I bookmarked anything under 50k miles. Honestly, low mileage hard tops in good shape are getting impossible to find, especially JCW.

My wife’s main issue with our current JCW is the color combo.. she hates red/tan, and it’s getting up there in miles. She prefers hard top, but would have put up with a ‘vert. I wanted her in a hard top for safety reasons, since it’s her DD and we like to haul the kids on road trips in it. We’ll get another r52 for weekend driving at some point, or I’ll finally get another Jeep.

 

Saw this one yesterday:
https://hartford.craigslist.org/cto/...412463572.html

VERY low miles for a 2003.

 

Id do that one for $7k flat, depending on interior color and options.. The 2002-03 minis are a tad more problematic than 04-06. I just picked up an 04 JCW R53 with 34k miles in showroom condition for $8270 out the door, for a price comparison.

 

A couple west coast deals. I found one midwest and an east coast car a couple days ago, but those are now "posting deleted by author".

Lesson: Act fast if you are in the market as the best deals don't last long!

First up, in the San Fran area, a '06 JCW DS/DS with leatherette. 114k miles and the chrome exterior option. All for $6k

Next up also in the Bay Area, '06 JCW GP #1262 (i think). ONLY ~65k miles and ONLY $13K. Some tasteful mods: Carbon Fiber Dash and downtubes, strut tower plates, oil catch can, (looks like) forge coolant tank, and OZ wheels.

 

The first link doesn't work. Second link looks good if you're in the market for a GP! Nice find!

Yes, act fast! I've gotten a few messages to post my "secrets" to car searching. One of my tricks is to hop on cars.com and hit "list newest ads first" which usually includes a lot of cars without pics. I filter out cars over 45k miles, and there are a surprising number low mileage cars that pop up.. more convertibles than hard tops. Sometimes the dealership website will have photos, sometimes not. You can still put the vin (almost always listed) and through a vin decoder and figure out color, options, etc.. Then you can text the dealer for real photos. Meanwhile, you have 2-3 days (before general public gets photos) to go over details with the dealership, service records, price, etc.. Most people skip ads without a photo, so this gives you a leg up. If you get really lucky, its a JCW. Most dealers wont know its a JCW because it doesn't show up in the VIN.

Sign up for email updates (when available) at Cars.com, Cargurus.com, Autotrader, craigslist, and Carsdirect.com. A really great resource is SearchTempest.com.. it searches craigslist nationwide as well as cars.com, ebay, etc.. You have to be willing to travel it seems, unless you get very lucky. Get creative with search terms (sidewalk, JCW, checkmate, last of the supercharged, etc..)

Buying from a Mini dealership makes it much safer to buy outside your area. They are usually very thorough, upfront, honest, and competitively priced.

Good luck car hunting! If I see anything good, I'll definitely post them here.

 

Here's a clean looking sidewalk JCW for $5K with almost 100k miles. New supercharger for what its worth. Decent price for what it is. More miles than what I'd go for, but at $5k its worth checking out recent maintenance.

https://kansascity.craigslist.org/ct...422004578.html

 

Link fixed!

 

That could be a Killer deal because I believe that is a Last of the SuperCharged car.

Every last of the supercharged car I believe is a JCW Sidewalk that has black English leather seats instead of the normal sidewalk brown. If I had a spare 5k this would be mine as I want a last of the supercharged to join my 06 JCW in my fantasy garage.

 

I just text the owner, he said yes. Its number 16 of 100.

 

Insanely good deal!

 

That GP has been posted in this thread before. The car has been for sale for ages on multiple CL listings. There was a decent amount of concern over the state of the front end after looking at the lack of factory warning stickers on the radiator support frame (the big black plastic thing that comes forward when you put the car in front end service mode). Brought up concern over whether the car had been in an accident or not. I suspect something is awry if a car priced that low, relatively, has been for sale for, what feels like, a year now.

 

Were too late, he just texted me that he traded the last of the supercharged in KC

 

Hey MCSmoonshine.. Can you name your source? I'm the owner of GP1262 and I dont ever remember dealing with you OR a guy name Nick NOR seeing your 04 Mini in person. I have a clean carfax on the car from when I bought the car 4 years ago and recently. You got one thing right though.. .I posted the GP's price way too low. I deleted the posting as soon as I realized this from getting a ton of inquiry and even a higher offer on the car. BTW, the posting is coming back up and at much higher price. Thanks for the feedback and I'm curious about your source.

BTW - Your earlier post about questioning the stainless steel braided hose in my car's engine bay from the pictures I posted on my ad last year. That hose is for the intercooler that JCW and GP models come with. MCS won't have that if you are comparing my car to your car. Also, last year I posted my GP and B6 S4 for sale. The b6 S4 sold first and so I decided to keep the Mini GP. I recently picked up a b8 S4 and I'm testing the GP on the market. The $13K price is because I under estimated the value of my GP. I'm really more of an Audi fanatic than a Mini fanatic but both cars are awesome!.

Please refrain from "knowing it all" based on looking at things on the internet. You are more than welcome to come see the car in person and bring your "Mini S". Based on your profile picture .. "Your MCS is in great shape!!"

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/6447376328.html

 

 

I posted my GP and B6 S4 for sale early 2017 to fund a 3 month vacation. The b6 S4 sold first and so I decided to keep the Mini GP. I recently picked up a b8 S4 and I'm testing the GP on the market. The $13K price is because I underestimated the value of my GP.

Can you be more specific on what you are asking for in the radiator? I don't know how "Moonshine" can tell from looking at the pics I posted on my CL Ad listing. Be happy to take and provide more details or pics if you are in the market for a GP.

 

My guess is the core support might have been cracked by chance on replacing the radiator as a simple repair, I have seen people try to slide the radiator back in after so they don't have to remove the whole core support. Then crack it by chance and then have to replace it? Thats my guess. Of maybe he liked the look of no stickers?

 

Hey ECSTuning! My favorite place to buy car care, maintenance or accessory parts for my b6 s4 and r53 gp. Thanks for chiming in. I'm actually the 3rd owner and bought the GP with <50K miles with all the current setup/ modifications included. I did my due diligence 4 years ago (carfax, inspection, extended warrantym etc) and the car came out clean and has been issue free since - only cost to me are tires, synthetic oil change, and inspection 2 (Sep'16@ 60k miles).

I can only go by what the carfax says and everyone is entitled to their opinion but unless you see the car in person and actually get it checked by a mechanic your opinion is just that.. an opinion vs fact. So laying out the facts. Everyone should do their research and due diligence before buying a car and having something like this thread that specifically targets one of my prized car (love the Audi S4 too!) just needed my response.

 

Thanks and Welcome.

Good luck on the sale. GP1's are so rare.

 

PM'd you in response to your PM.

I made my radiator housing statement based off pictures that you had on your ad when I originally linked it back in May, or whenever. That angle wasn't present in the most recent ad that was linked in.

ECS hit the nail on the head. There are plenty of reasons why the car wouldnt have those stickers. One of them being the car sustained damage that warranted replacement. Nobody suggested not buying your car because of it. It was only suggested that there should be concern over why they arent there. The only thing not having them does is heighten the need for a PPI.

 

I'd bet solid money that your car has an aftermarket oil cooler. There are plenty of GP and JCW for sale ads on here that dont have those hoses or the blatantly obvious oil cooler sitting behind the bumper.

I'll disclaim: I do not know everything and may be entirely wrong. Also, having an oil cooler is not a reason to not buy a car. The car is still in outstanding shape and, pending a successful PPI, would be a great buy at a fair price.

 

Hi all - wanted to give an update on the gp in question. I had a PPI performed at a very reputable
Mini shop in Oakland called Bay Bridge Motors and here’s what they found.

1) The car has an aftermarket oil cooler installed as pointed out in the comments.

2) The electric radiator fan was replaced at some point and they suspect that the radiator housing has as well but can’t be certain. This would explain the lack of stickers pointed out in the comments.

3) The roof, hood, and rear bumper paint is not original. The shop noted that the car has had a possible full respray but could only be 100% sure about those 3 panels. They thought maybe hail damage? To be clear the work is expertly done and professional. I was told if the shop had not been a paint shop as well for Mini it could easily be missed or overlooked by the avg PPI.

4) There is no chassis damage whatsoever so if the car was in an accident (unclear), it was very minor.

5) Other than the above, the car is very clean and has been well taken care of.

So now my question to the group is what should I do?? I had a deal at $14k pending ppi results and these are the results. The car is super clean as you can see from the pics but it is missing some key original parts: original GP rims, gp numberd dash piece (car has jcw cf dash), gp mats and sticker/manuals and etc. Despite the ppi results, the seller is staying firm at $14k and has actually relisted the car on Craigslist at $15k.

A little history about me and what im looking for: i currently own an r53 and recently gave her to my wife when I bought a new dd (mk7 gti). I’ve been missing my mini and decided to sell the gti and get another r53. I was originally looking for either a clean low mile Jcw or regular s in the $7-10k range. I sold my
Gti for 17k and was planning on spending a healthy chunk of the difference on mods. Ideally I want a mini that handles like a mini but has the speed of my gti.

This gp came along and is basically local. I wouldn’t mod the gp save for buying the original rims. Either way the car would be used as a daily putting 4-8k miles a year on it.

I was pretty much ready to pull the trigger on the gp as I thought it would hold value much better than my other plan (as those mods would be worth next to nothing). However with this new info, I worry I’ll that won’t work out bc if/when i decide to sell I’ll get hit due to the ppi findings.

So long story short, 1) how much do you think this car is worth post Ppi? And 2) does it even matter that it’s been repainted considering what I’m looking for?

 

Nothing in that PPI impacts the value. Only if you found needed repairs (like oil/coolant leaks) or worn out brakes and tires, etc.

However the lack of original equipment impacts the value ( wheels, floor mats, and bespoke dash are missing.

 

Exactly why the car is priced accordingly. If the car had all the original parts it will be north of $15K. The mechanic at Bay Bridge Motors stated the same thing, which is nothing found in the PPI impacts the value of the car. They provided a range of $13K (low end) to $15K (high end). I do agree that not having the original parts like the OEM wheels is a bummer! However, that is a tradeoff since all the upgrades to the car is top of the line and makes it even more unique to the owner. In any case, it depends on the buyer. If the intent is to keep her in the garage and all original then this is not the right R53 GP. If looking for a clean and in tip top mechanical shape for driving enjoyment then this car is definitely that! Again, clean title and in excellent mechanical and cosmetic shape. If the car does not sell it's definitely not a problem. I get to enjoy her some more and my B8 S4 gets the weekend off. Peace out!

 

Before anyone gets angry about this I would tell him the exact same thing if he was buying any gp

So assuming you don't plan to do any mods to this GP we can assume you'd be satisfied with a ~215 hp mini that you can drive all the time. Here's my issue with a GP as a drivers car in general (this also happens to be why I posted Rolando's car way back when instead of going after it myself): GP values havent plateaued yet. R53's, for the most part, vary very little depending on their mileage and condition. A quick glance on the sfbay craigslist shows theyre 5k give or take (that includes cars with 70-90k mileage on them). Theyve been like that for a while so it's pretty safe to assume you wont lose much, if any, money on a non GP. GP's have been falling in value and, IMO, havent hit their plateau yet. Assuming you buy Rolando's car and keep it for, say, 4 years youll be knocking on the door of 100k. I don't believe for a second that a GP with 100k will be worth 14k in 4 years. I do believe that a MCS/JCW with the same mileage will be worth the same 5k in four years that its worth now. If you want to talk about having a daily driver thats going to hold its value, a MCS/JCW wins that every day of the week.

Obviously, theres a bit of a power difference between the two cars. But there are tons and tons of people who've made 200+ hp with nothing but a pulley, CAI, and exhaust. You probably won't see that money back when you sell the car but its, what, $1000? $1500? Youre going to lose more than that with ANY GP just from depreciation.

Rolando has it spot on in his response above. His car is going to be a solid drivers car. Short of the depreciation issue, if you want it as a drivers car, its fantastic. If you want it as an "investment", its not the car for you.

If you want a 215 HP mini to daily drive that you wont lose money on: buy a MCS/JCW

If you want a GP for the cool GPness of it as a daily driver and dont mind losing some money: Buy Rolando's car