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Year: 2006 Make: MINI Model: Hardtop Price: $1 Mileage: 100 Color: red Private or Dealer Listing: Private Listing Location (Region): Midwestern
^^^ Uncertain why posts continue on rather "ordinary" MINIs, since a SearchTempest inquiry can be customized by vehicle, owner type and location. Yes, return hits will be regional however tend to exclude most other vehicles on routine search term queries than does CL direct. For example, create a CL search alert for MINI of any type and in turn, you'll get whatever combo of keywords the (usually retail) sellers paste at bottom. Why not instead, simply post cars of special interest and with notable mileage/condition?
^^^ Uncertain why posts continue on rather "ordinary" MINIs,
My thought are, IMO....because the title of the thread is "Good deals on CL"... and the majority are just that.
It's cool when the occasional 'collectors car', 'trailer/garage queen' or 'investment grade' cars pop up... I really like the variety.... but I like the $2100 JCW 'beaters' just as much. Some are for looking at, some are for fun driving.
Maybe not "Barn find Steals" or "Cheap perfect Minis" but most are decent 'deals'..... ANY fun car that runs and look decent under $10k pretty much qualifies in my eyes.
Even/especially the fun beaters for cheap !
^^^ Uncertain why posts continue on rather "ordinary" MINIs, since a SearchTempest inquiry can be customized by vehicle, owner type and location. Yes, return hits will be regional however tend to exclude most other vehicles on routine search term queries than does CL direct. For example, create a CL search alert for MINI of any type and in turn, you'll get whatever combo of keywords the (usually retail) sellers paste at bottom. Why not instead, simply post cars of special interest and with notable mileage/condition?
The title of the thread “Good deals” is quite subjective to begin with I guess. And so is “special interest” You realize there’s only a handful of members that visit this thread for weeks and months at a time, much less post a listing. I think the thread would stay more relevant if there was less discussion about each listing, and just let it fill with listings. Not everyone has the time to create alerts on everything, there are multiple sources besides CL and search tempest (which doesn’t pick up everything on CL). Then there’s FB. I perceived this thread as more of a marketplace vs. a discussion thread. Just trying to keep it interesting here. As long as there’s a basic title to the post, it’s easy enough to keep swiping up.
Just got done doing a full nation-wide sweep of SearchTempest 2005-2006 and this is the only car I felt worthy of the thread... and I really hesitated to even post this poor MINI:
@smlzilla Nice! Can you share how you found it? I love the Dinan mods, had the Stage2/3 engine/suspension mods on a past R53.
And...aren't you going to show off those cool JCW floor mats you swiped off ebay?
this is before I did the leather seat retrofit. And I know I still need to install the airbag portion of the cf dash. Need to figure out how to do it and find some time.
found the car locally NorCal mini member. Was going to dispose the car. And I came in and saved it. It was already fully modded with everything Dinan had to offer except strut bar. And I couldn’t pass up on it it was such a great deal.
Hello NAM,
My first post. Hoping 2021 better than 2020. Especially since I am going crazy trying to find an 05-06 R53 manual from here in AL. Know what I mean? You do. So my question is should I open my search to start with 2002 or continue avoiding those early models? No offense to early owners. I see some very nice early cars including JCWs but wonder what y’all think. I do use SearchTempest, CL, BaT, EBay, and the terrible FB Marketplace. Thanks!
Last edited by tad@tadrichardson.com; Jan 1, 2021 at 07:13 AM.
Hello NAM,
My first post. Hoping 2021 better than 2020. Especially since I am going crazy trying to find an 05-06 R53 manual from here in AL. Know what I mean? You do. So my question is should I open my search to start with 2002 or continue avoiding those early models? No offense to early owners. I see some very nice early cars including JCWs but wonder what y’all think. I do use SearchTempest, CL, BaT, EBay, and the terrible FB Marketplace. Thanks!
No offense from me either, but I just can't handle the 2 spoke steering wheels on the earlier cars! LOL... I tend to only search for '05-'06 myself. But I have settled on being OK with either an S or a JCW. I found my first (red) '06 JCW on local C.L. and bought it same day... but only had it for 5 weeks due to us deciding to move :(. Dark green is really my only choice going forward, but I would *love* to have a red one just like @smlzilla 's car. Everything is done perfectly, and done just like I would do it... from the black seat conversion, wheels, Aero, white top/stripes, etc... But anymore you can expect cars like that to bring $20K+ if they hit the market (and that's a big 'if'). My point is, have cash ready to go for when the rare/well done car pops up for sale. There probably isn't many people out there looking for $20K+ JCWs and mint well spec'd S MINIs.... but there is no doubt, a serious handful of them, and they all have the hammer cocked on that gun! So continue to use those search tools as mentioned and one will eventually pop up for you. Cash on hand, diligence, patience and a bit of luck timing-wise are the name of the game here. Happy hunting in the happy new year 2021.
I do a quick search tempest search daily especially for JCW (even though I already bought one) any year. Usually for just any decent S while I’m there. I haven’t seen a new JCW post there in over a month. I would say average would be one per month at most, although some R52s. Most look for R53. Keep at it, sometimes they come in bunches. Even though FB is a pain to search nationally, there can be more there than CL/search tempest.
If your looking for something like a nice JCW locally...good luck, probably a longer wait than you would want.
Thanks for the advice. I agree the little things like a two spoke wheel could drive somebody crazy.
I’m not looking for the $20,000 cars because I would buy a nice 2008 Mercedes SL 500, an old man’s GT, or a Panamera for that money. In fact, I’m torn between the two because I can’t afford both. Fortunately I can wrench them myself except for major jobs.
When I get super serious I will get the cash in hand and hope for something within 500 miles or an easy fly drive purchase.
Well if we are posting pics of our “unicorns” then I can’t really resist.
2006 CR/B, fJCW, Aerokit, English leather interior, Anthracite headliner, JCW carbon exterior, JCW steering wheel, and more.
purchased in 2017 from the NAM classifieds because my wife is awesome and told me we shouldn’t pass up my “dream” MINI.
the only way I would have spec’d it different would be that I prefer the piano black Se7en dash/interior, but the red has been “fun”. Everything else I’ve changed to be what I would have wanted. (Except for those Euro JCW seats ....)
So maybe instead of searching for unicorns what would you say is the best R53 alternative.
Nothing wrong with the 2 spoke. We have 2 coopers with them and one with the 3. I like the uniqueness and feel of the 2. I may order a custom flat bottom in 2 spoke just because. What are you considering a unicorn? As an engineer I would recommend you buying a clean/ solid R53 and build it. Decent R53's are quite inexpensive with performance parts very plentiful. Have some fun with it. I have a modified R53 and yes its a JCW car that has quite a few mods on it. Goes like hell but does it need to be a JCW... No. I could definitely get as much HP out of a regular R53.
Moving forward the only reason I would buy a first Gen JCW would be for a fun/future resale car. Take $2500 buy a R53 and start having fun with the mods. They are in my opinion fairly easy to work on and install go fast parts on. As for a R53 alternative... well with 9 cars I have yet to find one. My wife's SLK32 would be very close but at 6' I can't quite fit in it..
Well if we are posting pics of our “unicorns” then I can’t really resist.
2006 CR/B, fJCW, Aerokit, English leather interior, Anthracite headliner, JCW carbon exterior, JCW steering wheel, and more.
purchased in 2017 from the NAM classifieds because my wife is awesome and told me we shouldn’t pass up my “dream” MINI.
the only way I would have spec’d it different would be that I prefer the piano black Se7en dash/interior, but the red has been “fun”. Everything else I’ve changed to be what I would have wanted. (Except for those Euro JCW seats ....)
GOOD deals
