2002 Dark Silver MCS loaded, Sport, Cold, Premium, Leather, Backup, Nav etc. 42K miles

Or

2005 Red MCS 32K miles no options and still under warranty until January.

I really wanted a Sun Roof, Red is not my favorite color. Having a newer version and a warranty is good though.
Both are the same price.

Crap I’m torn

 

Go with the 2005, new tranny, possible lsd, It has no options? Leather at least?

 

Hmm, tough choice. I hate Red, but it is a 2005...you'd run into less problems *maybe* with the 2005 one. My gut says to go with the newer one.

 

I didnt want red either, but after doing some blackout stuff etc you will learn to like it and see that it can be a good color!!!

 

No options at all so I highly doubt the LSD would be in there.

No leather, no sport, not even stripes. The roof is even red.

How long is the bumper to bumper on the Mini? It was placed into service 1/25/2005.

Carfax shows nothing but one owner and bought with 11 miles on it.

 

I noticed you are in the Bay Area. Honestly, if I were you - I'd wait for a different car to come up. If you're anything like me, it will always bug you *a little* if you buy the car that isn't at least 75% of what you were looking for.

Between the two, I'd go with the 2005. It seems that the '02s had quite a few bugs that needed to be worked out. Warranty is a nice thing to have on these MINIs too.

 

The 2005's tranny is alot stronger than the 02-04's if your palnning on making power etc, although some like the higher gearing of the 02-04's for turbo's etc. Like AK stated might want to wait around a little bit longer for the right one. Whats the plans for the car? I see you modded out the GTO.....

 

2002 and whats with this red hating....Apple is all red

 

LOL no hate. Just had too many red cars in my time.

For the Mini nothing crazy. Pulley and maybe a catback. I want to keep it simple and just enjoy the ride.

BTW I've been seaching for over a month as the dealers are holding soo many high priced Mini's. I'm starting to see a few come down in from the heavens finally.

Pic of the red can be seen here. http://picasaweb.google.com/minicoop...le/MiniCooperS

 

-why not look for an '06 with 9-15k on it(maybe price is your consideration,but you'll appreciate a lower mileage car when you can't stop driving it!).As for colors ,the one you end up with will instantly become your favorite color!

 

I'm down here in the south bay. I too was looking at an '02 MCS, but its performance was nothing like the '05 I ended up with.

 

Get the 2005. R84's ftw.

 

I'll go with the '05 too

 

Chili Red... a bright, eye-popping, highly-reflective, deep, gorgeous color, or....

Dark Silver, while not awful... as my SO says, "silver cars look like they forgot to paint them in the factory". <---she does say that.

Seriously... if you're really torn, keep looking because neither of these is the right MINI for you. When you find the right one, you'll know it right away.

 

2005..

 

I did not see a price mentioned so I'll say go with the 2005 for many reasons already stated above.

 

$16K in my budget.

I showed her the red MCS and she said no. A sunroof is a mandatory option.

I’m waiting to hear back on the dark silver. It’s clean and well cared for.

 

I would still go with the '05. Besides, if you check on the different threads and resources here, you will find that a lot of options can actually be retrofitted to your car!, which you would say "it's going to be expensive!"...but think of it this way: you're not paying interest financing for extra options you can pay in full, do later and sometimes even by yourself....

Just my 2 cents...

 

Nothing wrong with no stripes and a matching roof.
You know its a one owner car and it problaby has been serviced at every turn by mini. Go newer

 

I'd definitely go with the 2005!

 

Silver one sold so the search continues.

 

http://www.carmax.com/enUS/view-car/...0-371d11fcaaa3

http://www.carmax.com/enUS/view-car/...0-371d11fcaaa3

http://www.carmax.com/enUS/view-car/...0-371d11fcaaa3

http://www.carmax.com/enUS/view-car/...0-371d11fcaaa3

Hope this helps. If you find one that's not in your closest store, thay'll send it to your closest store location.

 

Thanks for the links.

I've been watching a few sites with over priced Minis that haven’t sold so I made an offer on a Green MCS and he took it.

The wife and I are going to take a look tonight and if it's clean like they say it is pick it up tomorrow.

 

You have to be very, very careful in what you are doing. Since you are asking for help, permit me to be frank.

I'll be so in my post in follow-up to this. Just wanted to sound the alarm.

 

I was in the same situation as you about four months ago. What I did was research the hell out of the MINI and also spent maybe 200 hours reading everything on NAM. Being on NAM saved me thousands of dollars in misery, so read on.

1. If it comes to a choice between a MINI that has a remaining FACTORY warranty or a MINI that is out of warranty, GET THE MINI THAT HAS THE WARRANTY. IMHO that is a no brainer on any car purchase but especially so on a MINI since the older models [2004 or earlier] have their share of issues. So a 2005 should always win out on a purchasing decision.

2. After everything I have read on NAM and the Net, your best bet is to avoid the older MINIs such as the 2002 you were considering. I won't go into detail, but there's lots of information on what the problems are with the first models that came out.

3. You can do a search in here of "carmax" or on the Net and decide if you want to buy a car from them.

4. Don't get caught up in the excitement of getting a MINI, any MINI, because that might result in making a bad decision. Just take your time and don't let the frustration of MINIs selling too fast, etc. get the better of you.

5. You have to always ask yourself WHY someone is selling the MINI. I submit that if a MINI is a 2002 to 2004, the seller may be having problems that he wants to unload.

6. Be up-to-date on what to look for in terms of models to avoid and issues to look for. For example, I would never buy a 2002 with a CVT [automatic transmission.] Also, look out for the strut mushrooming issue. I know someone who paid top dollar for a used MINI only to find out on delivery that one side of the suspension had mushroomed.

7. Above all else, do what others on NAM told me back when I was looking for a MINI, get the most car you can for the money. If you can find a nice MINI with some factory warranty remaining, that's the car to get.

$16,000 is a little low for finding a 2005, for example, but they do pop up. You have to be ready to jump on those deals. I'd shop on Craig's List, checking the listings hourly and when you see one, run the CarFax, confirm the warranty is valid, then rush over with check in hand. Of course check the car out, I'm just saying you have to be ready to jump on the good deals. [Finding a 2005 with factory warranty remaining is a good deal.]

8. As to color, IMHO most MINI colors are fine. Obviously MINI makes cars in colors that will sell. So basic white, red, black, blue, yellow, etc. are going to please just about anyone. I was not looking for a red MINI but it was certainly a color I could enjoy on the MINI. [Only have had two red cars besides the MINI, it is not a color I look for. But on the MINI it's great.]

Bottom line: Slow down, be patient and don't get sucked into getting a bad deal [aka a lousy MINI]. This can happen because shopping for one can be frustrating. The good ones go quick and even those with problems get sold [to frustrated suckers.]

There's great deals out there as long as you look hard to find them and jump on it as soon as one appears. E.g. I was helping a senior citizen buy a car on a $6000 budget. Last Saturday a nice 2001 Toyota Corolla was on Craig's List. Was $4,300, had new tires, was mint, and only 74,000 miles on it. It was listed at 1:30 pm that afternoon. I had "my people" over there to test drive it at 3:30 pm. But another interested party had got there a few minutes before and on seeing others' interest, they bought it. Not saying it will be that bad on your MINI, but certainly illustrates my point about being able to act fast on the good deals.