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I've had it few months now and I plan on keeping it long after I pay it off and start saving up for a new car to help preserve my mini and turn it into a sweet weekend car
Well then there you go, sounds like you answered your own question! Motor on
I've had my mini for a year and a half. I love this car. I did get a rougher one with 131k for $6,800. I've had to replace the following:
1. Head Gasket & spark plug tube seals
2. Wheel hub bearings X2
3. Spark plugs NGK & wires 8.5 mm
4. Screaming Demon Coil Pack
5. K&N filter for stock air box
6. 15% Alta pulley
7. ATI Super Damper Crank Pulley
8. Front engine mount OEM
9. Front inner and outer ball joints
10. Front upper and lower end links
I now have 161k miles the engine is going strong and so is the SC. As of yesterday I need to replace the power steering pump. I knew I had leaks in apparently all three lines. (Dealer) my mechanic said it was just the high pressure hose and the return line. It's going to be roughly $1,800 to repair. I also need a new A/C belt tensioner. I'm also thinking about SC maintenance. All in all I think I'm looking at about 3k in total.
my front lower H/K speakers are shot. My navigation screen has some dark lines running through it. Front two seats need to be redone as well. Paint & front bumper cover repair. Another 4k.
eventually engine and S/C replacement. 9K.
All in all reality is staring to set in. It's going to take 16 to get this car looking and running new again. I'm leaning on the side it's worth the money. What do you all think? the most fun I've had driving and I know my cars isn't maxed out on performance upgrades by any means. I could only imagine if I added further mods to make the car faster. Headers, exhaust, CAI, larger injectors, shocks, sway bars, way stiff package, etc.
This car could be amazing and a life long keeper.!!!
My personall take on this -- NO WAY in hell is it worth 16K to rebuild an 11 year old car. If you were telling me that you were building a race car and wanted to rip it apart and do all that -- then 16K is a bargain price to have a track monster -- but it doesnt sound like you are doing that.
I am "restoring" my MINI as things break -- I enjoy the hobby of doing it -- but at some point I am out of the game and will part it out.
You can't change the fact that you paid $6,800 for a car with so many needed maintenance items -- you can stop the bleeding.... I wouldn't do it.
You also need to learn to do things yourself if you plan to keep the car. $1800 for 2 hoses is beyond outrageous....
My personall take on this -- NO WAY in hell is it worth 16K to rebuild an 11 year old car. If you were telling me that you were building a race car and wanted to rip it apart and do all that -- then 16K is a bargain price to have a track monster -- but it doesnt sound like you are doing that.
I am "restoring" my MINI as things break -- I enjoy the hobby of doing it -- but at some point I am out of the game and will part it out.
You can't change the fact that you paid $6,800 for a car with so many needed maintenance items -- you can stop the bleeding.... I wouldn't do it.
You also need to learn to do things yourself if you plan to keep the car. $1800 for 2 hoses is beyond outrageous....
I can't tell you how many busted knuckles ago I wish I just had someone else do it. Sometimes it's just not in people's abilities or means to do it themselves.
The only thing that keeps me working in cars is the passion, which is something you can't just inject into someone.
I can't tell you how many busted knuckles ago I wish I just had someone else do it. Sometimes it's just not in people's abilities or means to do it themselves.
The only thing that keeps me working in cars is the passion, which is something you can't just inject into someone.
I've been a petrolhead all of my life, and when the MINI was launched in 2001, I was instantly hooked. I knew I had to have one when I was old enough to drive. I still have all of the launch brochures, price lists and specs, everything has been thumbed through thousands of times by a young me dreaming how my MINI would look.
My parents ordered a 2002 Cooper, and I just remember the whole family having their input on spec. I remember going to the dealer, with the spec in hand ready to order. The dealer were brilliant with me and my sister who were 10 and 8 at the time (silly things like this stay with you a long time, and it has most definitely helped shape my opinion of the brand over the years), giving us loads of free MINI related toys and garments.
The collection day arrived and it was during a particularly difficult time for me as I’d just started senior school, and just struggled with everything. This car arriving was a ray of sunshine for me, and it really helped take my mind off of everything bad that was going on.
In the interim, the R50 came and went, and the folks bought one of the first R56 Coopers in early 2007. I started joining MINI forums just before the R56 was launched, I wanted to get all the information I could as well as see what people were spec’ing on their new cars
In 2010, the day finally arrived when I could finally buy my own MINI. I bought a 2001 Cooper in Pure Silver. A popular phrase is “never meet your heroes” as the memories are often better, but this most certainly wasn’t the case. I had an absolute hoot in the car, it was absolutely everything I wanted and more.
I really loved that car, but at the end of 2011 I decided I wanted to buy an R53, as this was the car I always wanted. To cut a long story short, I ended up buying a beautiful looking R56 S from Park Lane MINI. While the car looked superb, it was a lemon in the truest sense of the word. I absolutely hated it, and ended up rejecting it after 2 months of ownership.
At this point I decided to have a break from MINI ownership and pursue my other favourite car manufacturer, Land Rover. Having owned and enjoyed them for some time, my attention turned back to MINI. In a slightly drunken stupor, I ended up winning a 2002 MINI One on eBay which required a new gearbox. I ended up keeping it for a year while I bought my first house, but I knew all along what it was I wanted…
Finally in the 2015 of this year, I bought my R53. It’s not the tidiest, neither is it the last word in cleanliness, but finally after 14 years, I can say that this is my R53. I know it's little foibles, it's throwing large bills at me for fun, and within the next 5 years I'm guessing it will need a full rebuild. I don't care, everytime I get in the car and start it up, I recall everything I've written above and it makes me smile. That's before I've driven it anywhere, at which point that smile turns in to a massive grin.
It’s going absolutely nowhere. But not before it's taken me everywhere
Finally in the 2015 of this year, I bought my R53. It’s not the tidiest, neither is it the last word in cleanliness, but finally after 14 years, I can say that this is my R53. I know it's little foibles, it's throwing large bills at me for fun, and within the next 5 years I'm guessing it will need a full rebuild. I don't care, everytime I get in the car and start it up, I recall everything I've written above and it makes me smile. That's before I've driven it anywhere, at which point that smile turns in to a massive grin.
It’s going absolutely nowhere. But not before it's taken me everywhere
My R53 is the only thing I have bought in my entire life that I have not had buyer's remorse about. It never fails to put a smile on my face.
The only plans I have is to keep my R52 in the family. Bought a 5year extended warranty to hopefully keep my mind at ease. I'll be more than happy to never use the warranty.
In 2011 I blew the supercharger and they told me the car was totaled. I said no I will put a new supercharger on it and did it.
The car has had two full paint jobs since I bought it thanks to a construction company dumping concrete on it and a crazy ex keying every single panel.
Most parts that break I replace with performance upgrade parts and I plan to keep doing this.
Now that I have a new daily driver I have been more aggressively modding the car and plan to continue to do that until I have the car that I originally envisioned many years ago. https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...toy-build.html
The way I view it is like the ship of theseus (google it). Basically if I replace and upgrade enough parts when does it stop being the car I originally bought and brought home in July 2007. With all of the mods I have done so far I can tell you it looks and feels different but her soul is still there. Her name is Sabine btw I named her after the Nurburgring taxi driver Sabine Schmidt.
Became sold on MINI in fall 2004. Spent 2 months online building to order. Tracked the build and shipment from UK across the pond. Arrived January 2005. To me, the true test of any car is how it makes you feel when you drive it. One decade behind us as my daily driver and the magic is still there.
14 years later, 171k and still blows the door off most cars on the street. I've done ALOT of "refresh" parts gone to fail but she's all caught up besides shocks (koni Orange soon). Just driving since being down for 4 months due to a broke shift cable that was getting redesigned by BMW but... It's been 2 days of a sore face from grinning so much when I down shift at 70 and scream to 120
Just hit 133k yesterday. And 2 years of ownership, wouldn't get a new car for the world. My girlfriend always asks why I am "dumping" money into Barnaby but she just doesn't understand its a MINI thing.
From: Greenville, SC in the United States of Awsome
Originally Posted by mister.t
I cannot see myself ever selling my R53. I've been a petrolhead all of my life, and when the MINI was launched in 2001, I was instantly hooked. I knew I had to have one when I was old enough to drive. I still have all of the launch brochures, price lists and specs, everything has been thumbed through thousands of times by a young me dreaming how my MINI would look. My parents ordered a 2002 Cooper, and I just remember the whole family having their input on spec. I remember going to the dealer, with the spec in hand ready to order. The dealer were brilliant with me and my sister who were 10 and 8 at the time (silly things like this stay with you a long time, and it has most definitely helped shape my opinion of the brand over the years), giving us loads of free MINI related toys and garments. The collection day arrived and it was during a particularly difficult time for me as I’d just started senior school, and just struggled with everything. This car arriving was a ray of sunshine for me, and it really helped take my mind off of everything bad that was going on. In the interim, the R50 came and went, and the folks bought one of the first R56 Coopers in early 2007. I started joining MINI forums just before the R56 was launched, I wanted to get all the information I could as well as see what people were spec’ing on their new cars In 2010, the day finally arrived when I could finally buy my own MINI. I bought a 2001 Cooper in Pure Silver. A popular phrase is “never meet your heroes” as the memories are often better, but this most certainly wasn’t the case. I had an absolute hoot in the car, it was absolutely everything I wanted and more. I really loved that car, but at the end of 2011 I decided I wanted to buy an R53, as this was the car I always wanted. To cut a long story short, I ended up buying a beautiful looking R56 S from Park Lane MINI. While the car looked superb, it was a lemon in the truest sense of the word. I absolutely hated it, and ended up rejecting it after 2 months of ownership. At this point I decided to have a break from MINI ownership and pursue my other favourite car manufacturer, Land Rover. Having owned and enjoyed them for some time, my attention turned back to MINI. In a slightly drunken stupor, I ended up winning a 2002 MINI One on eBay which required a new gearbox. I ended up keeping it for a year while I bought my first house, but I knew all along what it was I wanted… Finally in the 2015 of this year, I bought my R53. It’s not the tidiest, neither is it the last word in cleanliness, but finally after 14 years, I can say that this is my R53. I know it's little foibles, it's throwing large bills at me for fun, and within the next 5 years I'm guessing it will need a full rebuild. I don't care, everytime I get in the car and start it up, I recall everything I've written above and it makes me smile. That's before I've driven it anywhere, at which point that smile turns in to a massive grin. It’s going absolutely nowhere. But not before it's taken me everywhere
That was a brilliant story. I hope you keep her forever
I knew I had leaks in apparently all three lines. (Dealer) my mechanic said it was just the high pressure hose and the return line. It's going to be roughly $1,800 to repair. I also need a new A/C belt tensioner. I'm also thinking about SC maintenance. All in all I think I'm looking at about 3k in total.
the most fun I've had driving and I know my cars isn't maxed out on performance upgrades by any means. I could only imagine if I added further mods to make the car faster. Headers, exhaust, CAI, larger injectors, shocks, sway bars, way stiff package, etc.
