Hi all I am a new member looking at buying a Mini S. When the mini came out
in 02 I loved the look & it still looks great today unlike some of the other niche cars.

Any way it is time for me to buy a first gen Mini S. What I need to know from you is what to look out for. I have serched the topic & read about the rust in the door sills & the mushroomed strut towers. Have I missed something?
Let me know.
Thanks in advance

 

I would buy the lowest mileage, non-modded S built in or after Jan 2005 (date found in drivers door jam) to the end of 2006 you can find. If it's out of your area look for someone in that area on the local forums here on NAM to go test drive it for you. Then run the a CarFax and run the vin at a dealer to see if you can find any service records.

Here's a good link too https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ht=buying+used

 

The link autoxcooper.com gave is a good read. Doorsill rust and mushrooming strut towers is a start. The 02-04s often had issues with the steering pump, fan, rack and/or reservoir as well as steering columns that would bind so check to see if these have needed to be replaced/repaired. Also check out this http://www.motoringfile.com/mini-r50r53-buyers-guide/

 

Our used Mini purchase questions may help.

 

Thanks for the info guys.

 

The Oct. issue of "Performance Car" (British magazine) has a great 5 or 6 page article with pictures of what to look for in buying a 1st gen cooper S. Was still in Barnes and Noble as of four days ago.

 

Thank for the info, while looking at the 02 owners thread I noticed that there are alot of 02's with few problems. Thay can also be picked up alot cheaper
then the 05/06's & the fact that I am a cheap skate a 02/03 might fit the bill.
Sometimes when researching a car or motorcycle on the net you only hear of the problems.

Any thoughts on this?

 

So true. You will hear/read of many more people complaining than about those that are happy. It is human nature. If you were to look at the total production numbers and then figure out just how many people are actually having legitimate problems, you will see that it is a relatively low percentage of the total cars made.

I had an August build 2002 MCS. It had a few minor problems that never stopped me from going wherever I wanted or needed to go. All of the warranty work was preformed during regularly scheduled services. I would just keep a list of what I thought were warranty issues and would give the dealer the list when I brought the car for an oil change. They would call me when everything was fixed.

In the three years and 37,000 mile I owned the car they replaced the coolant expansion tank, a squeaky steering column, and a clicky steering rack. They also had to fix rattles in the dash and a squeaky drivers seat frame. A manufactures bulletin was issued about the power steering cooling fan with a retro-fit wiring harness that included a fuse for the fan that would prevent additional damage if the PS cooling fan blew it's fuse. All of these things were completely fixed before I traded in my 2002 for my 2006 MCS.

There are still many things I prefer about my 2002 vs 2006. I liked the two spoke multi-function steering wheel, the clock above the mirror, the ride, the smaller rearview mirror, the orange rear turn signals, the little dance the xenon headlights did every time you turned them on.

Things I prefer about the 2006; slightly lower overall gear ratios for better acceleration, 5 more hp, LSD, one piece dash that has never squeaked or rattled, squeak free drivers seat.

All of those changes went into production for the 2005 model year.

The advice to look for a low milage, un-modded car is the best advice. If you can get service records that is always a plus. By all means do a CarFax check. Test drive it and have knowledgable MINI mechanic look it over.

 

It's been mentioned twice but it deserves to be emphasized:

A NON-Modded MINI will be your best option. Not that anyone on NAM would abuse their MINI (lolol) but a heavily modded car (performance wise) is much more likely to have been driven harder.

 

I'm going to further reinforce what others have said: buy the newest MINI that fits your budget and buy one that has no drive-train modifications. There have been other threads about this (some argue that if you find one that has just the mods you want . . . . ), but I'd encourage you to find one that has not been modded.

Do your homework just as you would any other car.

Low mileage and service history is important (if you find one that is nearing a service interval, use that for bargaining). That said, the best deal I ever had on a used car was a very high mileage young car. They were all highway miles and it was really cheap.

Good luck.