Hi there everybody, i live in Los Angeles area, specifically Miracle Mile. I am looking to buy a used Mini Cooper S 2003 gray very well maintained and it looks beautiful. The thing is that the owner put 65k miles on it and already repair the unfamous Steering pump and fan, the car its in great condition but i've been learning a lot of Mini Coopers and everytime i see a page of reviews, for a few persons it's like a nightmare to have a Mini Cooper specially for this years. For ex. i saw a page consumeraffairs dot com oh my god i've seen horror stories about their MINIS even a few caught in fire in the middle of the street. I don;t know if this things are over exaaggerated but im concern and having second thoughts about it, Im getting rid of Scion and want so badly a Mini Cooper but this stories just confuse me and dissapoint me a little. Please Help?? Someone who has realistics stories and Thoughts and not jus a blind loving for his MINI.

Thanks.

 

There are MANY MANY MANY horror stories out there - but you're going to get that with almost any vehicle. The BMW MINIs came out in 2002, so the 2003s were on their way to working out the kinks. That year is NOT a bad vehicle, but if I were to advise you, I'd say try to keep your eyes peeled for a 2004. That was a very good year for the MINIs - still a supercharger, but with most of the kinks worked out.

I'm pretty sure someone will be along shortly with the links to the "stickies" on the outmotoring files, etc. that will help educate you on the cars and the years... But don't fret. Get yourself educated on the signs of wear and tear that will cause you more problems later - there aren't as many as the horror stories say - and keep up the preventive measures yourself once you get it (i.e. make sure the oil gets changed on a regular basis, keep the fluids up, etc.) These are great cars - which is WHY we're blindly in love with them. Good luck.

 

Thanks, for the info. I'm gonna keep my eyes up for a 2004!

 

Ah - I didn't think I had these links saved. Here are some NAM threads with good info:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...k-out-for.html

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...wn-a-mini.html

 

Here's a good reference to all the known issues with each model year from 2000 (when Minis weren't yet sold in the US) up through the 2006 model R53:

http://www.motoringfile.com/mini-r50r53-buyers-guide/

Check it out. It has some things to watch out for and questions to ask. (Personally, I think a well-maintained '03 with only 65k on the clock sounds like a ball of fun!)

 

BTW this person is asking 12,500 for his MCS 2003. Do you thinks its well priced? or he's asking too much?

 

actually sounds good if they replaced ps and fan with newer version.

 

The price sounds pretty good. I've got an 02 Cooper S and the only issue I've had was having to have the supercharger rebuilt, which cost around $500. Other than that I've been trouble free. From my experience I would bet that you would be fine with the 03 MCS.

 

Today i have another offer of a guy that its selling his MCS05 15,000 with only 30k miles at $15k, do you think it's worth the extra thousands? Its exactly the same color gray charcoal i love that color only so that 's why im insisting in that one, haha.

 

Less than 2 months ago, I paid $19k for a MCS06 with 29k miles (and some mods, see my sig).

So that sounds like a fair price to me!