[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]I went to look at a 2003 MINI Cooper S-- model for sale yesterday. It had 150k Miles. The car is 1 owner and looks and runs like new.. The price is right.. Should I stay away from something with this High Miles? Any advice would be nice.. Is there anything I should look for in the car before buying it?...... I am going back today for another look… [/SIZE][/FONT]


I am getting the car of 6k.... SO the price is 100% good.. I am going to look at the car again tonight. THe body of the car is perfect. I have a carfax and all looks good.... 48k one year... I would say mostly highway miles..
I want to thank all that replied to me.. I really appreciate the input. makes it easy for me to make a choice on this deal.....I am going to drive it again and go from there.

 

Does he have all the service records for the car? Who did the work? were the normal maintanince items taken care of ? is the car all Stock? Did you carfax it to see if it had possible be in any accidents? look in his garage, driveway or wear he normally parks the car is anything leaking? Is it mostly Highway Miles?
These are some of the questions I would be asking

 

That's a lot of miles for a mini. Mine has just under half as many, and things are starting to break here and there.

For the record, mine is a 2003 cooper s that I bought with 67k miles, and I got it for $11,000 out the door from a BMW dealership. So I'm not sure what you are looking to spend, or what this one is being offered at, but if you do enough looking you can get a great deal on a relatively 'low mileage' mini.

 

I would first get a list of the common problems associated with this car from this site and then check on all the service that has been done on the car. Since it's a one owner car he/she should have receipts for any work that has been done by the owner or dealer. This way you can have an idea of what will be needed in the future. As with all used cars there is no gaurantee that you will have no problems. Good luck and enjoy.

 

I am getting the car of 6k.... SO the price is 100% good.. I am going to look at the car again tonight. THe body of the car is perfect. I have a carfax and all looks good.... 48k one year... I would say mostly highway miles..
I want to thank all that replied to me.. I really appreciate the input. makes it easy for me to make a choice on this deal.....I am going to drive it again and go from there.

 

good luck they are great cars! i hope it runs forever for you!

 

sounds like a plan. just go talk to the people. I assume your buying it from a private seller. I wouldn't be worried.

Thats like when i sell mine..its going to have a lot of miles (25K+ miles /yr.). All the people are going to do is have to talk to me and ill be able to show them just how well it is cared for.... they'll be able to sleep just fine at night lol

 

I would take it for a pre-purchase inspection, just to know if there are any maintenance items that need attention. 6k is a good price but a few repairs and it can go up pretty fast. (clutch, tires, brakes, supercharger)

 

What are you going to do with it? Is it a daily driver that you'll have to depend on come rain or shine or is it a weekend toy? Will you be driving it 25K a year or 5K?

I agree with a prepurchase inspection, the cheapest price is not always the best deal.

Is $6K all you can afford for a car, will you be able to afford to make repairs if it needs them? Can you do any of your own work or will you be at the mercy of dealers/ indy mechanic? Can you afford to walk away from it if something major craps shortly after you buy it?

Are you buying it because you like the idea of it, the way it looks and overlooking the potential problems or shortcomings?

Regardless of how well it's been kept, it's got 150K on it, and it will need some work as time goes along.....is it a stick or auto trans? Is it due for a clutch soon?

Lots of questions that need to be answered before you make this decision, but if you can afford to buy a younger, less used car, chances are you'll be better off.

 

A couple things i forgot to mention that are easy to overlook:

-Make sure the clutch pedal travel is smooth. If not, it is a sign of a bad throwout bearing and a potentially worn clutch

-DRIVE THE CAR WHEN IT IS COLD. These cars hide some of their problems once they have warmed up. When it's cold, listen for sounds from the flywheel and the p/s pump.

 

front control arm bushings. The suck on the car and wear out quickly. If the car hasn't had them done, you'll be doing them.

Supercharger is getting long in the tooth. While the blower itself may be fine, the rear water pump drive gears are a problem spot.

The control arm bushings are pretty cheap, and there are aftermarket solutions that are better, but the install is a bit of a pain.

The supercharger can be rebuilt if it's not too shot.

I wouldn't run away from a car with this type of mileage, but you should budget some money per year for upkeep. Afterall, it does have 150k on the odometer. No matter the how the miles were driven, you will need some maintenance.

Matt

 

I just got my 2002 with 93k miles. had issues like:
passenger door doesn't unlock automatically or with key
seat wont recline - (I body slammed it back into place)
window ipers stopped working int he rain (fix by putting filters in the crowl vents cus it was filterless)
boot (trunk) didn't open 70% of the time.. (dealing with this)
but.. overall it runs good.
they have that stoprepairbills.com thing for cars with higher milage.. u should look into that and use it to cover your main parts.. like the engine and stuff. *shrugs* I think I may do that soon. anyone heard about this?

mini maintaince is expensive =\

 

If you could afford more than 6k I would def go with one that has less miles. Like other people have said though dont let miles scare you away, but you have to look at potential problems. I just bought my MINI a few weeks ago and got a 36000 mile warranty on it so I have until 92,000 miles for things to go wrong. Anways good luck with your purchase and post pics when you get one.

 

That my friend is a TRACK CAR!

 

I was thinking the same thing Go_mini

 

if i wanted a track car i'd get an old mini

 

So what's the result? Did you buy it?

Don't let high mileage MINIs discourage you. These are very good cars that will last a long time and for many miles. I bought my '02 at ~140K and I'm now at 157K and enjoying it thoroughly.

 

I just bought my 03' MCS at 100,00! Car runs great! No problems! Just take care of it and instead of waiting for something to break, if it looks like it could use some repair, fix it! That will help and not lead one thing to another! Happy Mini Driving!

 

Here's a high mileage forum link that may help. Good luck

 

Just me,but i wouldn't buy any car with that kind of mileage.Q

 

I'm with you there... But it also does depend on who owned it and wether it was well maintained. If it has been well maintained I would opt to take it.

 

Exactly! The asking price has to be in line of course as well.

 

If it has been taken care of, oil changes at the proper intervals the inspections at the proper times and hasn't been abused a MINI, or any car can give years and hundreds of thousand miles of fun driving. I have an 06 Cooper I purchased new, in May of 07 it has 63,000 and is going fine. my former car was a 1990 ford probe at 478,000 the throw-out bearing went bad and I got my MINI. The engine in the probe had never been broken into. all I did was change the oil every 3000 miles. For my MINI I have changed my oil every 7000 Anyway. take care of your MINI and you should be fine. Happy Motoring!

 

Try this thread for more information.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...h-mileage.html

Charlie