Hello everyone,

Rarely ever post, but I lurk wayyy too much. I have always, always, always, loved the Minis and right now I think is a time I'm poised to get one. I come from owning a 2005 Volvo S60R, a car I searched a lot for. It's a great car, but I also work at a Volvo dealer, so I see people coming in and paying upwards of $1,000 for particular repairs.

I came across a nice 2005 MCS with 33k miles in my area and it's really caught my eye. Now it doesn't have all the options I originally wanted (aero, nav, leather, xenons) infact it is pretty base, but in hopes to save money this may be a good car. Especially with the lower miles. It's Chili Red with a white roof, 6spd., Auto climate control, and heated seats. It's listed at $16.9k on the lot, but since I called from work and the guy is good friends with my boss he said he can give it to me for $14.9k.

Does this sound like a good deal? I did a quick vehicle inspection and everything seems in really good shape, and well taken care of. Haven't yet gotten to drive the car or inspect under the hood (to look for the mushroomed strut towers, etc).

I do NOT hav a Mini dealer close to me, however I am very literate with a wrench so I can do all my own maintenance. I guess now is when I need you to chime in.

Thanks in advance all!

 

Price and options appear to be close to what the market seems to dictate as a fair price. There are a lot of cars out there though. Take a quick look around and you might find a better deal. By the way, the best deals are always gotten by people who don't know anyone at the dealership.

 

How are we to know if it's a good deal or not? The market varies everywhere, and each car is different. If it seems like a good deal to you, and is a car you want to own - that seems like the most important criteria, not what some annonymous folks on a forum think - I mean, what do we know?

If there's no MINI dealer nearby, at least have someone you trust who knows something about MINIs look it over for you, if for no other reason than to get another pair of eyes on the car. Good luck, hope it works out for you!

 

I picked up my 05 MCS for just over what he's asking. For what it's worth, I looked at quite a few MINIs before I pulled the trigger on mine: the color combo I wanted, 17's that I like, leather, cold package, convenience package, auto trans, and more. The only diff is the mileage is about double the one you're looking at, but it's in good shape. However, I did find a couple of 06 with low miles and similar options for about 17K. (only one had nav, tough option to find)

It's not a bad price, but I would look around some more and find one with what you want; I'll bet it's out there waiting for you.

 

i bought my used 05 MC off craigslist for 13k. it had 32000 miles on it and the kelly blue book value of it was 16k. so my only suggestion is to look up how much it should be on kelly blue book and if its lower..take it. i now have over 40k miles on it in less than a year. i got it april of 2009 to be exact

 

I wouldn't jump at this MINI just because it happens to be at the dealer you work for. It is a buyer's market these days, and you live near some major cities. There should be many MINI's to choose from and test drive. Just keep in mind that if high maintenance costs have scared you away from Volvos, MINI repairs can get pretty pricey in a hurry as well.

 

Valid points, everyone. I will definitely bring a more fluent technician with me when I go to look at it.

I have been looking at Minis for months now and the next closest ones are of the R56 delineation, which I'm just not too keen on. I've searched cars.com, autotrader, eBay, and the NAM marketplace. Craigslist is still uncharted territory.

It's not at the dealer I work for, just happens that the dealer that has it is close friends with my boss. I wouldn't say the repair costs are what's scaring me away, however a full brake job rotors and pads all around on my R at roughly $1100 is daunting, it's more or less that I can save money on payments.

Regardless though, how much can one look to spend on scheduled maintenance on the MINI?

 

Scheduled service is infrequent.

What you have to worry about is the unscheduled stuff. My 05 MCS which I bought new has had several component failures which I didn't expect this early in the post-warranty period -- A/C compressor, clutch slave cylinder and fuel level sender, to name a few. A couple more untimely repair bills and it's outta here, go-kart handling notwithstanding!

 

Interesting. Those are the things I'm mostly worried about, as I don't have a MINI dealer near to me. Complicated repairs involving computer syncing, adaptations, or software upgrades are what's gonna get me. However, almost anything mechanical I know I'd be able to handle.