Hi all! I joined this forum to try to gain some knowledge about the car I am looking to buy. Though I am just joining this forum, I have experience on other forums. I currently drive a 2007 Mercedes C230 Sport, which is a great car, I'm just looking for something more... fun. It's a heavy car with not a lot of power (2.5L V6 201 hp, 181 ft lb in a 3,405 lb car). Not to mention, it is an automatic, and I would rather have a standard.

This is where the Mini comes in. I have found a 2004 Mini Cooper S with just over 72,000 miles on it. It is the 6 speed and is in pretty good condition. The dealership is asking $11,990 for it, and has offered me the Cooper plus $5,000 for trade. The only physical problems I have seen with the car are minor. A few small scratches in the rear bumper under the hatch, some rock chips on the hood, and a little rough scratch on the top of the front bumper portion of the right wheel well. The wheels, on the other hand, are near perfect. Only one small bit of curb rash on one wheel. It also has the Harmon/Kardon sound system. It seems to be a pretty good deal to me, and I have read the stickies, I just wanted some opinions from people that know the car better than me. This is the link to the car dealership's page and I will post the pictures here. I appreciate everyone's input, and am excited about becoming a Mini owner!

EDIT: This is the Carfax for the car.

 

Looks like a nice clean car. Get the Vin # and call your local mini dealer. They can look up the car and tell you all about it. options, service history etc. 5,000 can get you some real nice mods too and really bump up the fun factor you can easily make more power than your benz

 

Looks good in pics, normal advice to get it checked out by a MINI knowleged service type. Good luck.