Hello everyone, I wanted to asked if it was wise to buy a 2003 S with 170,000 highway miles on her. I can get her at a great price. I have always liked the MINI when it was putting down better times at A/X then my 2006 STI on small tracks. The guy that is selling it has had it for three years with no problems. He replaced the brakes and fluids, thats it. He doesn't have anymore info then that. I asked if he knew if the SC has been replaced and he didn't think so. I also asked him about the clutch and he think its never been replaced. Is there anything else I should be looking for on this car? I don't want to take a big risk here so any help would be great! The last Europe made car was a LR3 and I traded it in a month because it was in the shop more then on the road. Thanks again!

 

Hey Brighton, you didn't mention the price, but I'm assuming <$5K? Don't pay more than that with those miles.

The most miles I've read on NAM (search NAM for "high mileage") is 244K with mostly original parts. Supercharged MINIs (R53 2002-06) have various maintenance issues just like any car, but for the most part, they are proving to be a long-lasting design. There are many of us with original S/Cs with over 100K still running fine, but some unlucky owners have blown their S/C under 100K miles. Even that is not the end of the world. You can buy a rebuilt S/C for around $1k or a new one for $1.5K. The key to any car is to keep the maintenance/oil changes up. High performance cars (like the R53) don't take well to neglect.

Standard maintenance items are pretty easy to do on the MINI. Like any small front wheel drive car, some major service parts can be a bear to get to (like the water pump). Fortunately, most water pumps last over 100K without a problem. There are a number of special tools for servicing parts that require replacement, but maintenance items are pretty straight forward. There are a couple of good service manuals for the MINI too, and I know of a number of drivers (many right here on NAM) who perform their own maintenance to save cost, because some parts can be quite expensive and BMW labor rates are even higher. Unless you do your own maintenace, I would recommend finding a competent independent MINI mechanic for issues that will eventually arise.

Regardless, you'll find the performance of these little cars rather addicting, yet the versatility and day-to-day drivability is on the practical side, which is an appealing combination.

 

Great, thank you for the info. The price he was asking was 6k but I was only going to give around 5k for. The MINI is loaded with navi,leather,glass roof,silver with black pins strips, with two sets of rims with new tires(summers and studded snows) Thanks again for the help.

I have read that I can check the clutch "noise" by putting it in "N" and letting off the clutch. And if there was a problem I would hear a rattle?

 

Here is the listing. I have talked to the guys a few times now.

20O3 mini cooper Supercharged, manual trans. Two sets of new wheels and tires too, one set of them studded snows. Loaded with every option, leather, navigation, glass roof. 170000 miles but looks and drives excellent. May trade for nice 6cyl Jeep Wrangler.

• Location: Windham
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At that mileage, and maint unknown, plan on suspension bushings, struts, clutch, serpentine belt, coolant change-out.... all in the near future. If you can afford all of this and whatever else pops up, $5k sounds like a decent price.

 

Thanks for all of your help! I just want to look at it in the worst case. And take it from there. So if it runs well, it will be a big plus.

 

I got my 03 MCS with just over 158k on it. I too did not know the maintenance records. I believe I have the worst luck with it to this day with one repair after another. All the maintenance has been performed by me with help and guidance from other MCS owners and NAM members. Even though I have busted knuckles and lost sleep doing repairs I would not have it another way. I love the joy that I get from driving it and love that my son would rather ride in my "race car" than his moms Mustang GT convertible.
The advice you have been given so far is spot on, check anything and everything that you would for any other car and you should be pretty well off.

 

I paid 6k for my 2002 R53 with 133k on it and had to dump over 5,000 bux into to get it to be what I consider to be reliable.

Granted it came with all the goodies like borla exhaust, short shift, forced air intake, 15% pulley, lightened crank shaft, injectors, adjustable coil overs, adjustable sway bar links, tower struts, sport clutch, full aero kit painted to match body, etc.

I have everything except navi and heated seats as far as options for the year.

I had to get 4 oil leaks fixed, (valve cover, oil pan, oil sender and cracked oil filter case) bad power steering pump 4 weeks later, exploding coolant tank (newer design which fooled me but was stamped original year of the car) new shocks, new strut mounts, new bushings front and rear and 2 new tires , cracked cat pipe and other things I have forgotten now. Windshield cracked the week after the pump!

Of the 5k, what I didn't have to do; 800 for the supercharger oil change, and new water pump and hoses done as a pre-emptive strike (good thing as I had no oil but gears where still wet and no damage), 300 to have the bumper respray (rock chips galore) and replacement shocks front a and rear for JCW sport shocks about 800 bux.

If I had the time (which I dont) could have saved about 1500-2000 or so in labor.

Now I have a real stealth daily driver/beater that has compression better than stock and pulls pretty good at 3500rpm Just wish it was rear wheel drive now!

If I had to do over, i would have offered 4k for the car. For the 12k I spent I could have got a lower mileage 2005 probably.

 

Thanks for the eye openers guys. I'm going to have a garage look at it before I even think about buying it.

 

That's a very good idea. If you can have someone who knows MINIs and what to look for and where would be even better.

 

Not a problem, I usually budget a few k for a used car, but this was a little more than I expected. Also, pretty much all the problems I had are common on these years.