Hello everyone over here in NAM, this is my first post over here, but I dont have a MINI (yet). I was just wondering if anyone has anything to say on subject of buying a used higher mileage MINI Cooper S R53. I have found quite a few good deals around here, however most of them are on 100K+ R53s and I think i've read a few threads of people engines blowing up around 120K. Coming from a MK4 VW Jetta 1.8T this surprises me as 1.8Ts are known to go past 400K miles with regular maintenance no problem. Now, I'm not saying I would like to drive the mini 400K miles before replacing it, but I would like to have peace of mind when buying one with a few more miles than usual. I know about the power steering pump failure problems many of these cars have, but are there any other things I should be careful of when buying?

Thanks everyone and have a wonderful drive!

 

Personally I would stay FAR away. Not to be MINI bashing because I really like mine, but I won't be keeping it out of warranty as a daily driver. If you have the cash and won't be driving it on a daily basis, then go for it. But if a reliable eco car is what you want.....stay away...

 

well I will mostly be riding my motorcycle around since it gets better gas mileage than most any car, so the Cooper will be for fun/winter/hauling things i can't take on my bike. I'm also used to meticulously maintaining vehicles if that helps at all

 

I would not be worried about high mileage MINI's so ling as it has a good service history but do realize that at those miles, it will be due for a few things which may or may not be costly depending on whether you can do the labor yourself. I would definitely earn against the CVT transmission though. It seems like those finite regardless and is a very expensive transmission to replace.

 

Mechanically, the 1st gen cars seem fairly robust, especially the engines. I don't know where you're getting your data that 120K Mini's are "blowing up" while 1.8T Audi's are regularly getting to 400K miles, but I think it's faulty.

That being said, it is the rest of the car surrounding the relatively reliable Mini engine that isn't terribly reliable, especially the accessories and electrics. It's all fixable, but these things will nickel and dime you to death and it doesn't cost nickels and dimes to fix the stuff. You can drive a high-mileage Mini, but you have to keep after things - these are not "drive them into the ground" cars.

As a supplemental car to a motorcycle that you want for utility, I'd get something that truly has some utility, like a small SUV or truck. If you insist on a small car, I'd get a Mazda3 hatchback which costs about the same, gets similar gas mileage, and will likely be much more reliable.

- Mark

 

I have a 2nd gen MINI but I would say in general....

that while there are some people here that have high mileage Cooper S cars if you are a person that worries, don't get one.

I say this mostly because I personally wouldn't buy a turbo car from a first gen model and then add high mileage to it.

If it's an option buy a good preowned R56 naturally aspirated. You can actually find some really good deals right now on them.

PS This doesn't knock MINI in any way...it's a known fact to avoid first generation cars.

 

I bought an 03 MCS with 135k that was traded in because the old woman couldn't get out of her driveway in the snow but I think it's because she took it to the dealer and they said she needed a ton of maintenance. I replaced the major parts that would be considered a safety hazard and anything that would reduce the life of the vehicle but I now have 153k and still going strong and I have never been stranded.
After 100k a lot needs to be replaced but in my opinion any car needs quite a bit of maintenance after 100k. Although others may not cost as much but they're also not nearly as fun

If you know what you're looking for when buying a used R53 then you can point out major maintenance items to the salesman and have leverage to haggle the price down. Search the forums for what to look for when buying a used R53 and that should help or better yet find a local MINI owner that will volunteer to go MINI shopping with you, i'm sure there are plenty that would love to.

 

Regular mainentance and you'll be fine. There will be some repairs the higher you get in milage, but that is normal with any vehicle. Mine has just over 251,000 miles and is doing just fine.

Nik

 

I personally would be wary of a high mileage car, just because you don't really know how well the last owner kept up on it. If it were me, I'd get it checked out thoroughly by a MINI mechanic and have the dealership run the service history from the VIN so you have a clearer picture of what you're getting into. Good luck!

 

I love people who can spout "known facts" like this....

The only "fact" is that it depends on the car and how it was cared for over it's life. These are no more prone to problems than any other high mileage car as long as it was cared for and serviced properly - but then that's the problem, knowing for sure whether it was.

We have members here with over 250K on their original motor and tranny, and still going strong.

One of our local club members has over 160K on his Justa, with a CVT, and he tracks his car several times a season! While I would generally caution anyone away from the CVT, it shows that they can be reliable if serviced properly, as his is.

 

Yeah, a lot of subjective "facts", some from those who don't even own a "turbo" Gen1

I have never worried about miles as much as I have care and maintenance. I bought my MCS with 109k on the clock but the physical condition of the car was that of about 30k miles. I knew from looking it over that the motor mounts would need to be replaced and that the SC, clutch, and/or PSP could go after I drove it off the lot and this was used to negotiate the price so I could budget for replacing them. Since a year ago when I bought this car I have put ~30k miles on it and other than the budgeted motor mounts and PSP have had no major issues. As long as you budget some money and don't buy an abused car, higher mileage examples are fine. Take it to a Mini dealer or independent mechanic and get a PPI done if you want peace of mind. Being able to work on these cars yourself is also a big savings and the Mini community is great support for a DIYer. Coming from a VW, which have problems of their own, the Mini should not be a big surprise where maintenance is concerned.

I would buy a later 1st gen car, 05 or 06, since most of the bugs were worked out by then.

 

Normally I'd agree, but last time I checked Consumer Reports, the 04's had better reliability records than the 05's and 06's.

- Mark

 

thanks everyone for your words, but it seems as though it's split down the middle. What I should have asked is what problems does the R53 have once it gets older?

I'm also not planning on getting any car with an automatic transmission any time soon, I happen to think they're boring and since this car will be mostly for fun I don't want boring. I also really don't want to get a pickup or SUV because I tried owning a pickup and I just didn't like it. There really aren't any pickups out there that seem nice to me and I just don't need something the size of an SUV, plus those two just aren't much fun in a city. And yes the Mazda3 might be more reliable, but it's not as cool looking. I'm not looking for options as far as other cars go, I'm looking for info on R53s specifically with high(er) mileage.

Not sure what you mean by this.

 

Get a low-mileage 05/06 and go to town. Stay away from 07s just like 02s. First year models have the most problems.

 

Haha, yes yes I made a blooper. Not turbo but supercharged.

@MINIDave: others mentioned the same thing...as a model matures the wrinkles get ironed out.

To the OP...

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

the link above might prove useful in your quest to buying an R53.

 

try this - perhaps it will be helpful to you.

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

cheers,

Charlie

 

I have an 05 Supercharged car. Driven lots of miles but not extremely hard. I have a few mods. While under warranty, a few minor issues happened and fixed very competently by my MINI dealer. But since my warranty expired, only routine maintenance on my car has been done. No problems whatsoever.

Reading so much about issues on the forums and car magazines keep my stressed out. I'm starting to spend less time on the forums. Better to just drive my car and enjoying it more.

 

Consumer Reports is great for evaluating toothbrushes, but when it comes to cars, they leave a lot to be desired.

 

They're certainly not perfect and I often disagree with the judgments, but I'm just telling you what their raw reliability data says which is nothing more than compiled surveys from their subscriber base. It's BY FAR the best car reliability data available today and a thousand times better than anecdotal "my car is always breaking down" or "my car has never had a problem" reports on forums like this.

- Mark

 

for the person above.

Mileage is very decieving.. its all about how well the previous owner take care of the car. Beside, USED car means, stuff will need to be replace. Thats a no brainer. If you're mechanically incline, get the high mileage one and fix all the stuff that need repairs. Yes you may spend alittle bit more, but atleast you have alot of new parts.

 

We're not talking about the "fun factor" or other subjective things like that. Consumer Reports has the largest reliability databases out there. (And indeed I believe the '04s have come out to have less problems than the '05s.)

 

I'm curious what kind of issues were being reported to Consumer Reports. It's become general knowledge that 05's and 06's were much more reliable than previous years but if it's not the case, I'd certainly want to see the reason for it. I just bought my '06 and I can see where the average consumer might freak out. 79k miles with bad bushings, oil leaks, and thermostat leak. Taken to a dealership and I'm probably looking at over $2000 worth of repairs. Certainly enough to make an average consumer run. To me, it's just fun times getting to know the car with a wrench.

 

like every other car for the most part, if the car is taken care of then it shouldn't be a problem.

 

I would be more concerned with how hard the car was driven, and how it was matained.
Any high mile car can have issues, especially one heavily nodded and driven hard.
An unmodded, well driven s would be a good car imo if you do some of your own repair work or have a good local mini centric shop.
some things are $$ to fix/repair...clutches and SC come to mind, but most other things can be diy'ed....
Highly tuned/ nodded cars make more hp...and some of these hi hp mini's do have failures...but running any car at much more hp from the factory has risks, and rewards.....

 

I bought an '02 MCS ~ year and a half ago to use as a daily driver. Bought it w/ 73K on it now has 81K. Only problems to date have been a leaking radiator overflow tank and a broken muffler hanger, less than $100 total, much more in mods. I now have to replace the front wheel bearings, one is getting pretty noisy but I'll replace both. When I bought the car I specifically looked for a car w/ a clean CarFAX, southern rust free, well maintained car. I spent 8 months looking for the right car, and ended up with an '02 Liquid Yellow MCS. I bought mine off a private owner who had tons of maintenance documentation from oil changes to repairs for the entire 5 years he owned it. I bought it because it met all my requirements and had major repairs recently done.
New Clutch - less than a year before I bought it.
New battery, PS pump and fan, the month before I bought it.
People say the '02 are problem children because they are the first year but a year and a half later mine has proven reliable and I still LOVE driving it.