It has 61k miles manual trans and looks pretty clean inside and out, with that mileage what kind of MINI specific problems should i be looking for? I know the rust under the door seal, i spotted some on an 02 i looked at, should i be concerned with timing chains or any of that? Besides oil changes what else should have been or will need done to the car at that mileage?

 

Its the same as any other car really. Check fluids and change as needed. Earlier cars had an issue with the coolant tank leaking. This was supposedly fixed by 06 but it is something to look for.

Check control arm bushings - kick the tires. No, seriously, kick the tires.

Check and change the belt as needed.

Nothing else really sticks out in my mind, but others may chime in.

 

I agree on the kicking the tires, I found out about this AFTER I bought my 06' and sure enough, bushings are shot.

Also check the hydrolic engine mount on the passangers side. If the frame rail has black drip marks all over it, its safe to assume that the mount it toast.

Check the power steering fan fuse in the fuse box area by the kickpanel. Its the same fuse that powers the backup sensors, should be a 5a fuse. If its blown, chances are the power steering fan is seized.

Check the brakes of course, see if the rotors have a deep lip on the edges or the brake pads are on the way out.

At this point in the cars life, if it hasn't been done, you can probably expect to have to change the drive belt and possibly tensioner, transmission fluid, and I personally change the oil immediately when i get a car just because I want to know what fluids are in the car.

 

Where do you buy replacement parts for these? I have no problem doing the work myself, the only thing on any of my vehicles i've ever had someone else do (besides replaceing tires/alignments..for obvious reasons) is timing belt on my gti and thats just because I didn't have time that summer and got a good deal.

When you say drivebelt are you refering to accessory belt thats spins the crank pulley ect? One thing i noticed is the hood wasn't sitting right on the drivers side, don't know if it just wasn't latched all the way or if its been in an accident or something, so if i go to close it and its still sitting high on the drivers side front then i willl take it to my trusted body shop and see what he thinks about it.
If i pass on this one then i will definately keep looking, after driving that 02 yesterday i really want a supercharged MINI, love the whine when you step into it, love the handling (makes my gti seem like an SUV when you compare the handling ha) and the crisp feeling shifter. This is definately a hatch i would love to add to my garage...

 

I cant help the OP out but I am also starting to look at buying a Mini and I was wondering if somewhere on this site there might be a list of items to check when purchasing a used Mini. I will search around a bit and see what I can find.

 

Here is a short list

http://www.soopercooperinfo.com/Used...questions.html

 

I noticed check the belt keeps coming up in threads i look through, its just a normal belt isn't it? If it breaks its not like a timing belt that will destroy the motor will it? Just curious as to why so much emphasis is placed on check/replace belt and tensioner.

 

The reason for the emphasis on the belt is that on a MCS it turns the water pump.
The water pump is bolted to the end of, and driven by, gears from the supercharger.

So yes, if it breaks or comes off, and not caught in time it could raise havoc with the engine.

Hope this helps...

 

Gotcha, thanks

 

I buy all of my parts from the vendors on here. I have bought a bunch of stuff from waymotorworks and have had nothing but perfect transactions and they are extremely helpful. Since I did my belt and tensioner, I figured I would upgrade my pulley while I was at it and did the alta 15% kit that came with the new belt and tensioner stop and a local owner helped me with the install.

For the most part everything I bought came from Waymotorworks and Alta. But there are a bunch of other great vendors that sell all the needed parts and if you can do it yourself, these cars are not expensive to maintain, parts are VERY reasonably priced, just some jobs can be difficult or time consuming.

If you're in the market though, read through some of the differences and if you can find one, I would suggest shooting for an 05-06 MCS, they seem to be a little more bug free in the long run.

 

I agree. I haven't had the pleasure of using waymotorworks, but I have used outmotoring.com and the service and experience was excellent.

 

Have a Mech check the Crank pulley. Mine recently split. (70k miles) that was a unexpected expense. WMW told me the stock pulley lasts about 60K.