First time posting on this forum - I hope I am in the right section and I am not going to offend anyone by talking money on my first post...

I have been wanting to get my hands on a Mini for a while now, and there might be an opportunity.

My friend has a 2005 Cooper S with 36000 miles - one owner. The Mini has the check engine light on (misfire). Based on my research and the mechanic diagnostic, it would seem that it's related to the common valve issue. I do a lot of repairs myself and wouldn't mind learning a bit more about the mini.

The car is in average condition - sorry no picture right now but imagine a silver 2005 with a few scratches, average tires, only 36000 miles and a couple repairs needed (I am guessing some other surprised beside the valves). Very similar to this:



She asked me to make her an offer but I am not sure where to start.
I am tempted to offer around $4000? would that leave enough room for the repair and other extras? I don't want to overpay but I don't want to insult her either...



what's the typical cost to repair a engine head?

thank you!

 

I know lots of peeps will chime in on this (what are other causes of a "misfire" code in an R53?), but with that low mileage, the car should not have a problem with the valves. The most straightforward way the check the valves on an assembled engine is to run a compression test. Were you able to do that?

$4000 is a hell of a price for a low-mileage R53 with what is probably a minor issue, IMHO.

 

Offering $4000 for such a low mileage car might be insulting. You need to tell us more specifically about the issues. Misfire can be caused by different things (ignition, compression, fuel delivery). What is the check engine error code, and what "common valve issue" are you talking about? 36K miles is abnormally low to require something like a valve job.

 

Common valve issue????

Not sure how good of a friend this person is but best advice might be to have codes checked out to determine problem before low balling.

 

That car is worth closer to 10k with that low of mileage, assuming the issue isn't a major one.

 

could be as simple as a bad plug.
take it to mini if possible, let them tell you whats wrong, then low ball her! lol

 

If you assume you need a head (you can find "new" r53 heads taken off with "delivery miles" from when JCW heads were installed on another forum for $850-900......
So depending on how good you are with a wrench.....
If the car is modded to hel And might have more than a valve issue....then motor time...so I would ask to do a compression check and leak down...will tell you if it is a head issue or a pistion/ring issue....assuming the plugs and coil were all done already.....
I would discount the car 2-2.5x the cost of the expected repair from bluebook as the max price to pay.....if it was simple...the seller should have done it...so you get a "risk premium".....

 

Just an FYI, even at 36K if the car was not maintained then you could be walking into a world of issues. I saw a lot of cars when I began my search. I ended up with a higher milage car but after two separate shops told me the car was very well kept - was when I was comfortable enough to pull the trigger.

 

thanks guys for the input so far.

the engine got checked in multiple times by a few different mechanics and compression/leak down test have been done. It needs a valve job at the very least as it runs on 3 cylinders.

Also, the car is stock but despite of low mileage, it is a city car (San Francisco) that has not been necessarily maintained 100%....it has scratches and dents, need tires and probably other things too.

How much is a head replacement job in a garage? I am assuming at least $3k?

I want to be on the safe side and it sounds needs to budget $3K-$4 for repairs at least. Seems like $5K-$6K could be a reasonable offer.

 

Bay Bridge Motors in Oakland did a valve job on my 2006 non-S Cooper for about $2300. They are very knowledgeable about MINI and can advise you about what else the car needs. They have been servicing my MINI since end of warranty.

 

In SF proper I can recommend Pearce Autotech on Brannan. Agree that a 36K mile engine shouldn't have valve issues. Get a very through pre purchase inspection and factor major repairs into the price.