Hi everyone, I'm considering getting back into a mini, and I found what I think is an immaculate car. I've looked through the forums and refreshed myself on the common issues. I'm wondering if anyone could lend their opinion on purchasing a mini with under 20k miles. I'm concerned about dried up seals and problems from simply not using the car enough. Am I crazy or does anyone think that could be an issue? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

I purchased a 04 JCW last July. Less than 8700 miles, thought it was running great and it was except I had to replace the control arm bushings. Then the supercharger started making noise and I just finished installing a new one. Low miles are great for some wear and tear items but not all. Been there and done that. I'm not familiar with the 06 models as mine is a 04, but driver convenious items were important to me, like Bluetooth. 04 models did not come with it.

 

It all depends on how the vehicle was maintained, stored, how often it was driven and for how long. If in a humidity and temperature controlled environment, battery tender hooked up, driven periodically for at least 15-30 minutes at a time and A/C cycled, then there's a good possibility it could be relatively trouble-free if oil was changed annually and coolant was changed every 2-3 years.

 

Good points, all. Mine is also an '04 R53. Bought it this Spring with 79,000 miles. It was well maintained and obviously garaged. Though it spent most of its life in Texas, where I was concerned the heat would dry things out, it actually was in great shape. Test drives and an inspection by a mechanic familiar with MINIs should help you make a decision.

Drive Hard. Drive Safe. Keep Grinning.
Holiday MINI Gifts

 

Less than 20k, buy that car. Even if you have to do a few seals having a good low mileage car would be ideal, but doubt you'd have to do much at all. We always recommend having a shop inspect it first, but sounds like an easy check over.

 

20k. Cool and I thought mine was a low mileage car at 47k on a 05 cooper S, but it was rode hard and put away wet. I just got it running after rebuilding the engine.

 

I bought my 2005 /r52 in April 2015 with 3,648 original miles, BUT, it was kept in a garage in Key Largo, Fl. I had to replace the foam between the radiator and the support, and the tires as they were 10 years old. I am watching for other rubber parts to fail. I have put about 11,000 miles on the car and everything appears to be in good shape. It shows wear on the top and I have replaced the top/body molding. I have never had sooooo much fun with a car.

 

Wow OP 20k is low!

I just picked up my '06 yesterday with 61k, and I thought that was low
PPI discovered some typical (I think) wear items which need to be addressed:
upper strut mount
lower control arm bushings
thermostat

 

Wow, congrats Kief and welcome to NAM. You have quite a find there! Beautiful.

Check our site for service, maintenance, and performance upgrade guides.

As for your upcoming plans:

Strut mount:

http://new.minimania.com/Mini_Cooper...lication_Guide

Control arm bushings (go Poly):

http://new.minimania.com/Search_Resu...shings/default

Thermostat:

http://new.minimania.com/Mini_Cooper...lication_Chart

Highly recommend Sprint Booster to fix the drive-by-wire throttle lag:

http://new.minimania.com/Search_Resu...ooster/default

Free shipping on Sprint Booster this month. Any questions, please let us know!

Drive Hard. Drive Safe. Keep Grinning.

 

Thank you for the links
Do you think this is a fair estimate
https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/r50-r53-hatch-talk-2002-2006/307860-findings-after-ppi.html

 

Picked up my 03 a couple years ago with 42k on it. 👍

 

Thanks for all of your comments and advice everyone. I'm happy to report that after hearing others have had good experiences with low mileage minis I pulled the trigger on her! 2006 MCS with 9800 miles! My Hyper Blue Unicorn with pure silver roof!

I've arranged an inspection and recall appointment so I'll have more of an idea what's up with her next week. I shared the same thoughts and sentiment with the previous poster that said "under 20k buy that car."

The dealership offered a 30 day powertrain warranty and equal length return policy as well. So the worst case scenario will be having to sink money into it on day 31. I'll take that chance!

As far as issues, there is one main one. I have noticed the engine temp gets hot at idle after its warmed up. From what the service dept at my local mini dealership said, it's a secondary fan that runs at idle. A quick 50 foot drive seems to switch a fan on that immediately cools it down.

I haven't researched this yet since there's no issue at red lights or stops under a minute. So I'm trying to do my best at what every new mini owner does, keep motoring

The other drawback is lack of a few options that would have been nice. No Harmon Kardon (unless the later r53 doesn't have the H/k badge), no aux input, don't believe I feel an LSD, no dimming mirror. If I had my druthers I'd have those things but beggers can't be choosers. Frankly an LSD is all I'd really want.

Going on a road trip tomorrow from NYC to Buffalo. I'll post some pics for viewing pleasure. Thanks again everyone for all of your input.

 

Sounds great, looking forward to the photos!

Drive Hard. Drive Safe. Keep Grinning.

 

 

Looks good. Congrats!

 

Yes, definitely looks great. Thanks for sharing!

Drive Hard. Drive Safe. Keep Grinning.

 

Welcome and congratulations! You basically have a brand new, 10 year old car. What a great find!

You can run the VIN through one of the online decoders to find out all of the options your car has and the color. In the pics it looks like Space Blue which often had silver roofs.

 

Nice, welcome to the forum!

 

Here's a good VIN Decoder:

https://www.bmwvin.com/

Drive Hard. Drive Safe. Keep Grinning.