Hello team R50/53:

Long time owner of a Sidewalk edition R52 (see link of our car : https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-live-r52.html) now searching for a new car for a very careful teen driver in the family. My teen daughter now has a license and learnt driving on a '05 Rav4 that we just sold and we are now in the hunt for her next safe car that hopefully would be a keeper car for her.

Although my brain says get a Mk VI Golf my heart says go R53. Am I crazy to go the MINI route. Likely fact is that there are more safety bells and whistles on the Golf given that its a newer model but I have always loved the look of the R52s along with the E46's and this would be a situation where I could vicariously live out my dream


- How crazy am I to go with the R53.
- If you know of any leads on a well cared for R53 please let me know.

This car is 15 minutes away but has had two accidents (in '08 and 2010) and wonder why as per the carfax the second owner sold it so fast ... But the long time ownership history, and overall condition of the car (not taking into account its mechanicals) does look very nice.

http://www.legendautosales.com/burie...RE33506TG99770

Your thoughts and any leads are appreciated.

MINI hard core fan thanking you all in advance from the greater Seattle area.

 

Keep her in a Toyota! Camry's are great, lol. I feel you Brother, but seriously unless she is keen on checking the oil, antifreeze, riding without a spare, and I don't know how high the insurance would be for a teen Mini driver, I keep her in a toyota or a Honda. I love my Mini but they are not for everyone. Happy Sunday

 

Not sure how safe or unsafe they might be compared to other cars, but r53 Minis are decent cars.

Im a little confused if the car is for you or her but it's not crazy if you find a good one.

That one you linked looks good but is priced too high. Keep looking.

One good thing going for you is a Mini expert is close by to you. Mod-mini is his youtube name, his real name is Kurt I think. Don't know his contact info but he has a ton of great videos and works on people's cars in your area. Here's one appropriate video for you.

 

Thank you for the video link. On the preliminary search I've identified a west coast '06 excellent condition two owner MINI Cooper S with 116k miles) for this model year in British Racing Green exterior. No accidents or damage, title in hand, clean CARFAX and interior in great condition. All the expensive wear'n'tear stuff has been recently replaced: radiator fan assembly, supercharger, new transmission, power steering, front brake pads just replaced, excellent thread depth on tires, 2015 seat sensor recall completed. Asking price is $5500.00 and I figure it would cost me $500 to ship via open carrier from California to Seattle.

Any reputable indy shops in the LA area for a PPI ??

 

Motoring Magic in Thousand Oaks.

 

The Golf and the R53 are both fun cars. What does your daughter like better? They may like the way one looks over the other. Let that be your guide.

My son thought the Mini was cool so that's what we focused on. He was not a 'car guy', but is more so now.

We ended up with a semi-project car and so far, knock on wood, it's been a predictable experience. And yes, it's been a lot of fun too.

Insurance for the car for a teen (18 y.o.) as the primary driver of the R53, is about $3K / year(multi-car plan). Seems to be similar to a civic and an explorer when comparaing with other families in our area.

If you plan to do some or all the maintenance then the R53 can be a good fun car. Will be an easy car to teach basic maintenance on too.

 

+1

 

Thank you for all the help and advice. I have come to a purchase agreement with the seller and the car will be shipped to Seattle from LA. My daughter likes the MINI over the Golf and will be living local for a couple of years which will give her a good chance to see if this would be a keeper for her. Car has been regularly serviced at Bob Smith Mini in Calabasas and the only item that they felt that eventually needs to be replaced is the shift linkage on this auto transmission car.

I will be calling some brokers for a quote on open transportation. Any recommendation ? I am also not sure how much the shift linkage repair would cost.

 

The '06 MCS has the Aisin transmission. It is known to be more robust, however, they are not immune to issues.

If you can double check to make sure it's not the valve body acting up and not the shift cables, that would be a good first thing to do. I don't recall modern transmissions have shift cables?? They are electronically controlled as far as I recall.

Symptoms of a bad valve body are hard shifts, flare shifts and are less pronounced when manually shifting vs letting the car do its own thinking.

Valve body repair is expensive so keep that in mind!

 

mini is a GREAT and FUN car........BUT do require a bit more and expensive maintenance than most. ( its a BMW remember )

 

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