I have a 91 toyota mr2 turbo and am needing a new car, My dad has a friend with a 2003 mini cooper s that he is wanting to sell and will sell it to me for 14,000 dollars. It only has 10k miles and looks great. I have been researching this car online and i have read reviews by car and driver and what not, but i was wanting some actual driver opinions. Just let me know what you think about the car and the overall drive expierence ( please do this in mla format and no more than a 3000 word essay......lol) but the input would be nice......


Thanks
Jason

 

Tell you father thankyou very much. I would like the MINI Cooper S, please.

jc

 

14K?! Grab it and run. Awesome car, man. Just take it for a spin, and you'll decide correctly.

Good Luck.

 

I'd say that his reasons for selling it should be of major interest to you, especially if it was built fairly early in 2002. Take a drive and check it out for sunroof rattle, boot rattle, boot latching, coolant leak, etc. Is it just a toy that he's gotten tired of (although I don't see how!), or are there persistent problems nagging at him? As long as the car seems to be sound, the deal sounds great to me.
Chris
_________________
2003 Cooper, Borla exhaust, Moss intake, Magnecor plug wires - Brookline, MA

 

Is this the same car from one of the other AD threads? Check for flood dammage, accident etc...

 

well this guy is a really rich guy that my dad flies a learjet for, this is a toy for him and he just got a new mr2 spyder and now has too many cars in his opinion and is wanting to sell the mini. I have seen the car and it was babied, it was in the hangar at the airport most of the time while he was off on trips and has never been parked outside for more than just a few hours like going to walmart or whatnot...... but i will give it a test drive and see how much fun it is to drive.......Oh and one more question since these are bmw owned cars are part and repair expensive?

 

Crashbox, welcome to MCO! :smile:

You ask a good question about the BMW-ness of the car being a factor in the cost of repair and parts. Since everyone is still on warranty, no one really knows the answer to this yet; but I personally suspect that it WILL be a factor. Parts don't seem to be overly expensive, but dealer labor IS expensive and there's quite a bit of dissatisfaction with many (not all) dealers. Further, there are a number of under-the-bonnet repairs that seem quite labor intensive. This doesn't add up to a too promising situation once one gets out of warranty. One saving grace may be that once you're out of warranty you don't have to go to a MINI dealer for work...and it's certainly possible that independent garages may be more reasonable than BMW-owned MINI dealers.

Who knows...but in the meantime, you'll have 30K of fun in a very reasonably priced car.

 

grab it up for 14K. That's a great deal. I wish I could be rich like that, buy and M3 and sell it a few months later when I get bored of it

 

take it, and Drive away...as fast as you can

 

Sounds like this guy has money to burn and is willing to give your dad a good deal for a friend. I totally agree to check it out for kinks, but 14k can't be beat for a deal.

Here's a couple reviews: CAR magazine says the S is the #4 Performance Car of the Year - behind a $300,000 supercar, the Ferrari 575M, and the Mercedes SL55. CAR Magazine later named the S the #2 car in the world - behind the Porsche 911 Turbo - beating all Ferraris, etc. In their words, "Not so much a car as a best friend"

Good enough? Note: I am completely unbiased