I have been looking for a larger car to go with my MX5 Miata. One that will be more comfotable for long journeys and will let me take my dogs to the park and weekend trips, hauling a few things etc. My miata will probably still be my primary vehicle. I currently average about 6000 miles a year (live close to work in a mixed use area) I probably won't be doing more than 3000 miles a year in the Mini.

So I've been checking out all the vehicles in my budget. $7000 + tax

There's a cute 09 cooper which I can do all the work on, or a couple of S Clubmans. One auto and one manual. I'm ok with auto since this is primarily for touring with dogs BUT I've never had an auto before and wonder if they are reliable and will last as well as a manual. I can do some maintenance myself but don't like the sound of carbon build from direct injection or high pressure fuel pump. The only things really putting me off, since most other common problems seem to mostly need wrenches and bolt on/plug in parts plus regular fluid checks and oil changes.

Anyway, I posted the carfax reports for the S's on my web server.



2010 auto has a pretty good service history but mostly at cheap lube places.


http://tysoes.com/Mini/2010clubmanSAuto.html





2009 Manual seems a bit sparse with the second owner and came from out of state. Not much about oil changes or maintenance at all. Still....

http://tysoes.com/Mini/2009manual.html






Just thought some second opinions from people that know Clubmans would be helpful since I don't know anyone else who does. I could always wait for a base model, but from what I'm reading that is slower than my Miata. People do 80 in the slow lane here which can make merging tricky, plus poor rear view in the Clubman means speed does give you some advantages when picking where and how to merge.

Going to them out tomorrow. There is a third base Clubman, but the carfax just updated with mysterious damage that happend at the front and back a year ago and was never reported to carfax till last month.

 

Welcome to NAM. Are you aware of the N14 turbocharged engine issues in what we call the Gen2 cars? There are more than a few here that will tell you stay away from the N14. One thing buying from an individual that is the original owner and took care of the car, another buying from a storefront lot type dealer.

 

+1 what 'coop' said, keep looking. An '05 or '06 are your best bet.

 

You very well will be fine since you sound somewhat mechanically competent.

I don't think you can get a N18 car for that price.

If you could find a clean first gen you would probably be quite happy. If not, those clubmans seem pretty clean and youd likely get your 6-7K worth out of them.

 

Had an 08 R55 S stick. Super fun and quick on its feet. just like the comments below the N14 came with issues which mine was no exception. Plenty of room and comfort. May clubmans came with lounge leather. Good luck.

 

You must be near me. Pulled up that second one in my local craigslist.

 

Thanks guys. You know. I think I needed a knock on the head this morning. I spent three days searching and didn't get much sleep last night. After r53coop's post I decided I needed to be a bit more sensible before I do something I'm going to regret.

Talked to my wife about it some more, she just got a $160 a month raise and figured we could stretch to 9k. So we decided I should see if we could find a newer one with a decent car fax. Anyway, I raised my search to $8k - 9k and spotted a link to Niello Mini of Sacramento. They are the biggest dealer in the region but normally only have newer models. This $9072 2011 clubman S had been popping up on regular channels (cargurus, carfax, edmunds etc) all morning. But it was greyed out with a ? and no photos.

A link took me to Niellos and there was the 2011 S. Typical, told the wife we were still $72 short. Figured we would go see it, and I could at least ask and check it had the newer N18. Talked to the sales guy, he didn't know about the car, it wasn't on the lot, only a 2014. Wen't to check the computer, then asked the used manager. Sure enough there was a car that hadn't been professionally photographed yet, or prepped for sale, was going to get new rotors, tires and a 4 wheel alignment, but it was driveable so I could take it for a ride. It had the N18 too.

Anyway, it was exactly what I wanted except not much in the way of classic chrome. It's a chilli red, black top with some black silhuette flame, tree thorn bosh decal towards the rear. Firemans union badge and fish on the back. Dirty windshield, Inside was immaculate. Cold weather, premium and convenience package, nice harman kardon stereo.

Kind of felt like a miata on stilts to drive, only with geforces in 3D since it pulls you back in your seat in a very satisfying way.

We had surprisingly good credit ratings so 3% on $9000 and moved $1k from savings to cover state mandated fees and sales tax.

Now I just have to wait a couple of days for all the prep and alignment etc to be done. Going back to my Miata, I REALLY missed the AC lol. It was almost 100 and even with the hard top, the Miata gets uncomfortably hot after sitting in the sun a couple of hours.

Feels like a good deal, one owner and extensive service history. Only thing of concern was how many sets of tires the thing ate through over the last few years lol.

I guess I am going to be on here a fair bit now that I have a mini. Last mini I drove was back in the UK, 1275GT Clubman, stage 3 head, twin webbers, konis and a sport exhaust. Not quite the same, but similar enough in a much more modern kind of way.

 

I'm in Sacramento not far from Sac State University. Going to have to start giving hand signals to mini drivers a bit more now

Will post pics when I get the car since none are available online.

 

If previous owner was doing any canyon carving could eat the tires pretty fast. You have not driven a car until you take a MINI into the mountains. Not talking long sweepers but some nice tight switchbacks. When you get it, check to see if you have an aftermarket rear sway bar. Can tell by how many holes the bar has for the end links to bolt into. Anything more than one hole and you have an aftermarket.

 

OP I have an '11 Clubman and love love it. N18, room for 85 lb dog, my kind of MINI. I am sending you a pm.

 

Antmax- Welcome to the family! R55's and dogs go really well together! Congratulations.

 

Thanks man, though it didn't end well with the Clubman I'm afraid. I bought the car before they had done prep for selling and the smog and it failed. When they went through it all they found a problem with a hole in the valve!! (second hand info from the wife) anyway, they decided I couldn't buy it because the repair would be too expensive.

They were extremely apologetic and had me come down and see the Sales Manager who started looking for a car in person. We sat in his office and he showed me their software and cars they had available. How much they bought them for and had spent on prepping them for sale. Said I could have any car for what they paid and $1000 extra off.

My wife loved a metalic orange 2014 clubman base with 35k. Manager threw me the keys and gave me a license plate told me to take it for a spin, didn't need anyone with me like before. Unfortunately the base auto was a bit gutless even compared to my Miata and had none of the handling the '11 S had on the test drive last week.

Came back and asked about an S but they didn't have any used ones. My wife started oggling the 2 door hard tops. He said we might get a better deal on a new car which they might be able discount more than the used ones. All the S's were dark and my wife wanted something colorful, couldn't get a price low enough for our budget.

Then the manager saw the electric blue S 2 door hatch service/courtesy car the dealership owned and asked if we would be interested in that. It has minimal options and only 6300 miles on the clock. Got thrown the keys again, and off we went, felt great, my wife was excited because I was enjoying driving this car and decided she wanted it.

So in the end I ended up with a low mileage 2017 2 door hardtop for a very good price. It's a bit smaller than I intended, but our three pugs are ok in the back with the seats down and rear visibility is a lot better than the '14 clubman which had far bigger headrests than the 11 we bought last week.

Kind of sad I didn't get the clubman I originally wanted, but got a super deal on the electric blue 2 door and my Wife is really happy. Today we got to take the dogs to a park for the first time since they were about 5 months old, was great to see them super excited.

So I guess I'll be hanging out elsewhere on the forums. Thanks for the support, NAM is a great forum that I will be hanging out in. About the closest thing to Miata.net except for Mini's