Hi everyone,


I am in the final stages of the buying process for a 2009 Mini Cooper S with 66k miles on it. The car would be sold to me for $15,900 with a 1year warranty. The car does not have a single blemish inside and out. It has the upgraded leather interior with the white piping, heated seats, climate control, dual sunroofs.

HERES WHERE IT GETS INTERESTING:

The car had it's engine replaced by MINI of Fairfield County (CT) dealership at 53k miles. The engine replacement was due to low oil in the motor, causing it to blow. So the new motor has around 10k miles on it. I found this out by contacting the dealerships service department.

The car drives great, pulls hard, and never hesitates or makes a strange noise. The clutch feels good.

Are there any problems that might stem from such a large amount of work being done to it already? This is my first MINI and I don't want to be stuck buying a "dud". I am mechanically inclined, so is there anything I should look for specifically?

 

You should be fine. But check for oil leaks around the timing chain cover. Unless the low oil was caused by lack of owner maintance. Then I'd be warry of what else may be wrong.

 

The engine going should not affect anything else and changing and checking the oil is about the only thing that an owner really needs to do on these cars. Ok, brakes, belts, wear-out things too. Point being, a new engine = basically new car.

the funny thing is, I have see 2 other posts today of people looking to buy a used Mini and wondering about the problems. The thing that you need to remember is that, in general, people post complaints about cars so that is what you will see. All car forums look this way. A lot of people have no problems.

 

Well that is nice to hear. I ended up getting a 3year bumper to bumper warranty out of the dealership so that helped to ease my worries. The car is having a rattle in the sunroof repaired at a MINI dealership so I won't have it until tuesday. Funny thing is I never heard it during the test drive.


My only other real concern is clutch replacement. I know some r56 cooper s had issues with faster than average clutch wear, and I know it can be a 2000 dollar job if you replace the flywheel as well. Clutch felt good but i suppose only time will tell.

 

Replacing the engine should not impact anything else. My experience with buying used is that if the paint and interior of the car are in great shape, it is highly likely that the mechanical parts are OK. Bought my 09 MCS Convert last February with 13,000 miles. Had to replace tailgate wiring harness (covered by warranty). Only other thing I have had it into the dealer for is oil/filter changes every six months. Mini dealer can give you service history which is stored/retained in the key.

 

Great on the warranty!

I have seen comments about the clutch wear. Some claiming to have gotten only 20k out of them. I think it is more driving style than a problem with the Mini clutch. Slipping a clutch at the start and downshifting without matching engine speed (using the clutch as a brake) are the 2 likely culprits. My '07 had 36k, many track days and autocrosses and no sign of wear.

 

That's great to be able to get an extended warranty. That in itself is worth a couple thousand.

 

Congrats on the new car, but good luck getting rid of that sunroof rattle. I've had my '09 for two and a half years now, and no matter how many times I take it in to the dealership, the sunroof continues to have a periodic rattle. Seems like it gets worse when it's cold out, probably because of the seals shrinking a bit. The guys at the dealership are always happy to look at it for me, but there's never been anything they could do that lasted more than a little while. One of the SA's said to me one time that "all the sunroofs either rattle or leak...be glad yours rattles..."

 

No you will be good, especially with an extended warranty. Having a new engine will not affect you mechanically. people really only look at chassis miles anyways as far as value goes.

 

My '04's and '07's sunroofs don't/didn't rattle at all, nor did they leak.
the '04's clanks when it closes and the '07's didn't open when it was hot out . Point being, let them try to fix it. If they can't, than just assume it is part of the car's character . It won't change how much fun they are to drive and they will still look just as unique.