Now that MINI has killed off almost all the mini MINIs, meaning that my dream of upgrading from my stock Coupe to a fully personalize Roadster S, I've begun looking at what's available on the used car market. There was one all the way out in CT a couple of months ago that would actually have been almost like I would have spec'd my own, but, 3000 miles.....

Spotted one nearby. $17+K for a '13 S with <50K miles. It's already been at an Lexus dealer, an Acura dealer, and it just got moved to a Honda dealer, all in this particular auto row. It looks like some of the interior photos were taken before they fully detailed it. No biggie, I think.

It's white. Yuk. But it's a stick.

Here's my question: Looking at CarFax, one reported maintenance item stands out. At 27K miles, at a local MINI dealer, these 2 items:

Thermostat replaced
Engine wiring harness repaired

Are either of those things unusual and potential harbingers of things to come? I have 83K miles on my '12 and neither of those things have been needed.

The front brakes were "serviced" at 26K miles, and the rear brakes were "serviced/adjusted" at 30K miles. At other checkups, the brakes were "checked." I know my front brakes lasted about 35K miles.

I figure tires would likely be due soon. Any other flags I should notice should I go take a look at it?

 

How many miles under 50k? That car should still be under warranty. I just bought a 13 JCW roadster for the wife and it is scheduled to go in for warranty inspection next week.

 

Late Fall's a great time to look for a Roadster. I looked for a couple of years and just plunged into one a couple of weeks ago. Dealer was extremely interested in getting it sold before the snow season, so price was negotiable and I got a heck of a deal. You might want to turn your search farther north where Winter weather slows the convertible sales.

Try to find the lowest mileage example your wallet can stand. Look the car over closely to see if it's been well taken care of and have a competent mechanic go over it to make sure that everything is still close to specs. See how much of the factory warranty is left on it. Mini has a good one that replaces most things normally worn during the warranty period. Drive it, radio off. You know what a mini should feel like.

A great thing... try to find a new one to test drive first. Not many left. That should give you a good base line for performance and how it drives, if you haven't done that yet. At least you have a Mini, so you know what to expect.

That engine wiring harness could have been due to a critter chewing things up? Who knows. Go look. And the White isn't all that white. Pepper White's pretty classy on the Roadster.

 

37K, which means, I think, just past the standard warranty.

 

I was thinking that this is "the" time of year to shop for drop tops.

And I had this thought that, were I to jump at this opportunity (I wonder how much I could get a non-MINI dealer to drop their price), at some point I'd find a good body shop and get it repainted. I'm thinking metallic purple with metallic gold highlights, maybe even add a gold stripe. (Go Huskies!)

 

Nope, the factory warranty is 4 yrs/48K. You're probably thinking of the free maintenance period, which is 3 yrs/36K.

 

It's all about Latitude! Some of us have to hibernate a while.

 

Since it has the N18 engine then the thermostat and temperature sensor are known issues. That is likely what you are seeing on the Carfax. Not a big issue if already taken care of. I am going to start a R59 known issues thread so we can keep track of these items.

Good luck in your search. I am looking at a second roadster (Z4 /Boxster ) and it is fun looking up Carfax data and seeing where a car has been registered /maintained. I bought the R59 new but buying used is an adventure in itself. ☺

 

Buying used is not easy. Takes a lot more research and careful investigation compared to going in for a new one. I was going to buy new, but family factions objected to the price for such a small "extra" car, so I changed my tactic to lightly used. Out of all the cars I've bought through the years, this is only my second.

After the tactic change, it took almost 2 years of searching, inspecting and finally finding the combination of mileage, exterior and interior condition, and type of owner when that data was available. The example I finally ended up with was a lucky find. Owned for only 4 months, few miles, adult owned and nicely treated, with most of the options I would have ordered. It came with the Works stage 1 exhaust which I would not have ordered, and have discovered I really love.

Patience and diligence paid off this time. The price was such a bargain that it even pleased that family member. I basically got a new car at well over 1/3rd off the original price. So it can turn out to be a good experience!

So search on!

 

The N18 has an oil wicking problem, both of those parts would be replaced if that where the issue.