Looking at buying an 04 cooper hardtop with 62000 miles was wondering if there was any issues with that year. Any info would be helpful.

 

2004 would still have the Midlands transmission.
Many people report power steering motor failure in addition to Midlands failure at low mileage.

 

This might help: www.motoringfile.com/mini-r50r53-buyers-guide/

 

Thanks for the info.

 

148624 miles - clutch at 90000 miles ,power steering pump at 75000 miles, intercooler at 145000 miles, plus maintenance. I drive the car like I stole it every day. Great Car! 2004 Cooper S

 

Benrot: Two other helpful things one should do before buying used are obtaining the service and repair histories of the car, and getting a pre-purchase inspection (PPI) of the car to identify any existing problems that need addressing. The PPI would be at your expense (usually around $150) at a MINI dealer or an independent shop that knows MINIs.

 

My 04 Cooper S has 105k miles. I bought it when it had 49k. The only problems I have had is the infamous Power Steering, & had to replace my ingination coil. #3 spark plug went bad. Another problem I heard about on here. Both were around 75-85k.

Other than that its been a good MINI.

 

Being that it's a "justa" Cooper I can give you my experience. I bought an '04 Cooper with 66k miles over a month ago. So far I've had to replace the power steering pump ($400-I did the labor myself), both front seats since the rails were jammed ($700), and now I'm having a bearing replaced in the transmission ($1400) as well as the steering shaft ($150).

So, to learn from my issues make sure the transmission shifts smoothly and doesn't make any noises, clutch in or out. If you buy it change the transmission fluid immediately. You can't really do much to prevent the power steering pump failure. Mine started a week after I bought the car and the pump wouldn't turn off at all.