Which model mini? (Newbie looking)
Discussion
Ok so I am looking for a little fun car, and lately the choice has been narrowed down to a honda civic, a mazda2 1.5, or (of course) a mini...
But the issue I have is with which would be the best/most sensible one to go for.
My max budget is about £4.5k, and the 3 cars I have kinda lined up are ones like these:
2006 standard Cooper with chilli pack, 70k miles, £4k: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...
2006 Cooper S with chilli pack (and LSD), 62k miles, £4.5k: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...
2007 mk2 standard cooper, 67k miles, £5k (I'd try and knock them down a little): http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...
So I know from research that the best years for a mk1 are 2005 and 2006, to avoid most of the major issues... but I also know the mk2 cooper is a better engine etc than a mk1 cooper.
...Except that the early mk2's have a lot of issues of their own!
The other thing I would like some opinions on is the power of the standard cooper... it's more than a 1.5 mazda2, but less than the civic, and I guess I wanted to know what people think of the smaller engine for a daily driver (including occasional motorway trips). I am struggling to get a decent test drive on both cars, I know they both are great on b-roads and a-roads, but motorway tests are trickier.
So I guess I'm looking for advice on two fronts -
1. Is a late mk1 cooper likely to be a better/more reliable purchase over an early mk2? Despite the difference in tax and mpg.
2. Does a standard cooper have the power to handle daily commutes and motorways, or is it a bit noisy and a cooper-S would be a more sensible investment.
Obviously this is all opinions, just after some guidance while I book more test drives!
But the issue I have is with which would be the best/most sensible one to go for.
My max budget is about £4.5k, and the 3 cars I have kinda lined up are ones like these:
2006 standard Cooper with chilli pack, 70k miles, £4k: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...
2006 Cooper S with chilli pack (and LSD), 62k miles, £4.5k: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...
2007 mk2 standard cooper, 67k miles, £5k (I'd try and knock them down a little): http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...
So I know from research that the best years for a mk1 are 2005 and 2006, to avoid most of the major issues... but I also know the mk2 cooper is a better engine etc than a mk1 cooper.
...Except that the early mk2's have a lot of issues of their own!
The other thing I would like some opinions on is the power of the standard cooper... it's more than a 1.5 mazda2, but less than the civic, and I guess I wanted to know what people think of the smaller engine for a daily driver (including occasional motorway trips). I am struggling to get a decent test drive on both cars, I know they both are great on b-roads and a-roads, but motorway tests are trickier.
So I guess I'm looking for advice on two fronts -
1. Is a late mk1 cooper likely to be a better/more reliable purchase over an early mk2? Despite the difference in tax and mpg.
2. Does a standard cooper have the power to handle daily commutes and motorways, or is it a bit noisy and a cooper-S would be a more sensible investment.
Obviously this is all opinions, just after some guidance while I book more test drives!
mon the fish said:
If you can accept 32mpg and £285 road tax, Cooper S all the way. They're addictive, and give you the power that you miss in the Cooper
My current car is an MR2 mk3, so I average 35mpg when i drive sensibly... the cooper s wont be hugely worse on petrol, and only £40 a year more on tax, and is actually faster haha. plus i gain seats and boot space. So I think I can accept it. But if the supercharger is mostly wasted on normal roads, then I could probably be happy with a normal cooper as well. Hence the deep thinking before I make a decision :PCurrently the supercharger is a temptation, just cos I'm thinking... woooooosh
The sensible option is the mk2 shape cooper, this engine doesn’t have the reliability issues of the turbo cooper S and offers great MPG and cheaper tax and in my opinion is a better all-round car than the mk1 mini (although slightly less pretty to look at).
Having said that I would prefer the performance of the cooper S model (either super charged or turbo), although for normal commuting the cooper is still adequate.
Having said that I would prefer the performance of the cooper S model (either super charged or turbo), although for normal commuting the cooper is still adequate.
An R56 Cooper (non-S) will probably be the most hassle-free MINI to own, they don't really have any major problems and they'll average mid-thirties even with a heavy right foot. Nice motorway cruiser too with the 6th gear. In my opinion they're not quite as fun as the first-gen to drive, but they're still great fun. They ride far better too.
I'd avoid the R56 Cooper S at that sort of money, too many issues and potential pitfalls (I speak from experience!). First-gen R53 makes a great buy; brimming with character and superb fun to drive. Fuel economy isn't brilliant however, and they do have their own issues (PAS pumps, pre-04 columns, engine mounts etc.) but not too bad to sort.
A first-gen Cooper (R50) would make a great buy at your budget, you've got the pick of the entire market. Buy as late as you can (later ones are better screwed together), mileage isn't an issue so anything over 100k isn't to be ignored. Ride is stiff on 17 inch wheels, more so with the optional sports suspension and standard runflats (you can get rid of these, makes a huge difference). Also make sure it has the right equipment...
For example, Air Conditioning wasn't standard on MINIs until about 2010, so if you want AC don't assume it has it. Any Cooper S with the Chili Pack will have Air Conditioning, but an R50 Cooper does not get AC with the Chili Pack, although the R56 did get Air Conditioning as part of Pepper and Chili. Else, you had to specify it separately.
ETA;
The R56 in that first link looks very cheap, very nice spec too. I'd be wary of the sunroof on the 2nd Gen as they do have a habit of jamming which can get very expensive to sort.
I'd avoid the R56 Cooper S at that sort of money, too many issues and potential pitfalls (I speak from experience!). First-gen R53 makes a great buy; brimming with character and superb fun to drive. Fuel economy isn't brilliant however, and they do have their own issues (PAS pumps, pre-04 columns, engine mounts etc.) but not too bad to sort.
A first-gen Cooper (R50) would make a great buy at your budget, you've got the pick of the entire market. Buy as late as you can (later ones are better screwed together), mileage isn't an issue so anything over 100k isn't to be ignored. Ride is stiff on 17 inch wheels, more so with the optional sports suspension and standard runflats (you can get rid of these, makes a huge difference). Also make sure it has the right equipment...
For example, Air Conditioning wasn't standard on MINIs until about 2010, so if you want AC don't assume it has it. Any Cooper S with the Chili Pack will have Air Conditioning, but an R50 Cooper does not get AC with the Chili Pack, although the R56 did get Air Conditioning as part of Pepper and Chili. Else, you had to specify it separately.
ETA;
The R56 in that first link looks very cheap, very nice spec too. I'd be wary of the sunroof on the 2nd Gen as they do have a habit of jamming which can get very expensive to sort.
Edited by 0llie on Thursday 17th September 09:07
Thanks for the advice, i dont think that r56 has a sunroof but ill keep an eye out for it!
Problem with the s is that while the ones im looking at are maybe £300-500 cheaper than the r56, they will cost me at least £400-500 per year more to run, without even going into the potential failures! I need something reliable too.
My heart does kinda want a supercharger, but only because then i can say i have one lol. Id barely ever drive like id need it, but ill still be paying for it in insurance/tax/pumps.
Ill test drive and see
Problem with the s is that while the ones im looking at are maybe £300-500 cheaper than the r56, they will cost me at least £400-500 per year more to run, without even going into the potential failures! I need something reliable too.
My heart does kinda want a supercharger, but only because then i can say i have one lol. Id barely ever drive like id need it, but ill still be paying for it in insurance/tax/pumps.
Ill test drive and see
paladin20 said:
Thanks for the advice, i dont think that r56 has a sunroof but ill keep an eye out for it!
Problem with the s is that while the ones im looking at are maybe £300-500 cheaper than the r56, they will cost me at least £400-500 per year more to run, without even going into the potential failures! I need something reliable too.
My heart does kinda want a supercharger, but only because then i can say i have one lol. Id barely ever drive like id need it, but ill still be paying for it in insurance/tax/pumps.
Ill test drive and see
The supercharger wine is addictive Problem with the s is that while the ones im looking at are maybe £300-500 cheaper than the r56, they will cost me at least £400-500 per year more to run, without even going into the potential failures! I need something reliable too.
My heart does kinda want a supercharger, but only because then i can say i have one lol. Id barely ever drive like id need it, but ill still be paying for it in insurance/tax/pumps.
Ill test drive and see
I went and saw this car:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...
Seemed very tidy, though it seemed to be missing a few things. No 'sport' button that I could see, which I though was standard on all the R56's in the UK. Also no DSC button by the gearstick (i think thats where the dsc button is). So no DSC either. Cloth seats.
Has air con and a nice paint job, and the mileage isnt bad. Also a premium 12 month warranty. But not sure it will hold its value well without the extra options.
Was a nice little car though.
I would agree that a late R53 would be better than an early R56 Cooper S, but I don't recall there being many issues with the R56 justa coopers... they seem to be pretty well built cars (though not as much crazy fun).
Blimey!! You can have my soon to be advertised well specced 2005 R53 JCW with 55k for £5500.
Fantastic car but not getting used.
My wife has a Cooper and it's like a slug compared to the JCW.
I have to admit I don't keep an eye on the fuel consumption but my everyday 3.0i X3 only does 24 mpg so anything is better but who cares when you're having fun.
Fantastic car but not getting used.
My wife has a Cooper and it's like a slug compared to the JCW.
I have to admit I don't keep an eye on the fuel consumption but my everyday 3.0i X3 only does 24 mpg so anything is better but who cares when you're having fun.
Edited by DavidLScott on Thursday 17th September 20:16
DavidLScott said:
Blimey!! You can have my soon to be advertised well specced 2005 R53 JCW with 55k for £5500.
Fantastic car but not getting used.
My wife has a Cooper and it's like a slug compared to the JCW.
I have to admit I don't keep an eye on the fuel consumption but my everyday 3.0i X3 only does 24 mpg so anything is better but who cares when you're having fun.
Tempting, but I have seen well-specced 2006 R53's with 61k for £4500, with 3 months warranty etc, so I'm not sure if yours is that much of a bargain!! Unless it has all the servicing and niggles well taken care of etc.... even then its above my budget at that price. I do like the colour though! Where are you based?Fantastic car but not getting used.
My wife has a Cooper and it's like a slug compared to the JCW.
I have to admit I don't keep an eye on the fuel consumption but my everyday 3.0i X3 only does 24 mpg so anything is better but who cares when you're having fun.
Edited by DavidLScott on Thursday 17th September 20:16
There's even a 2005 cooper S john cooper works near me for £5500, only 3 months warranty but still tempting. If I had the money I would.
Edited by paladin20 on Thursday 17th September 21:09
From what I've seen, £5500 seems a reasonable figure and well below most. £4500 from a dealer for a 2006 seems like someone who doesn't know what their selling.
The only niggles I've had have been specific, not generic and pretty minor.
For what it's worth, I'm in East Sussex.
Car won't go for sale until the beginning of October though.
The only niggles I've had have been specific, not generic and pretty minor.
For what it's worth, I'm in East Sussex.
Car won't go for sale until the beginning of October though.
DavidLScott said:
From what I've seen, £5500 seems a reasonable figure and well below most. £4500 from a dealer for a 2006 seems like someone who doesn't know what their selling.
The only niggles I've had have been specific, not generic and pretty minor.
For what it's worth, I'm in East Sussex.
Car won't go for sale until the beginning of October though.
I'm not sure, I only have autotrader to go by, and a lot of the 50-60k cooper S's from 2005/2006 seem to be in the £4500 bracket. But I can't say what all your optional extras are so it does make a difference. The only niggles I've had have been specific, not generic and pretty minor.
For what it's worth, I'm in East Sussex.
Car won't go for sale until the beginning of October though.
Prices on pistonheads seem to be a lot higher than the average, but then I guess they are 'enthusiast' cars mostly
paladin20 said:
Seemed very tidy, though it seemed to be missing a few things. No 'sport' button that I could see, which I though was standard on all the R56's in the UK. Also no DSC button by the gearstick (i think thats where the dsc button is). So no DSC either. Cloth seats.
Has air con and a nice paint job, and the mileage isnt bad. Also a premium 12 month warranty. But not sure it will hold its value well without the extra options.
I would agree that a late R53 would be better than an early R56 Cooper S, but I don't recall there being many issues with the R56 justa coopers... they seem to be pretty well built cars (though not as much crazy fun).
DSC became standard on all MINIs in late 2007 IIRC. Cooper S has always had at least ASC+T as standard, but it was a cost option on One and Cooper models. It wasn't ticked very often, though they do appear from time to time.Has air con and a nice paint job, and the mileage isnt bad. Also a premium 12 month warranty. But not sure it will hold its value well without the extra options.
I would agree that a late R53 would be better than an early R56 Cooper S, but I don't recall there being many issues with the R56 justa coopers... they seem to be pretty well built cars (though not as much crazy fun).
The Sport button is a waste of time IMO, the steering confuses weight with feel and it feels very unnatural. Best bet is to get a sprintbooster or similar to sharpen throttle response. Again, this was a cost option on One and Cooper models, but not many have them. Was standard on R56 S.
I would say the late R53's are of the same quality/reliability, if not higher, than the early R56 Coopers (not S).
Also if you're into music you'll be in for a shock with the standard R56 Hifi... It is beyond terrible, and the Hifi upgrade isn't much better.
Well I plan to use the parrot kit... unless you mean the speakers are rubbish? are the r53 ones better?
Problem is, theR53 is going to keep costing me an extra £500+ a year to run, which is a lot... but still being tempting if the R56 isnt more reliable :/
Maybe I should look for a different car, but there's not much quite like the mini.
Problem is, theR53 is going to keep costing me an extra £500+ a year to run, which is a lot... but still being tempting if the R56 isnt more reliable :/
Maybe I should look for a different car, but there's not much quite like the mini.
The MINI has 3 different types of Hifi system; WAVE, BOOST and Upgrade (usually Harman Kardon).
The R56 Cooper and S were sold as standard with the BOOST Hifi. I think the way the whole thing is setup is compromised (headunit is tricky to upgrade owing it's integration into the speedo). Things improved a little with the Hifi Loudspeaker upgrade, but I had that on my R56 and anything above moderate volumes would cause it to keep randomly cutting out.
Easy way to tell if it has the HiFi speaker system is by pillar tweeters;
The later R56s (2009 onwards) did get a Harman Kardon upgrade option which was superb, but an 09MY car is outside of your budget.
You can get the standard R56 BOOST stereo upgraded, cheapest way is with a loom where you swap front and rear sound which apparently does a superb job for the money, see www.newministuff.co.uk. This would probably be your best bet.
Later R53's had the BOOST stereo as standard I believe, and the system is good. The upgraded Harman Kardon is even better, though a little more tricky to source. Thankfully all that's really required to upgrade the R50/53 stereo is a better headunit.
Harman Kardon on R50/53 is easy to spot by different speaker grilles;
I would not discount an R50 Cooper, they're super little cars which are very good value at the moment. They have more character than a later R56 Cooper too.
The R56 Cooper and S were sold as standard with the BOOST Hifi. I think the way the whole thing is setup is compromised (headunit is tricky to upgrade owing it's integration into the speedo). Things improved a little with the Hifi Loudspeaker upgrade, but I had that on my R56 and anything above moderate volumes would cause it to keep randomly cutting out.
Easy way to tell if it has the HiFi speaker system is by pillar tweeters;
The later R56s (2009 onwards) did get a Harman Kardon upgrade option which was superb, but an 09MY car is outside of your budget.
You can get the standard R56 BOOST stereo upgraded, cheapest way is with a loom where you swap front and rear sound which apparently does a superb job for the money, see www.newministuff.co.uk. This would probably be your best bet.
Later R53's had the BOOST stereo as standard I believe, and the system is good. The upgraded Harman Kardon is even better, though a little more tricky to source. Thankfully all that's really required to upgrade the R50/53 stereo is a better headunit.
Harman Kardon on R50/53 is easy to spot by different speaker grilles;
I would not discount an R50 Cooper, they're super little cars which are very good value at the moment. They have more character than a later R56 Cooper too.
Mine's got Harmon Kardon 
and iPod sync.
I'd better stop there as I may upset some people as it sounds like and advert and that wasn't intended.
The ad will be placed when I've got back from next week's holiday and got everything together and had it scrubbed up.
and iPod sync.I'd better stop there as I may upset some people as it sounds like and advert and that wasn't intended.
The ad will be placed when I've got back from next week's holiday and got everything together and had it scrubbed up.
Edited by DavidLScott on Friday 18th September 17:03
DavidLScott said:
Mine's got Harmon Kardon ;) and iPod sync.
Yeh I think both the ones I'm looking at (the R53's) only have boost, but I have a better headunit I can already install anyway so that wouldn't bother me. It's only in R56 that I'm stuck with the installed option. ;) and iPod sync.Currently considering two different fully-stocked R53's with 61k and 62k on the clocks, £4500 and £4750. Just would have to hope that anything that goes wrong, happens during my 3 months warranty!
I do really like your car david, but I'm in somerset and I'm not sure it's worth the long drive and an extra £1k, especially as I wouldn't be able to afford any repairs if something went wrong (not suggesting it would, but you never know with these haha)
edit:
Haha just saw your edit, don't worry I would be happy to buy a car from a pistonhead, as generally enthusiast cars are well looked after! Unfortunately yours is out of my price range.
I have actually considered an R50 instead of an R56, but weirdly the lower-mileage ones seem to be selling for around £4000 to £4500... so its only £500 difference between them and an equivalently well-specced cooper S. And that is a much harder decision to make haha.
I'm also noticing that the colour of this R56 I looked at, nightfire red I believe?... I am yet to find any other minis in that colour. Which is a shame because I think it's by far the best colour I've seen so far haha.
Edited by paladin20 on Friday 18th September 17:31
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