Mini R50 Cooper still a good buy?

[tomnorton]

I love minis and I am after a 2001-2006 Cooper as these fit my budget (sub £3k)
Are they generally reliable and not ridiculously expensive to maintain? I am 20 so want something fun to drive around but don't want to waste all my money on something that is going to be a money pit. Will most likely have it professionally examined before I buy!

I am looking at something like this with 80k miles odd: http://www.germancarswsm.co.uk/used-cars/mini-hatc...

Worth a look or should I consider alternatives?

Is the R50 still a good car to buy despite its age?

[kayzee]

Mine's been pretty reliable and has clocked over 100k miles now. I think the main thing on these is the clutches, which can cost a lot if they need replacing.

Make sure you check https://check-mot.service.gov.uk before going to look at any cars, as the first MINI I test drove was hiding some dark secrets!

I've had mine for 18 months now and have had a sticky throttle body (£40) and I've currently got a battery drain going on somewhere... but that's it so far, which isn't too bad for a 12 year old motor

Worth getting an S? Or will the insurance be too much? Check Greenlight; really good for performance models.

[tomnorton]

kayzee said:

Mine's been pretty reliable and has clocked over 100k miles now. I think the main thing on these is the clutches, which can cost a lot if they need replacing.

Make sure you check https://check-mot.service.gov.uk before going to look at any cars, as the first MINI I test drove was hiding some dark secrets!

I've had mine for 18 months now and have had a sticky throttle body (£40) and I've currently got a battery drain going on somewhere... but that's it so far, which isn't too bad for a 12 year old motor

Worth getting an S? Or will the insurance be too much? Check Greenlight; really good for performance models.

Thanks for your reply, appreciate it! I am going to look at this on Saturday: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

Looks clean and mileage isn't too bad for its age. I have been told that the midlands gearbox isn't the best but I will have a comprehensive vehicle inspection before I buy! The only thing that worries me with this one is that it's had 6 previous owners...I don't know if I should steer well clear or not worry about it.

S would be great but being a student I don't have the money to run it and I will end up hooning it everywhere! It's a shame but I don't want to have to sell it after a few months

[CO2000]

An S should be more reliable (esp gearbox!) and should retain more come selling time so if you can stretch to it I would if I were you

[kayzee]

Try and get a facelift model... better gearbox, and other aesthetics like the lights and front grill (although you're better of replacing with an aero one anyway, very good and cheap mod)

Saying that, the one above does have the facelift steering wheel which is weird.

[tomnorton]

Off to see a 56 plate which looks to be promising. Think I'd rather play it safe and have a getrag box!

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

[C70GT]

tomnorton said:

Off to see a 56 plate which looks to be promising. Think I'd rather play it safe and have a getrag box!

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

That looks like a nice tidy little car. The MOT history is much better than the previous one you were interested in. How can anyone drive a car for several years with the EML and oil light on. It would drive me nuts.

We bought a '07 Cooper last year for 'er indoors. Two owners, full service history and 56.000mls and paid £3750 from a dealer. Possibly more than we wanted to pay but the best example we had seen from about a dozen we had looked at. Brilliant little car.

[tomnorton]

C70GT said:

That looks like a nice tidy little car. The MOT history is much better than the previous one you were interested in. How can anyone drive a car for several years with the EML and oil light on. It would drive me nuts.

We bought a '07 Cooper last year for 'er indoors. Two owners, full service history and 56.000mls and paid £3750 from a dealer. Possibly more than we wanted to pay but the best example we had seen from about a dozen we had looked at. Brilliant little car.

Thanks for your reply! Is there anything in the MOT history of the 2006 one that jumps out to you majorly?
Definitely worth paying a little extra for the peace of mind

[C70GT]

tomnorton said:

Thanks for your reply! Is there anything in the MOT history of the 2006 one that jumps out to you majorly?
Definitely worth paying a little extra for the peace of mind

No, not at all. It has a few advisories for worn tyres and a corroded silencer box. These are things that could catch anyone out, so I would say normal things and nothing to worry about. It did fail a couple of years ago for worn tyres, this is careless on the part of the owner / mechanic submitting it for the test as anyone should be aware of worn tyres, although given the lack of awareness of many drivers of their cars condition, perhaps not surprising.

If it is as good close up as it looks in the photos it is certainly one that I would seriously look at if I was in the market. I am a perfectionist and would not consider anything if it did not look well cared for. Photo shows 'er indoors Cooper alongside my Volvo C70 weekend car and my V40 daily driver.

[tomnorton]

C70GT said:

No, not at all. It has a few advisories for worn tyres and a corroded silencer box. These are things that could catch anyone out, so I would say normal things and nothing to worry about. It did fail a couple of years ago for worn tyres, this is careless on the part of the owner / mechanic submitting it for the test as anyone should be aware of worn tyres, although given the lack of awareness of many drivers of their cars condition, perhaps not surprising.

If it is as good close up as it looks in the photos it is certainly one that I would seriously look at if I was in the market. I am a perfectionist and would not consider anything if it did not look well cared for. Photo shows 'er indoors Cooper alongside my Volvo C70 weekend car and my V40 daily driver.

Amazing to hear! It looks very clean in the photos and I will be having a vehicle inspection done so I hope all looks positive.

Love your collection - My grandad used to have the v40 estate 2.0T which was so comfy and lovely with the black leather and sunroof. Uncle had the c70, I remember thinking it was the best thing since sliced bread when he got it new all those years ago! Mini looks pristine and great in red

[GeordieInExile]

I've had mine a month.

In that time it's been back to the garage twice to be fixed due to overheating.

The first time they replaced a pipe that had a hole in it, the second time the radiator.

But nope - it's still overheating. And from the forums it seems overheating is a common fault on these.

So my advice would be... make damn sure it doesn't have an overheating issue.

[R53rider]

On numbers of forums there are murmurs about 'becoming a modern classic'. They seem to be pretty solid and reliable. Great fun to drive. Not too bad to insure (aaah! 20 yo, those were the days).
Early Midland gearbox dodgy. Was that sorted in the facelift?

Not sure what the over heating rep is about? Must be pretty similar in that department to an R53, which obviously I've got. Not come across forum posts about the R53 having overheating issues. Even when heavily modded and tracked. And they must put a fair bit more stress on the cooling system.

[GeordieInExile]

R53rider said:

On numbers of forums there are murmurs about 'becoming a modern classic'. They seem to be pretty solid and reliable. Great fun to drive. Not too bad to insure (aaah! 20 yo, those were the days).
Early Midland gearbox dodgy. Was that sorted in the facelift?

Not sure what the over heating rep is about? Must be pretty similar in that department to an R53, which obviously I've got. Not come across forum posts about the R53 having overheating issues. Even when heavily modded and tracked. And they must put a fair bit more stress on the cooling system.

Have a Google. There're loads, and varying causes of the overheating mooted. The garage now thinks mine has a dodgy water pump.

The facelift does indeed have a better (Getrag) 'box than the original Midland one, though.