What to look out for?

[Herbs]

I'm off to see a Mini (2005) tonight for SWMBO. Apart from the obvious is there anything specific to keep an eye on?

We have test drove both the Mini One and Cooper and i'm aware of the timing chain rattle from cold on the cooper but not anything for the One.

Thanks

Andy

[esuuv]

If its a 2005 car then the one and the cooper have the same engine - they are just mapped differently for the power. So its really just a map and a trim level opposed to a different car. I think the timing chain rattle is only r56 cars - i.e. post 2006 (headlamps attached to the front of the car - not built into the bonnet)

The power steering makes a lot of noise normally - but does seem to fail quite regularly so see if its been done.

As of July / August 2004 there was a facelift and the one / cooper got getrag gearboxes instead of the much weaker midland versions so you should be ok there.

do a search, am sure there is other stuff - watch out for sqeaks / rattles, they can be pretty stiffly sprung and the rattles can get annoying to find.

[Herbs]

thanks for the info.

We haven't ruled out 2004 models so is there anything vastly different between the two models spec wise apart from the gearbox or anything else to look out for on earlier models?

[Pork]

I asked a very similar question just a couple of days ago - http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0...

[Herbs]

thanks