Cooper S 64 Plate with 130,000 Miles... Servicing Questions
Discussion
Was having a look around at the new F Minis as an upgrade to my Polo. Budget is around £8000 so was looking at 2014ish Cooper D’s ex fleet with 40-60000 Miles.
To my surprise a lovely dark green 2014 64 plate Cooper S pops up for just over £8000. Then I realise it has nearly 130,000 miles on it... :/ .
I’m not too bothered about high Mileage as long as it has been looked after. It passed its MOT in August with 0 advisory’s, however the gear stick looks very worn in the pictures (potentially thrashed around?)
My main concern is on my Polo the service intervals are every 10000 Miles/1 year, I’m not sure what the intervals are for the Mini, but that means if the Mini has the same intervals as the Polo it would’ve been serviced at least 10 times or every 2-3 months... and it’s only 2 years old! OR it’s just been serviced by the year regardless of the miles (65000/year) which seems rather excessive! My Polo is 7 years old and has only 60k Miles. How are these F Series Cooper S’ reliability wise?
What do you think? Anyone got experience with these high mileage “young” cars and how they are serviced? Asking on here before bothering the dealer.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2018...
To my surprise a lovely dark green 2014 64 plate Cooper S pops up for just over £8000. Then I realise it has nearly 130,000 miles on it... :/ .
I’m not too bothered about high Mileage as long as it has been looked after. It passed its MOT in August with 0 advisory’s, however the gear stick looks very worn in the pictures (potentially thrashed around?)
My main concern is on my Polo the service intervals are every 10000 Miles/1 year, I’m not sure what the intervals are for the Mini, but that means if the Mini has the same intervals as the Polo it would’ve been serviced at least 10 times or every 2-3 months... and it’s only 2 years old! OR it’s just been serviced by the year regardless of the miles (65000/year) which seems rather excessive! My Polo is 7 years old and has only 60k Miles. How are these F Series Cooper S’ reliability wise?
What do you think? Anyone got experience with these high mileage “young” cars and how they are serviced? Asking on here before bothering the dealer.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2018...
Rockster said:
No big miles experienced with my new JCW, but just got rid of a big miles (317K) 2002 Boxster.
130K miles ain't that many miles provided the engine (and the transmission) fluids have been serviced on schedule.
You can tell a lot about the car with a good test ride then test drive. IOWs, you have to experience the car in its natural state: on the road being driven like you intend to use the car.
At 130K miles if the engine starts up promptly, and during cold idle there are no abnormal sounds, ticks, knocks, and none at any other times either, and "passes" a road test with flying colors the engine's in good shape.
While an engine might run at 130K miles the odds are if it has not been taken care of it will provide you with signs that it is not the engine you want to own.
My advice is to visit the car cold, be sure all warning lights come on then go off at cold engine start. Let the engine idle while you walk around the car checking body panel paint, gaps, tire age, wear, brake wear, and looking into the radiator ducts for any signs fo leaks (the A/C condenser probably sits ahead of the radiator but look anyway).
But keep an ear tuned to how the engine sounds. After some minutes of idling have the seller take you on a 15 mile test ride. The route should be chosen to give the driver a chance to demo the car as you intend to use it. Along with city stop/go and boulevar and highway high speed driving a hard acceleration or two -- once the engine is up to temperature -- is called for. The engine should pull strong and smooth from idle to red line and afterwards resume normal operation with no signs of any distress.
After the test ride switch seats and you drive the car over the same route and drive the car the same way.
There should be no smoking from the engine upon taking off from a stop, when upshifting or downshifting or any other times.
The coolant temperature should remain rather stable. Oh, and the A/C should be off as being on runs the radiator fan and this can help mask an engine with a cooling problem.
If after all the above if you still like the car give it a thorough used car check out. Assume nothing works until you confirm it does.
If possible then the car should be lifted up and inspected for any leak sign. This check comes after the test ride/drive which should have the engine running maybe an hour. This should be plenty of time for any leak to manifest leak sign.
The usual rule is to have 10% of a used car's purchase price in reserve just in case. With a "high miles" car you might want to up this to 15% even 20%. While your checkout finds nothing wrong a water pump a fuel pump can go bad at any time. What's a new water pump cost? Or a new fuel pump? You want to have at least this much money set aside, in reserve.
Services might be current but try to find out. If the oil on the disptick is dark assume an oil/filter service is due. Consult the factory service schedule to know what services could be due at 130K miles or maybe at 120K miles. If there is no paper proof these have been done budget for these. Adjust your offer price downward accordingly.
Happy shopping.
Thank You for that, very helpful! I’m definitely going to keep my eye on it. Truly love the look of it! 130K miles ain't that many miles provided the engine (and the transmission) fluids have been serviced on schedule.
You can tell a lot about the car with a good test ride then test drive. IOWs, you have to experience the car in its natural state: on the road being driven like you intend to use the car.
At 130K miles if the engine starts up promptly, and during cold idle there are no abnormal sounds, ticks, knocks, and none at any other times either, and "passes" a road test with flying colors the engine's in good shape.
While an engine might run at 130K miles the odds are if it has not been taken care of it will provide you with signs that it is not the engine you want to own.
My advice is to visit the car cold, be sure all warning lights come on then go off at cold engine start. Let the engine idle while you walk around the car checking body panel paint, gaps, tire age, wear, brake wear, and looking into the radiator ducts for any signs fo leaks (the A/C condenser probably sits ahead of the radiator but look anyway).
But keep an ear tuned to how the engine sounds. After some minutes of idling have the seller take you on a 15 mile test ride. The route should be chosen to give the driver a chance to demo the car as you intend to use it. Along with city stop/go and boulevar and highway high speed driving a hard acceleration or two -- once the engine is up to temperature -- is called for. The engine should pull strong and smooth from idle to red line and afterwards resume normal operation with no signs of any distress.
After the test ride switch seats and you drive the car over the same route and drive the car the same way.
There should be no smoking from the engine upon taking off from a stop, when upshifting or downshifting or any other times.
The coolant temperature should remain rather stable. Oh, and the A/C should be off as being on runs the radiator fan and this can help mask an engine with a cooling problem.
If after all the above if you still like the car give it a thorough used car check out. Assume nothing works until you confirm it does.
If possible then the car should be lifted up and inspected for any leak sign. This check comes after the test ride/drive which should have the engine running maybe an hour. This should be plenty of time for any leak to manifest leak sign.
The usual rule is to have 10% of a used car's purchase price in reserve just in case. With a "high miles" car you might want to up this to 15% even 20%. While your checkout finds nothing wrong a water pump a fuel pump can go bad at any time. What's a new water pump cost? Or a new fuel pump? You want to have at least this much money set aside, in reserve.
Services might be current but try to find out. If the oil on the disptick is dark assume an oil/filter service is due. Consult the factory service schedule to know what services could be due at 130K miles or maybe at 120K miles. If there is no paper proof these have been done budget for these. Adjust your offer price downward accordingly.
Happy shopping.
Need to start shopping around for insurance if I do decide to go ahead... difficult for a 19 year old with 2 years NCD on a Cooper S..! Fingers crossed all goes well.
Dolf Stoppard said:
Do you have the budget for high running costs?
I ask this, because I sense you don't, and it's not going to have the running costs of any other Cooper S. It's going to have the running costs of a car with 130k miles. Even if certain components have already been replaced, they're probably going to need replacing again.
Sorry if this sounds negative, but cheap cars do not always equal cheap running costs.
Sorry I don’t really get what you mean here, I’m fine with replacing things that wear down eg Clutches, Flywheels, Brakes, Tyres etc but I will check the condition of these before buying. It’s not like any of these “replaced” parts are going to wear down any sooner because it’s high mileage, I only do 10k miles a year. The car comes with a 3 month warranty anyway which will cover any major parts such as the Turbo or Gearbox. I ask this, because I sense you don't, and it's not going to have the running costs of any other Cooper S. It's going to have the running costs of a car with 130k miles. Even if certain components have already been replaced, they're probably going to need replacing again.
Sorry if this sounds negative, but cheap cars do not always equal cheap running costs.
If the car has been well looked after and serviced I don’t think it should be a problem. My guess is it’s sat cruising at 70mph on a motorway most of its life?
Hammy98 said:
Try a direct quote from Elephant/Admiral.
I was 1600 for the year on my F56 S at 19 with 2 Years NCB, 3 points and an average postcode.
Edit: My renewal is due in March and I turn 20 next week, quoted 800 through Elephant - happy days.
I can’t quite believe it but I have just done a quote and it’s come back as £950 fully comp for the year! I was 1600 for the year on my F56 S at 19 with 2 Years NCB, 3 points and an average postcode.
Edit: My renewal is due in March and I turn 20 next week, quoted 800 through Elephant - happy days.
Edited by Hammy98 on Tuesday 23 January 09:58
steve-5snwi said:
The R56 will be more of a Mini than the F56 however the R53 is more of a Mini than the R56 .... personally i'd be going for the F56.
I agree I absolutely love the F56, I have had the chance to drive a couple of them at work and they are awesome (apart from the pedals which are offset). I just feel at my maximum budget £8k unless I buy this Cooper S iam pushing my luck a little. Seeing the Insurance quotes aren’t too bad for an S has completely put me off the idea of a standard F Series Cooper / Cooper D. Plus the bloody Polo has just gone wrong again for the 3rd time in a year so back at VW, until the Polo is sold I can’t proceed with a purchase even though I was using We Buy any Car. Hopefully if the Polo is back soon I can WBAC it and get my hands on this Cooper S!
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