Mini Cooper Clubman petrol or diesel

[JurassicF]

The Cooper Clubman petrol I have been discussing with the seller has just been sold, before I could view. Not sure how with the Covid travel restrictions😡
I have seen a couple of other nice cars 2009/2012 but they are diesel, which I have not considered.
How does the diesel engine suit the car? Are there more issues with the diesel engine over the petrol.
Presume you just need to give it a good run to burn of the particulates every so often?

[JurassicF]

Okay thanks, what I thought. It would be a local run around for the wife, dog and golf clubs.
Will keep looking for a petrol. Shame an absolute cracker just turned up on A***t****r, not too far away, low miles, sunroof and lovely seat colour. But diesel.

[JurassicF]

Majorslow said:

You will have to have the rear seat down for golf clubs, so if security is an issue maybe look for a car with a bigger boot. The Mini's boot is tiny

Yes I think the rear seats will always be down. Security is not a concern as things like golf clubs will only be there to and from the club.

Given that motoring forums tend to highlight problems rather than non issues, is there really any real world difference in reliability between the N14 and N18 engines?

[JurassicF]

chrisch77 said:

We have had an early model 2007 R55 Clubman Cooper D from new with the Peugeot 1.6 HDI engine. It sounds quite agricultural but has served us well for 13 years and has regularly done only short trips without any sign of the typical DPF issues that plague modern diesels - it has less than 80k on the clock and most trips have been short commutes to work or school.

The benefit of the diesel is loads of torque compared with the rather gutless Cooper petrol engine, so it’s not bad to drive.

It’s about to be offered for sale to make way for a MINI electric so please let me know if you would like any more info OP.

Thanks, could you PM me the details?

[JurassicF]

Majorslow said:

Why not? a decent drive using the red line to "clean it out" and it will be fine. They like high miles and being used properly, noit for short journeys where the engine does not heat up properly.

My Mini had 7k on the clock when I bought it 14 months old, now on 176k and no problems at all. However on the couple of times I have used it since xmas it sounds like it really could do with a blast

Ours really would be short journeys as I have a Macan for anything of distance, just wanted to keep it dog and mucky golf stuff free

[JurassicF]

stevemcs said:

An italian tune up isn't going to help, they need a long run once a month to clean them out - a steady run for at least 30 miles.

I would still be looking for a nice 1.6 Cooper. Whats your budget ?

Between £4-5k?

[JurassicF]

DaveyBoyWonder said:

Thats the ballpark I paid for mine. Was older than what we were initially looking for but we had to have an auto which immediately ruled out 90% of Clubmans on sale. In the end we went for a 2008 (like I said, we were ideally looking for an LCI 2010+ car) because of the spec: low mileage (bought on 32k miles just over a year ago and its only just hit 40k), rare colour (kinda a dark metallic red), optional R99 17s, auto, xenons, sat nav, panoramic sunroof, heated windscreen, heated seats, Harmon Kardon - I think the lounge leather is the only thing missing from it.

Sounds just what I would really be looking for.
Missed something similar but with leather seats and manual last week. Wife would definitely prefer auto also.
Did you go private or dealer for that price/spec?
Any engine issues?
The more I read about these engines the more I am starting to worry, or is that just the forum syndrome?

[JurassicF]

DaveyBoyWonder said:

Mines the basic 1.6 Cooper, not the S. From what I read before we bought ours, the standard NA Coopers are pretty solid little things but the N14 Cooper S engines are where the problems lie.

Went through a dealer - this place: https://www.minis-4u.co.uk/

Best car buying experience we've ever had from a dealer. Would definitely use him again.

Thanks, I had looked at them and a really nice silver Cooper auto they have, well specced but no sunroof, on a 59 plate but at £7,000 is is a bit more than I wanted to pay and probably what it's worth. It also had non premium tyres.
However if they are that good to deal with

Edited by JurassicF on Thursday 18th February 16:15

[JurassicF]

stevemcs said:

Want mine ?

Steve, what is yours?