3 grand budget

3 grand budget

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anonymous-user

Original Poster:

55 months

Sunday 12th September 2021
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Hi all,

I need to sell my bike and get a car as the bike doesn't suit my needs anymore. I have a 3 grand budget, my commute is mostly motorway (30 odd miles each way), but will hopefully soon be working further away - mostly motorway again but then a trip through a city.

I pretty much have my heart set on an early Cooper, as theres nothing else for the budget that suits what I need as well as being something to enjoy when not commuting.

Is 3 grand going to get something ok, or will it be a bit of a dog? Theres one with 29,000 miles on it, does that sound like a good car or will there be things that just haven't gone wrong and been fixed yet? Are there any particular things I should be worried about?
Thanks for reading smile

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

55 months

Sunday 12th September 2021
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Haha yes I see what you mean! I suppose I was wondering if theres any known faults that may pop up on something with less miles that have been sorted by a higher mileage one.

This is the one I referred to, seems like not a lot of money for such low miles

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2021070948...

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

55 months

Saturday 18th September 2021
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Does that mean that the Cooper will only remap to around 130 too?

Thinking about going to look at this one

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/12101052

No leather and a sunroof is a bonus for me!

Also, does anyone know if there is an aux input on the ones that have the built in cd player? Some seem to mention it and others don't, I can't work out if its something that has been added or if its factory fitted

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

55 months

Thursday 23rd September 2021
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Touring442 said:
£3000 buys a really nice late R50 or the usual pig of an R56 with all of its engine dramas.

Buy an R50. A good R53 Cooper S (original supercharged version) is another good bet but there can't be many nice ones left...?
Done! If it goes tits up I'll blame you laugh
Spent more than I wanted, and there seems to be little in the way of service history, and some lacquer peel on the bonnet that will need sorting which is annoying.
On the plus side its British Racing Green which is my favourite colour, has tan (beige!) interior which looks much better in real life than the pictures, has 70k on the clock and the cleanest MOT history I think I've ever seen.
Picking it up on Tuesday and I'm genuinely really excited, will post some pics when I have it if anyones interested!

Didn't want a supercharged one (ok thats a complete lie, but money is a bit tight at the moment and couldn't justify the fuel bill!)

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

55 months

Sunday 3rd October 2021
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Oh no what a nightmare! I hope you can get it sorted easily.
Mines been great, really enjoy driving it! It's a very unexceptional engine but the way it handles definitely makes up for it, an S is definitely looking likely at some point biggrin
Only trouble I had was after picking it up and getting some petrol it locked me in! Had to drive back to the dealership where they could open the passenger door from the outside and let me out, neither door would open from the inside and the drivers door wouldn't open with a hand out the window either. I think it has had a new battery and somehow the keys were no longer coded, they had it sorted in half an hour and its been fine since then