The £400 Mini Cooper
Discussion
I was looking for a cheap to run car for winter when I came across this mini. It needed a few things but at £400 they were well worth doing. The car came with no history at all, but looking around showed someone had looked after it at some point. I decided I would also change a few things about the mini that I didn't like.
I have done the following so far:
Exhaust
Oil & Filter
Spark plugs
Brake pads all round
Vredestein tyres all round
Fuel tank strap (old one was rotten)
Windscreen through insurance
Aftermarket grill
R112 alloys - I feel they suit the R50/R53 minis quite well
So far it's probably had about £900 spent on top of the purchase price, so still within a £1500 budget that I had set myself.
Before changes
As it currently stands
My next plan is get the roof black so suits the rest of the car and start uses the car from probably October
I have done the following so far:
Exhaust
Oil & Filter
Spark plugs
Brake pads all round
Vredestein tyres all round
Fuel tank strap (old one was rotten)
Windscreen through insurance
Aftermarket grill
R112 alloys - I feel they suit the R50/R53 minis quite well
So far it's probably had about £900 spent on top of the purchase price, so still within a £1500 budget that I had set myself.
Before changes
As it currently stands
My next plan is get the roof black so suits the rest of the car and start uses the car from probably October
I spotted the car for sale locally to me, it was up for £450 for at least a month before I went to have a look. It wasn't advertised on the internet as far as I could tell. Went with my dad to have a look and there were a few usual mini problems with it (mainly the exhaust rotting) and offered £400 and got it.
For the roof I plan on using vinyl through someone I know but I am tempted by paint as well.
For the roof I plan on using vinyl through someone I know but I am tempted by paint as well.
The car has done 145k. Not a fan of the gear change at the moment, as 1st and 3rd are quite hard to tell apart and the same for 2nd and 4th. I'm guessing that would gear linkage?
I'll make a note of the PAS fan. My sister had her PAS unit fail on her mini when it was about 10 years old, so know they can be expensive.
I'll make a note of the PAS fan. My sister had her PAS unit fail on her mini when it was about 10 years old, so know they can be expensive.
The car came with a short MOT, this was probably putting some people off the car. It expires on 25/08/19.
The interior isn't too bad considering its done 145k, the passenger seat is in good conidtion, theres a bit of a mark on the left of it but the shape of the seat is good. The drivers seat has quite a bit of wear, the right bolster has half failed. I've been looking at good condition seats on ebay locally, I haven't made my choice between second hand seats or trying to source the foam for the bottom. The car also didn't come with any mats so I need to order some of those to stop me marking up the carpet of the car.
I've also got the dreaded airbag light illuminated. Hoping this is just a lose wire somewhere under the seat.
The drivers side window button is also broken. It still works if you press in the broken switch but I'll replace it with a spare when I've gotten to the other things
I've also got to paint the silver on the rear bumper to suit the rest of the car, I understand this part might subjective. Just got to wait for some dry weather to give it a go.
The interior isn't too bad considering its done 145k, the passenger seat is in good conidtion, theres a bit of a mark on the left of it but the shape of the seat is good. The drivers seat has quite a bit of wear, the right bolster has half failed. I've been looking at good condition seats on ebay locally, I haven't made my choice between second hand seats or trying to source the foam for the bottom. The car also didn't come with any mats so I need to order some of those to stop me marking up the carpet of the car.
I've also got the dreaded airbag light illuminated. Hoping this is just a lose wire somewhere under the seat.
The drivers side window button is also broken. It still works if you press in the broken switch but I'll replace it with a spare when I've gotten to the other things
I've also got to paint the silver on the rear bumper to suit the rest of the car, I understand this part might subjective. Just got to wait for some dry weather to give it a go.
We did a couple of small jobs on the mini today.
Started with putting on the covers for the windscreen wipers that were missing when I purchased the car
Next up was the gear linkage, we sprayed some grease on them after removing the battery to get at them. Doing this seemed to help quite a bit with the shift. It feels a lot better now.
We unplugged the airbag under the seat and disconnected the battery (when we were getting access to the gear linkage) in the hope that it would clear the code, it hasn't so we'll need to look into it a bit more.
I also need to deal with a few stone chips and marks around the car, need to order some touch up paint.
Started with putting on the covers for the windscreen wipers that were missing when I purchased the car
Next up was the gear linkage, we sprayed some grease on them after removing the battery to get at them. Doing this seemed to help quite a bit with the shift. It feels a lot better now.
We unplugged the airbag under the seat and disconnected the battery (when we were getting access to the gear linkage) in the hope that it would clear the code, it hasn't so we'll need to look into it a bit more.
I also need to deal with a few stone chips and marks around the car, need to order some touch up paint.
Edited by mattyowen5 on Sunday 18th August 18:14
Looks like the previous windscreen comments have been removed. They were regarding me getting the windscreen replaced on the mini.
Putting some oil on the gear linkage has helped a bit with gear selecting and general feel but as its a cheap car I'll keep going until the gearbox fails / clutch goes or I move the car on.
The MOT for the mini is now booked for Tuesday, the garage are going to reset the airbag light for me, hoping that is enough to keep it off as we couldn't see any obvious wrong with the wiring.
Putting some oil on the gear linkage has helped a bit with gear selecting and general feel but as its a cheap car I'll keep going until the gearbox fails / clutch goes or I move the car on.
The MOT for the mini is now booked for Tuesday, the garage are going to reset the airbag light for me, hoping that is enough to keep it off as we couldn't see any obvious wrong with the wiring.
Not the biggest fan of doing interiors but I will get the hoover out at some point when I start using it daily.
The good news is it's passed its MOT! It failed first time on headlight aim and one of the lamps not working. Once they were done, it passed.
There are a few advisories and minor defects to do:
Driveshaft boot
Offside track rod end
Power steering pipe has a leak
I haven't picked the mini up yet but with regards to the airbag light, I think the garage switched the light off and it didn't return during the test. We'll see if that's actually helped or if it will return.
The good news is it's passed its MOT! It failed first time on headlight aim and one of the lamps not working. Once they were done, it passed.
There are a few advisories and minor defects to do:
Driveshaft boot
Offside track rod end
Power steering pipe has a leak
I haven't picked the mini up yet but with regards to the airbag light, I think the garage switched the light off and it didn't return during the test. We'll see if that's actually helped or if it will return.
Update time:
After the MOT we got the driveshaft boot and track rod ends done. The airbag light hasn't come back on yet, which is good news. When dad was doing the work some of the clips broke on the plastic arches, so we ordered a cheap set of clips off ebay.
I decided I wanted a new radio in the car with Bluetooth capabilities so bought the Pioneer SPH-10BT as it comes with a dock for my phone, meaning I can use it for sat nav as well. Quite happy with how it looks and how it performs.
I have probably done around 1200 miles in the car since, using it during the week to get to work. I have noticed that it is using quite a bit of oil, there doesn't seem to be any blue smoke coming from the exhaust though. I know minis are well known for using oil but this seems to be a bit excessive at pint over 200 ish miles. Need to have a good look for a leak, couldn't see one coming from the sump gasket like other people on the internet have had with their minis. We did notice the rubber seal on the oil filler cap was done so that's been replaced.
There's also some full leather mini seats quite local to me for £150, so I might go for them and fit them over a weekend.
I'll be using the car over the winter now, the few things to get done while i'm using it are check the oil consumption and get the roof black. The gearbox is quite a bit better than when I first got it but it's still not perfect, it might be case of going for a cooper s box when the clutch needs doing.
After the MOT we got the driveshaft boot and track rod ends done. The airbag light hasn't come back on yet, which is good news. When dad was doing the work some of the clips broke on the plastic arches, so we ordered a cheap set of clips off ebay.
I decided I wanted a new radio in the car with Bluetooth capabilities so bought the Pioneer SPH-10BT as it comes with a dock for my phone, meaning I can use it for sat nav as well. Quite happy with how it looks and how it performs.
I have probably done around 1200 miles in the car since, using it during the week to get to work. I have noticed that it is using quite a bit of oil, there doesn't seem to be any blue smoke coming from the exhaust though. I know minis are well known for using oil but this seems to be a bit excessive at pint over 200 ish miles. Need to have a good look for a leak, couldn't see one coming from the sump gasket like other people on the internet have had with their minis. We did notice the rubber seal on the oil filler cap was done so that's been replaced.
There's also some full leather mini seats quite local to me for £150, so I might go for them and fit them over a weekend.
I'll be using the car over the winter now, the few things to get done while i'm using it are check the oil consumption and get the roof black. The gearbox is quite a bit better than when I first got it but it's still not perfect, it might be case of going for a cooper s box when the clutch needs doing.
Edited by mattyowen5 on Sunday 13th October 15:26
There's definitely oil coming from the rocker cover so that'll be on the list to do. I find the performance of the mini fine, I had a Ford Puma 1.7 last year with similar power, this feels roughly the same. Its a little different to my Impreza but this enough for a daily.
The mini has been pretty good on fuel, I have been getting between 38 and 40 mpg.
The mini has been pretty good on fuel, I have been getting between 38 and 40 mpg.
Had what I think is probably the dreaded PAS failure today. Steering went heavy and light a couple times and then just stayed heavy. we've checked the fluid and theres plenty, so assume the pump has failed. Been quoted £300 for the pump so far but was told about needing it programmed to the car.
I haven't updated this in a while, the PAS did indeed fail last time around. I got a quote to rebuild for £150. So I sent off the pump, but it was sadly not repairable, they gave me the option of ordering one from them which I did for £300. The first pump that was sent out was faulty, it would stay on after the car had been shut down and was very loud. They replaced it under warranty and the second unit is much better and has warranty for life.
After this I used it as my daily car over winter and got the car into this state
After looking around on eBay i found a Mini Cooper S locally to me for a decent price while on holiday. I made a low offer on the car thinking it would be rejected straight away but he came back with a acceptable price, so when I came back from holiday I proceeded to go and view the mini. When I got there all seemed fine and nothing too much wrong with it so it came back with me! Best of all it was only £950.
Here are the two minis together.
I bought the black mini about 10 days before lockdown and have only just got the V5 for the car so it's just been sat there waiting to be used. The car is currently stored and sorn'd. The only thing i've done so far is swap my alloys over, so that the new one has the newer alloys.
The plan for the future is now to move the blue mini on, I will probably stick it on eBay auction when lockdown is over, it's a pretty good car with nothing too much wrong, it does still have the oil leak unfortunately but it's good otherwise. I also can't currently do much on the black mini at the moment as it's not at my house.
After this I used it as my daily car over winter and got the car into this state
After looking around on eBay i found a Mini Cooper S locally to me for a decent price while on holiday. I made a low offer on the car thinking it would be rejected straight away but he came back with a acceptable price, so when I came back from holiday I proceeded to go and view the mini. When I got there all seemed fine and nothing too much wrong with it so it came back with me! Best of all it was only £950.
Here are the two minis together.
I bought the black mini about 10 days before lockdown and have only just got the V5 for the car so it's just been sat there waiting to be used. The car is currently stored and sorn'd. The only thing i've done so far is swap my alloys over, so that the new one has the newer alloys.
The plan for the future is now to move the blue mini on, I will probably stick it on eBay auction when lockdown is over, it's a pretty good car with nothing too much wrong, it does still have the oil leak unfortunately but it's good otherwise. I also can't currently do much on the black mini at the moment as it's not at my house.
The blue has now been sold, it was sold via an eBay auction and was an easy transaction overall. Got £770 less eBay fees in the end, which isn't too far from what I expected.
Pictures before it went to it's new owner.
While listing the blue mini, I've had some work done on the black one. It's had brake discs and pads on the rear and just pads on the front, a nearside wheel bearing, oil change, spark plugs, CV boot and some new wipers. All in it's about £320 of parts. I also gave the new one a good polish as the black was showing a lot of scratches, it's come up quite well but as always could be better.
My next steps are to get an aftermarket intercooler, air filter and a reduced supercharger pulley to give it a little more power.
Pictures before it went to it's new owner.
While listing the blue mini, I've had some work done on the black one. It's had brake discs and pads on the rear and just pads on the front, a nearside wheel bearing, oil change, spark plugs, CV boot and some new wipers. All in it's about £320 of parts. I also gave the new one a good polish as the black was showing a lot of scratches, it's come up quite well but as always could be better.
My next steps are to get an aftermarket intercooler, air filter and a reduced supercharger pulley to give it a little more power.
A lot of the cooper adverts do seem to be quite lacking in information, the only positive is that there are a lot for sale. Prices vary by quite a bit near me, there are a few under £800 but tend to need work and go up to £2,000 (Which don't seem to sell). Good luck with your search, from my experience I've seen a lot better prices on marketplace but don' know whether these are the poorer condition cars.
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