Mini Cooper - To buy or not to buy?

Docnic

Hi Everyone,

I'm currently driving a fairly beat up fiesta (I didn't do the beating up - other people did...damn dublin on-street parking!) and its starting to lose its fight for life I'm afraid. I'm looking to spend around 8-9k, preferably diesel and as new as possible. I was thinking maybe an astra hatch, 06 Civic, Ford focus...but I really love the Mini Cooper. I reckon I can get a decent 05-06 Mini on my budget but should I?

Would it be more sensible to get a 07/08 Astra/Focus etc. with less miles on the clock rather than go for the fun factor of the cooper? Do they age well?

Any advise would be appreciated. Thanks!

EPM

If it's going to be beaten up I wouldn't spend that money. Been looking at mini's myself the last few weeks and in the right spec they seem a great car and pretty reliable too

Caveat

If you won't miss the space, go for it. Reliable, looks good and great to drive. A bit expensive obviously. Civic (1.6 3 door) and Focus (ditto) good choices too. I'd go for the Civic myself.

Forget about the Astra - different league altogether in driving experience, reliability and looks.

Owen

A Diesel MINI One might be a good option. 1.4 litre, 75 Bhp in the early models easily remapped up to 95, 6 gears, plenty of pep. The values of MINIs are all over the place at the moment, 01's going for 7k, 05's going for 9k. I saw a damaged 08 recently for 8k which could have been repaired for about 2k.

If you are going for a 2004/5/6 model, make sure it's a facelifted model. The easiest way to check is the dashboard, if it's a 5 segment dashboard, it's the old model, if it's 3 segment, it's the new model, with the stronger and faster to accelerate getrag gearbox, a revised headlights/rear lights setup, revised bumpers, interior trim, and other little refinements.

Owen

And check the forum in my sig - there's always info in there.

Docnic

Thanks that all sounds great. Oh and trust me when I get this car I will organise a secure car park space I do like the civic but I most of the ones in my price range had a 2.2 engine and would prob cost me a fortune in insurance, tax etc. Lack of space isn't really an issue for me (i have short friends who i can throw into the back

This might be a little off topic but I do about 80% driving in the city and 20% driving across on the country on motorways/national primary routes. Would it be cheaper/more efficient to have a petrol car in this instance? I read something online that said that petrol engines are more efficient on fuel in traffic, stop-start situations etc. Or am I off the wall altogether?

lilka

Docnic wrote: »

Hi Everyone,

I'm currently driving a fairly beat up fiesta (I didn't do the beating up - other people did...damn dublin on-street parking!) and its starting to lose its fight for life I'm afraid. I'm looking to spend around 8-9k, preferably diesel and as new as possible. I was thinking maybe an astra hatch, 06 Civic, Ford focus...but I really love the Mini Cooper. I reckon I can get a decent 05-06 Mini on my budget but should I?

Would it be more sensible to get a 07/08 Astra/Focus etc. with less miles on the clock rather than go for the fun factor of the cooper? Do they age well?

Any advise would be appreciated. Thanks!

Hello, anytime I'm thinking of changing a car, I always check www.parkers.co.uk - they will give you an unbiased rating for each car - check it out - simple to use (just click on car reviews and read thru - only take you 10 minutes or so to compare all the cars your thinking of) - good luck (PS my fiesta was beaten up on street parking too - maybe thugs just dont like fiestas!)

Owen

@Lightning - the forum is more about advice than classifieds. Pretty harsh to take a dig at a forum over the price of cars some of the members want their machines to sell for.

langdang

When herself was looking for a new car she wanted a MINI, I was trying to convince here to get a (standard 1.4 or 1.6) Civic - one test drive in a MINI and I said screw japanese reliability! There's no awful cars in your list, it just depends what you really want - go out and try one of each. The MINI's really are a nice car to drive - I'd love a supercharged Cooper S myself. The normal Cooper petrol fills a nice gap between normal boring A-to-B cars and high-performance saloons/hatches. I know nothing about the diesel engines, I think the first generation diesels had a 1.4 Toyota Yaris engine and the newer ones have a peugeot engine? maybe?

There are certain known faults for many cars, try parkers, honestjohn.co.uk and enthusiast websites (there are plenty of MINI websites). Her 02 Cooper has given no real hassle in the 2 years she's had it. Get the final choice checked by a good mechanic before you hand over cash.

A common complaint on this forum is people who have bought a secondhand car from a dealer "serviced" as part of the deal, and then finding out there was no service at all done. At least with the MINI petrol engines there is a timing chain that doesn't need to be replaced so they can't rip you off on a timing belt change.
The Astras probably have a chain too (you can here the Opel timing chains a mile away)

G86

Would the mini copper repairs/parts be expensive because it is effectively a BMW? A friend of mine owns one and was quoted 400 euro for a replacement wingmirror (that was during the 'boom' though). Hers also had some issues with the electrics - faulty passenger mirror etc.

Owen

G86 wrote: »

Would the mini copper repairs/parts be expensive because it is effectively a BMW? A friend of mine owns one and was quoted 400 euro for a replacement wingmirror (that was during the 'boom' though). Hers also had some issues with the electrics - faulty passenger mirror etc.

Generally no, parts are relatively inexpensive. Electrics wise, I sold them for 7 years, the very early 01/02s had issues, but none after that. I'd imagine that quote included a bit of labour at a main dealer (Which can be very very expensive) - the part should be no more than any other car.

The only lingering problem with MINIs is the power steering pump, about 25% get issues with it. A Main Dealer replacement can be up to a grand, an independent dealer is around 1/4 of that.

kildarelad

The only lingering problem with MINIs is the power steering pump, about 25% get issues with it. A Main Dealer replacement can be up to a grand, an independent dealer is around 1/4 of that.

Ive seen window regs give trouble on them as well.Paintdoctor dont they have an electric set up on the power steering rather than hydraulic?

shanagarry

Today is probably a bad day to answer this as mine (a '05 R50 Cooper) has been in the garage yet again with its unidentified coolant leak and needing a new power steering fan! To be fair though, the leak isn't critical and the fan is the first non-standard thing I've had to have done to it in the nearly 3 years I've had it. It hasn't given me a problem otherwise.

I must say that I love driving it. It's a great city car, particularly that you can get it in spaces too small for many cars, but still has good pep for open road driving. I love the whole 'wheel at each corner' feel, and the road holding that gives. The downside is definitely the boot space, and the lack of space in the back, and the difficulty getting in and out of the back. I wish they had just made them two seaters.

langdang

PaintDoctor wrote: »

Generally no, parts are relatively inexpensive. ... I'd imagine that quote included a bit of labour at a main dealer (Which can be very very expensive) - the part should be no more than any other car.

I'd second PaintDocs comments there - the actual parts aren't expensive - that price sounds like it was boosted up by main dealer labour charges (€125 per hour, maybe less now tho?)

But for most things there's no reason to go to a main dealer, there's plenty of independent BMW specialists, and some MINI specialists too. In fact a great thing about the MINI's is the amount of enthusiast websites, with plenty of info on DIY repairs, maintenance and modifications.

Power steering is electro-hydraulic - the power steering pump is electrically driven rather than being driven off the auxiliary belt, but still pumps fluid.
The manual makes no mention of the power steering fluid container tho, could be a factor in some of the cases of pump failure as people don't think to check the level of fluid in it! The pumps are noisy, sound like a lazy cat being woken up, that's normal. Can't tell you what the signs of one that's on the way out are tho.

Window regulators seem to give trouble on many makes of modern cars, just another case of using engineering to make something cheap but able to last until it's just outside the warranty.