EdumIcate me....base model Mini Cooper knock around beater

Ok guys...need input for an around town MINI COOPER. I know the S model with manual is most fun but I'm looking for a knock around car to use around town. I'm wanting an automatic due to residual left leg problems from my stroke a few years back. Just something to Apollo dog in and go out to the skeet range for an afternoon of shooting or going and getting a bottle of wine our groceries.

Looking at used probably in 05 to 09 model in the $5,000 to $7,000 range range. Nothing fancy just a reliable beater. Had thought about a Golf GTI from that era but they are generally priced a bit higher and rice to death.

What do I need to look out for? What's say the Brain Trust?

Ovid_and_Flem wrote: Nothing fancy just a reliable beater. Had thought about a Golf GTI from that era but they are generally priced a bit higher and rice to death.

MINI, Golf GTI + reliable? Does not compute, does not compute...

Neither are reliable. The non-S Mini is less trouble prone than the S, but that's not saying a ton. Sure, you'll see them with 150k+ miles, but the odds of them getting there relatively trouble free are much less than with most cars. My understanding is the auto trans in the MINI was made of glass or paper mache. May want to steer clear of those. I had an '09 Cooper S with 6spd. It was a hoot riot to drive, and I never had trouble with it, but I didn't have it long...it had something like 30k miles when I bought it and 40k when I sold it.

As much as I like my MINI's, that era MINI, automatic, and reliable just don't seem to go together. And it sucks most of the fun out of the car (not a good autobox at all (it's a CVT in the early cars and it sucks...)

Mini with CVT is to be avoided!
Terrible reliability.

If you're just looking at a subcompact beater with an automatic, get a Mazda2 or a Fit or even an xD or Yaris or Sonic. All would be a much more reliable choice than an old base Cooper.

For near $7k you could have an off lease Nissan Leaf electric car to bop around town.

You could even look like a sophisticated and stately gentlemen while doing it.

sample '13 w/ 23k miles asking $7.8k.

All electric with about 75 mile range.
The state of Georgia gave a ton of incentives to lease these $30k vehicles. Three years later they have flooded the lease turn back, used market. If you were in GA, you could lease a new one cheaper than the residual buyout since you get more incentives again on the re-lease.

I have a love/hate relationship with Mini Coopers... I became the Mini guy at the shop I worked at when I lived in Ohio because nobody else wanted to touch them. They're horrible cars, everything is stupid to get to, takes more time than nearly every other car, and parts are relatively pricy. When the auto trans goes you're SOL and will cost you more than the car's worth. They are insanely fun to drive though when they're not busy destroying water pumps or cracking thermostat housings or having a sunroof drain clog and soak the BCM and corrode every wire in the entire freaking body harness, or killing $$ electric power steering pumps.

So I bought a Mazda2. It's basically a Japanese R50 with 4 doors and there are so few real problems with them it's silly. I've got 90k on mine with zero problems, and in the five years they've been in the US, I can count on one hand the number of ANY problems I've had to repair on them at the VERY LARGE used car dealer I work at. One window switch, one rear motor mount, and two had leaking oil pan gaskets(which is just RTV and takes an hour to do if that).

The most common internet/service bulletin type issues they have are noises from the steering gear which was redesigned partway through the 2011 model year, noises from the cowl panel rattling(only affected some 2011s), and the radio failing to function in cold climates(again, IIRC this only applied to 2011s). Many of them make some weird squawking from the rear suspension when it gets stupid-cold outside, like near 25F or so... it's a rear twist beam suspension, so not really unexpected... quiets down after a couple minutes of driving in my own experience.

The automatics are quite reliable, it's basically an electronic updated version of older Ford 4 speed autos in Escorts and whatnot. I have heard of a couple cases of having problems with shift solenoid problems, you can buy the solenoid pack yourself, remove the transmission pan and everything is right there and easy to replace. Again, this is almost unheard of and I've seen many examples over 100k without problems.

In short, I HIGHLY recommend the Mazda2 as a substitute. It drives like a Miata with more room and spinning the wrong wheels.

Mine for sale

I've had two base model Mini's. I can't recommend them to anyone as reliable or affordable transportation.

I bought a 2009 brand new and drove it until 2013 when it had 88,000 miles on it. In that time, here's what broke: 2 ABS wheel sensors, the computer that controls the one touch windows, one speaker, and one radiator (major leak). Overall it was fairly reliable, but parts are expensive and these cars are a pain to work on.

My Dad bought a 2008 mini new. He had to take it back to the dealer 3 times for them to fix the wipers since they would either not turn on or randomly shut off. Apparently, this branded the car a lemon, but the dealer never told him. He went to sell the car in 2013, but the Carfax reported it as a lemon and all potential buyers were scared off. I bought it from him for a reduced price, to replace my 2009 Mini, since this car only had 25,000 miles on it.

Its now 2016 and the 2008 Mini has 54,000 miles on it. This car it total garbage. Here's the list of what has broken: 3 tire pressure sensors, all 4 ABS wheel sensors, headlight sensor, ABS module, sunroof motor, radio screen, cruise control module, and exhaust cam solenoid. Maybe this car really is a lemon, but it seems like another electrical component or sensor breaks every few months. Let me reiterate that parts are expensive and that cars are a pain to work on.

If you love Mini's, and really want one, go for it. They will never be a cheap daily driver though. Both of mine were 6 speed manuals, so I never had to deal with the auto transmission issues.

Should I point you over there to the thread where we discuss the sub-$5k prices of manual transmission 2010+ Fiestas? But, sadly, again, "The automatics suck and are unreliable". Clutch pedal is real soft though...are your leg issues more about strength or coordination?

bentwrench wrote: Mine for sale

46k with a new motor...yikes.

A friend of mine wanted a mini. I told him a phrase I stand by today. Friend's don't let friends buy mini coopers.

I had a Mini S as a commuter, purchased it with 16k miles and traded it at 92K miles (when the transmission was replaced under an extended warranty). Generally reliable for the entire time I owned it (just used consumables such as tires and brakes). I traded it in as it scared me that a car would need a new transmission at 92k miles. Like the others said it may be the most fun you can have in a hot hatch car, but many people have stories of problems......

I should have kept our '11 Base Cooper. After 3 years it had only been in the shop once (the day after we got it for a CEL caused by a loose oil cap from the PDI) and at 36k miles still had no rattles or squeaks and was as fun as can be. The '14 we replaced it with has been fun, but has had many recalls and has had a few small trim bits fail on it, as well as having rattles and squeaks. Still love driving it, but it will be the last NEW Cooper we'll have (a '12-13 Roadster might be fun, though). My wife was a MINI Genius at the local dealership and the '11-13 cars tended to be very nice and very little problems.

My wife bought a brand new '05 automatic Cooper in 2004. When it was new it was a nice car. The CVT sucked a lot of the fun out of the car, but it was what she wanted. Handling was still awesome, even with the base suspension. As the car got older it started having too many problems. Here' the list of crap that had to be fixed:

• 30,000mi Brake Pads, rotors and sensors (MINI wanted $1000 to service the brakes, rotors were too far gone to reuse cost me $500 in OEM BMW Parts)
• 35,000mi Oil drain plug rounded off, had to TIG weld on a nut (MINI wanted to replace the structural oil pan for $1500)
• 60,000mi Timing chain tensioner (still didn't fix the rattle)
• 70,000mi Driver's door window regulator (PITA)
• 75,000mi Struts/shocks,front suspension bushings, inner and outer tie rods (required front subframe removal...FUN)
• 80,000mi Transmission serviced ~$200 at a non-BMW MINI specialist, this was to change the fluid on the "filled for life" transmission.
• 85,000mi Engine burnt several exhaust valves, ended up needing the cylinder head rebuilt. At the same time hoses and cracked radiator replaced. Approx $3500 repair bill.

We sold the car with about 95,000mi on it. The issue with the exhaust valves was enough for me. We had owned that car since day 1 and had always kept up with the maintenance. In fact we halved MINI's 10,000mi oil change interval to ensure the engine was happy. It also didn't sit well with me when the independent MINI tech told us the filled for life transmission was B.S. I should have known better but I took MINI at their word.

All in all I probably won't buy another MINI product. We've replaced her car with a Mazda6 GT and I have Mazda3 hatch.

It should be noted the year range of 05 thru 09 covers two entirely different cars.

05 & 06 = R50 model. Yes - this would have a CVT for an automatic transmission and should generally be avoided like the plague.

07-09 = R56 model. These have a more traditional torque-converter automatic. These seem to be reasonably reliable as automatics go.

(unless you're looking at convertibles, in which case the R50 based R52 model is from 05 thru 07. The 08 & 09 was the R56 based R57)

Otherwise, I can't argue too much with what's been said, other than the "ease of working on them". Personally, I don't find them too difficult, but I have a lift which makes a number of operations easier to deal with. Working on MINI's (mainly R53's in my case) is why I bought the lift in the first place.

Wow.! I had no idea being totally unfamiliar with the minis. So I guess it's safe to say that a Mini Cooper is the Renault Le Car for the new millennium, huh?

lnlogauge wrote:

bentwrench wrote: Mine for sale

46k with a new motor...yikes. A friend of mine wanted a mini. I told him a phrase I stand by today. Friend's don't let friends buy mini coopers.

Turbo oil feed line leaked, previous owner did not check oil level. Pretty lame to not notice the puddle......

I owned a R53 and now have a '12 R56 S, so I'm going to disagree with much of what has been said here. My '06 was darn near bullet proof. I sold it at about 100k miles, and the new owner has added another 30k to that with almost no problems. I did brakes once and tires, as well as the timing chain tensioner as preventative maintenance. Only the thermostat housing was a failure.

The '12 so far has been pretty reliable as well, but I haven't had it all that long. I did just replace the struts and put on FSDs, which are amazing by the way, but other than having to replace a tie rod end, which was screwed up by myself taking it off, there has been nothing to write home about.

I read similar posts on here all the time about issues with BMWs and no one complains about the same ones, but if it is on a MINI, run away...run away. Basically MINIs have the exact same problems as other BMWs. If you can keep up one of those, you can do a MINI. I've owned both and they really are not that different to own.

I'm intrigued there isn't more stories of failed timing chains and tensioners on here. I've replaced quite a few over the years. They surprisingly don't have interference issues when they jump time at least.

Coil packs get replaced more often than spark plugs and thermostats/coolant pipes leak often.

PCV's (valve cover assembly) also go bad, which then make them burn lots of oil.

I've noticed the interiors don't age well either. But that might be related to the fact that a lot of my customers treat their MINIs like E36 M3. Interior is filthy and oil is always 2 quarts low

From what I've heard I'd almost be willing to bet the original BMC cars were more reliable than the modern BMW ones.

BrokenYugo wrote: From what I've heard I'd almost be willing to bet the original BMC cars were more reliable than the modern BMW ones.

Having owned an original Mini, most definitely not. Those cars were designed to a price point with the minimum of materials possible. Everything is essentially stressed to near breaking under normal driving conditions. Don't get me wrong, they are a crap-ton of fun to drive, but they were not designed or built with longevity in mind. If I were to have tried to use my car as a DD for my driving (30K+/yr), I doubt it would have survived a year.

Sometimes we forget how poorly most cars were made back then. If you got 100K miles out of a car, it was considered a major achievement (old Volvos notwithstanding). Now it's nothing. Under normal use, many cars needed engine rebuilds before that.

Remember, in the 60s and 70s the 12 month warranty was no as much a warranty to assure the car ran well for 12 months but more a warranty that gave the manufacturer 12 months to get the car running right.

JohnRW1621 wrote: Remember, in the 60s and 70s the 12 month warranty was no as much a warranty to assure the car ran well for 12 months but more a warranty that gave the manufacturer 12 months to get the car running right.

Actually, thanks to Chrysler Corporation, we enjoyed 5 years/50,000 miles for a short time.

I had an R53. Failures were electric PS pump (2x,) pass motor mount, steering column bearing, mushroomed strut tower.

And windshields....lots of windshields. One got cracked literally the first drive after it was replaced.

If you're used to Euro cars, the R53 Cooper S is fine. If you're coming from anything else, it's all downhill from there.

Note that old odometers only had 5 digits on them. It was not expected to make it to 100k.