In reply to Duke:
Not always. I was quoted 2k once, 900 another. Never been quoted as low as 500.
In reply to Duke:
Not always. I was quoted 2k once, 900 another. Never been quoted as low as 500.
so far at a year in with the e46, I'm at 700-1000 bucks in repairs.
including the CCV, new intake gaskets, new o rings on the injectors, new injector (broke one taking the intake off....), all new brake rotors and pads, new coolant lines to the heater core, and the hedgehog.
Already done by PO: entire coolant system. (minus the two lines to the heatercore.)
It will need in the next year: shocks/bushings all the way around. (still on the originals). and the a/c fixed. (so around 1k in repairs I know of).
it is an Auto. If it was manual I'd buy her a mini and start using the e46 myself.
She has no interest in keeping it if it's not repaired. SO I'd have to replace the hood ($250), and the trunk ($150). and pay someone to pdr the roof. plus repair it.
Jon Welsh, that's exactly what I think will happen. "here's 5k for it, 4k to get it back"... Have to be a dealer in my state to purchase cars at auction, which adds expense.
In reply to Duke:
In my direct experience, the insurance would not let the car go for $500 but rather $2,800 or about half its total value. I had hoped that State Farm would sell it to the owner for $500 and I was offering him $1,200 once he owned it back. That was not to be and letting it go to auction resulted in me owning it even cheaper.
Keith Tanner wrote:captdownshift wrote: It doesn't apply within the $5 range, but if I $25K to spend and wanted a quick Mini, I'd head to go fast Minis in Georgia and get a restored original Mini with a Honda powerplant for a the reliability aspect when compared against modern Minis. The additional performance would merely be a bonus.Classic Minis are unreliable in lots of ways, not just the powerplantIt's part of the LBC Experience (TM).
A classic Mini is a great weekend toy, but as a daily driver in modern traffic? Berk no. And that has more to do with the car's horrific crash-worthiness than general road performance. The seats belts are less for protecting you during a crash than for keeping the bloody bits from exiting the car and thus making clean-up easier for the EMT/coroner.
Unfortunately, this is something I know from personal experience (except the EMT/coroner bit). 
Mad_Ratel wrote: Goal is a reliable car. Potentially some shens autocrossing at a later date. She's pretty heart broken about some of the comments. Especially when I told her that "if GRM guys say it's too much work, then you KNOW it needs tons of work. These guys buy AMG cars and rebuild them to save money." We have two kids in child seats. (3 and 1) No rear facing. Should probably mention that.
Move along. Had one. Rear facing is harder than forward, but loading anything in the car with a car seat is 80% impossible with 1 kid. That moves up to 95% if two kids. They're brilliant fun, but they are not family vehicles.
A buddy of mine inherited his dad's 06 R53S 6-speed daily driver. Stuff happens, but none of it is ultra unreasonable to DIY, and it's a really fun car to drive. There's more space in there than you think, and two front-facing car seats will (barely) fit if you're under 6'1". Tons of in-cabin storage thanks to the incredibly large door bins, and the stereo isn't CAN-BUS'd so an aftermarket deck with bluetooth isn't hard or expensive to install. I'd go for a late R53S over an R56 any day of the week, as the R56s really aren't a ton of fun to own.
OK, once again I will go against the grain here. I'm on my second MINI, a 2012 R56 S. At 52k it has been pretty reliable with the only failure I can find being a coil pack. It has had service by the book since new, with more frequent oil changes at 5k miles instead of 15k, and no mods at all except Koni FSD struts.
My old R53 was a 2006 model that I sold to a friend's wife. It has been nothing but reliable since day 1. It's had a couple of failures in it's life, most recently a pulley for the accessory belt, and I changed the thermostat housing and did brakes once, along with a timing chain tensioner as preventative maintenance. But it does have 130k miles at this point.
I've found MINIs to be fairly reliable and on par with BMW. If you are used to taking care of a BMW, the MINI is no different. They have the same issues at the same mileage. Actually they typically have less than what my dad experiences with his BMWs as they are far less complicated.
If you really want one, the latest ones in each generation are ones to go for. They have most of the gremlins fixed from earlier years.
A note on the differences between the two gens. The R56 is faster, period. A lot faster in a straight line, but the R53 is more rewarding to drive. The R56 has the variable electronic power steering, where the R53 doesn't and simply feels better. The R53 is more tossable as well. For a daily driver, I prefer the R56, but if I were buying a track car, I'd probably go R53. In fact, they are so different in feel, I've sorta looking for a nice R53 JCW as a companion.
I had a 2005 MCS. Had just over 100k on the clock when I totaled her. Had her for 3 yrs, the only major problems I had were the slave cylinder going out (which was replaced along with the strut bushings, and a couple of other things under extended warranty) and the AC system which was also replaced under warranty (the harmonic balancer separated while it was in the shop and the shop covered that). Things I paid for, tires, boot struts, oil changes, and the goop filled passenger side motor mount. I now have a 2011 MCS and it is quicker than the 05, but the driving experience is a step removed from the 05. Things to look out for on the R53s are the clutch after 100K+, and the supercharger after 100k. MINI no longer makes the supercharger so a remanned unit is the only way out. As for durability, mine died with just over 100k, but that's because I put her in the guardrail. One of the club members here has an 02 with almost 300k on the clock. It's a pretty simple car to work on. The only cosmetic problem I had is that the headliner was starting to droop, rumor has it it's a 700.00 fix, with most of that getting it out and putting it back in. Were I to do it again, I probably would have found the cleanest, lowest mileage 05-06 R53 I could find and go with it.
I did a water pump in one. I will never own one of those.
Dusterbd13 wrote: In reply to Duke: Not always. I was quoted 2k once, 900 another. Never been quoted as low as 500.
I've never been quoted over $500. I must drive E36 M3boxes.
My friend that I carry piled to work with went through a first and second gen mini. They were both were constantly in the shop for some $1000 dollar repair. And that's on top of the maintenance and repairs he did himself. He eventually got fed up with it and bought a civic Si.
so, we bought CPO clubman S. 2013, 34k miles. I think abit high in price but she's super happy. I cannot get over how this car handles and drives. Already found a salvage title 2011 for myself... going to see if after a week the fever dies down or not. The clubman is perfect for daily kid delivery. An S would work for whenever she cannot pick them up and I need to.
Pictures later.
My condolences. 
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