Mini Dilemma
 

Hi everyone,

Am new here and am in search of my first mini. I find that Coopers are very expensive in terms on financing and that there is much less wiggle room with mini as compared to most other, or should I say more affordable, names. I guess that is because they are technically a higher end vehicle and target a different market.

What I like is that the older 03-05 models do not have a stark contrast in looks to newer models, as compared to say Nissan or Honda, where even the 09's look a world better than the 08's... not to mention the 03's! I want an 03-05 Cooper S because I will be able to find one for 15-20k CAD as opposed to 40k CAD for an 09 S.

The real difficulty is, I guess, in finding a car that was well maintained. I would try to go through a private sale and aim for an older driver with relatively low kms per year owned. I would judge the situation as it happened. So, thinking that you can get a well maintained (and well driven) mini with upwards of 100k kilometers for under 15k CAD and low financing, I would prefer that over paying double for a newer model.

The question I have is what the average life of a mini is, which parts are problematic in 03-05 models, and how much certain parts cost to replace. For example, those Xeon headlights... how much are those (sounds expensive)?

I want a nice car like a mini. To me, instead of paying 20k for a new budget type of car I rather buy a 5k$ used car just to get me from point a to b. I want to enjoy my car, and a Mini is a quality car I really enjoyed test driving.

Your comments and advice would be much appreciated!

Thanks

RE: Mini Dilemma
 

Low mile Mini's really hold their values well , They offered me $3k less then I paid on my 05 for a trade in on an 08 , Having a car for 3 years and only loosing $3k is unheard of ... I'm sure they were planning on doing certified Preowned "mini next" Have you looked into that ???

Early ones had auto tranny troubles and were VERY pricey to repair ... Stick shifts are bulletproof and cheaper to maintain

Just keep looking. Nice, well maintained ones do exist. I agree with a private party being a generally safer option (not always). The life of a most any car is in line with it's care, and the basic sanity of the owner(s).