first post! be easy on me! i have been interested in the new minis since they came out, and even test-drove a black "S" a few years ago, but we decided it was too small for a "family" car. now, my wife has a toyota rav4, and i have a ford f150 4x4 work truck. anyway, last saturday i hit a deer and totalled my daily-driver tacoma, and i think i am in the market for a mini, now!

my wife and i drove all over n.c. yesterday, and looked at, and test drove about 8 minis, but didn't make a deal. i still have 3 that i need to get to see, but it will probably be a few days before i have time to "shop" more.

i am thinking i like the early (02-03, maybe 04-05ish) manual-transmission cars, but am keeping an open mind. i am finding a lot of cars with 120-150,000 miles. is this too many miles for a well-maintained mini to continue to be trouble-free? are there any potential problems that i need to look out for?

any free advice is appreciated!

 

Greetings and welcome! I'm also a new owner, picked up a low mileage '05 S just prior to moving here to North Carolina.

If you are in the Raleigh area, I stopped by Flow Mini in NE Raleigh today to get a new rear wiper insert. They were pretty helpful, and had several available. They had a used '06 'S' convertible model that was manual, with 77k miles, 2006 MINI Cooper Convertible for sale in Raleigh - WMWRH33526TF86328 - Flow MINI of Raleigh.

I try to stay away from cars with greater than 100k miles, unless you are technically able and have the equipment to do your own maintenance.

From your handle, happen to be at Bragg?