Howdy, folks! As you may be able to infer, my automotive proclivities veer into other automotive realms, but a new home requires me to buy a new car - before I was able to rely on subway or bike, but no longer.

So initially I had been intent on getting a $5k beater, but then I thought I'd up it a bit and get something a bit more professional. As my new digs are in Cali and gas is out of this world (not to mention the traffic), I'm interested in something that's easy on gas. For an enthusiast with those requirements, there are several brands that stand out, such as Mini and VW. I think the VW GTI is a bit too rich for my blood, and anything that's affordable is high mileage, so for the most part I've nixed that. But what about the Mini Cooper?

I found a base Cooper at a dealership. It had a manual tranny (mandatory) and sunroof (leaning towards mandatory). It was high mileage, but considering a Mini dealer was selling it, my mind was put at east a bit. However, I've been seduced by the supercharger, so I put that one in my back pocket. (I have a rental to tide me over in the meantime.)

So I have managed to find some reasonable supercharged Cooper Ss, but they all are from used car dealers, which is a crapshoot (I guess buying used is always a crapshoot, eh?). I don't have cash (yet) so that means I can't buy from a private individual.

I've tested a number of them and am starting to figure out the ones that are better than others. Underhood inspections are mandatory, I've learned, as I saw a nice green/beige one with parts missing; it was about 80k miles for $8900 but it was a lesser car than the others.

Another one had a gawd-awful paint job in orange with fluorescent stripes, but the seller told me it was John Cooper Racing colors, so I figured it was worth a look. Car pulled strong but I thought the AC was broken (or is it a weak link in all Minis?).

Found another one in yellow but didn't like how it looked (I've seen nicer yellow ones on the street) so I'm putting that one in my back pocket.

But overall LA is full of stick Mini Cooper Ss, some with more mileage than others. I think with a little patience (I have the rental through the 11th), I may find the right car. Or I'll take that $7700 Cooper or that $11900 yellow S (and bargain with either to get the price down).

I have learned about some variances among the ones I've tested, like stripes and speedometer/tachometer, so my main mission is to find a buyer's guide or something to educate me. I know there's a lot of crap sites and bad info online so if you can steer me in a good direction, it would be appreciated. Otherwise, I have yet to check out this site so I'll start here first.

Regards,

=diego=

PS> Any other car recommendations? I'm all ears.