Good price for cooper?

[Marshmule]

Ill find out Monday if I have been accepted for finance on a cooper I have found.

Its a 51 (2002) Mini Cooper in Silver, with 21k on the clock, 1 owner and FSH.
Its doesnt have the large 8 spokes but the smaller ones (dont know their name)

The car also doesnt have the cooper stripes, does that determine a slightly different model or were they optional extra's?

This mini was against another Mini an 03 plate Mini cooper in black, 56k miles, 2 owners and FSH. with the larger 8 spoke alloys.

To be fair i think the second mini looked a bit sportier but in terms of what the sensible option was i think its the first one. Im sure it was only the wheels that made the difference.

Both mini's were 8k

Does that sound reasonable?

 

[feenster99]

I recently part exxed a '51 plate Cooper. It was dreadful! A great looking car, with a great spec (heated leather seats, panoramic glass roof etc), but had so many issues. To be fair, most of them should have been sorted under warranty when it still applied.

But, if you are keen on the '51 plate, check it doesn't pull to the left when driving - they changed the design of the suspension in late 2002 IIRC, and replaced some of the early ones under warranty. There are plenty of other things that were altered after first being released, such as the cowel vents on the bonnet. These were initially made with a foam insert, but this felt to pieces after some sun and car shampoo Hence, they were altered to fully plastic units, and replaced under warranty - another sign of whether the car you are looking at has been looked after. Other bits such as the front seat release handle were updated in 2002 as well.

The bonnet stripes were an option, as were the larger wheels (the 8 spokes are called S Spokes by the way). My advice would be to forget the '51 plate MINI - mine had so many issues, and BMW just weren't interested when I wrote to them for help. Also, there are so many MINI's around now that you don't have to jump for an early one with a basic spec.

Cheers,
Matt

 

[thepharcyde]

For 8k, I would be looking elseware. Agreed they are good looking cars, but they have so many niggles and the build quality is very poor inside. The engine is a raw chrysler unit made in Brazil. I kept mine for 6 months, and had a new gear box, 2 clutches, a flywheel, aux belt & windscreen, Maybe I got a bad one, but the hire ones mine replaced when in for repair still rattled squeeked and generally had a poor ride (i had RFT though)

 

[Marshmule]

I recently part exxed a '51 plate Cooper. It was dreadful! A great looking car, with a great spec (heated leather seats, panoramic glass roof etc), but had so many issues. To be fair, most of them should have been sorted under warranty when it still applied.

But, if you are keen on the '51 plate, check it doesn't pull to the left when driving - they changed the design of the suspension in late 2002 IIRC, and replaced some of the early ones under warranty. There are plenty of other things that were altered after first being released, such as the cowel vents on the bonnet. These were initially made with a foam insert, but this felt to pieces after some sun and car shampoo Hence, they were altered to fully plastic units, and replaced under warranty - another sign of whether the car you are looking at has been looked after. Other bits such as the front seat release handle were updated in 2002 as well.

The bonnet stripes were an option, as were the larger wheels (the 8 spokes are called S Spokes by the way). My advice would be to forget the '51 plate MINI - mine had so many issues, and BMW just weren't interested when I wrote to them for help. Also, there are so many MINI's around now that you don't have to jump for an early one with a basic spec.

Cheers,
Matt

I opted for the 51 but its still not to late, would it be wiser me opting for the 03 even though it has 30k+ more miles?

thanks for adivce guys, much appreciated.

 

[thepharcyde]

I opted for the 51 but its still not to late, would it be wiser me opting for the 03 even though it has 30k+ more miles?

thanks for adivce guys, much appreciated.

July 04 onwards facelift model mate, if you are dead set on a mini.

 

[feenster99]

I really wouldn't go for the '51 plate - so many things were fixed under warranty, and there's a good chance the '51 won't have had them done. Go for the '03, or better still, an '04 or letter to get the facelifted model.

Matt