£5-6k budget; considering a MINI Cooper...

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Robi

Robi

Robi

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Long story short; I no longer require a diesel as my annual mileage is pretty much half of what it originally was. My current car is an A3 2.0 TDI S-Line DSG; not the most exciting to drive but the return on fuel was good and due to a whole host of extras, it wasn't a bad place to sit for extended periods of time.

New requirement is for a fun, economical and low running cost car. Current book value of my A3 is £6k, without taking into account the optional extras. Therefore my budget for the new car is up to £6k, ideally with some change.

First things first, I know the Cooper is feminine car. I honestly don't care. Already driven one and it was fun to drive, economical and in general, a nice place to be. The running costs are low; £300 for a set of quality tyres including fitting, £200-300 for major service at main dealer etc. Insurance is also stupidly cheap in comparison to my current car (circa £700/y in comparison to £1300).

Within my budget I can pickup an 06/07 Cooper 1.6, sub 50k miles, FMSH and a variety of extras such as the Chilli Pack and half-leather.

Obviously my research isn't nearly as accurate as genuine experience. So, if you own a Cooper, what are the running costs? Any particular faults I need to look out for?

Also, any other cars to consider? Fiesta Zetec is an option. Not sure how it compares to the Cooper driving experience...

Thanks.

:cool:
 
We love our Cooper, and have one with the "John Cooper Sound Kit" which I thought was just a rorty exhaust till I googled it. The kit adds 11 BHP and great noise (not overly loud) and I would heartily recommend it.

I'm getting 32mpg on the school/station run, with a reasonably heavy right foot, and enjoy it every time I drive it. It uses no oil, and (the admittedly basic) interior seems quite hard wearing, although the plastic interior handles exhibit loads of tiny scratches, and the fit/finish is not as good as the JCW versions, although that is to be expected. We have the panoramic sunroof and I'd gladly not have it. The surround sometimes squeaks, and the car is unbearably noisy from the wind with it fully open. Tilt mode is fine, but the cheap netting sunshade detracts overall. The sunshades are tiny, and the wrong shape, as the sun seems to get round them a lot, which is more of a problem due to the times of day I'm driving it than anything else.

The seats seem hard, and a little uncomfortable when you first get in, but after a few seconds I don't notice this anymore, and I'm never uncomfortable whilst, or after, driving it.

I think it's well built, a brilliant drive and I wouldn't hesitate to buy another, although I might prefer an S for the added go, as acceleration in the higher gears could be better.

If anything, why not look at an older one? You will still lose about a grand a year in depreciation, as our 35K 2002 model is only worth about 3-3.5K whilst not looking dramatically different to the 2006 model. This of course is moot if you are trading your Audi in.

Edit due to the comments below: The power steering pump can get noisy and need replacing. Ours is a little whiny on full lock. No other problems as yet.
 
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Used to have a R56 56 plate Cooper.. Go for the Chilli pack if you can get it. Pretty sure it adds things like Xenons (at least it does with the Cooper S)

Generally they're not bad on reliability albeit I would say keep an eye on your coolant levels as they have a habit of the housing just going spontaneously (Happened to be on at least 2 occasions)

Fuel.. again generally not too bad.. I seem to remember getting somewhere in the 30s with economy and that was with a heavy right foot.

As for the 'girly' thing. You'll get abused here but if you like em.. you like em! MINI generally is a bit like Marmite. The handling and fun you have driving it will soon have you forgetting the haters ;)
 
Careful what age you get though as there were ones between a certain age that were on watchdog last months for reliability issues. I can't remember off the top of my head which ones though.
 
They were on watch dog because of the power steering pump fault I believe, which has been an issue with the R50/53 since day one.

Later cars were built better, but the R50 isn't exactly the pinnacle of reliability.
 
04/54 backwards tended to have the Midlands gearbox and the dodgy power steering pumps. The newer face lifted models (Not the current ones, the ones with the round rear lights) had better pumps and the getrag gearboxes and were a lot better also.
 
PudWud said:
Careful what age you get though as there were ones between a certain age that were on watchdog last months for reliability issues. I can't remember off the top of my head which ones though.
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This was the most amazingly crap Watchdog feature ever. A bunch of people with 10 year old Mini's crying that Mini UK wouldnt fix the cars for free.

One of the people whinging had a 12 year old Mini Cooper!?!
 
The sheer number of 52/03/53 registration Minis on the road tends to belie the Watchdog programme, should it concern you. There are four 10 year old Minis on our short street/road. All in daily use, two Coopers and two Ones.

I personally don't watch Watchdog, mainly because of that shrewish harlot, but also generally because of situations like Fox points out.
 
I'd be well upset if I had to change the PAS pump on a 12 year old car, I mean it's not even a well documented issue that would show up with a bit of research. Oh. Wait.
 
they are decent enough, definitely go for a facelift model at least if you are just going for the cooper - pas and coolant tanks are the two things i've seen go wrong most often.
I would say with your budget you should be able to get a decent one quite easily, if necessary I would go slightly older to make sure you get the chilli pack, I also had the panoramic sunroof which made a difference
 
Early R56 Minis have lots of problems with them, go for 2008 or newer but costs are higher.

The last R50s were quite good (Gen 1s), and handle better then the current model.

Early R50s (pre August 2004) had the Midland gearbox and that is made of cheese, do avoid them.

16" wheels are best for handling/cost
 
Thanks for the replies guys. Checked the usual outlets (Pistonheads and Auto Trader) and put together a draft shortlist;

05, 39k, Astro Black, 2 owners - £5,790

05, 46k, Metallic Hyper Blue - £5,295

06, 45k, Red - £5,695

08, 47k, Black, 2 owners - £5,990

06, 60k, Silver with JCW, 2 owners - £6,000

In terms of optional extras and aesthetics, the second Cooper is clearly the winner. Xenons, Chilli Pack, Cruise Control, Harman Kardon Hi Fi, Privacy Glass and 17" Cooper S Alloys, amongst other extras. It also comes with full dealership history, 12 months MOT, excellent tyre condition and excellent bodywork. The only downside is the errr... slightly odd choice of interior.

What do you guys think?
 
The 08 is interesting in that it's an R56, but its very very cheap for an 08 R56. Provided it's not dodgy in some sort of way its the clear winner.

My GF has an R56 Cooper. My thoughts:

Pros:

a) Looks great inside and out. It's a fun car to own. You can't get away with stupid stickers and ridiculous speedos on any other car. A Mini is just a laugh to look at
b) Fantastic handling - it handles really well
c) Great residual values - holds its value better than any other car of its type
d) Reasonable ownership costs through the dealer network with low cost warranty and fixed servicing costs

Cons:

a) The Cooper is slow and thirsty. I don't mind slow and frugal. I don't mind fast and thirsty. But slow and thirsty just seems annoying. It's the only car I've driven which seems do pretty much the same mpg whatever you do with it. Motorway? High 40's. Mixed use? Low 40's.

In hindsight I doubt a Cooper S would have cost any more to run than this Cooper - it can't be THAT much more thirsty given it's a direct injection turbocharged 1.6 (in the later ones) and the tyre costs etc are the same.

I got just 47mpg driving it back from the dealer, to only get 10mpg more from a 1.6 hatch than I'd get from a 10 year older 3 litre 5 Series just seemed odd.

b) Irritating build quality in places. Some of the plastics are just shoddy. I'm looking at you, interior door grab handle. It also rattles - it has no less than 3 seperate rattles so far and this is on a 2012 car with 5k miles. My 200k 5 Series has no rattles. RAGE

c) Really, really noisy inside. You sometimes need to raise your voice to have a conversation on the Motorway. Suspect this is 17 inch wheels and Bridgestone RFT's

d) Shockingly poor ride quality. Suspect reason as per above.

A set of 15's is going on next weekend.
 
[TW]Fox;25257942 said:
The 08 is interesting in that it's an R56, but its very very cheap for an 08 R56. Provided it's not dodgy in some sort of way its the clear winner.

My GF has an R56 Cooper. My thoughts:

Pros:

a) Looks great inside and out. It's a fun car to own. You can't get away with stupid stickers and ridiculous speedos on any other car. A Mini is just a laugh to look at
b) Fantastic handling - it handles really well
c) Great residual values - holds its value better than any other car of its type
d) Reasonable ownership costs through the dealer network with low cost warranty and fixed servicing costs

Cons:

a) The Cooper is slow and thirsty. I don't mind slow and frugal. I don't mind fast and thirsty. But slow and thirsty just seems annoying. It's the only car I've driven which seems do pretty much the same mpg whatever you do with it. Motorway? High 40's. Mixed use? Low 40's.

In hindsight I doubt a Cooper S would have cost any more to run than this Cooper - it can't be THAT much more thirsty given it's a direct injection turbocharged 1.6 (in the later ones) and the tyre costs etc are the same.

I got just 47mpg driving it back from the dealer, to only get 10mpg more from a 1.6 hatch than I'd get from a 10 year older 3 litre 5 Series just seemed odd.

b) Irritating build quality in places. Some of the plastics are just shoddy. I'm looking at you, interior door grab handle. It also rattles - it has no less than 3 seperate rattles so far and this is on a 2012 car with 5k miles. My 200k 5 Series has no rattles. RAGE

c) Really, really noisy inside. You sometimes need to raise your voice to have a conversation on the Motorway. Suspect this is 17 inch wheels and Bridgestone RFT's

d) Shockingly poor ride quality. Suspect reason as per above.

A set of 15's is going on next weekend.
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In terms of identifying an R53 or R56, from what I can tell, the R56 doesn't feature the split front grill whereas the R53 does?

The general consensus from below is to avoid the R50 and go for either an R53 or R56 because of the midland gearbox, amongst other design faults. Fox, any specific reason to avoid the R53? It looks like the R56 is just within budget, however the downside is the lack of extras.

Surely worth considering a fully loaded R53 that has been well maintained and serviced?

Thanks for the help.
 
Worth mentioning that I considered a Fiesta, specifically the Zetec model. However the depreciation is daft and a Fiesta isn't exactly the most exhilarating of drives?!

Anything else I should look at?
 
All R53s have getrag gearboxes which are strong, the downside being poor mpgs and high tax.

R56s have different side scuttles (bit with the side indicator), they slant towards the bonnet shut line, whereas R50/53 is an ovalish style.
 
The wife has a 2007 cooper s works.

It's had its issues over the years but BMW and our local dealer have been excellent. Still covering repairs under warranty/free of charge as recently as last month.

I find people generally fall into two groups as far as modern MINIs are concerned. People who like them and people who think they are girls cars/a stain on the MINI name/overpriced/insert comment here
 
My business partner's brother used to have one- it was great fun but murdered front tyres if driven reasonably spiritedly. Not a big issue, but worth a mention running-cost wise.
 
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