Have I found it yet?

[Styles]

Well what can I say I was looking at a new S first but then got talked out of it by my woman (what can I say I am whipped!) so have been looking around for a Cooper. I prefer the idea of buying a car second hand because I dont like that whole you loose 10% as soon as you drive off the lot thing. Of course its kinda hard with the Mini as there are so many options!
I have found the following,http://www.drive.com.au/buy/used/det...irst_record=15 which is pretty close to what I am looking for...
Only thing is it's an ex-demo and it is a August 02 build (I have heard the older builds can be a bit dodgy)..
I still havent gone out to Mini Doncaster yet so I havent really seen all there is to see yet but thought this would be a good place to start. So what do you all think?

Chris

[Neeshil]

is that price on the road? It seems quite cheap.

What is the compliance plate of the car?

I have an Aug 02 build car (which i bought in may this year), although i wasn't aware it was aug 02 build until after I bought it. (doh!)

Main thing about Aug 02 is that it is a model year 2002 rather than model year 2003 (which starts in sep 2002).

Some of the main differences are: No 'brake pad warning light', Head unit can't have AUX (auxiliary input) connected to it (eg for connecting mp3 players). Also the 03 has no power socket in boot, a different shelf under the steering wheel, different boot mechanism.

The mini is a great car. You will be happy as anything. Generally though I would recommend getting as late a build date as possible as they continually iron out problems each month.

Neeshil

[Styles]

Heya Neeshil, thanks for the reply. The price for that is on road, bad part being half the people in Melbourne have probably thrashed it during test drived, but hey its only 500k's worth .
The other option could be this one, http://www.drive.com.au/buy/used/det...first_record=0 does anyone know if you can have a roof painted white aftermarket? And if so how much does it cost and does it come out looking good?

I saw your info on the iPod hooking up Neeshil, great little guide thanks! Would those steps work on a Aug 02 Build?
I have seen they have fm tuners for iPods now which might also be a good option.
One quirky thing I noticed with the mini Radio is that it only tunes down to 87.8 which isnt good as my favourite radio station is Street Fm on 87.6, has anyone else noticed this?

[Neeshil]

Yeah the cars do get a bit of thrashing

My dealer replaced my 2002 radio with the 2003 radio as they had blatantly mislead me during my purchase. (I specifically told them when i was picking it up that I was glad I was getting a 2003 car because of the AUX input - he remained silent when i said that)

So in short, the Aug 02 more than likely will NOT be able to use AUX input.

I don't like the FM tuner options. It is one more thing to have inthe car and I don't think people have been that succesful with the sound quality. There are some other options for hooking up the ipod butthey are more expensive. (My cable cost me $2.50 in parts plus some cables I had at home)

Perhaps you could get them to swap in a newer head unit as part of the purchase price?

[Styles]

Neeshil thanks for all the info! I will see what I can swing with the dealer, I still havent seen dave at Doncaster Mini yet so wont really make my mind up till then. Either way it seems like I am going to end up with a car that's far better than the hunk of junk I am currently driving . Think I might have to just pay the extra few K and get a new one, that way I can be sure of getting everything I want and nice and new...
While I am hammering away with questions does anyone know of any companies giving good rates on Corporate Higher Purchase finance?

Chris

[Neeshil]

, I was going to ask you if your are financing it or not.

I went with CBFC. I think I got 6.52% or so, but the rates have gone up since then.

I actually went with a Chattel Mortgage which lets you claim the GST upfront from the government (well actually with your next BAS). I then used that as a 'deposit' to reduce the loan at the start.

Make sure you take a good look at the figures. You may find a brand new car is only a bit more per month.

[cjay]

Quote: Originally Posted by Styles

Well what can I say I was looking at a new S first but then got talked out of it by my woman (what can I say I am whipped!) so have been looking around for a Cooper. I prefer the idea of buying a car second hand because I dont like that whole you loose 10% as soon as you drive off the lot thing. Of course its kinda hard with the Mini as there are so many options!
I have found the following,http://www.drive.com.au/buy/used/det...irst_record=15 which is pretty close to what I am looking for...
Only thing is it's an ex-demo and it is a August 02 build (I have heard the older builds can be a bit dodgy)..
I still havent gone out to Mini Doncaster yet so I havent really seen all there is to see yet but thought this would be a good place to start. So what do you all think?

Chris

Hi Styles

I've owned an August 02 build Cooper and I now own a May 03 Cooper.

The new Cooper is a huge improvement on the 02 car in many ways and the build quality is soooooo much better.

After driving a lot of demos and meeting a many people who have had fun in a demo I would never buy one.

Having said all that the PW Cooper in the ad has a lot of options and would be a bargain.


Tough call.

cjay.

[erichui]

hey guys just want to ask a quick questions.
so mine cooper S is a sept 02 build, and i have heard before that starting from sept 02 that they will be 03 model. so does that mean mine is a 03 model then??
however i thought that mine is a 02 since i dont have those sports pedel, or is it that the first few batch of 03 doesnt have it?

[Styles]

Thanks for all the info!
I think I will ahev to check out a Chattel Mortgage as it sounds like it may be something right up my alley. Hard part of the entire process sint working out to get a mini but deciding which one!

[gazah]

* i've yet to see a demo of any car advertised at an on-the-road price... most [if not all] dealers will go on to tell you that there's the 3% stamp-duty owing given that it's changing owners after being previously registered... worth a check!

* that pepper white cooper is super-spec'd... great for you, but i dunno how such a car would go at re-sale time! with 17"s / full leather / ASC+T / fogs it's almost an MCS, just without the supercharger & potential insurance hassles! if you think about yourself, i get the feeling you pretty much want an MCS, but are taking the MC as a trade-off against price - i would suspect the same will happen with potential buyers at re-sale... i would personally go a lower-spec S!

* i'm told roof-painting is possible but remarkably difficult [BMW speak for costly! ]... my dealer considered this option for me when i purchased, but he lost interest & confidence in the idea quite quickly!

* i've got my MCS & my wife's PUG through BMW finance... their advertised rates aren't the best around [but still quite competitive]... but they'll match anything else you can find! i don't actually have an ABN etc, so signed up for a 'business hire purchase' package & managed ~6.7% if i remember rightly! also, look at early termination costs... they're not only relevant if you sell, but also if your car is stolen / written off etc... & bmw finance doesn't have any such costs! [although it goes without saying that with any such finance you will always pay off most interest in the initial period, leaving primarily residual towards the end [if you were to bail out early, you've pretty much paid all the interest anyway!]

hope this all helps - i can just remember it was a big step for me also... upgrading from my nan's old 1988 nissan pintara station-wagon [with roof-racks] to the MCS! but you won't regret a damn thing!

btw, neeshil... what's this 'brake pad warning light' you mentioned? looks like i'll need to a little mini2 search to find out?

good luck with the purchase

[bkwalker]

here is my opinion,

if you get the white cooper then u have to get the aerokit!
i love the look of the white cooper with aerokit!!!

as for the MCS it looks pretty hot too! i guess it depends where your priorities lie..

as for the iPod hookup, ive got a jul 02 MCS and i managed to hook up the iPod via the CD changer wires in the boot.. basically you buy an adapter and then some RCA wires and then press MODE on your stereo and then the ipod plays through the cd changer!
its expensive though.. 100 bucks for an adapter... but worth it

good luck.. and let us know what you do!
im sure either purchase will be a blast!

[jasemini]

BMW Finance are excellent and so is BMW Insurance in particular the insurance gives you automatic windscreen cover, you want that on any policy!!

As for the S or Cooper debate, if you really want an S you will be dispointed with a Cooper, that's not to say that the Cooper is a bad car, it's a MINI and it's great, but many guys I know who have Coopers really want an S and have used the Cooper as a stepping stone to the S. Understandably you have to keep your partner happy too. Just think about what you both really want out of the car and how you might feel if you buy the Cooper when you really wanted the S, a base model S is still spec'd nicely with Multi Function Wheel and Interior Light Package as standard, it has great saftey features, a good stereo and great seats, not to mention that extra power and sports suspension. A spec'd up Cooper is nice but is just a spec'd up Cooper and that will be refelcted at re-sale, but from what the others are saying the second hand one that's highly spec'd is a great price. Quite a kunundrum.

Listen to the voice that says "Buy the S, Buy the S, Buy the S" but then later it will say "Buy the JCW Kit, Buy the JCW Kit, Buy the JCW Kit" it can't say that if you buy a Cooper.

[Neeshil]

Yeah just check the get-out early clauses in the leases etc.. A lot of them use the rule of 48 to calculate your interest repayments. (Which basically means you pay a disproportionate amount of interest in the first years of your loan, and don't reduce the balance of the car amount owing by much) In other words if you get out after 1.5 years you basically pay interest for 3 years.

It is a dodgy method of calculation. Some companies will apply normal methods of calculation when getting out early if you go on another lease with them with the new car.

Neeshil

Quote: Originally Posted by gazah

btw, neeshil... what's this 'brake pad warning light' you mentioned? looks like i'll need to a little mini2 search to find out?

I remember reading it somewhere. All cars from Sep 2002 have this. Just a warning light when brake pads getting worn out.

[gazah]

hmmm... i'm oct 02 & don't [think] i have a brake-pad warning! i remember reading some people whinging that we didn't have it, but i can't remember anything confirming it on the mini!

now for that forum search i had planned...

[gazah]

'brake pad warning' from ~march '03... or so paul mullet says!

http://www.mini2.com/forum/showpost....24&postcount=1