[Burbler]

First post, go easy.

The wife is looking for a Mini Cooper or the S as long as it looks "sporty"(it's all about image)

She has around 8.5-9k and her spec is as follows......
Black,Grey, light Blue
Half leather
Under 40k miles
Good nik

I have been looking on Auto Trader, Pistonheads and "here" but there is little about even upto 100 mile distance. Are these cars that rare?

We have been to look at 2 and they have been rather nasty examples. The one we looked at today was a dog, MY03 Cooper,35k, kerbed alloys, bald front tyres,marked arch mouldings, marked seats etc, etc, 9495

Any comments/advice appreciated.

Ps. Not really found my way around the site yet.

[Lorri]

Hmm we sold our S privately through Autotrader for £10,500 last year, 3 years old and low mileage. It was in good condition too... you may have to increase your budget But we had dozens of calls even after it had been sold. Wherabouts are you? and have you looked at Mini Cherished?

Oh and welcome to MINI2

[Minnie Mouse]

Good luck with the hunt Burbler!

Oh and welcome to Mini2

[Burbler]

Quote: Originally Posted by Lorraine (original)

Hmm we sold our S privately through Autotrader for £10,500 last year, 3 years old and low mileage. It was in good condition too... you may have to increase your budget But we had dozens of calls even after it had been sold. Wherabouts are you? and have you looked at Mini Cherished?

Oh and welcome to MINI2

Thanks.

I have looked at Mini Cherished but feel they may be overpriced? Perhaps I may need to be more patient.
Why sell the MCS. Are there any down sides with these cars ?
We are in Stockport by the way.

[Lorri]

Quote: Originally Posted by Burbler (original)

Thanks.

I have looked at Mini Cherished but feel they may be overpriced? Perhaps I may need to be more patient.
Why sell the MCS. Are there any down sides with these cars ?
We are in Stockport by the way.

Personal reasons

And as far as I was concerned there were no downsides with the car other than the amount of petrol we got through

[laura f]

Hello & welcome

I'd reckon with the budget you have you'll be lucky to find an S and possibly even a cooper with mileage that low, what about a ONE and doing some modifications to it to make it go a bit faster and look better when funds allow?

It's a bit like buying houses, there is always a compromise unless you get lucky! Good luck

[Scrogg]

Quote: Originally Posted by Burbler (original)

Are these cars that rare?

For £8.5-£9k they are, yes

There are very few Cooper S that cost less than £18k new which, combined with the extremely strong resale values of MINIs in general, means they just haven't fallen that far yet.

You'll have more (but not much more) luck finding a Cooper that fits your budget.

As Laura has just said, if the image is the most important thing to Mrs Burbler, more so than performance etc, why not look for a One with the extras that make it look the part?

[Burbler]

Quote: Originally Posted by Scrogg (original)

As Laura has just said, if the image is the most important thing to Mrs Burbler, more so than performance etc, why not look for a One with the extras that make it look the part?

Because finding a One with leather is like hens teeth

Looks like she will have to do more time on the streets to raise more cash then.

[Arnbut]

Read the obituaries?
It's a bit morbid but I've gotten some incredible bargains in the past that way.
You can't take it with you, right?

[lespurgeon]

Sorry, can't help - but best of luck.

[pardonator]

I think you could find one for that price and mileage but when 1 does pop up for sale it'll be sure to sell quick. When selling my previous Cooper S I didn't quite realize just how popular they were, I had 9 phone calls in the first day and a guy came down the same day and took it away. I'd say keep on monitoring Pistonheads and autotrader but prepare to move fast

[JAMIE1131]

MINI Cherished is probably a good move, but, like everyone else I think you will struggle to find a Cooper S with leather and low mileage for less than 10K. mine was 3 years old, 60K on the clock and cost me £10450 fully loaded with full leather, cruise etc. It was far and away the cheapest car available at the time.

Just did a quick search of the MINI cherished website. There are only 7 MINI Cooper S on there nationwide for less than 10K, only one with less than 40K on the clock but its a low spec.
Go on, stretch the budget, you know you want one

http://www.minicherished.co.uk/miniu...ts/0,,,00.html