[winrya]

Hello all, what a great resourceful forum you have here. I've searched through loads of posts which have been very useful but would appreciate some direct advice.

My partner is looking for a mini cooper, to be honest she's been looking at them for the past few years and i'm thinking maybe now is the time to let her get her wicked way.

She has been trawling through autotrader, pistonheads and mini classifieds for a long long time and it seems there are loads of cars out there. Does this high supply mean there is any movement on price at dealers??

We are going to view one at a mini dealership this week which has yet to arrive from a part ex, the spec is;

2004 cooper
silver
aero kit
sound pack
Heated mirrors and washer jets
aircon
chilli
tlc and xl
harmen karden stereo upgrade and radio boost
17" alloys
black roof and mirrors
panoramic roof

Sounds good to me but i'm struggling to find any good pics of what this car should look like. Can anyone help out by posting some up for me. There doesn't seem to be many silver mini's with aero kits out there.

Also is the sound pack any good. I'm a bit worried it will come across a bit chavvy?

Is the stereo any good?

Anything we should be aware of or bargaining advice?

I'd also appreciate some feedback on ownership experience, are they reliable, well built, economical etc. In reference to the aero kit and sound pack, does this make any difference to insurance?? In theory dealer fit not aftermarket, or is it a case they grab all the money they can?

Thanks in advance for any help

Ryan

[David King]

Do you know if it is a Facelift or not? They have a much stronger gearbox which can be a weak point of preface-lift cars.

The Harmon Kardon stereo is very good, although i couldnt get along with it - the bass is so strong it vibrated the rear view mirror, to such an extent i couldnt see behind me without feeling ill.

In my facelift Cooper im averaging about 34/35 mpg, but i havent had it very long.

With our preface-lift cooper we were getting about 36/37mpg over a fair period of motorway miles.

Can't help with much else, but it sounds a very nice spec.


Oh and Welcome to Mini2

[winrya]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, unfortunately its a pre facelift car so will have the older gearbox. Is this box a real concern??? Anything else i should look out for?? Do they have any steering rack or suspension problems?


Many thanks

[David King]

How many Miles has it done? Our preface-life cooper had done 50k with no problems, aslong your not planning on thrashing around in it all day long, you shouldnt have any problems.

Read around here, and youll find all the problems:

http://www.mini2.com/forum/faults-fixes/

If your not fussed about the aero kit/sound kit, you could get into a high spec facelift Cooper