Buying Tips

[ellisd]

my girlfriend has her heart set on a new shape mini. She's not bothered about what variant it is she just wants one. Currently she has 5-6k saved up, is she going to see anything in decent nick for this or am i better off trying to convince her to wait a little bit longer and save up a bit more?

Also is their anything specific i should be looking for when going to look at them?


Thanks in advance

David

[3rdpillar]

i havn't seen a good speced, or clean car for that money.

[ellisd]

i didn't think their would be, whats sort of money would a tidy example mini one go for (i'm assuming that'd be the cheapest?

[Fizzoid]

Had a look at a 51 plate Cooper for £5600 a month or so back. Had done 80k but it was clean and tidy with FSH. Chili pack, OBC, heated seats, ASC+T. Took it out for a test drive, all seemed well. So, they are out there.

[minicabrio]

You can actually pick them up for £5-6k pretty easily.... but it will be a very early 2001/2002 ONE or Cooper....

On the plus side, she gets the car she wants, and can always add bits later to bump the spec up

There is a Cooper here with Aircon for under £6k.... Autotrader - MINI Cooper 1.6

Invest in a set of 17" MINI wheels off ebay for £400, and you have a tidy looking car

[ellisd]

thanks for everyones input.

Can anyone tell me if their's anthing specific i should be looking for when looking at them/test driving? I'm pretty handy with spanners since i bought my GT4 and her dad's a mechanic (although i know who'll end up fixing any problems ) so little niggly things wouldn't be a problem to fix

[Fizzoid]

Check the gearchange is smooth and there's no whining coming from the gearbox. Check the power steering works too, and you don't suddenly loose power steering.

[DaFlake]

Another great tip is to take a OBD reader with you and see if the car is tossing any codes. An old trick in the US is to remove the bulb for the Service Engine light. Still, you are going to have a hard time finding a good MINI for that price. Maybe as a down payment perhaps.