Noob wanting 2ndH buying advice

[jimowl]

Hello all

Previous Mini Park Lane (c7 years ago) owner here. Didn't own long due to awful dealer experience and desire to drive a Focus ST

Soon plan to ditch my Scirocco GT with DSG gearbox due to highish miles i'm doing in a new job (c20k pa).

Fancy a change but want to stick with auto, preferably a dual clutch. So could any Auto owners (i'm thinking of a Cooper S auto / cooper s sidewalk auto) give some feedback on the mini auto experience?

Also, convertible owners - how good is the roof / roof mechanism? Anything i need to be looking for?

Cooper S - i've read about the 'death rattle' - sound like it should be easy to spot?

My budget will be up to about £13k. Obviously i'll want as low miles and as new as poss. It looks like at Cherished Mini this will just secure a 2008 with c40k miles. Obviously this comes with a 12 month warranty, but warranties are only as good as the small print. How good is this one? Any specialists out there offering warranties?

Independently £10k secures the same and I can get perhaps 2009 under 20k for my £13k. Any suggestions?

Finally, TLC: can I add it if it isn't currently in place? If so is it only if i buy through cherished or can it be purchased from any approved dealer for any used mini?

All advice gladly received.

ps There's a stunning white/choc brown cooper S conv on autotrader for just under 15K atm. If the owner is on here, do me a favour and take £13K!!!

[jimowl]

Anyone?

Am I correct in thinking that the hatch was facelifted in 2006 but the convertible not until 2009? So all those 08/58 plate Cooper S Sidewalks out there are 1st gen?

What are the obvious changes on the convertible?

[minicore]

Can't comment much on the auto aspect, but as for your other points...

Convertible roof - first gen examples were a tad notorious for premature wear, although I'm not sure it was overly widespread. Not too many horror stories on the mechanism itself, unlike similar cars with holding hardtops.

Death rattle only applies to second gen cars and it sounds like you're looking at first gen?

Cherished is a good call for peace of mind, but remember - the 12 months warranty will be an extended warranty, which isn't as thorough as the original warranty.

TLC can only be extended beyond the initial agreement if it was purchased from new. You can't "start" TLC after the initial purchase, only extend it if it was purchased in the first place.

And yeah - you're about right on the facelift dates. Easiest way to differentiate - when you pop the bonnet on a first gen car, the headlights go up with it. On second gen models, they remain where they are and the bonnet pops up with the cut-outs in. Dead easy to spot! Other cosmetic changes like the light clusters, side scuttles etc. are the same on the hatch (06 onwards) and convertible (09 onwards), so you can tell based on those too.

Hope that helps - welcome to the forum!