Looking for a Mini.
- Thread starter Lynchy
- Start date
North Yorkshire
I've been looking at The Clubman S recently. Got an urge to spec one up into a race machine, but with comfy leather, twin sunroof and integrated nav.
Plenty of Mini's on Autotrader and some bargains to be had. Get the latest model you can for your cash though as I've heard the earlier ones sometimes suffered from poor build quality.
Plenty of Mini's on Autotrader and some bargains to be had. Get the latest model you can for your cash though as I've heard the earlier ones sometimes suffered from poor build quality.
I'm on my third Mini, I had pretty much the first R52 in the UK in 2004 a Cooper and I loved that car and had no real issues other than a module went down after a few weeks which I think was caused by water ingress and is apparently a common issue. I understand that gearboxes and water pumps are common on the Mk1 R50/52/53.
I then had a 2011 R56 Cooper S Coupe which was trouble, yes its very quick but the interior rattled after 15k miles, the ride was unnecessarily harsh and it developed a batch of issues which I'm told are common. Cold idle hesitation from start-up, sounds like it about to stall and clatters like a diesel = Timing chain death rattle, required a new timing chain and tensioner under warranty. High pressure fuel pump failure causes poor acceleration, intermittent misfires etc another warranty job. oil leak at rear of engine sorted under warranty. Oil consumption higher than I was comfortable with - I loved the drive but moved it on.
I now have a new gen F56 Cooper with chilli, leather sports seats, black wheels, twin roof etc and stripes of course
It's a big step up in terms of interior fit and finish but not quite Audi. Considering it's only a Cooper It actually feels very focussed and sports orientated compared to equivalent cars from other manufactures and goes, handles and rides extremely well - in short it has a real personality. The 1.5 twin scroll turbo has a dual nature and feels like a thumping good diesel with proper torque at low - mid revs than takes off like peaky racer further up. The only annoyance is it feels a bit flat in normal mode as the sport button does actually do engine mapping and exhaust flap changes, once on I don't bother knocking it off but the sodding thing defaults to normal every time you get in. Lots of nice toys and nothing has gone wrong nearly a year later 
I then had a 2011 R56 Cooper S Coupe which was trouble, yes its very quick but the interior rattled after 15k miles, the ride was unnecessarily harsh and it developed a batch of issues which I'm told are common. Cold idle hesitation from start-up, sounds like it about to stall and clatters like a diesel = Timing chain death rattle, required a new timing chain and tensioner under warranty. High pressure fuel pump failure causes poor acceleration, intermittent misfires etc another warranty job. oil leak at rear of engine sorted under warranty. Oil consumption higher than I was comfortable with - I loved the drive but moved it on.
I now have a new gen F56 Cooper with chilli, leather sports seats, black wheels, twin roof etc and stripes of course
It's a big step up in terms of interior fit and finish but not quite Audi. Considering it's only a Cooper It actually feels very focussed and sports orientated compared to equivalent cars from other manufactures and goes, handles and rides extremely well - in short it has a real personality. The 1.5 twin scroll turbo has a dual nature and feels like a thumping good diesel with proper torque at low - mid revs than takes off like peaky racer further up. The only annoyance is it feels a bit flat in normal mode as the sport button does actually do engine mapping and exhaust flap changes, once on I don't bother knocking it off but the sodding thing defaults to normal every time you get in. Lots of nice toys and nothing has gone wrong nearly a year later