Talk British to me: All things MINI

[Johnny_P]

I think that's selling the brand a bit short - they're certainly more driver-oriented than the vast majority of anything else available at the price point.

My wife's 2015 Cooper is an engaging car to drive - I always have fun driving it. And the sport seats are fantastic.

Yea I am not even going to respond to that bullshit. Calling minis not drivers cars is sacrilege.

I’d likely feel differently if I tried out a JCW.
The car in question was an S.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

They are not really drivers cars, just kind of “fun” putt around mobiles.

I think that's selling the brand a bit short - they're certainly more driver-oriented than the vast majority of anything else available at the price point.

My wife's 2015 Cooper is an engaging car to drive - I always have fun driving it. And the sport seats are fantastic.

The CT SUCKS to take into town. Parking for shopping, dining, and just navigating small town streets, it blows. Since it's our only vehicle, it's our only choice right now.

We really want a small thing to take into town and take on road trips down state when we're not hauling anything. I want it to be unique and somewhat engaging, but IDGAF about "driver's cars" or whatever anymore, been there done that. If it's a that would be AND I don't want to pay a fortune.

Add to it that I've always wanted a MINI and it's pretty much the only thing I'm considering as a 2nd vehicle. wants a Crosstranny, but I feel like this would be way more fun/unique and cheaper to boot:

https://www.motorcitymini.com/used/MINI ... 24cfd0.htm

[max225]

Yea cross tranny is incredibly boring. It’ll do everything you want just fine but it’ll be as interesting as a Prius. Matter of fact a Prius may be more interesting because it’s kind of fun(ish) to watch the hybrid system work and try and eek out more mpgs.

There is nothing fun in the Cross.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

Yea cross tranny is incredibly boring. It’ll do everything you want just fine but it’ll be as interesting as a Prius. Matter of fact a Prius may be more interesting because it’s kind of fun(ish) to watch the hybrid system work and try and eek out more mpgs.

There is nothing fun in the Cross.

AWD and some ground clearance is really smart where we live because feet of snow in the winter is an expectation. The crosstranny is ideal, just boring. But an AWD Clubman is an under the radar option that I'm liking more and more.

[D Griff]

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... 9141e8766e

$12k and cheeese colored.

Hmmmmmm.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... 9141e8766e

$12k and cheeese colored.

Hmmmmmm.

It's already been deemed a POS because of mods and first MY. Hence the cheap price.

[D Griff]

Hmmmmmm.

It's already been deemed a POS because of mods and first MY. Hence the cheap price.

Is it local to you

I think I was kind of looking at MINIs by searching for ones at the upper end of "my budget" ( logic SMH) and thinking, wow, buy one for $18K, sell it for $9K in two years. At like $8-12K there is only so much it can drop. I don't care if I buy something for $12K and sell it for $8K in two years. That's not bean counter approved but it's perfectly acceptable to me. These are also cheap enough that just getting it to sort of try out YOLO style doesn't bother me. A damn Fiesta ST sub 40K miles is basically worth it's original MSRP, or get a high mileage one for high teens, it's kind of

Is this dumb? https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... 8fc3528dcf I can't remember what year they got un-shitty.

[Apex]

It's already been deemed a POS because of mods and first MY. Hence the cheap price.

Is it local to you

I think I was kind of looking at MINIs by searching for ones at the upper end of "my budget" ( logic SMH) and thinking, wow, buy one for $18K, sell it for $9K in two years. At like $8-12K there is only so much it can drop. I don't care if I buy something for $12K and sell it for $8K in two years. That's not bean counter approved but it's perfectly acceptable to me. These are also cheap enough that just getting it to sort of try out YOLO style doesn't bother me. A damn Fiesta ST sub 40K miles is basically worth it's original MSRP, or get a high mileage one for high teens, it's kind of

Is this dumb? https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... 8fc3528dcf I can't remember what year they got un-shitty.

R56 JCW you want a 2013. You could probably do a GP2 as well at the top of your budget.

[max225]

It's already been deemed a POS because of mods and first MY. Hence the cheap price.

Is it local to you

I think I was kind of looking at MINIs by searching for ones at the upper end of "my budget" ( logic SMH) and thinking, wow, buy one for $18K, sell it for $9K in two years. At like $8-12K there is only so much it can drop. I don't care if I buy something for $12K and sell it for $8K in two years. That's not bean counter approved but it's perfectly acceptable to me. These are also cheap enough that just getting it to sort of try out YOLO style doesn't bother me. A damn Fiesta ST sub 40K miles is basically worth it's original MSRP, or get a high mileage one for high teens, it's kind of

Is this dumb? https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... 8fc3528dcf I can't remember what year they got un-shitty.

I like these a fair amount. I think the consensus was on these that you NEED to get a 2012/13 model post LCI.

The engines are sort of garbage in these... Stretched timing chains, carbon issues etc. And couple that with BMW cooling system issues + a few other higher wear than average items like suspension (bushings/shocks/rubber) etc... You'd basically have to make sure you get one that had at least 1/2 of the above sorted. because it all fails by 100k.

(Edit). damn every other post now hangs up and doesn't work

[ChrisoftheNorth]

It's already been deemed a POS because of mods and first MY. Hence the cheap price.

Is it local to you

I think I was kind of looking at MINIs by searching for ones at the upper end of "my budget" ( logic SMH) and thinking, wow, buy one for $18K, sell it for $9K in two years. At like $8-12K there is only so much it can drop. I don't care if I buy something for $12K and sell it for $8K in two years. That's not bean counter approved but it's perfectly acceptable to me. These are also cheap enough that just getting it to sort of try out YOLO style doesn't bother me. A damn Fiesta ST sub 40K miles is basically worth it's original MSRP, or get a high mileage one for high teens, it's kind of

Is this dumb? https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... 8fc3528dcf I can't remember what year they got un-shitty.

09's have been deemed plague status in this thread. Avoid at all cost for reasons. Zil can give details. IIRC, the sweet spot is a 2012 or 2013.

But this is what I've been getting at...a low $teen MINI simply can't depreciate that far and provides tremendous value. Screw the $20k ones, look for $15k and under.

[max225]

Is it local to you

I think I was kind of looking at MINIs by searching for ones at the upper end of "my budget" ( logic SMH) and thinking, wow, buy one for $18K, sell it for $9K in two years. At like $8-12K there is only so much it can drop. I don't care if I buy something for $12K and sell it for $8K in two years. That's not bean counter approved but it's perfectly acceptable to me. These are also cheap enough that just getting it to sort of try out YOLO style doesn't bother me. A damn Fiesta ST sub 40K miles is basically worth it's original MSRP, or get a high mileage one for high teens, it's kind of

Is this dumb? https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... 8fc3528dcf I can't remember what year they got un-shitty.

09's have been deemed plague status in this thread. Avoid at all cost for reasons. Zil can give details. IIRC, the sweet spot is a 2012 or 2013.

But this is what I've been getting at...a low $teen MINI simply can't depreciate that far and provides tremendous value. Screw the $20k ones, look for $15k and under.

Yea a 10-15k clean "manual" S or higher model with under 60k miles seems to be pretty good. If you keep the miles under 80-90k it should face fairly minimal depreciation from hereon out.

I think overtime Minis will become more desirable because similar to other BMW models they will mostly be run into the ground/junkyard by the time they are 15-20 years old. And most modern vehicles are HUGE.
Mini maintains a unique niche in the market as it is the only small, upscale fun to drive vehicle that focuses on being DIFFERENT and FUN over anything else.

That said, the main downfall of the mini is parts costs, they are just stupid... I just had to order a new set of driving lights and they were $900 like that's some shit. Given the rarity of the car the aftermarket and secondary source market is pretty much non existent on mini specific parts.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

AWD and some ground clearance is really smart where we live because feet of snow in the winter is an expectation. The crosstranny is ideal, just boring. But an AWD Clubman is an under the radar option that I'm liking more and more.

The Chubman S All4 is a GTI with some personality. I came REALLY close to doing an employee lease because I enjoyed it so much, my mom even had one for a bit that she loved.

Stop it, you make me want one more. It's emerging as our perfect 2nd car solution. even likes it.

[Apex]

The Chubman S All4 is a GTI with some personality. I came REALLY close to doing an employee lease because I enjoyed it so much, my mom even had one for a bit that she loved.

Stop it, you make me want one more. It's emerging as our perfect 2nd car solution. even likes it.

Dplac the Chubman. Sounds like a bad 80s pr0n.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

Stop it, you make me want one more. It's emerging as our perfect 2nd car solution. even likes it.

Dplac the Chubman. Sounds like a bad 80s pr0n.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

09's have been deemed plague status in this thread. Avoid at all cost for reasons. Zil can give details. IIRC, the sweet spot is a 2012 or 2013.

But this is what I've been getting at...a low $teen MINI simply can't depreciate that far and provides tremendous value. Screw the $20k ones, look for $15k and under.

2011-2013 for an R56, generally speaking. Revised engine with dual VANOS, different HPFP, improvements everywhere.

For an F56, go 2016+. 2014 avoid like the plague, there were some thrust bearing issues all the way into some 2015 models and some smelly AC evaporator cores (just don't use recirc too much on any modern car, really).

My wife's 2015 has 97k miles on it now? Bought at 6500 miles in 2016. Has consumed the following:
- Passenger side motor mount at ~80k. It's a wear item, budget for it. Part is cheap ($140 ish?), totally a DIY thing, but book labor is silly expensive. We were quoted $600+ for the job, it took me maybe 2 hours in the driveway to do, taking my time and being careful/cleaning things as I went.
- 2x front and rear brakes, plus I just put new take-off calipers on the back (scored them on eBay for $125 for both ). It might actually need new handbrake lines, been getting a weird frozen rear brake issue on subzero mornings, and I won't figure out if new calipers fix the issue or not until it's winter again.
- Oil and filter every 10-11k (really pushing the bounds here, but so far it seems ok)
- Rear shocks and bump stops installed at 95k, fronts waiting to go on when I get some time. Not necessarily needed yet, but it was time for a refresh. Rear shocks were definitely tired, and Bilstein B4s were stupid cheap on Rockauto.
- Thrust bearing recall done very early on in ownership

Thanks! Excellent guidance.

Any issues with the Clubman All4's? OR years to avoid?

[ChrisoftheNorth]

Thanks! Excellent guidance.

Any issues with the Clubman All4's? OR years to avoid?

Not really, only issue we ran into on one car was peeling black trim on the rear swing doors. Seemed like an isolated issue.

The HVAC, engine, infotainment used in the F54 Chubman is all the same from the F56, so by 2017 when the new Clubby came out, the critical parts had been in the world for several years already.

[D Griff]

This seems to be the only one that meets DFD criteria anywhere near me: https://www.smartchevrolet.com/inventor ... 55g2c60953

[CaleDeRoo]

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... 9141e8766e

$12k and cheeese colored.

Love the body colored roof

[max225]

This seems to be the only one that meets DFD criteria anywhere near me: https://www.smartchevrolet.com/inventor ... 55g2c60953

It almost does... it has a warm air intake.

It looks to have some sort of aftermarket exhaust too... curious about that.

Color checks out ... year does too. And it is somewhat of an interesting spec... nav + moonroof+led but no heated seats... overall I really like the spec actually

[Apex]

This seems to be the only one that meets DFD criteria anywhere near me: https://www.smartchevrolet.com/inventor ... 55g2c60953

It almost does... it has a warm air intake.

It looks to have some sort of aftermarket exhaust too... curious about that.

Color checks out ... year does too. And it is somewhat of an interesting spec... nav + moonroof+led but no heated seats... overall I really like the spec actually

I’d go look at it and brap around if I were Griff. Sport seats look 5/7.

[max225]

I did just realize 70k miles damn... I’m at 33k and the best offer from “vroom” or the likes I got was 17k.

[D Griff]

I did just realize 70k miles damn... I’m at 33k and the best offer from “vroom” or the likes I got was 17k.

This is why I’m all in on seeking my POS to them for over $11k, I feel like they won’t offer that high again. Most dece Minis through them are low twenties though.

[D Griff]

It almost does... it has a warm air intake.

It looks to have some sort of aftermarket exhaust too... curious about that.

Color checks out ... year does too. And it is somewhat of an interesting spec... nav + moonroof+led but no heated seats... overall I really like the spec actually

I’d go look at it and brap around if I were Griff. Sport seats look 5/7.

I’d like to. It’s several hours away so I have to be semi committed to make the trip.

Damn my indecision

[troyguitar]

I did just realize 70k miles damn... I’m at 33k and the best offer from “vroom” or the likes I got was 17k.

This is why I’m all in on seeking my POS to them for over $11k, I feel like they won’t offer that high again. Most dece Minis through them are low twenties though.

You could sell your C5 and buy another one next year instead of doing the maintenance.

[max225]

This is why I’m all in on seeking my POS to them for over $11k, I feel like they won’t offer that high again. Most dece Minis through them are low twenties though.

You could sell your C5 and buy another one next year instead of doing the maintenance.

That’s what bike bros do. Sell before tires are due.