Purchasing a Mini Cooper

KatieDee

hgotsparkle wrote: »

I bought a brand new one a few years ago, I actually found it horrible to drive and promptly sold it, for about £4k profit which was good (as the car was £18k).

I see them everywhere which tells you that they're popular, but unfortunately around me, majority of drivers of Minis are rich daddys girls.

I completely agree! The association didn't bother me enough to put me off though. Hopefully I can prove to the world that we're not all rich daddy's girls :-p

(I wish my Dad could/would buy me a Mini...he grumbled for a good hour about the fact I'd spent over £500 on a car! Bless him.)

I'm sorry you didn't like the drive. I must admit, it's far different from anything else I've driven. It feels much heavier and almost stuck to the road, which after going from a Fiesta (did not like its corners...) is an odd feeling! It's not something I can imagine myself driving forever (highly impractical) but for now, I love it!

JB9302

I've had 2 Cooper S's/2 Mini One Diesels/1 Cooper Petrol/1 Mini One Petrol and put plenty of miles on them . Only prob I ever had was on the first 2002 model bought new , gearbox failed early on ( mentioned above ) and I had loads of leaks with it and eventually rejected the car with 21000 mls on it .
A carefully drafted letter to the dealer got it replaced with a brand new one after paying £500 , which I didn't think bad after 21000 mls motoring .
All the cars apart from the Cooper S's were used as Driving School cars and never suffered any probs apart from that 1st one .

Enjoy it and have a look at the mini2 forum .

Julian

dld2s

KatieDee wrote: »

I've noticed that one of those things that keeps the air in the tyres is missing...scouring the internet to find a replacement but can't for the life of me remember the name of them! Any ideas?

Dust Caps?

On the driving thing, my daughter has Mini Cooper (no i'm not rich and didn't pay for it:) ) I have driven it a few times and like other folk I think it is a very stiff ride, you drive over a pebble and you think you have just hit a boulder, the worst for mr though is if you hit potholes whilst on a corner, I feel as if it goes sideways, not my favorite car to drive to be honest

J0sephx

Keeps the air in the tyre...valves stop the air coming out the tyre. The dustcap just covers the valve so as said above you probably just mean one of them.

Ride is very firm, doesn't bother me too much though. Handles good, car still looks good. As said it's my daily drive, and over the two years caused me little issues *touch wood*

I'll be upgrading to maybe a 2009-13 JCW Hatch S or Clubman S next I'm that impressed

KatieDee

Uh ohhhh, problems already! (just kidding...minor issue)

I went to check the coolant/oil after I'd driven home and noticed both were very low. Filled the oil up with MINI recommended oil and absolutely no problems there. However, I am aware that coolant is not supposed to leak and engine permitting, is supposed to stay at the same level all the time?

I filled it to max, didn't give it a second thought and checked it again today (I've done about 60 miles, mixture of urban and motorway driving) and it has dropped ever so slightly. Alarm bells ringing, did the usual Google and it seems as though I either have a very small leak somewhere. Others have mentioned having a similar thing and having to fill it up 3/4 times before it stops dropping.

I'm not going to panic just yet as I'll mention it to the garage when I take it for a service. Just wanted to know if anybody had any similar experiences?

skivenov

That's probably just that it's at a different temperature, so has expanded my a different amount.

Verify with your owners manual, but generally, it is best to check the coolant level when the car is cold.

Tilt

KatieDee wrote: »

Thanks for all that Joseph...it's great to hear from a fellow Mini owner. We should start a club

I will definitely look at changing the run flats as it's quite a hard ride with them on! I have had awful luck with tyres in the past though...run flats might be the safest bet for me!

I've just given my little Mini a full health check, including oil (very low) and washer fluid (very low!). I'm hoping this will be all I need but will take it to a garage and have it serviced on payday. Start as I mean to go on!

I've noticed that one of those things that keeps the air in the tyres is missing...scouring the internet to find a replacement but can't for the life of me remember the name of them! Any ideas?

Only 30k with full service history? That would worry me slightly.

Tilt

KatieDee wrote: »

Uh ohhhh, problems already! (just kidding...minor issue)

I went to check the coolant/oil after I'd driven home and noticed both were very low. Filled the oil up with MINI recommended oil and absolutely no problems there. However, I am aware that coolant is not supposed to leak and engine permitting, is supposed to stay at the same level all the time?

I filled it to max, didn't give it a second thought and checked it again today (I've done about 60 miles, mixture of urban and motorway driving) and it has dropped ever so slightly. Alarm bells ringing, did the usual Google and it seems as though I either have a very small leak somewhere. Others have mentioned having a similar thing and having to fill it up 3/4 times before it stops dropping.

I'm not going to panic just yet as I'll mention it to the garage when I take it for a service. Just wanted to know if anybody had any similar experiences?

What does the coolant look like? Plus the underside of the oil filler cap?

As the car is supposed to have full service history and only 30k on the clock, I would expect the oil not to be low and neither the coolant.

KatieDee

Tilt wrote: »

Only 30k with full service history? That would worry me slightly.

Full service history other than last year, as the garage advised her the mileage she had done was too low to warrant one. I don't find it that worrying as apparently Coopers guzzle oil even on normal journeys. Her daughter/husband drove the car occasionally so at this point I'm not worrying...yet

motorguy

KatieDee wrote: »

Full service history other than last year, as the garage advised her the mileage she had done was too low to warrant one. I don't find it that worrying as apparently Coopers guzzle oil even on normal journeys. Her daughter/husband drove the car occasionally so at this point I'm not worrying...yet

They are prone to head gasket failure - watch that coolant level like a hawk.