First Test drive tonight on a used Mini. Love it but reservations.
#1
First Test drive tonight on a used Mini. Love it but reservations.
Drove a super clean 2011 cooper s. Absolutely loved it. Car was spotless. My only concern was the price and lack of warranty. Am i overthinking the warranty? I do my own work so i'm not overly concerned about the normal issues with these cars. I wasn't real happy with the deal either. they claimed to have lowered the price from 16k to 13k but 13k is all they really are listed for anyway. Then they added $900 for "options". I felt that with a reasonable deal i could be right where i want to be but they were pretty far off to me.
#2
A lot of it depends on whether or not you plan on performing your own maintenance, or if you have a small shop/independent mechanic who will take care of your needs. As for the MINI dealer, when the warranty is over so is the love...get ready to pay!
I recently purchased a 2015 MINI NEXT CPO and the dealer gave me a 4-year/75,000 mile warranty. So basically I'm safe until Oct 2019.
The price - at $13,000 appears to be fair. Almost any 2011 car (in decent shape) will cost that much. How many miles are on the car?
Is there a MINI dealer near you? Have you checked their stock of MINI NEXT cars? Also if you buy from CaxMax you can purchase MaxCare, which is a decent warranty.
I recently purchased a 2015 MINI NEXT CPO and the dealer gave me a 4-year/75,000 mile warranty. So basically I'm safe until Oct 2019.
The price - at $13,000 appears to be fair. Almost any 2011 car (in decent shape) will cost that much. How many miles are on the car?
Is there a MINI dealer near you? Have you checked their stock of MINI NEXT cars? Also if you buy from CaxMax you can purchase MaxCare, which is a decent warranty.
Last edited by Mini3333; 10-01-2015 at 10:55 PM.
#3
Read up on the N14 vs N18 engine comments here on this forum. Not sure when the change over happened but 2011 might come with the older engine.
Based on this forum the general consensus is to get the N18.
You will read a lot about not owning a MINI without a warranty. I am firmly in the camp that a properly maintained MINI will last and aftermarket warranties are not worth it.
I plan on driving my R59S with the N18 well past 100k miles.
That said I agree going the CPO route; free extended maintenance and confidence that MINI considers the car "like new". Make sure to factor in the cost of the free maintenance when comparing prices between CPO and non-CPO.
I have now owned 2 daily driver MINIs and have been very satisfied.
Based on this forum the general consensus is to get the N18.
You will read a lot about not owning a MINI without a warranty. I am firmly in the camp that a properly maintained MINI will last and aftermarket warranties are not worth it.
I plan on driving my R59S with the N18 well past 100k miles.
That said I agree going the CPO route; free extended maintenance and confidence that MINI considers the car "like new". Make sure to factor in the cost of the free maintenance when comparing prices between CPO and non-CPO.
I have now owned 2 daily driver MINIs and have been very satisfied.
#4
Car is at a nissan dealer. Across the street from the mini dealer oddly enough. Car is super clean and was obviously well taken care of. It has 62,000 on it. It says in the listing that its a DOHC motor. Would that be the newer motor? Most of the older ones i see are SOHC. I do my own work to a point and have a mechanic at work for the rest so i'm not too worried about it. I'm more frustrated with the buy at this point. The prices on these cars are all over the map.
#6
If you can do your own maintenance...then you're good to go!
I'd still recommend that you go across the street and check the prices on their MINI NEXT cars, at least this will give you a warranty of 2 years/50,000 miles at a minimum...and you can negotiate for even longer.
Good luck to you!
#7
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#9
i just found a jcw, same year. less mileage and i get a warranty. My friend knows all the players around here in the used car business and he said minis are tanking price wise locally.
Mini dealer has almost no used minis. Mostly Countryman when they do
Mini dealer has almost no used minis. Mostly Countryman when they do
Last edited by gpzjack; 10-02-2015 at 06:35 AM.
#10
+1 They fixed some things with the N18, but they still do have their quirks. If you're DIY capable, you should be fine and shouldn't worry too much about warranty. If you're concerned with pricing, price compare with truecar.com, check on craigs list, cars.com, carsdirect.com, and see what they're going for with similar options/miles. Good luck!
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#11
Stick with the 2011 at the Nissan dealer.
#14
I'm one of these. I've had my '13 Justa about two years now and it has been absolutely trouble free. However, after all the doom and gloom I've read on various Mini Cooper forums I realize owning one of these cars is a lot like playing Russian roulette. I agree aftermarket warranties are not worth it. I consider them snake oil. One of the advantages of buying a new Mini is it comes with a very long warranty. I'll trade mine in before it expires.
#17
If it's a factory JCW you can tell by the placement of the JCW badge on the front/rear. Factory JCW's will have the JCW badge on the right hand side of the trunk where the Cooper S logo normally is, as well as a JCW badge on the lower right side of the center low air dam. And I think they should all have the aero side vents, instead of the ones that say S.
#18
#19
I'm so frustrated with the first one. Its been on there lot for 4 months and as far as i can tell no one has even test driven it. The mileage is pretty much the same as when it arrived. I would think they would want to move it. My friend works in used cars and he said that for whatever reason mini's have been dead the last few months. I see on at a local dealer thats been there for 6 months.
UPDATE: They just called and one to make a deal. Hope to pick it up today.
UPDATE: They just called and one to make a deal. Hope to pick it up today.
Last edited by gpzjack; 10-03-2015 at 07:19 AM.