I 2nd that emotion.

 

ok I've narrowed it down to two I think...

There's a "Pure Silver" gen II Cooper S at my local Jacksonville Mini dealer that's certified (I'd have to finance it)



But I found another guy in south Florida at a place called Dealer Auto Exchange who's got a few Minis, and even does a really cool paint job on some of them. This one's a '03 gen I Cooper S, but I won't have to finance, and he had all the black trim painted to match the car (the guy I talked with, Jim, said he likes to do this to the paint so they look closer to the original Minis.)



I'm going to go take a look at it this week...I'll report back. Until then anyone know anything about Mini's that come from this Dealer Auto Exchange place?

 

Out of those two, I'd go for the Silver R56, but I'd look more for a '05 or '06 S personally.

 

no doubt in my mind, the pure silver car. it's certified, and there are horror stories here on NAM about folks buying used from private parties and non-MINI dealers then having to fork over a major repair bill not far down the road. what year is that? should have balance of factory warranty left.

And with a $14K down your payments should be fairly low.

the red one looks like a liability. personally, I would run from that one. 2003s arent exactly the best built or more reliable of first gen cars. Do U realy want to be faced with a possible major repair right after buying it? Caveat Emptor

If U want a first gen car get a MINI Next CPO low mileage 06.

 

I agree. A MINI Next car will provide a warranty to 6 years from year built or 100,000 miles. This makes the higher price from a dealer more tolerable. When you consider the cost to repair modern cars even an air conditioner compressor can set you back well over $1,000 (I don't know what it is for a MINI). I think BMW's CPO and MINI's Next warranties provide alot of peace of mind IMO.

 

If your budget is 14k then purchase what you can afford and save yourself a monthly financial obligation. Your certainly not compromising by getting a 1st Gen MINI. After driving over 260k on two 1st Gens I can say along with many others that they are great cars. The CR/W one in your pics look like an excellent one to start with.

 

I'm usually a bigger fan of the mk1 cars because I like the interior better (I'm not a huge fan of having the radio part of the spedo in gen2.) Plus that paint job is REALLY cool on that red one you see. If that Dealer Auto Exchange place is any good, I say go for the '03 car if the price is right and it's a solid car.

 

hmm..
I really do prefer the Exterior of the first gens (02-06). but much prefer the interior of the R56.
Also drove a R56 justa to compare to my R50 and whoa! My R50 has an intake and some other mods and a stock R56 still felt faster! Loved the ride quality, felt more refined and sturdy. Still handles like a go-kart as well.

If you can afford it, go with the 2nd gen for sure.