I currently own a 03 JustaCooper. its a great car and i love it but i want to get into a MCS. Ive been looking around and i think that im leaning toward getting either and 08 or 09 MCS, cant afford a new car so im going with a used one, and i was wondering if there is any thing that i should know before getting into it. I already know a few things about it, but i was wondering if there are any major problems that i should be aware of compared to my 03. ive owned my 03 for about 5 years now and experienced my share of problems but i wanted to know how the 08 or 09 MCS would compare. or any other advice would be more than welcomed. thanks

 

You have a whole forum dedicated to stock issues and problems. Grab some and get to browsing. Some are more common problems than others, but if you read youll see that a few are prevelant enough to say they are notorious. Like carbon buildup. I think the earlier years also had a hp fuel pump problem too. Just take your time and browse.

 

One quick suggestion... Unless it makes a difference to how long you pay, even though a new car would cost more, the interest rate is usually less and you can extend the months.

I say this because when I do have a car payment, whether I’m paying 36 months, 48 months or 60, it doesn’t make a difference to me. At that point, I’ve already budgeted my money to have that amount taken out.

Just a suggestion....


Mark

 

A good question for us to know the answer to is is the 03 justa on its last set of twisties or is there still a bit of life left in her/him? If the 03 isn't on its way out, you are in the command seat as far as a new or new to you car purchase. If you can continue to drive it, keep an eye out at any local MINI dealerships and watch for sales.

As far as issues, just like Bigprfed22 said, there are tons of threads dedicated to the issues with the S models. Read up, learn, and when looking for a new/new to you MINI, take your time. If you can, have an independent shop look the lil guy/gal over and make sure that he/she is in great working order.

Good luck and let us know what you decide.

 

well my clutch blew not too long ago and the mech. that fixed it looked at the tranny said that my tranny was lookin pretty warn down and i can feel that its not drivin as good as it used to and i know all about the poor tranny's that were put in the earlier year justa's so i know that its only a matter of time before it blows and instead of spending the $5,000 + to get it fixed i thought i would just get a newer car. but that being said, i think that my justa still has a little life left. and im in no hurry to get the newer car now. im just looking at the moment and waiting till i can find the good deal or one that i really like. and as far as a brand new car, i dont really have the money to afford it, due to most of my money going to college.

 

If you are in no hurry, then sell the '03 privately. That will get you more money than trading it in, and it will help with the purchase price of a new car. And definitely compare interest rates like someone else said. New cars really do have lower interest rates.

When you go MINI shopping, run the numbers on both a used and a new car. You could even try using the older car as a bargaining chip while talking about the price of a new one with the sales people. As in, look at new ones, say it is too much and you want to look at used... which you of course have already done your homework on their inventory via the web, get to an agreement about what you are comfortable paying for the used MINI- preferably even less than you would really pay, then appear to thinking longingly about the new cars and ask what you could work out to get close to the same payments on whatever new MINI you had found earlier.

If you choose to buy used, definitely don't forget about MINI Next certified used cars with 100k warranties.

And if you go the new car route... ASK FOR DISCOUNTS. They will usually not offer these freely, but there are always discounts. After I said no to their offers twice while purchasing my car last month and they said they didn't think they could go any lower, I asked for discounts on the new car because they had offered me a discount on another one I had looked at earlier... the manager mumbled something about checking to see if there were any discounts for the options the car had on it, and then came back and acted like I had done them a huge favor (salesmen!) or something because low and behold they had found an available discount for my car that made the payments only $7 above what I told them I wanted to pay.

 

so ive been reading about the carbon build up issue in the MCS and ive read that many people are putting on an oil catch can. does the oil catch can completely solve the carbon build up issue, or does it just help and the problem still exist. i havent been able to find a diffinate anwser. from what ive read, it is highly recomended and does a good job, but i was just wondering if it will solve the issue completely or not?