Should I be looking at a Mini for my next daily driver?

[PrecisionX]

I am looking to replace my current daily driver with a a Mini however I am posting here to see if that is a good idea. I have owned a BMW before, a 2002 330Ci in fact and I'm really not looking to get into the intense preventive maintenance and always looking over my shoulder thing right now. This would be my one and only car, I no longer have a garage and my tools are gone. I can live with small quirks and reasonable preventive maintenance but can't worry about catastrophic failures because if I can't get to work I'm in big trouble.

I read the buyers guide for the Mini that is stickied but am hoping for a real world owners perspective on the situation and if I can even afford one. I'd obviously want a manual, I also would want an S of course but if a non-S can be made or is an excellent option as well as reliable I wouldn't rule that out either. I would modify, tasteful stuff of course, performance related and over time. I would like to get into auto-x but that's down the road.

What can I expect to get a nice 04 for? I am ok with higher mileage but maybe my budget doesn't even allow me to get into one of these. I'd like to be in the $5-7,000 area.

[PierreM3]

I don't know current market pricing , but I can say that my 08 has been a solid dd since I bought it used about 2 years ago. I've done some mods to it at a friends house because my tools/house/wife/etc are gone to. But I did the mods for me mostly. The parts didn't fail or were wore out...Just wanted a bigger smile on the hour and a half one way drive to work every day.

[CJ318]

My '04 has been pretty solid for the year I've had it. Low miles, bought with 36k, now at 59k (20k+ in a year ... yeah, it's a FUN car!!). Biggest problem is the electric-mechanical steering, they're prone to overheating and failure. MINI honors the replacement of the pump even on older cars though. It WILL be covered. 2002-2004 base models had a British transmission that was supposedly prone to failure too, but mine feels great and there are diehard fans of it. 2005-2006 base cars got a German Getrag transmission. I heard a saying like "rattles like a MKII, drives like a MKV and fixes like a MKIV (VW)" which is pretty true I think. Mine rattles a bit more now 20k later but it's not bad (yet?), I think it rides amazing for a short wheelbase hatch, it's comfy and I totally dig it. The fixes don't seem so bad, maintenance bills or buying parts hasn't shocked me and it's a fairly simple car to work on too. The highest mileage car I know of (on motoringunderground) has like 130-140k and he gave up on it but that's ONE case and he didn't seem like the maintenance type... All in all, I think it's a good car and maybe a bit better than some think it is. I think you could find a higher mileage Cooper in the $7k range and with the company not opposed to fixing the known faults free of charge ... why not? Life's too short, go have some fun driving again! Sorry for the long ass paragraph, my enter key failzzzzz... *edit* http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/searchresults.xhtml?endYear=2006&zip=98087&maxPrice=7000&mmt=%5BMINI%5BCOOPER%5B%5DCOOPERS%5B%5D%5D%5B%5D%5 D&modelCode1=COOPER&Log=0&makeCode2=MINI&modelCode2=COOPERS&makeCode1=MINI&startYear=2002&numRecords=25&searchRadius=500&minPrice=1&showcaseOwnerId=64525237&captureSearch=true&Log=0 only 2 within 500 miles of me less than 7,000 .... hmmm. Good luck man! :-P That yellow one looks great though - 1 60 year old owner, "driven kind"!

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