My wife is looking for a used car that is fun to drive. She is currently set on a Mini in the 2014 to 2016 year range. Anybody have any experience or real world opinions on these ?
I've been told to avoid the turbo versions of them and that all versions had tranny issues.
We're going to look at a Clubman version and a Paceman version, both non-turbo and manual shift.
Very good friend has one and it is their second. They had a about a 2015 and then some high performance one came out in about 2018 and they upgraded. Very happy with both of them. When he gets all excited how fast it is and how well it handles I just tell him its a girls car which in your case would be fine. Theirs are convertibles and they also drive them through the winter which wouldnt thrill me. Pretty good bang for the buck I think. They stay on the road like a go cart.
I have a 2011 Cooper S convertible that I bought last spring. Not sure why you are told to stay away from the turbo models but the internet is full of information. The only issue that seems consistent is the possibility of an oil line leak which you can purchase an upgrade kit to fix that. Ours is an automatic with 120K and no issues. There are lots of YouTube videos to walk you through every repair if you want to do them yourself and save a lot of money and have had no problems getting any parts within a short time period.
When I bought the car I did some work including the turbo oil line replacement and timing chain because the car came with no service records I didn't want to risk it. This spring I did the struts which seem to be an issue on the fronts which may be attributed to the stiff front ride and the spring potholes, not sure which. Also did the brakes this year and suspect that will be it this time around.
If you're looking at a later model Mini some may still have extended warranty. I bought the 2011 reasonably and knew I needed to do some work and have been very happy with the car. My wife loves it!
Good luck with your search Scott.
Cheers
Wife loves hers . bought it last year 2011 that was only summer driven with 34K on it . Handles like a go cart . Fun and zippy. This is the base engine auto . I added the wheels.
NO BLOCK heater on the older ones , no where to put one !
Dealerships install a trickle charger to keep the battery up so they start in the cold .
Well, we bit the bullet and bought a Mini Cooper S.
Found it in Sarnia at the BMW dealership. Was a recent lease return that they hadn't prepped yet. Got a great deal and my wife loves it and so do I. Very peppy little go-cart.
It's a 2016 Mini Cooper S with only 56000 kms and it's near perfect. We've had neighbours already confusing it for brand new.
