Mini?

[airsweden]

Thinking about getting a used Mini. Being in downtown Honolulu makes me want something good on gas and easy to park. Still been looking for a decent old 900 but not too many around, one '93 auto S is all I've seen so far.

Checked out the Fiat 500 and the smartcar but both would have to be bought new, nothing used here yet. There are lots of good looking old Minis around, anybody want to talk me out of it or at least have some tips on what to look out for?

Josh

[Geoff]

have some tips on what to look out for?

Clowns.

I can't think of any good reasons why not to get one.

[Jordan]

Where's Max when you need him... I know they changed a lot of stuff every year, not sure if was for the better or worse. Are you looking at the Turbo/Supercharged one or just a cooper?

[airsweden]

Anything with a manual trans, no stripes and under $10k is a possibility.

[DrewP]

My dad bought his '04 Cooper S, 6-speed manual new, has had almost no problems with it, although I get my fair share of POS ones at the shop. The more stripped down they are the better, manual climate control if you can find one, the Xenons are bright as hell on those, but might only come with the packages that added lots more things. The panorama sunroof really opens up the feel of the car.

And now the rant from someone who has had to service some:

Coolant leaks are pretty common, and can be tricky to trace, lots of little heater hose size connections.

They have electrically assisted power steering, and the cooling fans for the booster motors like to burn up, then the pump electronics fry, then you get to do new P/S pump stuff, not cheap, make sure the P/S fans are running.

S models have dual mass flywheels, some were recalled because the springs packs fail and they rattle at idle with the clutch out like the throwout bearing, only fix is to replace the assembly. Mini Mania makes a single piece substitute kit, expensive tho.

Some of them get nasty clunks in the strut housings and the rear lower control arm bushings - those rear A-arm bushings are a fuck and a half to replace cause the brackets are really in there.

Other thing about the S cars is the shaft seals for the blower fail, and engine vacuum sucks the oil out of the blower, run without oil and is destroys the sealing surfaces and the screws, and usually takes the water pump drive gears out with it (water pump is driven off one of the screw shafts).

Read up on North American Motoring (Mini forum) about the strut towers 'mushrooming' problem, the sheet metal gets all deformed where the strut mounts bolt to the tops of the towers.

Serp belt service requires removing the front bumper assembly and wing liners, as does a radiator job - not terrible cause of comes off fairly quick, but once it's off do other stuff while you're in there.

The ~15% blower pulleys really wake the cars up, $200 or so well spend.

[max]

OK I'm here.

Anyway I would say for that price you could get an older S model with a 6 speed. I also follow the "less is better" method, as my 2002 Cooper S doesn't have a single factory option on it.

These cars can pretty much be really really awesome, or total pieces of shit depending on what day of the week your car was built at the factory, wether the quality control inspector got laid last night, or if the planets and stars were aligned.

That being said, I agree with nearly everything DrewP said. I haven't heard much good about the 02-04 xenons, my friends who had them said they weren't all that good. Much better on the 05-06 cars. I wouldn't go for the pano roof because they have been known to rattle. Then again, so does the whole damn car.

Suspension is generally well made, but a harsh ride. It's a pretty simply setup, although those bushings really are a pain in the ass. I did mine, and it required removal of the entire subframe which is actually not that hard in itself, but the entire process altogether sucks. You can get poly bushings already pressed into brackets, so you won't need a press. They will most definitely be shot on whatever car you look at, if they are original. Spring upgrades and coilover selection is abundant.

The superchargers can fail around 100k, or go longer. Mine has 115k on it and is whirring away just fine. About 50-60k of those miles have been with a reduction pulley too. Used replacements can be found pretty easily. I've seen ones with a fair amount of miles on them for about $300. A remanufactured one will set you back somewhere in the neighborhood of $1000 though. It's on the front of the engine and the entire front of the car is removable, so swapping one out doesn't seem too bad, although I haven't done it. Water pump is attached to the back of the supercharger and is driven off of a gear set. Water pump can fail when the gears run out of lubrication, and destroy themselves. Car is a pretty good candidate for an electric pump, which I'll consider doing if mine ever goes.

Electric power steering can be expensive to replace as Drew said. If that cooling fan gets dirty or gets garbage in it, and seizes, that will blow the pump. Just be sure the fan is clean. If you test drive a car, the power steering pump will be loud- that's just how they are.

The drivetrain itself is pretty bulletproof. The engines are great mechanically. It's a pretty simple little unit, single overhead cam, timing chain, no variable anything to speak of. The transmission in the S is a Getrag 6 speed which is pretty much bulletproof. Same exact transmission as the old Ford Focus SVT, which means you can also use Ford racing Torsen differentials. Stay away from the 5 speed "midlands" transmissions in the earlier non-S models.

My car eats oil, and I have yet to actually get around to figuring out what it is. Common areas for oil leaks, other than the pan, are on the front of the motor where the crank sensor is, the harmonic balancer seal, and also the oil/coolant heat exchanger which is on the back passenger side of the motor, underneath the neat little canister style oil filter. Oil pans are more difficult than usual on these cars, as there is a thing or two attached to it that needs to be removed before taking the pan down.

Can't think of anything else off the top of my head right now. All in all, no regrets with this car. Been driving it from 45k miles to 115k miles now. Nothing short of great, if you don't count the ride quality and rattles.

Check out:
www.northamericanmotoring.com
www.motoringunderground.com
www.motoringalliance.com

[airsweden]

Cool, thanks guys... I'll see what I can dig up here on the island.

JT

[TunnanXWD]

Don't laugh, I rented a Mini once and there was an evil clown in the back seat.

Every time I looked in the rear view, there he was. Sneaky little prigg too.

[max]

My friend in central CT is selling his 2006 Checkmate edition, but it's chock full of options and isn't anywhere near $10,000.

[airsweden]

Yeah, kinda far from Hawaii too. If I was gonna ship a car, I woulda just taken my sweet '86 912 along. It was way too expensive to be worth it. Instead, Josh Menke in Springfield MA got it. Its supposed to be his gf's daily driver but I wonder how long it will take til he has it stripped down, hopped up and on a track somehere.

[max]

Yeah, kinda far from Hawaii too. If I was gonna ship a car, I woulda just taken my sweet '86 912 along. It was way to expensive to be worth it. Instead, Josh Menke in Springfield MA got it. Its supposed to be his gf's daily driver but I wonder how long it will take til he has it stripped down, hopped up and on a track somehere.

Oops. Your location says VT, I forgot you said you were in Hawaii.

[airsweden]

Ok, fixed that!

Wish I could find an old 900. Maybe I could get something wacky from Australia a little cheaper than New England?

[Luke]

Is this one the automatic? Otherwise looks pretty sweeet.

http://honolulu.craigslist.org/oah/cto/2355471476.html

[airsweden]

Yup, She says it has always been garaged and only did 350 miles in the last 3 years. Too bad automatic 900's drive me crazy. I did bring my toolbox but don't have the means to swap a trans here.... yet.

[Luke]

I'd try to talk her down a bit and buy it anyway, live with the automatic for the time being... The price difference between that and a mini buys a lot of cool stuff


We can probably find a way to ship you everything needed for the swap but the gearbox case itself in USPS flat rate boxes.