Help Please - Questions about a 2006 MCS

[autopilot_off]

Hi all,

I've been in love with MINIs for quite awhile now. My current car seems to be on it's last leg of life, and I found one of my favorite MINIs for a reasonable price. It's a 2006 MCS Checkmate Edition. I've seen it at a few dealerships over the last few months, but I'm curious why it wasn't selling. Tomorrow, I'm bringing my trusty mechanic to check it all out, but I was wondering if any of you know of some R53 known issues that we should be specifically looking for? Are there any notorious problem parts?

It's an automatic with about 28,000 miles on it. From what little I know, it looks like a great deal. I'm still finishing up college though, so I really wanted to wait to buy a car until after I got my "real" job, but it's not looking like I have that option. That being said, I don't know if I could afford any expensive issues for a few months, and I need something that's decently reliable, not a lemon.

Any 2006 MCS advice or warnings?

Thanks for the help!
Amanda

[th3118]

You may find this buyer's guide helpful:
http://www.motoringfile.com/mini-r50r53-buyers-guide/

[Istara]

Automatic you say? http://dynamicminicollective.org/forum/ ... php?t=5721

I don't know how common it is for those to fail though, and I should hope that at 28k miles such a failure would be way off.

Otherwise, look for strut tower deformation and anything leaking is obviously not good (passenger side motor mount is good to check). Are you looking for an automatic specifically?

[azminiman]

What dealer is it at! I have seen one floating around for a while now that looked nice, but i found that it had been wrecked.. They didnt like me pointing it out to them.. But dont recall if it was a automatic... It was at Sanderson Merc/volvo on Bell rd at the time... Then saw it in Scottsdale a couple months later.

[autopilot_off]

Thanks for the info! I currently drive an automatic, but I thought it would have been fun to get a manual MINI and learn that. So, I'm not looking for an automatic specifically, it just kind of worked out this way. Since it's used and I can't really test drive a manual, I might get stuck with an automatic.

As for the dealership, it's at Adolph's Auto Sales & Arizona Fleet Services, but I know it's been at 2 other places. The title is clear, and it says that it was a commercial vehicle in the past. I know I saw a Checkmate floating around the valley for a few months, so this might be it. From what I saw, it looked alright. How did you find out it was wrecked? Is there something I should look for on it to see if it's the same one? Here's the link to it: http://www.arizonafleetsales.com/carsforsale.aspx?ID=429214. I guess I wouldn't be surprised, I've been trying to figure out why it wasn't selling. Hmmm...

[deemotored]

There's one at 12th street and Camelback on the crazy rampy thing that moves it around. I get dizzy watching it but it's worth it.

[autopilot_off]

It looks like everything mechanically checks out, and we couldn't find any evidence of a car accident. The frame and body looked great. There's just one little oil leak that needs to get fixed before I'd get it.

Here's the sad news, the 4 year/50k factory warranty expired 7 days ago. Now I'm trying to decide how valuable an extended warranty might be. Does anyone have advice either way about the extended factory warranty?

Hopefully I'll soon be motoring with all of you!

~Amanda

[azminiman]

YES on a warranty... Plus, you may try to get MNS to run the Vin for a maintenance history. Price around for a comprehensive plan

[danjmcs]

YES on a warranty... Plus, you may try to get MNS to run the Vin for a maintenance history. Price around for a comprehensive plan

Especialy on an automatic tranny. All of the Mini automatics, CVT (only available in the Cooper), or traditional automatic are a pretty high repair bill if it needs rebuilt.

These guys are spending tons of money on the airwaves lately, so I cant say I can personally recommend them, just heard the ads:
http://stoprepairbills.com/

[azminiman]

Excellant call Dan !!!! hadn't even thought about the Automatic.

Thats why we call him Dan the man!