Advice on service history
Discussion
I think in general for cars of the age a £3 or £4k Cooper S convertible will be you need to just buy on condition and factor in what the car will need replacing if it hasnt already been done. Service history in my experience isnt as critical as a good inspection and knowing what needs doing.
When I bought my R53 Cooper S, it hadnt been serviced for 7 years, had over 100k on the clock and had sat in someones garden for nearly a year. I looked around it, factored in the cost of a full major service, new fuel filter, plugs, gearbox oil change, new brakes, new radiator (car had no water in it what-so-ever), new header tank, supercharger service etc. etc. I worked out there was roughly going to be £2k of work, not including labour as i would do it myself. Baring that in mind I paid £1k for the car, spent £2k on it but that spend did include upgraded parts like bigger brakes, K&N air filter, 15% pulley etc. Even then I didnt factor in that the suspension was worse than I thought and needed replacing, neither did I factor in the clutch would start to slip and need replacing. Those 2 alone added another £600 spend. Still, the cars like new now, and drives lovely. Better than some I saw with a full history - which really just means its had its oil changed occasionally and isnt an indicator of the cars condition.
A good place to start is checking the MOT history for advisories. Mine had an advisory for the front lower wishbone bushes for about 3 years running which sort of told me that the previous owner was not one for looking after the car.
When I bought my R53 Cooper S, it hadnt been serviced for 7 years, had over 100k on the clock and had sat in someones garden for nearly a year. I looked around it, factored in the cost of a full major service, new fuel filter, plugs, gearbox oil change, new brakes, new radiator (car had no water in it what-so-ever), new header tank, supercharger service etc. etc. I worked out there was roughly going to be £2k of work, not including labour as i would do it myself. Baring that in mind I paid £1k for the car, spent £2k on it but that spend did include upgraded parts like bigger brakes, K&N air filter, 15% pulley etc. Even then I didnt factor in that the suspension was worse than I thought and needed replacing, neither did I factor in the clutch would start to slip and need replacing. Those 2 alone added another £600 spend. Still, the cars like new now, and drives lovely. Better than some I saw with a full history - which really just means its had its oil changed occasionally and isnt an indicator of the cars condition.
A good place to start is checking the MOT history for advisories. Mine had an advisory for the front lower wishbone bushes for about 3 years running which sort of told me that the previous owner was not one for looking after the car.
for OP who may not have any spanner skills, a car with a service history at least shows that previous owners have taken some care of it, along with looking at MOT history, and asking for proof that work has been done on car with receipts to back it up, any decent keeper of a vehicle would do this?
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