Cheap Mini One Convertible
Discussion
A friend of 25 years is offering a 122k mile 2006 Mini One Convertible with MOT until March 2021. Apparently it's just had a full service, new tyres and new rear brakes. He wants around £900.
I know nothing about Minis other than having had a one for a couple of days as a loaner when my BMW went in for service and I remember it being quite fun to drive. My 210k-mile 2001 330Ci which I've owned from new has head gasket failure and I'm about to attempt to do an engine rebuild on it - not because it's really worth it, but because I want to do it for the learning experience. It's either that or sell for parts/scrap. Which means I'm doing all my driving on what was supposed to be my weekend fun car - a 2014 Boxster S which I bought two years ago at £8k miles and I've already put 20k miles on it! I'm thinking the Mini could be a fun little runabout and stop me putting shopping miles on the Boxster. It looks good apart from a dent in a front wing. Not sure about those wheels - are they aftermarket? Would it be a solid little car at 122k miles? Nothing went wrong with my BMW until around 180k miles, and even then it was all simple stuff I could fix myself, so I'm not afraid of cars after 100k miles. It's not a lot of money but I don't want to buy a money pit! I'm about to search the market to get an idea of whether this is potentially a good deal, but I'd still want to ask you who know. What say you, PH? Thanks!
Car is on Autotrader at https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...
I know nothing about Minis other than having had a one for a couple of days as a loaner when my BMW went in for service and I remember it being quite fun to drive. My 210k-mile 2001 330Ci which I've owned from new has head gasket failure and I'm about to attempt to do an engine rebuild on it - not because it's really worth it, but because I want to do it for the learning experience. It's either that or sell for parts/scrap. Which means I'm doing all my driving on what was supposed to be my weekend fun car - a 2014 Boxster S which I bought two years ago at £8k miles and I've already put 20k miles on it! I'm thinking the Mini could be a fun little runabout and stop me putting shopping miles on the Boxster. It looks good apart from a dent in a front wing. Not sure about those wheels - are they aftermarket? Would it be a solid little car at 122k miles? Nothing went wrong with my BMW until around 180k miles, and even then it was all simple stuff I could fix myself, so I'm not afraid of cars after 100k miles. It's not a lot of money but I don't want to buy a money pit! I'm about to search the market to get an idea of whether this is potentially a good deal, but I'd still want to ask you who know. What say you, PH? Thanks!
Car is on Autotrader at https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...
Edited by LunarOne on Monday 15th June 23:33
I bought an early MINI One convertible as a first car for my daughter after passing her test.
In the end, in the summer, I think I drove it more than she did! Lovely to drive, roof down every time, I thought it was brilliant fun.
Back seats are a bit rubbish for anyone other than littleuns’ and they’re getting pretty old now so budget for something to go wrong.
Apart from that, do it. Knock him down to £700 ‘for a mate’ and enjoy yourself!
In the end, in the summer, I think I drove it more than she did! Lovely to drive, roof down every time, I thought it was brilliant fun.
Back seats are a bit rubbish for anyone other than littleuns’ and they’re getting pretty old now so budget for something to go wrong.
Apart from that, do it. Knock him down to £700 ‘for a mate’ and enjoy yourself!
ClaphamGT3 said:
He’s not exactly offering you mates rates, given that’s what he’s got it on Autotrader for...
Well he posted on Facebook (more photos) asking if anyone fancied it for £900. I'm sure he'd knock something off for a friend, but it doesn't seem like a terrible deal. His wife has given it to a friend of hers to see if she wants it, so likelihood is that it's off the market now. Anyway I'd still be interested to know what kinds of things go wrong on Minis of this age/mileage in case the friend doesn't want it.LunarOne said:
Well he posted on Facebook (more photos) asking if anyone fancied it for £900. I'm sure he'd knock something off for a friend, but it doesn't seem like a terrible deal. His wife has given it to a friend of hers to see if she wants it, so likelihood is that it's off the market now. Anyway I'd still be interested to know what kinds of things go wrong on Minis of this age/mileage in case the friend doesn't want it.
All in all, they're pretty reliable. But, it's a £900 car, that's pretty old, with an electric roof, so the list of potential things that can go wrong is long and varied. That said, you know the previous owner and they thought it was good enough to invest in new parts, so why not just give it a punt?
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