Deposit down on a Mini Cooper that failed on Exhaust carbon

[katie b]

Hi
I’ve just put a deposit down on a Mini Cooper 1.6 that had a recent MOT failure of Exhaust carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds default limits.
It passed due to a ‘cat clean’. Obviously the dealership work closely with their chosen garage so I’m concerned that it could be something more serious
The car is not in my possession yet so looking for advice! How do i know it’s not the cat that needs replacing?
The car is 2007 with 80k miles.

[s94wht]

Where do you live? If you're lucky enough the cat will be nicked and then you'll have to get it replaced anyway.

In all seriousness, what is special about this Mini that is worth the risk? Surely there are plenty about?

[katie b]

Well it’s within budget. Looks in good condition. Extensive service history. It’s hard to get a Mini under £3k so thought this was a good one. It’s looks like it’s failed the emissions on 3 MOTS but seems to have got though. Could this be a serious issue? Don’t want to have a mega expensive bill at the next MOT?

[Nickp82]

Possibly fitted with a sports cat or decat

[zippy3x]

katie b said:

Well it’s within budget. Looks in good condition. Extensive service history. It’s hard to get a Mini under £3k so thought this was a good one. It’s looks like it’s failed the emissions on 3 MOTS but seems to have got though. Could this be a serious issue? Don’t want to have a mega expensive bill at the next MOT?

Best guess....Yes, and you may well have a big bill.

My daughter bought a Clio RS200 just over twelve months ago with a twelve month MOT. Took it for it's MOT last month, failed due to having an aftermarket steering wheel with no airbag. Apparently any car sold with an airbag must have that airbag present to pass MOT, unless highly modified with roll cage, harnesses etc.

Tried to talk to garage that did the MOT when she bough the car, they wouldn't return my calls. Eventually we went down (they weren't too far away), but they denied everything, "must have had an airbag, we wouldn't have passed it otherwise".

In short, dealers have pet garages that issue MOTs.

The mini will almost certainly fail it's next MOT and you'll be ponying up for whatever is wrong. Could be cheap, could be very expensive. Find another car would be my advice

[katie b]

Does this mean I could potentially be buying a problem car?

[C5_Steve]

It's only going to be a problem once a year........every time it needs an MOT.

I'd be very cautious, I've never heard of a Cat clean fixing anything (not even sure what that is) that isn't going to happen again next time round. If it's not fixed it's going to be a hassle every time to get the Cat red hot, potentially some additive in the fuel for the test etc etc.

[B'stard Child]

katie b said:

Does this mean I could potentially be buying a problem car?

I'm going to take a punt here and guess it's quite low mileage or has done fairly small mileage between the last 3 MOT's and been driven with economy in mind (lets face it a 1.6 engined Mini isn't a performance car but it's better than an oil burner)

I'm not a huge fan of lotions and potions like cat clean - the "Italian tune up" approach works fine so give it a good run in a lower gear just before the MOT and it's likely you won't have a problem

If it's high miles and done 20K every year between MOT's then ignore previous comments

[HustleRussell]

katie b said:

looks like it’s failed the emissions on 3 MOTS but seems to have got though. Could this be a serious issue?

It could be a number of things but since it's happening year after year it probably isn't particularly easy or cheap to rectify.

[BananaFama]

The 3 fails for this , are they the last 3 years or over the life of the car ?

[s94wht]

katie b said:

Well it’s within budget. Looks in good condition. Extensive service history. It’s hard to get a Mini under £3k so thought this was a good one. It’s looks like it’s failed the emissions on 3 MOTS but seems to have got though. Could this be a serious issue? Don’t want to have a mega expensive bill at the next MOT?

There are 57 1.6L, 2007 Minis on Autotrader right now

[Belle427]

In my experience emissions problems can turn into one of the biggest headaches on cars as they get older so I'd maybe leave it alone.

[georgeyboy12345]

Ask for your deposit back and run. I'd never buy a car that fails on emissions, they can be an absolute nightmare to sort out. I'd lump those MOT fails in the same category as rust and oil leaks. They absolutely can be serious issues.

I'd also avoid buying any of that second gen of modern Mini (R56), as they had the unreliable Prince engine that had loads of design flaws, the most important one being the timing chains failing that destroys the engine. This can happen as low as 30k miles, but is especially risky as the miles rise to 70-80k. It's exacerbated by missed oil changes. Other things can go wrong including fuel pump failure, injector failure, high oil consumption, high fuel consumption.

For £3k I'd be looking at one of these instead

Fiat 500

1.2 Lounge
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202303135...

Twinair
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202302224...

Fiat Punto Evo 1.4
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202302284...


Mazda 2 1.5 Sport
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202304066...


Suzuki Swift 1.5 GLX
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202303075...


Renault Clio 1.2 TCe
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202303285...


If you absolutely must have a Mini, then I'd advise spending a bit more money and getting the later F56 model that is much more reliable - you'll need at least double your budget to get one in decent condition, like this 1.5 Cooper
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202303175...


You have to remember - just like other BMWs, cheap Minis can be troublesome.

[The spinner of plates]

Does it have a dual exhaust pipes? If so, it could well be the MOT issue.

Most MOT stations use a single probe, but the dual pipes means all sorts of funny readings from one probe.

My chap ends up wedging a rag in one pipe in order to get a true reading from the other.

Takes a few goes... but we always get there in the end!

(tip, drive it hard on the way to the MOT station so it's running nice and hot when tested )

[Truckosaurus]

georgeyboy12345 said:

..I'd also avoid buying any of that second gen of modern Mini (R56), as they had the unreliable Prince engine that had loads of design flaws, the most important one being the timing chains failing that destroys the engine....

Indeed. If I was looking at an R56 Mini I want to do a pre-emptive camchain replacement just to be on the safe side. I suspect one of the symptoms of a failing chain would be some funny emissions readings even if there isn't an audible rattle yet.

There's literally hundreds of cheap MINIs for sale, so if you are dead set on one you should be able to find one that's in good order.

Although I suspect the sensible option for a cheap supermini is to get a Honda Jazz or Toyota Yaris.

[vikingaero]

The Cooper version of the R56 MINI is less crap than the Cooper S, but still pants and suffers many of the same issue.

I think it's a combo of severe coking, piston wear etc. The limit for HC on the MOT test is <200ppm and my Cooper S was around 189ppm. And to give context, every other car I've ever owned has never had more than 15-20ppm.

[anonymous-user]

Given that it's a Mini I'd walk way from that.

[steveo3002]

might already have an ebay /cheapo cat thats never worked well from day 1 , aftermarket stuff isnt a patch on genuine factory fit

2007 though...gonna need a replacement sooner or later

the cheat /extender things may trick the dash light , wont fix bad emissions at mot time