My son (16) is looking to buy his first Mini. Wants an S, manual. Has funds for the 03 to 04 range. Much difference? Suggestions welcomed.
:cornut: Your son has excellent taste in motor vehicles. Keep checking back here. Some of the R53 guys will come up later with lots of information. The 'S' from 2002-2006 would be an R52 cabrio(convertable) or an R53 hard top. Their engines were Chrysler designed Brazilian built supercharged engines. Not quite as powerful as the R56 Peugeot French turbo charged engines, they are much more reliable. Buying an older MINI, there will be maintainence to be done. When I was a teenager,that was part of the fun, especially with a Dad like you who seems to be involved in you sons growing to manhood(all of us here thank you for that). A huge help in the maint. area is to check out a local mini club who usually have close ties to the local MINI dealership and arrange 'work days' at the MINI dealership where the whole club shows up to work on each others cars. The work is limited to what can be done in 8 hrs but that is usually everything short of an engine over haul.Check out the 'clubs' list at our main menu for a listing of clubs. If y'all are any where near the DFW Metroplex, then I strongly recommend 'Metroplex MINI'. They can offer a lot of help to those not afraid to be friendly and get their hands dirty. Good Luck and thanks for being a real Dad. Jason
This used MINI buying guide from the MotoringFile archives might give you some insights to help you in your R53 comparison shopping: MotoringFile » Archive » MotoringFile MINI R50/R53 US Buyers Guide This review suggests that the '04, while essentially unchanged from the prior year, had several improvements made to help with its reliability. YMMV. Good luck with your search!
Eldest son and I were in a similar situation in 2009 and went with the 04 MCS for the "potential" increase in reliability. ~15k miles later we are still happy and have had no reliability problems (except upper motor mount leak). He's 18 now and really loving the car as his daily driver. He also likes that he drives a manual and his friends don't know how.