Andybarbet
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| posted on 13/4/12 at 09:03 PM |
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BMW Mini & Peugeot 307 buying advice
Im off tomorrow to help a good mate buy his Mrs a car, she is unaware because currently she is cycling from germany to england for charity 
From some subtle investigation, he has decided she would like a BMW Mini or a Peugeot 307.
Budget is £4000
I was just wondering if anyone has any advice for things to check or faults to expect with either one ??
Not really worth suggesting other makes etc, he is sure one of these two are the only option.
Cheers - Andy
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gottabedone
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| posted on 13/4/12 at 09:11 PM |
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Never had a BMW Mini but the 307 electrics will drive him nuts
Steve
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britishtrident
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| posted on 13/4/12 at 09:12 PM |
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Cheap MINI = potential money pit.
I hate to say it but a £4,000 307 likely to be a much better bet.
[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]
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MakeEverything
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| posted on 13/4/12 at 09:17 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Andybarbet
I was just wondering if anyone has any advice for things to check or faults to expect with either one ??
Make absolutely sure, that whatever he chooses has an engine and at least four wheels.....  
Kindest Regards,
Richard.
...You can make it foolProof, but youll never make it Idiot Proof!...
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rayward
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| posted on 13/4/12 at 09:44 PM |
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run away form a £4k mini like the plague,
my daughters just bought one and its a bloody nightmare!!!!
2 months in , we've had Water Pump, alternator and battery , gearbox/clutch, and now the power steering is on its way out , thats all at 40k
miles
can;t say for the 307, but can;t be much worse than this !
hth
Ray
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Bare
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| posted on 14/4/12 at 03:04 AM |
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Well Dohhh! Every Middle aged matron lusts after a Mini.
Alegedly to make them mo' attractive to 18 yr old boys :-)
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MikeRJ
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| posted on 14/4/12 at 05:42 AM |
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£4k gets you a good example of a horribly crap car (307) or a fairly poor MINI and despite the general awfulness and extreme blandness of the Peugeot
it's likely to be more reliable than the MINI. However my wife would not be impressed if I'd spent that sort of money on a present for
her and she ended up with a 307.
[Edited on 14/4/12 by MikeRJ]
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karlak
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| posted on 14/4/12 at 06:41 AM |
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I have a mate who has a MINI for sale. Think it is an 04 plate.
It is a Convertible cooper 1.6, but is in quite ropey condition. It was a company car so was serviced on the dot early in its life.
If you/you mate wanted to tidy it up etc, I think it could be very good car. It has high mileage, but I do know he was just wanting rid really at one
point as it is sitting and not been used for months.
May not be what you are looking for, but drop me a U2U if you are interested and I can try and get more info for you.
[Edited on 14/4/12 by karlak]
MK Indy - 2litre Duratec - Omex 600 - Jenvey throttle bodies - ETB DigiDash2
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Slimy38
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| posted on 14/4/12 at 08:04 AM |
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Mini's are fantastic cars as they come out the showroom, but I would never buy anything older than a 3 year old car, and certainly not on a
budget of 4k. Raywards experience is very typical, with some major parts needing replacement and at BMW prices. My mate got one as a replacement for
his Type R, he wishes he'd never got it and is tempted to get rid of it after about 6 months of ownership.
I can't comment on Peugeot at all but it would need to be really shocking to be worse than a Mini.
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Andybarbet
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| posted on 14/4/12 at 09:14 AM |
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Oh dear 
Interesting replies - if it was for me I would walk away from both models after those replies.
Cheer for the offer karlak but my friend has never fixed a car himself, hes not that way inclined & im definately not taking on a project for
someone else as I have enough of my own & my wife is due to have our baby on monday, also it seems he wants the car by wednesday to give to his
other half when she arrives back from germany.
I will let him know the comments but knowing him as well as I do, he will buy one of those two models because thats what she wants.
Im tempted to point him in the Peugeot 307 direction as the better one out of 2 bad cars by the looks of it
Looks like im going to have an interestin day then...
I cant really talk though, I did buy the Mrs a freelander a few years back after tonnes of advice not too, it never let her down & was a really
good car until someone hit us up the ar*e & wrote it off !
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gottabedone
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| posted on 14/4/12 at 09:27 AM |
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I had a 2.0Hdi on an 03 plate (had to get rid of it quickly last Aug!) - Mechanically the car never let me down in 60000 miles. The engine was
bombproof, economical to run, insure and tax and for hogging up and down the motorway it was comfortable although not inspiring at all.
The reason that I had to get rid of it was the random electrical problems. It probably cost me more in bulbs in a year than servicing. The next time
that you are out have a look at the 307's and see how many have only one headlight lit
It was heavy on tyres and price up the cost of a cambelt and dual mass clutch change.
Overall the car was a hell of a workhorse as it was an estate with removable seats and I am renovating a house
I think that £4k is the "pays your money takes your chance" price bracket for most cars.
good luck
Steve
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Jasper
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| posted on 14/4/12 at 09:34 AM |
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If you don't mind spending a bit more and travelling a bit my Mum is selling her Mini Cooper, only done 27k miles I think, it's immaculate
and nothing major has gone wrong with it. Can't remember the age, but think she wants about £5500 for it. If you're interested drop me a
PM, it's down near Brighton.
If you're not living life on the edge you're taking up too much room.
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britishtrident
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| posted on 14/4/12 at 10:11 AM |
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The early MINIs used the Midland gearbox which really means the Rover assembled version of the Pegeot gearbox, Rover didn't use it on
models above 1600cc/112 ps.
The Tritec engine in the early MINIs is a Chrysler designed unit the factory that produced it it was jointly setup and payed for by
Chrysler & Rover in Brazil BMW complained about the performance of the engine. According to Ward's Auto, Erich Sonntag of BMW described
the Tritec engine as old fashioned and not very effective on function, performance and fuel efficiency.
The MINI is pretty awful to work on it is complex with little working space and parts are expensive.
[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]
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contaminated
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| posted on 14/4/12 at 10:12 AM |
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You can get a perfectly decent mini for £4k. You just need to try your best to get one that's been looked after. At this sort of budget
you'll find you'll be missing things like the chilli pack, sat nav and leather seats - but who cares really? If a £4k car had all this
there would be a reason!
One of the issues on the R53 was that the gearbox was not as strong as on the later R56 (which my wife has). Check all the electrics, check that the
gearbox feels ok, check that the front end isn't all over the road when you go over potholes (although believe me they all are to an extent) and
check whether the tyres are good and that they are all run flats or not all run flats - you don't want a mixture.
I know quite a few people with early minis - yes some have had a few issues, but no more than on any £4k car.
I wouldn't put myself through the pain of a another small french hatchback. I have one of those as well. Electrics may as well be spaghetti.
Electric window issues, air bag issues, broken trim, flimsy panels etc etc. 307 not for me.
Tiger Super Six Independent
www.southernkitcars.com
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KitCatE1
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| posted on 14/4/12 at 11:29 AM |
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i have a 7 month old 308 chocolate box plastic interior which already feels many years old and as for the paint work .. well it looks like its been
painted with a brush! horrid cheap french thing id go with the mini had a couple yes they go wrong but much better built than a pug
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Andybarbet
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| posted on 14/4/12 at 08:20 PM |
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He ended up buying what looks like a tidy Mini Cooper S today, they gave him a good trade in on her Ford KA
He went slightly over budget but there looks like nothing to do on this one, no shopping trolley dings, very good overall condition etc
I gave him the advice from here, looked at two 307's but they looked atleast 5 years older than they were, panel gaps were awful, interiors
showing major signs of wear too.
He was set on a Mini after that so i did what i could to point out issues on the ones we looked at, to be honest, the one he got, i would have bought
if i was in the market. It drove very well, no rattles, interior looks like new, good history etc
Cheers for the advice guys,i tried my best to fill him in 
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