I added a car to the fleet, and I think I got a good deal

I've been searching for a fun-to-drive car and settled on a R53 MINI or a Miata. Naturally my AADD kept my focus wide to other cars too, but I spotted a deal and had to jump.  I spied an R53 MINI with low miles for the year, 83K. Looked decent from the photos. The add said it had a cold air intake so I looked at the pics expecting to see some Pep Zone cold air intake bro!  
I started noticing silicone hoses, an upgraded intercooler, and lots of M7 tuning stuff. 
After talking to the guy I figured out he's a small buy here, pay here lot. That usually scares me off, but not enough to scare me off entirely. I went to look at it and, while not perfect, it ran and drove great, got rubber in 2nd with no issues, has brand new Nitto tires, pads, and rotors, 15% overdrive pully, along with the other stuff you see in the pics. 

It's a southern car, no rust. I picked it up for $4500. I could have picked up an R53 cooper s for less, but it'd have 30-40K more miles and have none of the aftermarket stuff. 

sorry for the rotated pics. 

Nice!!!  One hell of a steal.  I'd guess the dealer had no idea what they had.  MINIs are stupid fun to drive, it'll make you smile every time you sit in it.  And get good mpg to boot.

Ummmmm, you suck. That is an amazing deal on a car that looks like its already got the first 5 projects completed. I have seen more than a few 100,000+ mile Mini's competing and crushing. Congratulations. 

Wow, you're right, usually a bunch of aftermarket stuff is a hidden disaster, but that one looks really well done.  At that price it's a serious score.  Congratulations!

That's got some cool specialty pieces on it.  It's my style (and maybe not everyone's) but I'd put some effort into finding the previous owner.  I'd be interested to understand why he sold it and how old the updates are.   How well all the updates improved things...

Just googling the 17 digit VIN can return surprising results. 

Are there any old receipts that have slipped behind the glove box?  Anything under the rear seat? 

Very near. I really like that color too. 

pinchvalve (Forum Supporter) said:

Ummmmm, you suck. That is an amazing deal on a car that looks like its already got the first 5 projects completed. I have seen more than a few 100,000+ mile Mini's competing and crushing. Congratulations. 

Thanks. 
The funny thing is as I was really researching the model to look for issues, and for things that I could use as a barganing chip I kept finding more useful upgrades. "Oh, this strut tower mushrooming issue. I can use that to knock a few hundred down. Oh, he already has that handled, an a strut tower brace to boot. How about this oil ingestion through the PCV? It has a catch can already. Ok, well, the coolant tanks tend to split. I bet I can use that...nope. Nice upgraded reservoir installed already".
It just kept going haha. 
 

I do want to talk to the previous owner. I'd like to learn more. He put money into this car. I'd curious how it ended up on a dirt lot in the middle of nowhere, FL.

Is it not an S?  I don't know these cars that well, but I thought only the S had the supercharger?  Looks like a helluva score either way though.  

In reply to DrBoost :

My guess of how it got to dirt lot... Traded in on something new in the current "hot" category like new BRZ, etc.

It might have sat on that dealers lot for a few months at which time they learned how hard it is to sell a manual trans car.  Also, hard to answer questions about odd looking specialty items.

From there, it went to auction where most dealers avoid anything "unique" and certainly unique with a manual trans. 

In reply to Matt B (fs) :

Yeah, it's an S.

In reply to John Welsh :

I suspect you're right. Manual, older, not a corolla or accord. Good for folks like us. 

This car has likely autocrossed.  I'd spend some time scouring past online results and online pictures from clubs South of Atlanta and West of the Mississippi, starting with the closest clubs. 

I'm confused:

Did the wheels arrive silver and you made them black?

In reply to John Welsh :

I suspect you're right. People don't install wheel studs for no reason LOL. 

John Welsh said:

I'm confused:

Did the wheels arrive silver and you made them black?

Would you believe the 'silver' wheels are black!?!?  Those pics were taken 10 seconds apart LOL. I think I used the flash for the close up pic. I think the wheels are plastidipped, maybe the flash reflected off the aluminum under the 'dip???

Ha. 

Your answer doesn't leave me any less confused. 

In reply to John Welsh :

Tell me about it! I was baffled when I saw that pic. Plastidip is a little bit transparent, I've noticed. I wonder if the flash right next to the wheel is somehow the culprit?

That is a heck of a deal on a car that was obviously cared for.  I'm willing to bet most of the R53 potential issues have already been addressed.  Too bad it's got new tires on it.  Those factory 17's are heavy.

I keep thinking I should pick up another one as a fun car. 

-Rob

In reply to rob_lewis :

Yeah, it seems most of the issues have been addressed. 
I took my daughter (17) our for her first lesson driving a manual. She did well. Time to look for some autocross events. One of my reasons for choosing a fun car over a truck (that I could certainly use) is so she can autocross and learn car control in a safe environment.