1 reply to this topic

[praveensridhar]

Hello folks,

I am looking at buying a 1998 Mini Cooper which is a fresh Japanese Import. Buying from a popular dealer in the UK who specialises in such imports.

While these cars appear to be in great shape, I wanted some advice from the experts here on anything I should look out for before parting with my money!

Here are a few things I think I should be wary of...

- packed engine bay, leaving less/no room to work on anything (these cars came with aircon as well)
- speedo in kmph


Some of the questions I have are:
- are parts any different for these cars compared to the Mini's sold in the UK from the same year?
- any drawbacks with owning an imported car? I do not plan on selling this for a long time!

Any advice I can get would be much appreciated.

Cheers and stay safe!
Praveen

[mab01uk]

The mechanical differences are not enough to worry about too much and if the air con stops working or gets in the way you can remove it worst case and sell the good parts.

Many Japanese Minis are automatic which can be a drawback if the auto box fails or has not been looked after with frequent oil changes of the correct type.

Edited by mab01uk, 16 June 2021 - 04:16 PM.