Engines prone to expensive failures - I found this out when researching a used Citroen DS3 which uses the same powerplant but less powerful. The Minis also need regular 4 wheel alignment fettling to keep the handling up to scratch.

Very quick car, great handling if a little firm riding and some say quite noisy.

If you do buy a Mini be aware of the model change the newer versions apart from being much more reliable there is a tremendous difference in performance have a lowering of the Co2 which means much cheaper road tax along with much higher MPG .