2004 Mini Cooper S, from Manual to Automatic

Nah, forget it- the cost will be more than the car is worth- sell it and find one with an auto- simple, and cheap-

and do NOT buy a new Mini- the engines are blowin' (in the wind)

What?!! Blast! The question was for my sister's car, but I was looking for a 2015 for myself. Yesh!! Totally gun-shy now. What years should I be looking at (and what mileage)?

Around 8000 USD but you really don't want to do that. The mini 6 spd manual gertag transmission is great, and long lasting, spend the money on teaching the woman to drive a manual properly. there are race tracks all over the states that offer these courses and will help make her a better driver overall. The cvt auto transmission was a horrible match for the 1st gen bmw mini. They are notorious, horrible acceleration, high failure rate. That transmission is the number one reason by far the r50 / r52 / r53 2002-2006 minis got a reputation for high breakdown and repair costs. When looking for a mini to purchase, the 04- 06 1st gen 6spd manual r50 base and r53 S, and 05-08 r52 convertible models are good buys. The 2010-2013 2nd gen r56 base, convertible, and S models with both manual and automatic are also a good choice. If you see a pattern it's that after each model update, BMW seems to need a couple of years to work out the kinks before they have a good product for the road. For the 3rd gen models based on past experience, I'd wait for the 2017+ models. with the mid generation updates you get most problems resolved and usually added hp/torque and interior refinement.