For those who asked, I PM'd Chaos actually. He hasn't replied back but he's a FB friend so I'll reach out to him there. Yes, I know he had some fun and games with his MINI. :-) The car pulls smoothly and strongly. The brakes bite nicely and evenly and w/o pulling to either side. The front end is all mushy because the struts are completely gone but there are no creaks, knocks or pops or crunches lock-to-lock and the electric steering feels linear and good weight. All the electrics which aren't controlled by the FRM work great (wipers, heated seats, mirrors, 2-panel moonroof, etc.) The rear end seems planted and I neither smelled nor heard any exhaust leaks. I had a good look underneath (geez, these cars are low!) and it looks really nice. No puddles. It is late production (June 2010) 2010 model.
I'm going to lowball the seller tomorrow and see what happens. I offered to take the car to the dealer to get the FRM (the computer bus module located in the driver's kickpanel) replaced per the recall and pay for an hour's diagnosis at the dealer but he says he just wants to get rid of it. He's had it for sale for a while so I think he just wants to see it gone. I ran the CarFax for it and there were no red flags and it shows a fair amount of regular service and a total of 3 owners. Sure enough, I scanned the codes on the car with my Carista bluetooth OBDII dongle and iOS app and it came up with a bunch of codes but 90% of them were codes that would result from a lack of communication with a number of different car systems, said systems being controlled by the FRM. This is what I think it needs:
Mechanical
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1. turbo inlet/breather hose (~$100) and I can install it easily myself;
2. thermostat, thermostat housing and associated hoses (pipes). That is worst case. $1500 installed, maybe less if don't go to dealer
3. 2 x front struts ($500 installed but will take some shopping to get the best price)
4. pads all around ($200 and I can install them). Rotors are OK
Exterior/Aesthetics
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1. Reinstall upper grill trim (just needs clips but have grill)
2. Reinstall driver's side headlight trim (just need clips but have trim)
3. Buff out headlight lenses
4. Clean and buff the whole exterior
5. Deep clean interior
This is all getting ahead of myself. If after the FRM is installed and programmed there are too many systems which are crying out for help I will immediately cut my losses and get rid of it. A bit of a calculated risk.