Getting a new car, leaning towards a Mini-Cooper S

[Captante]

My only serious issue with a Cooper is that its just too small ... when I parked my Corolla S next to one the other day it was tiny in comparision & the Corolla is the smallest car I've ever owned, also if you drive a lot on the highway it won't be very comfortable, especially since your used to plenty of shoulder & leg room in your truck.

 

[Siddhartha]

Test drive an Acura RSX-S.
It is quick, reliable, and holds it value.

 

[Black88GTA]

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon

Originally posted by: thomsbrain

Originally posted by: jpeyton
For $25k, I would get the Pontiac Solstice or the Saturn Sky. If I'm going to buy a small, fun driving car, it might as well be a convertible.

i'll take a BMW over a pontiac, any day, any way, period.

except for the fact that you'll be spending $10k more to get it

And 3x more to repair it when it breaks down. Which is about as likely as your average domestic product, according to JD Power's 2005 Vehicle Dependability Study.

But that's OK, right? I mean, it's got "German engineering" and the "BMW image", and everyone knows that's all that matters. :roll:

Oh, BTW the Mini had 383 problems per 100 vehicles - 3rd from the bottom in terms of LTR, beating out only Land Rover and Kia. Might want to rethink that...

 

[Demo24]

Subaru WRX


As for a 300hp Mini. That honestly would not be very fun having it torque steer all around. They have higher horsepowered ones similar in Europe and they just torque steer like crazy

 

[DivideBYZero]

Originally posted by: alien42

Originally posted by: OCNewbie
I want go-kart like handling with good power =) Of the above mentioned alternative cars, are any of them close to the Mini in terms of build quality, handling, and power?

Also, doesn't BMW make Mini? Wouldn't that say a lot of good things about their quality?

bmw does own mini but cooper is really the company that makes them. calling a mini a bmw is like calling an astin martin a ford.

and of course you cant go wrong with an acura (i drive a honda)

speaking of a rsx-s, this is a hot deal

NO! :|

BMW make them in a UK factory. Cooper make factory approved upgrades like AMG for Merc, Mugen for Honda and the like.

The History of John Cooper

 

[InlineFour]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
You could buy my 2005 MINI Cooper S

I can't imagine anyone buying an RSX-S, but i'm not a big fan of boring vehicles with very little soul. Buying something completely common and then adding a 3 foot wing and yellow stripes down the side to make it different than all the rest makes no sense to me.

Get the 6-speed, either way.

This is my second MINI and I have loved both, but I want to get rid of a car payment

EDIT: Which options are you looking towards?

just curious, have you ever test driven a rsx-s?

 

[DivideBYZero]

Originally posted by: Captante
My only serious issue with a Cooper is that its just too small ... when I parked my Corolla S next to one the other day it was tiny in comparision & the Corolla is the smallest car I've ever owned, also if you drive a lot on the highway it won't be very comfortable, especially since your used to plenty of shoulder & leg room in your truck.

The Lexus RX300 is two inches wider than a Mini...

 

[InlineFour]

also, have you looked at a used acura integra type-r? it was produced from 1997-98 then from 2000-2001. it is a rare, limited produced car. possibly one of the best FWD handling car, not to mention it has a limited slip differential (LSD).

 

[Captante]

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero

Originally posted by: Captante
My only serious issue with a Cooper is that its just too small ... when I parked my Corolla S next to one the other day it was tiny in comparision & the Corolla is the smallest car I've ever owned, also if you drive a lot on the highway it won't be very comfortable, especially since your used to plenty of shoulder & leg room in your truck.

The Lexus RX300 is two inches wider than a Mini...

The RX 300 is two classes of car larger then a Mini, it has a full back seat & a big trunk, if I'm not mistaken its the same overall size as a Camry & like I said my Corolla S was considerably larger overall sitting next to a Mini.. noticably taller & longer.
Not to imply that the Mini isn't a nice second car, but going from a medium sized pickup truck to it as your only vehicle is going to be quite an adjustment!

 

[Captante]

Originally posted by: InlineFour

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
You could buy my 2005 MINI Cooper S

I can't imagine anyone buying an RSX-S, but i'm not a big fan of boring vehicles with very little soul. Buying something completely common and then adding a 3 foot wing and yellow stripes down the side to make it different than all the rest makes no sense to me.

Get the 6-speed, either way.

This is my second MINI and I have loved both, but I want to get rid of a car payment

EDIT: Which options are you looking towards?

just curious, have you ever test driven a rsx-s?

I was just about to ask to same thing! I'd have to guess not.

 

[Gillbot]

Just went for a spin in a Mini-S yesterday, I was quite surprised myself. Pretty dam fun.

 

[RagingBITCH]

The only thing about the Mini is that make sure it's what you want. It gets old pretty fast.

 

[randomlinh]

i'm now wondering why i didn't just bother trying to see what I could get on the mini-s... heh..but even at 23-25 (i priced one on their site to 26.5k msrp i think for what i wanted), its more than i paid for my mazda3 (which was already at the brink of my afforability.. ha). But I would say go for it if you can, 6sp. I'm not sure it would get old fast for me, but I auto-x too, so the car would be great for me.

however, I like to do most of the maintenance myself if at all possible. dealerships rip you off most of the time, and local shops... I've lost faith in them after the guy we usually go to seems to have flaked out bad so hard to find a decent mechanic. and I would suspect the mini isn't a cheap fix for anything.. heh.

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: Captante

Originally posted by: InlineFour

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
You could buy my 2005 MINI Cooper S

I can't imagine anyone buying an RSX-S, but i'm not a big fan of boring vehicles with very little soul. Buying something completely common and then adding a 3 foot wing and yellow stripes down the side to make it different than all the rest makes no sense to me.

Get the 6-speed, either way.

This is my second MINI and I have loved both, but I want to get rid of a car payment

EDIT: Which options are you looking towards?

just curious, have you ever test driven a rsx-s?

I was just about to ask to same thing! I'd have to guess not.

Why would I want to? There is nothing interesting about it. As I said, I like cars with personality, and Honda isn't very good at that.

 

[InlineFour]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82

Originally posted by: Captante

Originally posted by: InlineFour

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
You could buy my 2005 MINI Cooper S

I can't imagine anyone buying an RSX-S, but i'm not a big fan of boring vehicles with very little soul. Buying something completely common and then adding a 3 foot wing and yellow stripes down the side to make it different than all the rest makes no sense to me.

Get the 6-speed, either way.

This is my second MINI and I have loved both, but I want to get rid of a car payment

EDIT: Which options are you looking towards?

just curious, have you ever test driven a rsx-s?

I was just about to ask to same thing! I'd have to guess not.

Why would I want to? There is nothing interesting about it. As I said, I like cars with personality, and Honda isn't very good at that.

except for the NSX and S2000

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: InlineFour

except for the NSX and S2000

i would argue that neither of those cars have personality either. a 'supercar' that is a good boring daily driver? a roadster that drives like a civic unless you hammer it?

 

[NickelTitanium]

The Mini looks better with a female driver. Sort of like the VW beetle.

 

[Reckoner]

Subaru Legacy GT

 

[Koing]

Go for it if you like it

Me personally I don't like the look of them. I haven't liked any Mini in fact but on the other hand my bro likes the desing.

Koing

 

[0roo0roo]

it looks like a shoe. bleh

 

[Captante]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82

Originally posted by: Captante

Originally posted by: InlineFour

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
You could buy my 2005 MINI Cooper S

I can't imagine anyone buying an RSX-S, but i'm not a big fan of boring vehicles with very little soul. Buying something completely common and then adding a 3 foot wing and yellow stripes down the side to make it different than all the rest makes no sense to me.

Get the 6-speed, either way.

This is my second MINI and I have loved both, but I want to get rid of a car payment

EDIT: Which options are you looking towards?

just curious, have you ever test driven a rsx-s?

I was just about to ask to same thing! I'd have to guess not.

Why would I want to? There is nothing interesting about it. As I said, I like cars with personality, and Honda isn't very good at that.

Drive one, then get back to me about it not being a good car ... true it could be better looking, but the handeling, engine performance & build quality are all top notch.

 

[ballmode]

2006 Civic SI > Miata > RSX > Mini

 

[BeauJangles]

They are awesome. I know two people who have the S version and love it. Wouldn't drive anything else.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: TuffGuy

Originally posted by: OCNewbie
Also, doesn't BMW make Mini? Wouldn't that say a lot of good things about their quality?

German cars are some of the least reliable cars on the road.

I think TuffGuy was comparing German cars to my American car.