Hey guys and gals,

I'm very interested in the New Mini, I even went on a test drive, which to credit the guys over at Westchester Mini, almost had me signing papers to buy one right then. Luckily for me I held out and wanted to learn more about the car before buying.

Right now I'm driving a 2001 Honda Civic and as good as it is I want something new/better.
I'm trying to be strong and look at other cars as well, like the Mazaspeed 3, VW GTI, and possibly a Subaru WRX.

I decided to wait til 2008 to buy my car, only because New York Winters are horrible and I dont want the new baby to suffer...Also my company's gives out its bonuses in February which means more money for a down payment

Here is the options I will maybe motoring with in early 2008

-British Racing Green inc. matching roof
-Cold Weather Pakage
-Rear Foglight
-Multi-function steering wheel
-Auto AC
maybe the convience pakage for the moonroof (not sure if i want it)
-Limited Slip Differential
-16" bridge spokes with the all seasons
-oh and 6 speed manual tranny (havent had an auto since i was 17 and dont want one)

The one thing I know I will replace is the shift **** and the speakers, can anyone make a suggestion.

Im am stuck about getting either the leatherette or cloth seats... cloth is alot easier to sit on in the summer, but the fake leather should be easy to keep clean, What do you guys think?

Is there anything i'm missing out on? Is MIN Ichanging any of the options for 08?

I dont want to spend more than $25,000 and with the options I chose I'm at $23,850.

What to you all think?

 

I like it! Great color combo and good options. You built all that stuff into it for less that $24,000?? Pretty good.

I like some of the cloth interiors that are available on the newer cars, and would probably go that route (or cloth/leather) if I were buying one. Can't speak for the leatherette, personally, but I can tell you that the Panther Black leather in my car isn't all that bad during hot weather (and we have plenty here) - at least no worse than cloth. It's really a dark grey, not black black, so that helps with it not being nuclear hot.

Waiting for an '08 isn't a bad idea, either. I don't know about any new options/colors for '08 (we'll have to wait and see), but there are supposed to be a few fuel-saving features on the '08s that aren't on the '07s, like auto turn-off/on while sitting at stop lights, alternator disengagement during acceleration.... something else I believe, but don't recall off the top of my head.

If you do a search on here for threads on '08s, you should be able to find stuff.

Oh, for shift *****, do a thread search for Whalen *****. They're popular with MINI owners, and I haven't heard one bad thing about them. The JCW carbon fiber/leather/suede ones are nice, too.

Speakers - my personal preference would be Boston Acoustics. Eventually I'll put a set in my car. Boston Acoustics makes GREAT sounding car speakers - I've loved them in my last couple cars.

 

The 08 fuel saving features aren't coming to the US.

I'm of the opinion that these features will arrive in a couple years after MINI has made sure that they a) won't break the bank in warranty claims, and b) work them out further so they actually make a difference in the US.

 

http://www.whalenshiftmachine.com/

 

Huh. Too bad.

 

Thanks fo the link to whalen, but i dont like the round ****, I did look at the JCW one and that is more my style, as for speakers, BA are good but I love my MB Quarts I have in my Civic (German's know their engineering..lol), so I might buy a new set of those. I wish changing out the stereo was possible so i can use a head unit of my choice, but I think I'll be OK...

 

Don't forget the Xenon headlamps!

 

Xenon headlamps?

To me xenons are a waste, especially when normal headlight work just as good if not better

 

Lowsky, where in NY are you?

 

Say that when you run into your first deer/moose/bobcat. :-) I love my Xenons - perfect for spotting critters.