I've been lusting over the MCS since the R53 first came out. So in 2003, , I bought a VW GTI because there was no mini dealer close and I had reliability concerns. I like the GTI ok, but I still lusted after the mini.

I had the GTI for 5 years and looked at an R56. Again, no mini dealer close and I was afraid of reliability. I got a Subaru Outback. I hated it. Thoroughly hated it. I sold it and looked at a Mini. I drove it and was smitten. I LOVED it. This was 2.5 years ago.

This time, I was going to take a loss on the Outback because I didn't own it long enough. I wanted a mini, but then read through NAMO quite a bit and again, I was worried about reliability. And the Mini that I wanted was more than I had to spend at the time. (I wanted to keep the car in the $21K or below range). I bought a Civic Si.

The Civic is ok. I'm not thrilled. It can be fun to beat the crap out of it, but who wants to do that all the time? I get no smiles from looking at it. I get no smiles when I get in it. It's just a small econobox that is relatively quick. It lacks personality.

Over the last month and a half, I've been pouring over NAMO and I've come to the conclusion that I HAVE to have a mini. I've come to the conclusion that if I only read web forums, all I'll read about is problems. Sure, every car will have it's problems so I want to take the plunge.

To make matters worse, my co-worker just bought a '10 MCS. I LOVE it. His is pretty spartan. He has no options and I still love it. He let me drive and it and it's all smiles. I can't help but smile just looking at it.

I have to wait though. I have to wait an entire year before I can buy one.

I already know what I'm going to order:

CR/B
Manual
Xenons, Harmon Kardon, White turn signals, rear fog, USB/iPod, and JCW body kit. That's it.

For mods, I'm going to get NM springs, and Breyton Race GTR 17x7" wheels with the non-RF.

I can hardly wait. I can't stand it.

So the moral of my story is, get what you want. Get what makes you smile and happy everytime you get in it.

When you order your Mini and have to wait 6 -8 weeks, just think about me. I'll have been waiting 8 years to finally own one.

Thanks for reading....:D

 

Cool! Good luck to you...time flies...and at least you have a buddy that will let you ride and maybe even drive it once in a while. Keep us posted.

 

Your last statement is absolutely dead on - buy the car you want - get it the way you want it and never look back. Life is too short to drive cars you hate, especially when one you love is right there waiting for you!

 

I know how you feel, and I feel for ya. I've admired MINIs since I saw my first one in '02 in a parking garage at my office complex. Since then I've moved from a '91 to a '97 Camry, but never lost sight of owning a MINI as my goal.

I'm getting close to buying a MINI, and thought I could pull it off this fall. But a purchase this year would mean being limited to an MC. After test drives, I know I'd be happy in a Justa, but I kinda (well, pretty much) have my heart set on an MCS. So, like you, I've resigned myself to saving money & waiting. Also like you, I have mine fully spec'd out in my head. Unfortunately my wait will be closer to 18 months, but still very much worth it I'm sure.

Hang in there, and remember: good things come to those who wait.

 

Thanks for all the encouragement. It's even more rough because I keep torturing myself with this site. I love looking at ya'll minis :-).

 

If you get now your co-worker is gonna say that you bought it cause he got one.

WHich area you live in, don't see it on Sig?

 

Agreed.

 

I'm from Fayetteville, Arkansas...and I tried that angle. The half said, and so? You no longer get to hang out with him, LOL. I offered to detail his car every once in a while for a ride :D

 

Good gosh, what reliability issues so concerned you? You weren't looking at a YUGO or Pinto! Glad to see you have finally screwed up your courage enough to get a MINI, just think of all those years you wasted, shame on ya.

 

yeah bout 200 miles to nearest dealer, can be a drag. but joy of driving a MCS will be worth it. get a AAA card with it, in case you want to get home before dealer trip. 32 mile trip for me is a drag

 

Well, 200 miles is a LONG way to go for service. I was having a hard time going just 30 miles for service with my VW. I'm on the road all the time for work and having to go 200 miles for service is a long way and takes time that I usually don't have unless it's a weekend.

Also, if I have to have warranty work, it would mean 200 miles up to diagnose. Then if they don't have the part, I have to either leave the car or go home and go back up. So that means for warranty work, I could be driving 800 miles for 2 round trips just to get the car serviced.

This is my math: 200 miles to dealer. A. leave car or drive car home. 200 miles home. then 200 miles back up to pick up car, then 200 miles back home = 800 miles. That is of course, worse case scenario, but you can see how a simple warranty repair could become a headache.

Anyway, I've decided that it will be worth it . It has to be, LOL!

 

I know how you feel. I've been lusting after a MINI since I was... 13 (2000). A teacher at my high school had a classic imported that he drove to work in the summer. I absolutely fell in love with it! (Thank god the next year BMW came out with the R53s or what was I going to do? Wait till I was old enough and had enough money to have a car imported from another country?!)

So anyways.... I was configuring MINIs for 10 years before I graduated college and got a big kid job and could afford to buy one. I planned on buying one in June or July of this year. But, in February my boyfriend bought me a MINI Cooper model to build for Valentine's Day. And of course I had the MINI itch again, and BAD. I mean, I was buying the car in 4-5 months anyways - not too early to start looking. Good thing he did, because a week or so later I found out they were discontinuing the color I wanted! (Well, the second color I wanted... when I started looking I wanted Purple but that had long been discontinued.) So... I frantically called the dealer, confirmed that it was discontinued and went to order it the next day. He said there was ONE left with 90% of the stuff I wanted. ONE, still at the factory but promised to another dealer. Thankfully I got it. A few months earlier than planned. :D

Sorry, that was a long story.