Hello everyone,

I am looking at buying my first car and my first mini! YAY! Any helpful buying tips?! I am looking at getting a 2008 mini cooper manual. Now, first of all...I dont know how to drive a manual transmission, so I'm planning on learning on my new mini. Thoughts? Is the mini transmission fairly easy to drive?

Also, I live in California...however...soon after I buy the mini, I am moving to Washington DC for 3month for work. Does anyone know how mini coopers drive in the snow?

Thanks so much! Im sure I'll be back with more questions!

 

Advice for learning manual, I would have someone that knows how to drive manual show you how to drive it and explain it to you. It helps to know how the clutch works also. Most of it is just finding the clutch's engage/release point and using them both to your advantage. Just remember to start on flat and release the clutch slow until you figure it out. And be careful on hills! Maybe find a parking lot with a flat and also a slanted spot to practice on. But most of all, don't give up and have fun! It will all come naturally in the end.

 

Once you learn to drive a manual, you will love it. As manuals go, I think the mini's feels pretty easy. Good advice above on starting out in a parking lot with some slope to it to get your comfort level up.

 

Plenty of MINIs trolling around in the snow here in MN, and not even in snow tires. Just make sure your tires are in really good shape -- on a 2008, it may be time to replace them.

 

I've driven stick for 30 years, and I found the Mini's 6-speed took getting used to, mostly getting R when I wanted 1. Not to scare you off, just don't feel bad if it takes a bit to get the hang of it. My 2009 has hill-assist, not sure if the 2008s have it.

 

Interesting comment, and i love manual shift. howver, due to a damage R hand my S is auto with sports mode and paddle shifts which i like a lot. Here is the queation and there is $$$ for car detailing on this ....

When using paddle shifters (specially when accelerating) do you need to come off the accelerator when changing? One person says it is like driving a manual so come off the gas, the other says foot to the floor and paddle by observing the tachometer as it is really just signally the auto transmission when to change. I will not say which is my option but my car is dirty?

 

No, no need to let off the throttle when using the paddles. In sport mode you get crisp upshifts and seamless acceleration - not bad for an auto!

 

You will love the manual. You'll feel so much more a part of the car and like you have much better control of the available power. You will learn quickly - and won't look back! Happy Motoring!!

 

Probably the easiest way to get opinions about your potential purchase is to find links to the cars online and post them here for the MINI masses to take a look at. Then you can generate more specific questions. Plenty of people have bought and sold MINI's on here so you can get a good price comparison for what you are looking at.

 

I too, was looking for a "used" Mini. Found out that the prices were so high that it made more sense to order a new 2012.

Looking at a couple of '08's and '09's and the price difference was only $2,000-$3,000.

I ordered my 2102 Justa Ice Blue on 10/1.

 

Thanks for the info .... biggest problem i am having is getting a quote on my Mini. I ask tthe dealers for a ball park, but they want you to go to the dealership. Probably believe they have a better chance of selling you a car. If i can't get a good price on mine, i can't purchase the JCW mini i want.

 

How is any dealer going to be able to give you an accurate qoute on your car without seeing/driving it?

Would you buy a used car sight unseen and without driving it?

Don't be ridiculous, go to the dealer and work the deal, if the numbers don't work for you, don't buy it - if they do, then you're good to go!

To the OP, don't be swayed by the "must have a manual" crowd. There is absolutely nothing that the stick shift driver can do with their car that I can't do with my automatic with the paddles, except shove the clutch pedal down a million times. Driving in DC traffic, or any other big city, I'd want an auto trans.

 

The Mini is a snow killer!

 

Engine braking works better with a manual trans. You also choose exactly what gear to go into with a manual, instead of making "suggestions" to the transmission control box. This means you can, among other things, shift into the wrong gear with a manual and "zing" the motor, potentially damaging it. (Known as the "money shift" in some circles.) A manual is more efficient, which not only means better fuel economy but it also means a little more power to the drive wheels.

Then again, the autos in our cars have taller top gears than the manuals do, which means that on the highway they are just about as efficient as the manuals.

I personally find the manual to be more involving and more enjoyable. But that's just a personal choice--the auto is another choice and is the right one for some people.

 

If you are driving in heavy traffic area's where the traffic gets bumper to bumper like we often have here in Charlotte NC (where i live now) and Atlanta where i also lived, you will very much appreciate the auto. i am a tennis pro and my first Mini (2002 justa) was a stick, had back problems due to being on the court for so many hours of the day. Had that one for two years and traded it in for a 2004 justa automatic, had it for two years and traded it in for a 2006 S auto, which i still have and love. It has the paddle shifters which I thought i would never use, and actually use quite often.
For me its automatic all the way.