A few years ago, I bought a used '06 Cooper S. Loved that car. But not long thereafter, our first child came along, and we dropped to one income, and it wasn't viable anymore. So I sold my baby (the alternative was selling my real baby).

A few years later, we're in good shape… and so I was able to buy another MINI! Since I have family now (one kid, another soon), I went for a Clubman… a nicely cared for '09 Clubman S, in the same pepper white as my first MINI.

I am stupidly excited to be back in a MINI. Although the factory stereo sucks compared to the HK in my old Cooper, so I've been eyeing speaker replacements. Afraid neither Integral nor Mikey's stuff is in the budget this year… so I'll likely just order some mid-grade speakers to replace the fronts and hold me until I save my pennies for a proper upgrade!

Anyway. Glad to be back!

 

Well welcome back! I recently bought my first MINI and holy crap it's been awesome! I've been driving from FL to ND (Military) and it's been a blast on this long drive.

 

Awesome! That's a fun way to get to know your car. The Mini is a great car for traveling, imho!

 

Yay congrats!

My husband and I both have MINI Coopers and we LOVE them to death. We have already decided that when it is time to start a family, I will then sell my MINI and pick up a Clubman (not that I want to sell mine :( ). I like the Countryman, but hubby isn't too fond of those lol. May I ask how the Clubman stacks up with carting around a child? We are able to fit our nephew just fine in the MINI (one time, when he faced backwards, and now he faces forward in the car seat). I assume the Clubman has a little more room?

Post pics

 

The Countryman has cool styling, but I really don't enjoy the handling. Just feels vague to me. And the non-turbo model doesn't have enough oomph to merge with highway traffic on the short ramps around Boston. Definitely a factor in getting a Clubman instead. Well, that and the price -- the Clubman is a bit rich for my wallet

We have just one child (so far!). When we had the '06 Cooper, a rear-facing infant's child seat did fit, but my wife (who is 5'10") was squished in the passenger seat, knees touching dash.

The Clubman has a little under 3" more rear legroom, and that makes all the difference. That, and my daughter having grown into a front-facing child seat. But even with an infant's rear-facing seat, the Clubman will fit us much better.

The extra half door ("Club door") on the passenger side is awesome. Open it up, flip the passenger seat forward, and there's not merely enough room in there for leaning in to fasten my daughter's seat belt -- I can get in with her, crouch behind the front seat with no contortions. It's great! I already prefer that to loading her into my wife's Subaru Outback.

Said Subaru Outback will remain quite handy for when we need plenty of space and comfort for long trips. But the Clubman fits a small family. Just three inches makes all the difference! (The extra luggage space behind the back seat is nice too.)

Below, my daughter in the back seat, on the way to school -- she likes to put her legs up! She also loves that the rear cup holder is accessible even while she's strapped in.

And here's my MINI, tentatively named Pepper (same as the last, since they're the same color) … still thinking about other names since, well, Pepper isn't that unusual a name for a MINI … but she is a high-strung redhead …