Hi there,

So, my wife and I are looking into getting MINI Countryman S All 4. :-) We rented a mini when we were in Cali and both loved it for it's simplicity and surprising driving.

We are about to exit our Lexus RX350 lease and as we became very used to having options like keyless entry, heated seats, luxury feel, cargo space, auto trunk close, and especially memory seats as there ate 2 drivers in the family. .... MINI Countryman is a bit different. Oh and we'll have at least 1 car seat for our 2 year old.

We were looking to lease this car but price per months doesn't make sense.
$30K car at $385/mo for 36month ... 3 years from now we would have paid $14K, then $350 plus any other scratches fee ... so it's a no go.

I am now thinking of buying a 2013 or 2014 model for around $23-25k ?

My friend however reminded me that it's a BMW built and that means ... this car will start to have issues as soon as warranty runs out. Electrical issues, where bill can be easily $4K to fix something.

My question .... is he over exaggerating?

I really like the car. It's a huge change from Lexus RX. .... It probably sucks when you have 2 drivers and you need to change seating and mirrors constantly. Does it?

Any feedback would be very much appreciated

thank you.

 

I love driving MINIs, but I sometimes hate trying to keep one on the road. One look at Consumer Reports and you'll see why. They can be finicky to keep running and they are expensive to repair.

That said, I wouldn't trade mine. They've got great personality, style, and driving characteristics. The good side is that they currently have one of the better factory warranties in the business, so for at least four years/50,000 miles, you don't have too much to worry about.

On a related note, leases are always a bad deal, unless you have absolutely always got to be driving a brand-new car.

 

I have a '13 base hardtop. I've had my base just short of two years and have had zero problems, not even a rattle. However, the base model is considered more reliable than average. The S and JCW are rated less than average for reliability. The '13 base is the last base you can get that isn't turbo.

 

Since this thread is in a Countryman forum, this isn't true

 

Is $385/MO for a fully loaded S? How much down? That sounds absurdly high. Leasing German cars is better than leasing Japanese cars. Purchasing Japanese cars is better than purchasing German cars. Yes. I'm biased. I love Japanese cars but I drive a Countryman.

First off, I'm a BMW employee, so this changes my perspective in good and bad ways. You could wait for a lease deal to come around (if you have the time) and get almost the same deal I got. No details unless you really wanna know.

The benefit with purchasing Japanese cars (particularly Honda/Acura and Toyota/Lexus) is they hold value so good that you could sell the car for just a few thousand less than purchase price a few years later. I know people that have sold Hondas for $1000 less than what they paid for it new... 3 years later. Your lease payments are probably more than what purchase payments would be, but you don't get to keep the car and resell after. I'd consider that a huge benefit, comparable to lowering your purchase payments a LOT. Their higher reliability and lower (or less frequent) repair costs are the big factor in their high residual value.

German cars drop value fast. If I had purchased, not only would my payments be higher, but I'd lose several thousand dollars by selling a 5 year old German car out of warranty. Also, people say that German cars go bad when they're out of warranty. Not true. They go bad all the time. People just NOTICE the break downs when it's out of warranty and they have to cough up the cash! . That being said, the Countryman S still uses the N18, which has been around for a few years and has had most of its kinks worked out. That's why I didn't get a new F chassis. First and second year of a new chassis / engine are the worst.

If you can get a better deal on a lease, that's your best option.

 

See MINIUSA.COM for current lease offers. Monthly payments before local tax and title range from $199 to $275 per month for a 2015 Cooper to a 2016 Cooper S ALL4 at $28,200. My local MINI dealer never tells me about deals and resists giving them to me unless I refuse any deviation from the deals published on MINIUSA. Some dealers will pad the money rate above what your credit rating warrants.

The lease prices on a JCW are $399 and $445 at $37,450 msrp.

 

U'll miss the size(rearseats and trunk) of the RX350, and it's quieter cabin during high speed cruises.

The ctm seats are manually operated so it's quite quick, but you'll have to adjust the mirrors constantly.

And to be honest, you'll probably miss lexus's reliability.

You should buy the MINI only if your heart says so. So, I guess follow your heart? Thats how I bought mine.

 

Thank you for the great info.
Yea, the MSRP on the car quoted was $32,680 and they gave me a price of $30,241 which brings Lease cost per month at $389 with $0 down ... just title, fees, and first month. I have a feeling it's a lousy deal.

I like the S and all4 option, as that will help here in NYC on the snow.

Very curious to know the deal you got :-)

 

I wouldn't own a mini without a warranty that I still owed money for.

 

You can keep the keyless ignition (comfort access), heated seats and some of the other 'luxury' options - but you give up space for the go-kart feel

You can get two car seats in the back

 

For employees they took about $5k off the MSRP. Mine is a pretty basic S with PDC and wheels that added cost. With lease protection it was $1k down and $199/MO including tax and fees for 36 months

 

Have you looked into the select plan which may be a better monthly price. I'm on my second mini using this plan and my payment is less on a msrp of about 37k