Proof that kids love riding in MINIs. This is my nephew when he was about 2 in my MCSC.

 

Great picture, thanks. This can definitely be done.

 

It can be done. I don't think for me the issue is the size, safety (because I feel FAR more safe in my MC than anything else I've ever driven, including an Escalade), or backseat room...it's whether or not you're willing to deal with a 2-door.

But I agree with those saying get the MCS now, enjoy it, and then when you start your family if it's not working, just trade it in for a Clubman 4-door. In the end, I think the Clubman will just be easier to maneuver with car seats and stuff, and MINIs hold their value incredibly well.

 

Melissa

A fount of inspiration and good sense!

 

My son is now 3 years old.

Check out this related threads that I started.

Expectant Fathers and their MINIs
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...hlight=fathers

He has been motoring in my MINI since he was like 4 weeks. I take him to school everyday and he has no problems climbing into his car seat. When he was smaller up till 6 months, I had the Peg Perego system where I just plopped his rear facing car seat into the holder. Took like 10 seconds to do. Removing was just as easy. Later when he got too big for that, it became a little bit more of a challenge, but the MINI Doors open very wide and out of the way, and the front seats scoot all the way out of the way, and getting to the rear seat isn't bad at all, especially because the height of the MINI isn't as tall as an SUV.

Yes we do have a Nissan Murano as a second vehicle for Costco shopping, etc, but the MINI does 95% of the travelling and carrying and my son loves being in the MINI.

Richard

 

Here's a little further safety proof for you. In Nov I was in a crash that resulted in my MCSC being totalled. The car wound up laying on it's passenger side (the car did a 1/4 roll). Both me and my passenger got out of the car with only one scratch (on him) and some soreness the next morning.
In the backseat I had a spare tire in a spare tire bag. I would guess it's weight to be similar to that of a carseat. The bag was buckled into the back seatbelt and didn't even move.The seatbelt locked as it should have and held the tire in it's place. Had it not been belted down I am sure it flying around in the car wouldn't have been good.

 

My 16 y/o daughter (5'4") and 9 y/o son (4'5") are fine in the back of the Mini, but 15 y/o son (5'8") is a little cramped. With the Odyssey "MiniSupportVehicle" we're fine though.

Agreed with the above on safety, a mother's perception of same, the Volvo recommendation, and that overall maneuverability (accident avoidance) must also be considered.

Side point to comment by Sensor and followup by The QZ: It's not the points you earn with your spouse, it's partly the research and intelligent decision making that make the difference, and mostly the responding to HER concerns and opinions. 23 years of marriage here, and making these important decisions while considering each other's opinions and research makes a big difference in getting that far...

So what color Mini are you getting?

 

I'm thinking of mellow yellow with black roof and stripes. I like a color that says "look at me", and my current car is orange.

I'm going to be showing my wife this thread to show her how it's done. Now the next obstacle, getting enough on my trade to pay off my loan and put a little down on the mini.

 

We also have an Odyssey "Mini Support Vehicle", but I have no problem taking my 2 boys, ages 5 and 2, around in the MCSc.

I realize this doesn't work in infant years (see Richard's previous post for help in that department), but I found a marvelous seat that works for kids about a year old and up. It's the Safeguard Go. I've posted this here before, but it really seems this seat was made for MINI owners. I'm 5'10", my wife is 5'8", and we have no problem fitting both boys in the back without having to adjust legroom one bit. I had a 6'3" friend in the car recently and we didn't have to adjust for him, either. Really slick.

 

That's really nice! What does that run? The link only sends me to a list of local dealers, but no pricing. I might have to get one! Although according to that site--it seems that after 3, he might only need the booster seat. Hmmm. I was under the impression it happened much later.

Richard

 

QZ: Cooper 8168 will probably back me on this too - sometimes it pays to go stealth, too - and the Ody is a pretty nice stealth cruiser. Heck, it's a minivan that hits 60 in 7.5, has 240+ VTEC horsepressure, can haul 7 people, and is pretty near invisible to the gendarmes in traffic (when driven intelligently, of course, and within proper velocity guidelines).

As for color, that yellow is great. Consider also body-colored roofs - understated but showy. Have to see them in the metal, really, to make your choice... or enlist your SO in choosing (once you've properly culled the color selection, of course...)

 

The site says it's $199.

That one *is* cool. Might have to pick one up for when I have my various nieces in town

 

Thank! Yeah the portability is cool, and I like the fact the seat is flat and low profile--not a typical bucket design that angles the legs up into the air right into the seat backs, lol.

 

Richard - there are dealers on eBay that sell it for $179 (new with warranty, of course). Haven't found much cheaper than that anywhere else.

I personally wouldn't put a 3-year-old in a booster. I think that's too young. We just got back from a road trip up to Portland and we put my 5-year-old in the Safeguard and the 2-year-old in our old Britax (since the Odyssey obviously has the room). The Safeguard worked perfectly in 5-point mode for my older son, so I see no reason to break it down to booster mode for another year or so.

You can see the Go when I bring my Mini down for the detail we've been discussing via email, unless I decide to bring the black Odyssey instead!

 

Well, I guess I'm going to take a different view than most others that have posted, but what I have to say may still help.

First let me say, I know exactly how you feel with the "do what you want to do" answer. I hear that at times myself, and I read it as "you have my permission, but, its not what I really want you to do". :impatient

I view a MINI as a 2 seater, even though it does have a back seat. I see them alot with rear seat passengers, but I pitty the folks in the rear seat if they are of any size. My wife and I are average height, and we adjust the seat to fit our comfort. That leaves little, and I mean little, room in the rear foot area.

Our kids are grown, but we do have a grandchild. For us, a rear facing car seat in the rear seat is not impossible, but we're not even going to try.

Now, on the positive side. If you do decide to trade for a MINI, I promise that it will retain its value a lot better that what you are driving now. If in say 3 years, you have to trade it in, you'll get a better trade in value for it; if the past values continue to hold true. I know, you don't buy a car as an investment, but you do need to consider future resale values. Wait to you see how much that Mopar product has dropped in price.

Who knows, you may buy one and find that even you don't like it, they aren't for everybody. But, you may buy one and the wife may fall in love with it. They are after all a blast to drive. They are very safe and get decent gas milage. If you purchase a new one, your maintenance is going to be free for the next few years.

Both you and your wife need to go for a test drive. Try to get her to drive it and get her honest opinion about the car. She may be more positive after driving one.

 

Richard - That is if you can wait that long!

 

Hahah thanks for reminding me about the Odyssey! Hmmm, yeah, I was a click away when I suddenly got stuck with color choices and the site didn't have any bigger images for my old eyes! Graphite or New Grey for my Space Cloth. lol. Darker is better for car seats I think. Or Red to just go contrasty--my son would love that racy look. lol.

 

I told a friend of mine about that seat for his triple-black MCSc. He ended up getting red, which I gotta admit looks pretty sick. Wait, can that term even be used when discussing a kid's car seat??

I ended up getting all black, which looks great.

 

Haha. Yeah. I'm think I'm going to go for flashy. Thanks!!

Richard

 

Flashy is good, and pleather or leather is better with kids (I don't need to tell you why, urp).

 

I couldn't resist--I went with Crimson Red. I'll just have to detail his seat a little more often.

 

I do not have kids but plan to. I have carted my nephews around and its a lot of work putting a chair in and you have to put the seat forward for some leg room for them. I can't imagine a rear facing. Believe me, I told my self a thousand times that it would be just fine before I got the car. Now after experiencing children in the back, it would be too much of a hassle IMHO.

I am not saying its not possible, but we will be buying a 3rd car when we have kids. The mini with a family in it will be for the fun outings only, not everyday trips. I wouldn't have the kids much in my car anyway so it would not really matter...

 

I have a 5-year-old boy and a 3-year-old girl. I use a Graco Turbobooster that seems to fit in the rear buckets quite nicely.

They both LOVE the MINI (as do I, of course), but honestly... I don't think I would have done the MINI if it wasn't for the fact that they can now climb in and out on their own & pretty much buckle themselves in (with just a double-check by mom or me required).

Days of lifting the car seat, or worse actually lifting a squirming kid, in and out of a car and buckling them up would be a PITA in ANY coupe IMO.

<3YOA... I see the MINI as an OK 2nd (occasional) baby car... or better yet, a 3rd fun car with some type of other family hauler on hand. Preferably an SUV (hold you fire SUV haters!) since bending over while pulling 40+lbs. of baby and seat in and out of a sedan WILL play havoc on your back. You'll see (you will of course LOVE every minute of it as child-rearing is a blast ).

Oh, and meg: Putting 'em in with the top down! Thats just cheating IMO !

 

I sold my Miata to get the Mini when we found out my wife was pregnant. The Mini is a third car for us, but I wanted to make sure I could still drive it to work in the summer and that would now involve doing the daycare run. I did a little reading and figured that the Mini is a family car in Europe, so it's bound to work right?!
I put our rear facing car seat in on the passenger side and we needed to put the seat up just a little bit.
I did figure out that the easiest way to get the car seat in is to do it through the boot. I just flip down one side of the rear seat and reach in and around with the carseat and snap it into the base. Super easy... way easier than trying to fish it through the front door. I'm sure I'll get some funny looks from people! Hey look at that guy! He just put his baby in the trunk!

 

Well I got my new car seat on Friday, and my feelings are mixed. Old car seat is placed on the right in this picture but not actually buckled in place. The SafeGuard Co looks cool, but see how it's compressing the top of the seat??


Pluses:

1. Get back tons of room when sitting in the back seat next to car seat
2. Easier for son to climb into seat because it sits lower
3. Legs now drop down over seat leg area instead of into the front seat backs due to lower position
4. LATCH system makes it easy to install and remove car seat, something I missed from my Peg Perego days

Minuses:

1. Seat back is soft, so less support
2. Unless I've installed the seat improperly, it's deforming my MINI seat back due to the tension required to lift soft seat back higher
3. Seating position is more upright so my son tends to lean forward when he sleeps

This concerns me


This also concerns me


My son is 3 years and 4 months old. I like the benefits of the seat to me, but the drawbacks to my son are significant and unless I can figure out how to keep the seat from deforming my MINI while making my son more comfortable than his old seat, I may put this up for sale.

I'm not doubting the possibility that it just needs some more tweaking to make it work, so I haven't given up yet, but it is a little disappointing that this $200 seat doesn't work as well for my son as the $40 one.

Richard