While visiting my "local" MINI dealer I parused the showroom.....talk about sticker shock. 2009 JCW Edition MCS with a sticker of $44,300.00US.....

That's the same price range of a Chevy Corvette...

2009 Chevrolet Corvette Prices & Equipment
Model Prices Prices Updated: 08/13/2008

Trim Name ......................Retail Price ...............Dealer Invoice ................Destination Charge
Base 2-door hatchback .........$47,045 ......................$42,105..................... .......... $850

Or an Lotus Elise........

RWD1.8L I4 Manual $46,270
RWD1.8L I4 Manual $51,770
SC RWD1.8L I4 SManual $54,500

 

Lotus

 

Depends upon how practical you want your car to be.

MINI Cooper JCW = Extremely fun auto-x and track car and very practical daily driver.

Corvette = Fun but not very practical

Lotus = Great smooth track tool but extrememly impractical as a daily driver.

If have the time to order your own design it is pretty easy to keep it down to around $33,000 - $36,000. Depending upon how deeply you dig into the accessory bin.

 

OR

I could purchase a new BMW 1 Series and have $7-14,000 grand left over.....

Price Range: $29,500 - $37,500
Body Style: Coupe to convert.

I dunno, just seems that this is the sort of "company pricing philosphy" which
ultimately leads to the demise of either the product line or a company all together........

 

I agree with the idea of practicality. I have a 'vette and it stays in the garage from November til Late April. There is no room for luggage and can only seat one person regardless of the driver's size (no one can sit behind me in the MCS). I would suspect the Lotus is the same.

If you have a couple of cars and one for hauling and bad roads (I have a Colorado Crewcab), it makes no difference.

 

I personally would think the other way around if I was car shopping. I would see the price of the corvette and say for that much I can get an awesome MINI, which is more fun to me. I don't look at the MINI as a car I got because I couldn't afford a different one.

 

Go for the 135i !

 

Of those three, Lotus!

 

I haven't seen a 135i for under $40k out here, and have seen the 135i convert. up too $49k

 

Depends on what you want...I have both and love each of them. Ask yourself what your looking for in a car and go from there.

 

Looking at your pricing I am confused. What is in the JCW you looked at???
We just got our 09 JCW and added the JCW Aero Kit, HI-FI, Standard well you can see in my profile.. Our JCW was about $36K tax, tag & title. The Vette Coupe numbers are low and would not include the 3LT package with all the options and no Z51 package.

On that note, if your making the decision on price you may want to review the JCW pricing, you can get one for much less.

These are two very very diffrent cars....The Vette is great and I would be happy left with either my Mini or Vette. I just got my Mini and only have abut 600 miles on it and I have had my C6 Corvette since 2006 and have about 18K....

I assume you dont car about back seats since you are considering the Vette so I would drive them before you make the final decision. My biggest dis-like on the Mini is Front Wheel drive..dont like the tourqe steer and dont waste your money on the upgraded HI-FI system.

Good luck....either way your gonna have fun.

 

I bought my JCW for $29,500 and it has everything I need to be a fun car to drive. My only option is the "SPORT SUSPENSION". CD player is standard as well as power windows, air conditioning,run-flat tires & a heck of a lot of power,handling and is just plain fun to drive.
I just got rid of a C5 Corvette and I think I like this Mini better then I did my Vette. Don't get me wrong, I liked my Corvette but I like my JCW just as much or better in a lot of ways.
Ronie948

 

Yup, they are pricey. I considered one, but bought the MINI instead. Plus they are heavy.

The modified Eurobahn SEMA 2008 135i car is for sale, 17K miles. They say $55K invested, asking $42.5.

I don't know anything about the car or seller, but you can do a google search for info.

 

Congrats Ronnie. Sounds like a solid value for a JCW 2009.

 

$44K must have included every option and then some. When I priced my MCCS out as a JCW w/same options it was around a $6K increase for JCW which still put me under the $40K mark.

 

Elise

 

You forget - the initial cost of the 'Vette is not that bad. It's the cost of all the gold chains you'll need to buy that runs the price of ownership up!

 

Mini > lotus Elise > Corvette
I only like old vette's to be honest.
The new ones are simply an eye sore for me, no character in the design of the car.
My girl and I were almost thinking of doing the european delivery on a 1 Series.
I've had the idea in my mind of building up a nice 1 series, although the price tag is what holds me back..... For Now!

 

 

Do you have a mustache?

 

oh, I better behave....about to add to that for a flamer session !

I love my MINI and nothing could ever replace her....except maybe another MINI. No way would I own a Corvette, performance isn't everything. I've had my GM products......

The last MINI I saw priced that high was a JCW Cabrio with literally the book of bits thrown at it

 

Mini used to be a $20k car.

IMO once you cross over into 36k you put the MINI into a league where it's matched against cars it cant compete with, esp when you start adding the constant maintenance and repairs from poor build quality.

And when you pass more than $10k per engine cylinder you've passed the point of practicality concerns IMO

 

Gold chains....really...

My Twin Turbo Vette..no gold chains or Chrome...

 

Wow interesting statement. What cars would you be talking about? The EVO is much more than $36k as is a WRX. You might get a Mazdaspeed for less, but then you are driving a wagon So not sure where you are comming from?

 

I stopped looking at them when I sat in the rear seat. Would not put my kids in that I have more room in my Mini.