I'm 26 and most of my coworkers are slightly older and drive Audis and BMWs so they look down on me a bit. They're "car guys" and believe once you can afford it, you should pamper yourself and buy one of the three German marquees. So many people see the MINI as an "expensive-toy" and misunderstand what it is and why one chooses to drive one. I think bhelton's Driving vs Motoring blog entry helps to explain MINI owners and why we transcend socio-economic boundaries. I could have bought a used Z4 instead of my MINI, but I love the MINI too much. I sacrificed by living at home after school to save up for the down-payment on my MINI and currently live check-to-check with car-payments, insurance, gas, etc.

 

Good Lord, so many degrees and no Benjamins to show for all those sleepless nights and burnt eyelashes???

I swear that some of you seems to either:

a) Like school too much (Never ending college stage of life)
b) Gluttons for punishment
c) Like to collect degrees like trophies
d) all of the above

 

Take your snobby co-workers out for a lap of two and see how many will go back to their "Proper (Insert German marque here) status symbol".

 

I'm not well off, 41, newly divorced, now renting a house, helping my son pay for college & took a part time job. I think the BMW affiliation makes the mini owners look "well off". My daughter's classmates thought we were rich b/c I drove a mini!!!!

Right now the coolest thing for me is that I ordered my Mini (the only new car I ever owned) and got it in 2003 and this month is my last payment!!!!

Poor in the pocket but RICH with the Mini and the other owners I've met!!!

 

Haha! I really respect that. I thought of going back to college for more degrees. I like history, english, art, theater, theology. Basically if it does not pay I love it

I do have a minor in Biology. It is the only useful thing about me..

 

Well off! Huh, not even well, but I had to have one and I'm just getting by.

ClubmanS - In my book you are correct. No bills/debt is definitly well off. God that must feel great!!!

 

Oh and living at home after school is a good decision from the $$$ point of view. I did it, don't regret it and was able to save good money instead of paying rent and be cash strapped.

What fun is it to have your "freedom" but have no cash to invite the ladies over?

 

I think I am begging to sound like Suze Orman...

 

I also get to have multicolored hair, visible piercings and black nails. To me being able to look the way I want is priceless!!

 

Be careful.... Chili Red MINIs are known to be women magnets when driven by single/divorced men

 

Well lucky for me I am a lady then

 

I watch her show sometimes and then have nightmares of her burning me at the stake for my money sins. She is wicked.

After college I did get a "normal" well paying job at a corporation. I did well there but hated it and quit. Now I am happy but with less money.

To each their own!

 

A + B for me, please. I LOVE school. I love exercising my mind, analyzing the world around me, and burying myself in my brain and my books. It's fun. I like it.

Never too late...I have a fellow grad student who is pushing 60.

"Home" for me is in extreme eastern Colorado, 30 miles from any corporate presence let alone the limited opportunities for gainful employment. Perhaps it was my fault that I wasn't willing to shovel s*** for a couple of years after four of higher education...or would there have been a difference?

I don't have multicolored hair, but I can wear a hat at work. I have six earrings and visible tattoos if I wear short sleeves or shorts. Black nails are optional.

 

I'll have to teach my son to drive my car then. The X-husband got the house and all the debt...I'm a gal mini owner

 

Well, I do love Audi's-you have to admit those white LED's along the headlights look pretty sweet. I would still love to own a TT someday. I think the problem with those brands you mentioned is that lots of the owners of those cars are only buying it for the name and status. They don't usually have the same kind of passion or creativity that lots of Mini owners do.

 

I'm far from penniless, I have over 80,000 pennies.

 

Never really thought much about it, but I guess some of that may be true.....most MINI owner's I know seem to be well off including the one's in our club. They also have a habit of trading their Coopers in every 3-4 years and are not much into modding either ..... Case in point, there are a couple of sister's up the road frm me ( in their 50's ) whom have their second set of two brand new MINI Convertables. They are heirs to a very very very large clothing / retail store....a guy in my club who owns/races J-Class sailing yachts just emailed me today about how he traded in his 03' MCS for a 09' MCS Clubman in PW.

I must say though, from what you described ~ you are about 6 years ahead of me when I was your age.........So you get a well deserved pat on the back .

 

I think the MINI is a strange brand in that one can get a used MINI which is a couple years old and decently outfitted for under $20,000. But, a new fully loaded MINI like some of the ones I've constructed virtually on MINI USA's website have run up over $40,000. So, I'd say the price range for these little beauties spans a couple different socio-economic categories which may in turn confuse some folks.

On another note, I know that in parts of Asia, the MINI is twice as expensive as they are in the States

I personally don't mind letting others think that I have a car that is more expensive than it is...helps to hold the value and also don't mind that it performs better than most people think as well

 

Nope, not rich or even close to being wealthy. But, I am happy, because I don't worry about what other people think about my MINI, why I bought it, or how much it cost. Far too many people today are worried about what others think about them, they spend way too much time trying to please everyone but themselves.

Although modern day cars shouldn't be looked at as an investment, to me the MINI is somewhat of an investment as compaired to other cars in it's same price range. You can buy one, drive it 2 or 3 years and then sell it and still retain a good portion of what you paid for it. Go out and buy yourself a nice GM, Ford, or Chrysler product for the same price as a MINI and see what it's worth in 2 years.

 

Guilty as charged. No mortgage, no credit card debt, and two MINI's and one Mini in the garage. My recipe was a top notch education, hard work, and saving $ early and often. I'd rather spend my money on track days than vacation days.

 

Playplay: Yes, the Mini is expensive in other countries. Singapore has them listed for 115 grand(which equates to about 90 grand US) Yowzers! :P

 

Here Here!

Some rather wealthy folks have owned MINIs including Dirk Nowitzski of the Dallas Maevrics (he's 7 feet tall) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (who could own anything he wanted).

My MINI is paid for and is a pleasure vehicle for me. I also have a 325i (also paid for) as a daily driver - especially now that gas prices have declined a bit! BUT, I am not rich by any means. If I were, I might own a Bentley as my daily driver - but I would probably still keep COOOOOP, with the addition of a JCW kit and LSD fersure!

 

Well off? That's totally relative.

For me to buy a new MINI, it would take an entire year's salary. Intead, I bought mine for a good, used price from it's original owner.

I do get the impression that many, if not most people with MINI's are 'well off'.. but this makes sense! Heck, I'm pretty "well off" when I look at the big picture. <$30k a year isn't much, but I work in a school district in which many of the families don't own any kind of car, period, because they can't afford it. They can barely afford to feed their families, so if someone wants to look at me as "well off" because I decided to buy a nice car.. then I won't feel bad for it.

Am I as well off as someone making 6-figures? Obviously not. But I did manage to buy a car that is more than just basic transportation. I've even saved up the money for a few mods. There are a lot of people much worse off than I am.

 

id say most mini owners are not well off

that is unless you are driving a GP

then youre more than likely pretty well off

 

"well off"... is a matter of perspective.

I don't consider myself to be "well off" because there are plenty of folks out there whom are better off than I.

Although Uncle Sam must consider me to be well off because he aboslutely hammers me every year at tax time.