Good Day to all you Mini enthusiasts!

My wife and I are finally looking to get into our first Mini Cooper. We have had our eyes on them for several years, and we now are to the point where we need to replace one of our vehicles so we are in the market for a Mini.

Here are our initial thoughts/needs:

We think we want the Clubman, as we are close to starting a family and getting a baby seat in and out of a standard Mini might prove difficult. So the third door on the Clubman could prove very useful for us. I personally like the standard Mini better, but sometimes you have to think practical.

One of the primary reasons we want a Mini is for gas mileage...well and that they are pretty darn cool looking and fun to drive! So our debate, both for price and gas mileage, is to get the S or the base Cooper. I love driving the S, but the base Cooper is still fun to drive, just not as fun! I have heard that some with the S model are still pushing 40mpg on the highway, but I know that if I bought the S it would be to enjoy the speed, and most often you probably going to average closer to 30 then 40mpg. I am not sure what people are averaging with the base Cooper.

The last thing we are debating is buying new vs. used. I have never been a big believer in buying a vehicle new. I always feel you lose value as soon as you drive it off the lot. That being said, however, you do get the comfort of the warranty and the fact that you can design your own Mini, individualize it. Plus, Mini right now is offering 1750 off base MSRP if you buy the 1750 upgraded sound/sunroof package, therefore making that package free. Plus, I hear they are offering .9% financing, which is pretty darn cool. But we really didn't want to spend much more than 20k so buying a new Mini pretty much steers us out of the market for an S and into the base Cooper Clubman. We have found some 2008 and 2009 Mini Clubman S with around 30k miles for about 22-24k. But I don't believe those would carry a warranty (??) and of course you don't know how they have been treated by the original owners.

So that is our debates right now, and I wanted to get some of your thoughts/experiences on the model you own. Thanks for your time!

 

Had my base Cooper for about a month and am averaging 35mpg. Half city, half highway. I only use premium (93 octane). If you use high grade fuel the "justacooper" is plenty fun to drive. Heck, I live in the city anyway and don't have too many opportunities to "open it up".

Good luck with your decision.

 

I bought a new base model Cooper hardtop for my teenage daughter in March. I went with the base model because I did not think that the S model would work well for a new driver.

The performance of the base model is very good even with an automatic transmission. The sport mode of the trans does make the base model more fun to drive.

We now have 2500 mil on the odometer and we are are averaging 27 MPG (mostly city with little highway). MPG seems to be getting better as the car is broken in.

I also usually buy pre-owned vehicles. However, I bought a new vehicle because with the recent incentives it seemed to be a better deal than a pre-owned vehicle. The late model MINI's do hold their value pretty well. The cost of a late model vehicle was pretty close to a new model and I would not get the free maintenance or the roadside assistance for the first three years or 36K.

I purchased the vehicle off the dealer lot. If I had to do it again, I would order it as there are a few options that I think are really needed. I would go for the HID headlights, the automatic temperature control, and fog lights. Since I am getting old, the upgraded seats would suit be better, but my daughter seems to be fine with the standard seats.

I find the halogen headlights are pretty weak (especially if you are used to HID lights on another vehicle). I have already replaced them with some PIAA xtreme whites which have improved the situation quite a bit. I find the AC/heater difficult to modulate. I think that the automatic temperature control is probably a very good choice.

Hope this helps.

 

I bought a used base 2006 Cooper a year ago. Sometimes I long for the straight-line pull of the S, but honestly if you learn how to drive it well, you can squeeze quite a lot of aggressive fun out of the Cooper. It will never beat the S in a straight line, of course. It has marginally better reliability, no HPFP to die on you, less reported clutch troubles, no carbon build up, etc.

I have a hard time "keeping my foot out of it," so my mileage may be on the low end, but my R50 gets about 26-28 with mostly city/twisty tanks. I checked my highway mileage for the first time yesterday, and i got 35mpg. This was keeping the revs up and included a big mountain climb which I'm sure cost me a few MPG overall.

Whatever you decide on, you're in for a fun ownership experience! I spent a few days with a Clubman S Auto as a loaner, and it was a blast even though I am a Manual guy. It felt just as nimble as the Cooper.

 

Clubman works well with youngins. I have a '11 S and love it. My 2, 4, and 7 year-olds climb right in.

A couple minor issues: The Clubman of course has more rear room across the board, but putting the car seat (for the 2 YO) behind the driver's seat allows me to keep the driver seat where I want it (I am 6'2"). The drawback to that is that the third door is on the other side of the car, so it isn't quite as easy to install / remove the child seat. Another issue, it took me some getting used to to install the LATCH clips on the MINI (both the Clubman and an '09 hardtop) - not as easy as with other vehicles, but I got the hang of it.

If you go with a clubman, seriously consider the S.

Regarding new/used, consider a Certified Pre-Owned. I bought my '09 that way since their warranty is 100K (go figure) - significantly beyond new. But, as you say, if you can find the packages you want 'thrown in' as MINI has been doing lately, this makes it compelling to go the new route - especially with the low financing these days.

Good luck with the decision.

 

Thanks for the advice about the youngsters. My wife and I figured the same thing - the child seat would be best behind driver, however a little more difficult to get in and out (though still easier than a standard Mini).

As for the advice to get an S, what is your personal logic on it? My concern with the S is higher cost, worst gas mileage, higher insurance, and to a lesser extend - no spare tire. However, I love driving the S, I love it. But the Cooper Clubman is also fun to drive. That is the biggest issue I am having in deciding.

 

I originally bought a non-S almost 3 years ago. It was a blast to drive but I still always regretted not buying the S. I can get 40 mpg in my JCW on the highway so I don't see why you could still get 40 in a new S.

Whatever you decide, have fun!!

 

I kinda wanted the s model, but we considered cost and reliability and went with the base Cooper. I drove a clubman s automatic loaner for a while and wasn't impressed enough with the performance to justify the cost difference.
Now a manual s might be fun.....like Danny said, if you get the manual it's easier to squeeze every inch of torque out of the engine instead of the car deciding when it's going to shift.

We are very happy with the base manual model. I would have a handful of tickets by now if I had gone with the s!

 

We are on our 4th MINI and we have always bought used. My wife has a 05 cabrio auto cvt and I have a 07 s. Insuranse and milage are comparable, but I tend to get less in my s. I do however get about 36 on the interstate an 28 in normal conditions. Our baby is 17, so we don't have car seat issues any more. Used has always worked for me and no matter where you buy, the warranty and service agreements are the same as buying new as long as time and milage are within the window. As mentioned in an earlier response, certified at a MIni dealer is pretty good, but the fuel pump and timing chain issues are well documented and Mini is good about fixing them. As far as the clubman, I had one as a loaner before and the auto non-s was a lot of fun to drive. If you want a better ride, go for non runflats. The baby would be jiggled a-lot. Good luck with your search.

 

FYI, had my 2010 Clubman for just over 3 months, drive "country roads" (hills, twists, slow moving farm vehicles sometimes) and she is getting currently 37.9mpg and I put 93 ocatane in her religiously! With gas prices doing the nasty, I am sooo happy I got the Justa. And like everyone says, it is just as much fun to drive and I didn't have to add the extra $3g onto the financing!!!

Got 19mpg in my Jeep, so I am darned happy!!

Took my Clubbie off the lot, it was an "Executive" car with 3500 miles, but still got the new car warranty, etc.

2010 HzB/Clubgirl, fairly loaded, much loved

 

The extra weight of the Clubby - though not tremendous - is noticable over the hard top - especially when braking. I drove them both (S and non-S) and decided on the S for the response / HP / Torque.

Mileage has not been an issue with the S. The gear ratios are tighter, so you upshift sooner. One of the results of this is that you are in 6th gear around 60 MPH and will be pulling down over 40 mpg on steady-state level runs.

The biggest issue with mileage and the S is keeping your foot off the floor just for the sheer joy of it ; though i had that same "problem" with the non-S hard top!

One thing in retrospect that i should have done when getting the hard top is actually taking the kids and the car seat to the dealership when test driving. If you haven't already - i HIGHLY recommend you do this (regardless of which model or brand you settle on).

Looking forward to hearing about your Clubman! (no pressure)