My son and I recently watched the Italian Job (again). When Charlize Theron drove the older MINI across town in traffic after cracking the safe for the police, my son said, "Wouldn't it be fun to get an old MINI to fix up." I might just look for one. Any suggestions for how to find one in decent shape, in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area?

 

i considered other european brands but MINI has style, driving fun and kewl...

 

Time came I needed another CRX but with 4 seats.

 

I've never been the typical car guy, in fact I've always looked at cars as transportation appliances. That was, until I sat in a guy's 2006 S when it was new. It was then that my perception of what a fun car was all about changed. The point of no return started the minute I sat down. I'm positive that everyone is sick of hearing me talk about MINIs nonstop for 5 years!

I set a diligent plan for myself to drive my base model '97 Eclipse until it would go no more. When that 180k mile day arrived several months ago, the Eclipse breathed it's last breath on a highway entrance ramp. I knew it was time!

Long story short, 2 weeks ago, I picked up "Groo", my 2012 MCSa with JCW tuning kit and suspension, and this baby has exceeded my wildest (5 years worth) dreams!

Jon

 

Quite a few reasons. Here's a couple. My previous car was a Saturn Sky Redline. 2-seater, convertible, 300+ hp and was a small rocketship. It was my dream car when I first saw it, then I drove it and bought it on the spot. To this day I miss the looks and performance. So why did I trade it for a Mini?

Well, the car was the most fun car to drive I've ever owned but it spent as much time in the shop as it did on the road. Once the warranty ran out and I had to start paying out of pocket for everything, it got a bit expensive. So there's that... I wanted a car with a full warranty and hopefully one that would be a little more reliable. As it was, when I traded the Sky in, the back window was delaminating and separating from the fabric and the only solution was to replace the entire top which would have been a $1000.00 repair.

Also, the Sky was my only car and it was a 2 seater with absolutely NO trunk space. Being a guitar player, I have to transport my guitars and amps every weekend and it was a mission fitting it all into the Sky. It was also impossible to transport a passenger when I had my guitars with me because I'd have to carry gear in the passenger seat.

So on top of the car always breaking down, it was also very impractical as a daily driver/only vehicle. I know some people think the Mini convertible doesn't have a lot of cargo space but for me, coming from the Sky, the Mini is like a freakin SUV as far as the difference in cargo space. I can carry all of my guitar gear, including amps that I could never fit in my Sky at all, AND I can carry a passenger at the same time! Oh, and I can do all this and still put the top down! I could not do that in the Sky because when the top was folded down, it stowed in the tiny space that passed for a trunk making it impossible to put anything in the back.

Then on top of all that, Saturn went out of business and it became difficult to find parts. I had a problem where a Goodyear cracked one of my fenders and I was unable to find a new fender so I had to have it patched instead of replaced. I realized that if anything happened to the car like a more serious accident, I wouldn't be able to find parts for it. Not to mention, since Saturn was out of business, that meant that repair facilities would be hard to find. Since I only have one car and I rely on it 100%, I had a bad feeling about driving a car that the manufacturer was out of business.

Then there were some financial reasons that I won't get into here but bottom line, it was in my best interest to buy a new car at the time I bought the Mini.

As for why a Mini? Well, even before I decided to trade the Saturn, I had always liked Minis, and I have always liked convertibles. I had checked them out at dealerships a few times and always had it in the back of my mind that when it came time to get rid of the Sky, I'd probably get a Mini. So when I decided to finally trade the Saturn, I looked around and found a decent deal on a Mini convertible that I liked and that was that. I traded the Sky, bought the Mini, haven't regretted it for a single moment. Although I must say that I do sometimes miss the looks of the Sky and the incredible power it had. 300+ hp and 0-60 in under 5 seconds.

 

I love the way people tailgate me on the freeway but as soon as I give it the gas/turbo or we hit some curves I'm gone! Amazing machine.

 

I was putting around $100 a week in my Doge Ram pickup just to get to work and back, and I wasn't driving my motorcycle as much as I thought. I wanted a small car that got good MPG, but was still fun to drive, and was different then all of the Civics, Jettas, and other "economy" cars out there...plus I wanted something that had lots of aftermarket parts availble for it. Plus...I'm 6'6" tall....and I just couldn't fit in anything BUT a mini.

So I sold my 1000RR, and picked up a super clean 03' JCW MCS....and love it! 35mpg, fun to drive, and it definitely stands out. I've saving $60+ a week on fuel! It even gets better MPG than my bike did. My truck now just sleeps in the garage until I need to pull the boat

 

My reasons:
Handling - like a Honda.

Community - love but hate it.

Personality - not boring.

Hp/Tq - just enough with bolt-ons and flash.

Cool factor and conversation initiated by others owners and non-owners.

And ever since I was little I always wanted a red old school Cooper and swap Honda's B16B or B18C5 with TWM ITBs. Still not there yet.

 

Because I wanted a car with personality that was fun to drive. I spent 10 years in an Acura TL-S, and when I went to a BMWCCA Advanced Driving School, I felt like I was driving around a whale.

10 years ago on our honeymoon, my wife and I had a Mini as our rental car and loved it. I had put that to the back of my mind, but when I was looking at yet another boring sedan, my wife said, "why don't you get a Mini?" I test-drove a Clubman and was hooked. I'm now the proud owner of a 2010 Clubman S in BRG and I have never looked forward to driving to work as much as I do now!

 

I have a couple of friends that have the 04. 5.8 liter vs the 6.0 in 2005. LS 1 Vs LS 2. It's been a fun car. I still don't baby it even with the miles on it. It uses about 1/2 quart of oil between oil changes. Best designed engine GM ever made in my eyes. Push rod motor really makes some HP and is bullet proof. (You should have kept it.)

Pat

 

There are a lot of MINIs in my area and it is always a pleasure to spot one in the sea of boring sedans. I never considered getting a MINI until this July, when I no longer needed a microvan because my kids didn't live with me any more. My original plan was to downsize to something small and efficient. In my research for compact cars, the MINI popped up as a high MPG choice. I had no idea! I thought it was an expensive toy. The styling of MINI is sporty and yet welcoming, much more lively than all the straight-face cars out there. I went in for a test drive and decided right there that it was going to be my next car. I have had driven a Ford, a Honda, a Subaru, a couple of VWs, an Audi, and a Mazda, so I wanted something different, something fresh, something entirely selfish. MINI was it. Once I decided on a MINI, the selection of model was very easy.

I am also at a stage in my life where I begin to think that "if I don't do this now I might not get to do it later." So I got the manual transmission. One of my regrets has been that I switched to automatic even though I learned how to drive on a manual. Now I can say proudly that I drive a stick.

 

Fun!

 

At the time I still needed to do carpools and haul kids and stuff around too much. The two doors with terrible back seat access was just too impractical. If I was still in the same situation today, I think my MINI (or just about anything else without 4 doors) would be nearly as impractical.

 

Understood. Getting in and out of the backseat was tough. The seat is very comfortable once you got in it. And of course with that real fast electric seat motor!

 

+1!!

 

A first gen was on my shortlist of used cars I was considering to replace my VW TDI daily driver. Other considerations were the BMW Z3 2.8 Coupe, Audi TT 225Q Coupe, Chrysler Crossfire Coupe, and Porsche Boxster with hardtop which I would never remove (only because a decent 911 coupe is out of my range for a daily). I was really leaning towards the TT for it's design, and the fact that I'm tooled and knowledgable on VAG products. The lowly MINI won out based on price (I got my R50 for $1,500, needing work). Anyway, the reason the MINI was on my list to begin with is strictly the driving experience. Money aside, I'm very happy with my decision. I still have the TDI, and my practical side says to just keep it, and sell the MINI. But every time I drive anything else, I wish I was in my little Cooper. FWIW, I think the fuel consumption stinks for the size of the car (I get 34mpg routinely), but factor in the fun quotient, and it's a bargain to drive over the thriftier and more powerful TDI.

 

my wife made me

 

Before we did the MINI thing, My wife (when she was still sighted) took a hardtop for a test drive and loved it except for the size. She gets claustrophobic. and steered me away from them (not that we could afford it) I really knew that she wanted one and had to keep me away. Well we started looking at cars and after seeing a CM at a not so local mall, I twisted her arm to go take a test drive of a CM. As I said before it was love at first drive. It's only four weeks to go for delivery of our baby. 12 CM LC w/ BRM cold weather, Steptronic, Sport seats, HK Auto AC, Sunroof and ?????? accessories after delivery.

 

That's the reason right there.

 

Because I love to drive.

 

I knew about the upcoming new Mini around 2000 and since I've always been a fan of British and German cars, it was a "gotta have one" for me. I was at Dreyer and Reinbold in Indy the first day they were open. Took a test drive, ordered my MCS on the spot and never looked back. Besides, I'm allergic to rice.

Kevin

 

It just looks cool...

 

Originally, to be honest, because I was tired of refilling the tank of my car every 4 days... needed a more efficient commuter. Couldn't stand the "Pious" or any of it's competitors' derivatives (horrid looking vehicles one and all); especially couldn't stand every time I asked owners about them each seemed to love to immediately jump on their soap boxes and claim how environmentally friendly they were (while drinking from a disposable bottle, wearing jewelry derived from strip mines, non-biodegradable rubber-soled shoes... :-).

I saw a Mini, fell in love at first sight - beautiful looking and engineering masterpieces. I knew it's rally pedigree and loved how true the updated Mini stayed to the original MINI. It was also so unique (very few of them on the road at the time). Absolutely delighted to find how great the fuel economy was (I still average around 38-40 mpg, hitting 41 mpg in summers). And... well... let's be honest, how much bloody fun it was to drive! Test drove one. Immediately ordered a new one. Motoring ever since!

 

I wanted a MINI since they first came out, but could never end up sealing the deal because of their strong resale value and lack of negotiations at the dealership for the first few years. When I was replacing my Z4, I wanted something that was as much fun to drive with a back seat. That ended up being the MINI. I bought one over an E46 (which is funny because when I was 17 I ended up getting an E46 over a MINI because of shady dealership practices) because it had so much more personality and was so much more fun to drive.

I don't regret my decision one bit. I get so many more comments about my MINI than I ever did any of my bimmers, and it is still a great car to drive.

 

I don't know about where to get one in your area, but ... Those old little Mini's are rare in the US. They are in fact quite rare in Europe, at least the pre 1980 ones

The little buggers are heaps of fun, but need proper maintaining, they rust :/