Hi Guys...

I apologize in advance for the long post...It's been years since I've posted on here, I had a 2012 Mini Countryman that I loved and really had no problems with, so I didn't really need to be on here too much. Unfortunately this week my car was crashed in to and is more than likely going to have to be totaled. I have not thought about buying a new car at all so was at a complete loss when I found out I have to look for something new. Today I went back to the Mini dealership and fell in love with a 2019 4 door Cooper S. It has everything I loved about my countryman and more but there are a few concerns I have...

One is my husband is 6'6, he fits fine in the Countryman but I'm a little worried about the 4 door. He said he was okay but who knows if he was just sucking it up to make me happy! We don't usually take my car places anyway, so he won't be riding in the car most of the time.

The other thing is I have a 2 year old daughter that is still in a rear facing car seat. We brought our car seat along and with a bit of finagling, I was able to get the seat into the middle but now that I am home I am second guessing myself. Can anyone comment on their experience with this if you have been in this situation? I was very happy with the way my Countryman handled the crash...the person who hit me completely flipped the car over and my car had a smashed in fender. The cop who handled the accident was very impressed. Can I expect the same kind of safety with the 4 door? It looked so much smaller with my daughter sitting inside!

The last thing is I am only working part time right now and do not have much extra money for a car payment or buying a new car outright. I was playing with the idea of leasing the car with the intent to buy it at the end as long as I don't have a bunch of issues with it or our situation changes. I have never leased a car so am a bit ignorant on the subject, but would like to get educated so I don't get screwed if we do go that route. Is there any chance of negotiating on the price if I lease the car?

Thank you all for reading my late night ramblings...I am stressed out and love the car, but don't want to make an impractical choice that is not going to work out! I just can't stand the thought of driving around in something boring like the same little SUV's every mom in town has! LOL (No offense!!!) If anyone has the Cooper S 4 door, I'd love to hear your thoughts on how you feel about the car! I hope I did this post right, thanks again!

 

We had the 4 door non S version. Wife drove it mostly and liked it a lot. Back seats aren't really suited for adults or large kids if this matters. Way past car seat stage so never had one in the car. Never really had any service issues on the 3 year lease, it was a 2016.

Yes you can negotiate on a leased car. I would never enter into a lease with a plan of buying it after as it usually isn't all that attractive financially to buy the car at that point. Dealer wouldn't negotiate and said that it was MINI finance that owned the car so nothing doing. Lease, turn in and then get a new car every three years is the way.

Having said all that, my wife wanted to have a VW Golf which she previously drove. So she went with a GTI Rabbit edition and is much happier than she was with the MINI. I like/liked both cars, the MINI a bit more polished on the inside, but the VW is less money and a lot more performance with a 6 year warranty on 2019's.

 

Your child is almost of age to be front facing if they make the weight requirements so I honestly would suck it up for the next few months if you really like the car. I have a 6 and 3 year old in front facing that I take in mine all the time, my oldest can get cramped if someone other than my wife is sitting in the front but that is almost never, and we are getting ready to switch him to a booster (we also have a VW atlas for longer trips). I also regularly drive mine to launch at work and smaller adults (women 5'4"ish) fit in the back no problem and I am 6'1-2"ish.