Hello all,

I am going to ask the question that I know most people interested in purchasing a new car want to ask anyone they know who drives the car they are interested in....would you buy it again?

I'm close to ordering a 2013 countryman all4 but was wondering if you had the chance to do it over, would you still buy the car, and if not why not? Also, if you would buy it, is there something that you would have said no to this time, or that you wish you had gotten?

I've been driving subarus for about 8 years and am ready for a change, and for some reason this strange looking not-so-little car just speaks to me. This would be my first mini.

Thanks for any and all advice!

 

i would re-buy my cms all4 exactly the same ... all options are in the footer

scott

 

Yes yes yes! I had an outback for 15 years. now I see what I've been missing. I've had it for about 10 weeks now and I'm still grinning when I push the start button. I'm also very happy with my options. if I lived in snow country I would have gotten all 4 but I don't need it here (my ski days are over) or heated seats.

Go for it!

 

Absolutely! Our 2011 Countryman ALL4 was purchased from Desert MINI as a MININEXT CPO'ed car.

Our car came with everything from the factory available (connected, sport, convenience, tech, lounge leather, split center rail, auto etc) basically everything EXCEPT a sunroof. That is exactly how we would have ordered it! Only addition I wish it had was the Piano Black interior bits, and a chrome line interior trim.

I have also never seen a color scheme like ours. Fluid silver and a white roof & mirrors.

 

Dissenting vote here. Everywhere you look in a CM, you are reminded that that your money went more for cute than quality. Plastics are hard and switch gear is traditional MINI - which means impractical to a fault. Center rail has very little usefulness and is further hampered by an ill-designed hand brake. Pricing (youification) is designed to fleece you - arm rest is extra, $250 for a strip of plastic on the dash, mandatory packages, etc. Parent company is way too involved - do a search for run flats. Operating systems are also from BMW - which means overly complicated and quirky, at best. At it's heart the CM is probably a decent little run about. But MINI needs to get over the thinking that it's a premium historic reenactment that can survive on nostalgic image and charging accordingly. I not totally sorry I bought the CM, it did get it out of my system. At the end of the lease, I'll happily move on.

 

No, It's too small... haha how ironic, bought the biggest mini but it's still too small to suit our family comfortably. Wish I was able to afford a family car and a MINI as a sunday car. If that's possible I'd been off to a JCW Hardtop for sure..

 

Not a chance. The idea is great, the execution not so much

 

I'm still in the honeymoon phase. Only option I wonder if I miss is xenons.

 

While I think Sealy has some points (especially on the quirky interior design), I would happily buy another CTMS. Having purchased mine "off the lot," I didn't get a couple of the things I'd had in my 2009 R56 (also a great car, BTW).
Now, after a year of driving my Countryman S, I'd configure a new one with Xenon headlights, black headliner, and Comfort Access.
While I don't think the Countryman (or any MINI) is the car for everyone, I really love mine. It's great around the urban jungle of L.A., easy to park, fairly easy on gas, and is a terrific little road warrior on long trips. For me, all that more than overcomes the car's unnecessarily quirky interior design.

 

I appreciated your comments, and particularly this part. BMW/MINI does tread a fine line; once they delivered the "premium historic reenactment", what's next? Now 10+ years along, they're having to deliver other "flavors", choosing to extend the brand in new directions and so forth. (Well, and choosing not to be Morgan or Caterham and just keep refining one model forever...maybe they coulda just kept building Gen1's for a small but loyal group. They haven't.)

We don't need a CM, but I've been very interested to see how this model would sell...and what owners thought. Good thread, that is something of the bottom line for assessing a vehicle purchase.

[I'd buy my MCS again in a heartbeat...but wouldn't forget to include BT/USB...oh: it's standard now!]

 

I think the answer depends on why you purchased and what else you researched. I've owned lots and lots if cars and am THRILLED withy MINI driving experience. I can't speak to reliability, cost, etc., but I will say, based on the driving experience, I'm sold. But here was my list of things I wanted in a new car:

AWD
Fun/Sporty
Manual (ruled out lots of other options)
Hatch/5-door format
Smaller footprint
Higher-end options (e.g., xenons)

When I looked at the above and went out and looked at cars, I kept coming back to the MINI. Really thought about the X1 but no manual tranny. The other thing is that there are tons of 3 series bmw's in my area - sedans and X3's. not many MINI's, and even fewer in surrounding areas given lack of dealers. So there is the uniqueness factor, too. Finally, liked that I could single-order options. When we bought our MDX, we had to choose between some expensive option pkgs to get a few things we wanted.

So, yes, I would buy again. Now, ask me again in 6 months and see what I say

 

I'm enjoying my CM4, but in response to your challenge I'd say that, as much as I like driving with a manual transmission, if I had to do it over again I'd probably go with an automatic transmission. The CM4 engine does not have enough torque to reliably get off the line with the excellent ALL4 AWD system. Either more torque or the torque converter are needed, in my opinion. Maybe the starting level should be the JCW, but I don't need a harder ride and less ground clearance. I like getting the tires dirty...

 

I'm new to this world, but YES. A resounding YES!

I have owned four vehicles that were considered mine:

A 1993 Trooper, a 2007 Jeep JK, and a 2009 Subaru WRX STI (all manual)

All were awesome, and I loved each.

The countryman--automatic-- is just fun to drive. I have a ball. And frankly, I've never had a luxury auto, so maybe I don't know fit and finish, but I love mine.

This is even after a stress crack windshield and having to replace an RFT all in the first 900 miles.

 

I would 100% purchase my Countyman All4 again. Just got back from a longer road trip from Salt Lake City to Jackson Hole and back with a heavy snow storm in the area. This car was perfect for the whole drive. I understand where you are comin from on this. I used to own a coule of Subaru STI's. I feel the Countryman handles better especially when the white stuff is all over the ground. Lastly working with my motoring advisor made my purchase of my mini the best car buying experience. They will take car of you.

 

I was in a hurry to buy a car back in spring. If I had more time, I would definitely wait or atleast look at the 2013 A4 first. It's great to drive, but there are minor things that bugs me.

 

It's encouraging to read mostly positive opinions on Countrymans (men?) from those of us actually driving them.

 

I love, love, love mine. For options, I wouldn't change much. I love my xenons and the way they angle when I turn or speed up, and I love pretty much everything else. I'm driving a non-turbo automatic tranny loaner, though, and I hate the pickup, so I would not buy an automatic non "S" version in a million years.

I totally disagree with the earlier poster who wants an auto tranny. I test drove the "S" in auto and manual, and the manual is so much more responsive, particularly off the line. Torque converter lag sucks. It's obviously on my mind from driving a conventionally aspirated model this weekend, but even with the turbo, it doesn't have the same responsiveness as rowing your own gears.

 

Oops, double post!

 

I would incourage you to test drive a non all4 car. The all4 with the run flats is a hard ride.
This is may wife's car and an automatic. I just tested an 's' shift without run flats. Big difference. My wife is very happy with the car. The original run flat tire did not last, one of the tires will be replace soon at 19 k.

 

I've got 5K on the odometer now and have been driving it for over 3 months, still look forward to each time I go for a spin, even if its to work. :-) I chose not to go crazy with options so as to keep the price under 30K. automatic tranmission and "S" option along with a center armrest were really all I had to have. I would have liked the comfort package with keyless entry but hasn't been that big of a deal. All told I'd buy it again just like I did, although If i was further north, instead of Texas, I'd have sprung for all4 just for safety on winter roads.

Reading these posts, I believe past experience and types of cars owned make a huge difference in how you view/like the MINI. I was in a Nissan Murano that felt like a boat, got 17 MPG, and had hardly any torque off the line. prior to that I had 4-banger small pickups, so again, not sporty at all. My MINI has given me a much different driving experience so for me it was a night/day change. A friend of mine who drive a 3 series BMW drove mine and said "definetly feels like a beemer". but it didn't wow him as he drives a car that has excellent road feel and driving characteristics and costs substantially more than a MINI.

 

Thanks to everyone for the great comments. Going from an outback (even my turbo model and my wifes 3.6 liter) just seem boring after driving the countryman. I'm still very nervous about it, but we will see. I'm also considering the new Ford Escape with the 2.0 liter turbo, but we will see.

 

I love my countryman, but now with 1 full year and 30K miles on it. The quality level is pathetic. Figure in the price of Mini parts and service, my CM would have wrecked me (or anyone else) financially if it hadn't been under warranty.
It's by far the nicest and coolest car I've ever owned but unless Mini improves the quality level, i wouldn't buy again.

 

My wife and I came from Subaru's as well, the last two we had were 2004 Forester XT's, one with manual, one with auto. We traded in the auto XT for the Countryman. We eventually sold the manual one and got a Hardtop. We originally traded our non-S Countryman for he ALL4, and kept the Hardtop. After some discussing, realizing that the Hardtop was not used, and the new ALL4 was building up the miles, we went back and traded the Hardtop for our original non-S Countryman, after we looked at others, (newer Subarus, such as the Impreza Sport and XV Crosstrek), Mazda CX-5 Mazda3, Honda Accord, CRV. We liked the Countryman the best out of all the cars we test drove.

If we were to to it again, we would probably get the ALL4 in auto rather than manual, and probably get the Xenon headlights instead of the standard ones, and possibly add the HK audio system. We have that HK audio system in our non-S. For our non-S we would keep it the same, but maybe also add Xenons as well.

The only issue we had so far with the non-S was the temperature sensor replacement, which was covered under warranty. Nothing else and currently at 18k. No issues with the S ALL4 yet, and that has 9k miles.

 

I'm enjoying our ALL4 manual with Sport Suspension and 17" all-season RF tires. NOT too hard riding and nice handling. I see the Paceman is coming standard with this option. I like the Paceman; probably would have gone with it if it had been available last year.

 

I would buy a CMS all over again. I would wait till the JCW Countryman came out though. If that wasnt an option I would have bought mine is White instead of surf blue. Surf blue doesnt give you a lot of exterior customizations without it looking tacky.