Well the title says it all.... Its bittersweet, but life moves on...
In many posts I alluded to being truly torn, and disappointed in the gen3 cars (5 door looking a bit odd, HUGE tail lights, odd bumper etc), and where MINI is going in general (taking 10 years to admit to seat bottom issues,same for PS issues, both of which I DID NOT HAVE etc, where do I begin)...
While I have loved my r53, truly a modern classic, I had been in the same car for 10 years...and peoples needs change, and it was time to move on, as I could see upcoming expenses that were more than I was willing to spend the time and effort to fix on a 10+ year old car....
Replacement is a VW Jetta TDI SE+connectivity....simply put, I got such a good deal (used true-car,then got 3 dealers that did true car competing with the 2 local ones that did not, then BEAT THAT by $500+) had good incentives (took $1500 cash-back rather than 0%, then got the dealer to match the 1.75% 60 month financing I arranged...
Did take a bit of a hit on the trade-in value, but the end number of the two deals is what matters....and I got stunning deal....car, MSRP at $26,485 (2015 Jetta TDI® Clean Diesel SE with Connectivity)out the door with a loan of about $18,000 plus my 2005 r53....

Yup....
Drove the TDI jetta on a Whim...was like WOW!
Would I consider it a full price deal...NO. the new turbo 4 might make more sense....but the deal on the TDI, cash back, etc and the fact dealers are dealing since folks are buying gas cars and SUV's meant a deal was ready to be had, and I did it.
Sure the new Golf/GTI is AWESOME, but right now the price difference is just too great...
In the first 2 days of doing a mix of 75MPH highway driving and bumper to bumper, I am OVER 50 MPG..admittedly driving it kinda slow since I am trying to break it in a bit....needed or not, much debated, figure it can ONLY help...heck DID the same on my r53 when new...and was ALWAYS a good car, no oil burning,good MPG, great Dyno HP, etc...

So while the MINI is gone, but I will forever have 10+ years of experience, fun, events and fellowship....
Should still drop in for a bit..only time will tell long-term.
Good luck to all...
Have some bits to sell that I have collected over the years, a 6000 mile near factory new SC off a wreck i got a few years back and a few lower priced item I have accumulated that I no longer need....
In the next few weeks, those should be appearing sooner or later!!

 

Good luck with the VW. My wife has 2013 Golf TDI and loves it. I'm envious of the low end torque and auto tranny over my CM setup.

 

Thanks!!
The 2015 has a new TDi motor...shares only 15% of parts with the old one, a modular deign that shares many parts with a who new family of motors over different HP ...specs are 10 more hp, more TQ, easier revving, better MPG, but it DOES use DEF (aka add blue), but a $6-10 total fill up cost every 10,000 miles (based on non DEALER cost) pretty cheap.
hopefully I like it longterm as much as i did the MINI over the last 10 years!!

 

Do wander in from time to time, Zip. Your wit and wisdom will be sorely missed if you fail to do so.
At least you don't have to learn a new language when communing with your motor...motor on.

 

Wow zippy, I'll certainly miss your knowledge, but you had the r53 for awhile so it's good to have a change. Enjoy the VW.

 

Best of luck with your VW! I'm certain you will love your VW experience, sad to see you off on a new non MINI adventure. I was hoping you were going to pick up and R56 and provide a ton of great info to us all.

Good Luck!

 

Thanks you everybody! Genuinely appreciate the thoughts and feelings!
Like I said, its kinda bittersweet, but like fe moves on, just as MINI has....
A a couple years, might look into picking up a classic...could be fun if I can find one that is not too far gone!

 

Hey zippy you know the rules by now, where's the pictures?

 

Enjoy the TDI. We love ours!

 

My son has a GTI I must say if I ever make a change it would be a VW. On another note , I may be interested in some of your parts could you PM list and prices?

 

 

Oh no . :(

Hope you don't leave and go to VWVortex , glad to have some Gen 1 MINI owners on here still.

 

should still be here a bit...
think the tdiforums are more my style...vortex seems obsessed with "stance"

 

cute pic!!
Been debating it for a year...but decided the 5 door/gen3 cars in their current form are a no-go.....
I wish mini had the right car...but not right now..maybe someday...never say never!!

 

We've been Gen 1 enthusiasts for a bit over 6 years now and my co-pilot just last month brought home her own '15 CM Justa. A lot more exposed metal but the ride is great and it acts like it would really like to challenge a twisty but not with the enthusiasm of it's stable mate. It's a lot more fun to ride and drive than a generic everyday appliance, that's for sure. Contrary to some, I'm just not ready to off hand dismiss the new breed. One can only hope.

 

Sorry to see you go, Zippy, but good luck with the VeeDub, and enjoy it! Over the past 4+ years of R53 ownership I've enjoyed your posts & learned a lot. Look forward to seeing you around whenever you return!

 

Good luck with your oil burner. They are the true environmentalist car--much better than a Prius.

 

glad you atleaste got the TDI, not post some pics and get an APR Tune and get that over 300 ft-lb torque! They are remarkable machines and will last nearly forever and hold their value real well. it was a good choice. too bad I never got to see your r53. I could helped you remove some parts and get it into stock form to help ya pay off that tdi

 

The TDIs are great cars. I had an '03 Golf TDI....then an '05 diesel Jeep Liberty....then after a couple of MINIs in a row, a '12 Golf TDI. I started having clutch issues with it and decided to sell it off and got back into an older R52. The low-end torque of the TDI is great and makes for a great highway car.

I will say that in my experience owning several VWs over the years (gas and diesel), I've found that the dealership experience (service departments in particular) vary greatly from dealer to dealer...way more than MINI. VWofA has a somewhat "hands-off" approach to dealing with their dealers, so many of the service departments are downright terrible and warranty claims are not always handled consistently. BMW/MINI has a better system by leaps in bounds in regards to service departments overall I think.

If you haven't discovered it already, www.tdiclub.com is a really great forum. Lots of smart people there and good info. I've been a member of that forum since '03.

Happy dieseling!