So we've owned multiple MINI's over the last couple years, R56, F56's, and R61's and they have all been fun in one way or another but the fun factor for her has always been w/ the F56. Its got some goodies added to it, had the ECU programmed, and just scoots but its always been "my" car.

Flash forward to the T-Stat going out in the R61 ( 2013 Paceman S All4 ~34k miles ) and she's given the keys to my F56 ( 2015 Cooper S ~55k miles ) while I drive my F350 ( 2019 Lariat ~ 2k miles) to work and around town while we wait for the parts to come in and I R&R it. In discussion it comes out that she's not happy w/ the Paceman any longer and that it just does not have the "fun factor" as the F56. She's commented that the seats don't hug ya like the hardtop, the go factor just isn't the same and the interior just isn't as well laid out. The biggest issue is that the seat belt is a PITA to reach being that its way behind you when you get into the car. I will have to admit, that this is kinda true even for me. I'm 5'11" and I still have to reach pretty far back no matter where the seats located to get a hold of the belt.

I will admit that the Paceman is a heavy rig and w/ the 1.6 in there it really is under powered. Even more so when you compare it to the re-mapped Hardtop, but I keep looking to find something ( preferably sub 15-18K ) that has all the options that the Paceman has. AWD, Nav, turbo, ect... and I keep coming up short. Everything seems to be much more expensive to which makes me wonder if I just shouldn't skip looking for something else to replace it with or just start modifying it to make it what I think they should have come from the factory like?

Don't get me wrong, I like the Paceman even w/ all of the "quirks" that it has but am torn if I should just leave it stock and move on from it or start looking at seeing if I cant toss another couple thousand at it and see if these issues that I seem to have with it might not be resolved? And there's the quirk factor as well, There's not alot of these on the road, much less in the condition and miles that this one has which in and of itself is a plus.

What says the NAM crew...?

And being that everybody loves pics ( I know I do ) here's the rigs Im speaking to above:


2013 Paceman S All4 Exterior


2013 Paceman S All4 Interior


2015 Cooper S Hardtop Exterior


2015 Cooper S Hardtop Interior

 

Tune is called for. Rear sway bar. Etc.

 

Oof, and an automatic at that. Hopefully the AWD traction kind of makes up for it in the winter. Maybe trade that one off, get a 'vintage' Gen 1 with the Gertrag and the blower...look at this way, you'll be back here on NAM a lot more often...

 

I will say that the other day when it snowed, I damn near didnt make it out of the driveway w/ the Hardtop. The Paceman on the other hand just zipped right out and on the way no issues at all. Being that I'm here in western Colorado there really is something to be said about AWD.

 

Ooooh, Brown on Saddle R61. You must be a catch because your wife certainly has good taste! =P

Our Paceman with snow tires is basically a cheat code for winter. I think we're always going to have an AWD something in the garage.

I'm in a similar position (the Paceman is our largest vehicle) and looking at Alltracks to potentially replace it. (I'm also a VW guy). I agree that under $20k you aren't likely to find a suitably interesting replacement. Mod it!

 

I am not a fan of the Paceman myself, so I say trade it in for something your wife would like better. Then again, if you need AWD then you may not have any other options for something that is not gigantic. Due to it's winter driving duties, I would not modify it too much so that it remains reliable if you do keep it. Depending on space, you could always add another MINI to the stable for the summer, like maybe an R53.

 

.... Or... depending on how you feel about high mileage Volvos you could find an S60R or V70R for well under your trade budget. Stash the extra money away in a fund for an All4 JCW Clubman.

 

That saddle brown R61 on Copper ( looks like HC but think its brilliant Copper Metallic, i had one as a loner from MINI) .. I like it. Its a auto.. manual would be good. No matter what both MINIs have a color pallet that good. R60/R61 all4s are great to throw around in the winter and can be fun on back county roads.

 

Two great looking MINIs. I would avoid modifying a vehicle unless you are confident that with the modifications it will be exactly what you want. If you put in a few thousand, and later sell it, it may end up costing you the entire cost of the mods and some.

That said, I don't know what to recommend with your combination of needs.

 

Funny you should mention the S60R... Definitely been there done that and not sure I'd go that route again. Parts for the R's are bonkers $$ and the electronics are pretty fussy.

 

^ what Minnie said.

 

I've been really looking at this as its perplexing the hell out of me. I've been reading all the posts here on NAM that go back to 2013 when the Paceman first came out. Seems that there were a lot of people at the time when it first came out that were all excited about it but after actually owing it for a while just didn't have that "wow" factor that they expected. It really sounds like they were in the same position that I'm in - except one of the owners had spent some 41K on his JCW R61 and was not "thrilled" about it. Glad to say I'm not into this one nearly as deep.

There's an F56 here semi locally that I inquired about but the dealer, MINI dealer at that, wants to do nothing but play games and make insulting offers. Tell you that you need to go to NADAGuides to get a +/- value on trade, and tell you that its only worth $3000 less then ROUGH TRADE value. Its a bit of a drive for me to even get out there and this sure as hell is not a way to get an *** in the seat. While I dislike selling cars via numerous places, it may be the best thing to do should I finally put the big boy britches on and make a decision.

It just makes me think more and more that even w/ the issues that I seem to have with it, the money could be well spent on making some upgrades to it and seeing if it would effectively scratch the itch it currently seems to be missing.

There are times that I was like a guy I work with - a car is a mode of transportation to get from A - B and nothing more. It sure as hell would make these decisions much easier to make. But damn what a boring existence!

 

Whelp - figured I'd update this here. Ended up heading out over the mountain yesterday morning for a trip to check out a couple three Mini's. Long story short almost turned back being that the weather was no ideal for "car shopping" but ended up saying screw it - what else do I have going other then remodeling that I don't want to do anyhow.

Picked up a 2015 MCS w/ a manual in the Moonwalk Grey. Funny thing w/ this car is that it was / is very low miles for a 2015 and has a great deal of drivers options on it but really no "flash" on the exterior. Has the adaptive cruse control, tech this and that package, heads up display, parking sensors all over the damn place, really REALLY nice cream colored interior ( which I was kinda wondering about being that I loved the cloth / leather setup in our other MCS ) but turns out it really is very similar and really comfortable.



It makes me wonder about its past life and why it was not enjoyed more? Its really too bad as its a nice car with some typical used car dings that PDR should be more then capable to handle, the "chrome tint" is starting to peel on the headlight surrounds but overall a solid car to start playing with. Funny thing that when I got back home I pulled in to fuel it up and noticed this when I got out of the car - totally unexpected




Got to do something about those 17" wheels...

So yea, she stole my F56, and I went and got one of my own. I guess we both win...

 

I was slightly unsure from the thread title - and was relieved to discover that the "keep or trade-off" dilemma did not apply to your wife.



Cheers,

Charlie

 

🤣