Hello all!
I could blab on forever about my love of Mini's since the moment I saw the original... but that would be preaching to the choir. Instead I am going to lay out the conundrum.

I am set to buy my first Mini. Manual transmission is a must, looking or a 2 door. Here are the options and catches.

Option 1: 2012 1.6L I4 DOHC Catch: It's a 2012. this will be our main around town car (our only car now is a very thirsty 4 runner) and sometimes a commuter car (80 miles each way). I love the drive of the older manual, but I need/want reliability (not that I doubt there will be, but 2012, who knows).

Option 2: 2019 2.0L 16V TwinPower Turbo Catch: Not really sure. It is verging on all the creature comforts for a commute, but if I am honest, the main catch is option 3...

Option 3: 2023 Intercooled Turbo Premium Unleaded I-4 2.0 L/122 and its the resolute special edition and it has EVERY creature comfort. Yes the manual transmission is a little less like the manuals I drove growing up, but it was so damn fun to drive. It has one catch (other than the price tag)... 18" wheels with summer tires, so i have to decide to fork out a little more for 18" all weather, or a lot more to swap to 17" wheels.
I should note that the price difference between all of these is wildly different (so, so wildly) and that is nagging me a little... but c'mon, it's my first mini!

Full disclosure, I put a deposit on the 2023, but I am still negotiating.
I also know it is among the worst times in history to buy a car, especially used.

Any thoughts are welcome, please help silence the on going debate in my head... especially about the tires.

Thank you all! I am very happy to be joining the Mini forum!

a

 

Depreciation is the biggest expense of owning a car. Thus buying used means one has less money in the car and will experience less depreciation. 'course, it is important to buy a good used car. Well maintained. No mods. No accidents/stories. And it must pass a thorough used car check out.

My MINI experience was with a (bought new in Dec. 2017) 2018 MINI Cooper S 2-door hardtop JCW with a 6-speed manual. My only issue with the car was it came fitted with run flat tires. I hated these until I went to drive the car one morning and it had a flat front tire. I had hit a pothole the mother of all potholes on the way home from work the night before. 30 miles home no issues. But the tire went flat overnight. I got in the car and thought ok run flats show me what you can do. I drove 10+ miles to the dealer to get new tires. Car drove fine. The low tire pressure warning was going crazy but made it with no other drama. Then I loved run flats...

Still I would have preferred and would have probably replaced the run flats with suitable high performance tires had I kept the car. Oh, I lived in the tri valley area (specifically Livermore, CA) about 30 miles east from the SF Bay Area. No snow. Very little rain. Below freezing temperatures rare.

Despite the depreciation arising from a new car I'm back in the market for a new MINI. I have found one. It is a 2023 pretty much a twin of the 2018 I owned. Different color but same transmission, options, etc. A bit more money than my 2018 cost though.

So I think to be honest I'd vote for #3 above...

Oh, tires... This is complicated. I'm not a big fan of all season tires. They are really no season tires. But I have owned a few cars that came from the factory fitted with all season tires. My 2002 VW Golf TDi came with Michelin all season tires. These tires proved to be outstanding. The run flats on my 2018 JCW were not as impressive as the all season tires on my Golf but I had to drive the car with a flat tire and the run flat tires lived up to their name.

My 2022 BMW has high performance tires. As did my 2020 Dodge Challenger Scat Pack. But the Hellcat before it came with all season tires. God what a horrible combination: 4600lbs, 707hp, and all season tires.

So I prefer high performance tires. But as I noted above I think I'll be getting a new MINI with all season/run flats.

Since the MINI will be my daily driver and where I now live winters are a bit more severe than they were in northern CA I think I'm ok with that. I'm retired so I don't have to commute. I can just stay home when the weather and the roads are bad. But if I had to drive every day come rain or shine or snow I'd get a set of *real* winter (snow) tires for my MINI.

If I want to "enjoy" the roads in my area I have the BMW with its high performance tires. But really I don't drive all that spirited now. The biggest concern is the area is very rural and deer are quite common. Back in July 2003 in NV I hit a mule deer driving my Porsche Turbo. That experience I don't want to repeat with any car.

 

That IS a conundrum! All good choices. Those Resolute Editions are gorgeous! Love the interior. (So yeah, you can probably already figure out my bias...)

Just a few things I would offer for consideration:
- How much does general craftsmanship mean to you? As pretty much everyone will attest to, the fit and finish of the 3rd gen cars is fantastic (though that only barely narrows your choices)
- How old is the 4runner? Do you want a car with newer gadgets and tech?
- Tires... the endless debate! Well, just be honest with yourself about where you live/drive and the weather and road conditions you experience (as I'm sure you are already thinking about). Regarding all-season as no-season, I think that old adage isn't as useful as it used to be. In my opinion and from driving an assortment of tires over the last few years, the brand may be more important for every day driving than the performance category. Example: IMO, the only Pirelli's worth a damn in any of the categories are the Sottozero3 for winter tires. Other brand all-seasons seem better in summer dry/wet than the Pirelli performance summer tires. Another example that I don't have experience with... seems like every reviewer on YouTube is finding that the Michelin CrossClimate2 "all weather" tires are better than most "winter" tires in snow. I've become a fan of TyreReviews on YouTube; one of the may be helpful for you. Digging into the actual test reports on Tire Rack can also be helpful if you start comparing some of the quantitative data.

Regardless of your decision, I think you're going to have a smile on your face. Welcome to the MINI family!

 

Let's cut to the chase.

Do Option #3 - the B48 will treat you better than the N series engines.

Get 17" wheels (17x7 +45) and Continental DWS 06+ tires.

Next question?

Cheers,

Charlie

;-)

 

Thank you all for the insight.
I am glad the resounding verdict was to go with the 2023... because that's what we did. If I am being honest, we were sold at the test drive. There is a nagging part of me that looks at all the gadgets and wonders how they will age... you know, as I look at my pile of 47 cell phones from 2008 to present, but then I drive in what feels like the cockpit of a tiny luxury plane and I think, oh well we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

As for the tires, I went to sort of cheapest option to see how it goes. I got some Bridgestones on sale, all weather, non run-flat. We have tire insurance for 5 years, so if it was a bad idea, it'll be covered, haha.
Ultimately I'd probably go 17" crappy rims with winter tires and back to the 18" with summer in the summer. Lately, here in tropical Pennsylvania, winter tires are only needed for like three days, and we have a 4runner for those days so maybe it's foolish to even bother.

There you go! After about 30 years of longing I can officially say I am a MINI owner! It is an absolute pleasure to drive (especially compared to the RAV 4 I just sold back to the dealer... no disrespect, it was a great car in a lot of ways....it was not, however, a Mini.)

I'm like a kid every time I drive it. Especially for the following reasons:
The lighted MINI symbol to light your way to the door.
The side mirror tilts down in reverse... come ON!
The lighting changes to match the back up warnings.
The phone charging pad in the middle console.
The heads up display... it's almost too much.

Thanks again for chiming in.
Here it is, 6 Speed manual Resolute Edition in Rebel Green:

 

Nice! I envy the 6-speed manual.

I wanted a JCW with a 6-speed manual. I found several but at distant dealers: 750 to approx 1500 miles distant.

Long story short I stopped at a MINI dealer 187 miles from me and bought a 2023 Cooper S 2-door hardtop hatch back with a 7-speed Sport dual clutch transmission.

Loving the car. But the relationship will (probably) be short. As soon as I register the car I'll order a 2023 JCW with a 6-speed manual and when it comes in trade in my current 2023 MINI. Oh, I have to wait or should at any rate wait until after I register this car. If I place an order for a new MINI as an owner of one I get a $2000 "loyalty" discount on the new MINI.

Pic:

 

Wow that looks great! I like the LCI 2 design. Those wheels look crazy, i have not seen the notched spoke in person yet.

Ditching the runflats really helps the ride.

 

Hey RockC,

I don't know where you are- but the mini dealership in Allentown PA had an awesome manual 2023 JCW that was used (same as mine, 2 months returned lease). It was a really great looking car but further out of my original price range than the resolute was. We didn't test drive it... didn't want the (+10K) temptation.
Don't know if it is still there, but it was NICE!

a

 

Congrats! Looks fantastic.

 

Thanks for the JCW lead. However I would prefer a new JCW. Not sure where I'll order it. The dealer where I bought the Pepper White car charges a $599 doc fee. This is bad enough. Then gets in touch because the check I handed over Dec. 3 as of last Friday had not cleared.

I assured the sales manager the check (for $8151) was good. But the fact it hadn't cleared mean the manufacturer's title could not be mailed to me. I need this title within 30 days to avoid a penalty for paying the sales tax (on the $8151) and registering the car. Was told if I provided a screenshot of my bank account info (!) that would get the ball moving.

Uh, no. Hell no!

I visited my bank yesterday. It appears the check was not deposited until sometime Friday AM and thus "pending" was the right state for the check to be in. I did note my bank balance was down by $8151.

Then yesterday I see the check lost its pending status and it has cleared. (I wouldn't expect otherwise.)

But I'm very reluctant to use this dealer again. I feel the doc fee of $599 is excessive. Based on the doc handling so far I'd say it ought to be more like $0.59...

There are other MINI dealers -- not quite as close to me as the dealer I bought the Pepper White car from -- that do no charge any dealer handling fees and the like. It is from one of these dealers I'll order the JCW from.

 

Didn't notice the wheels on the Rebel Green car until I read your post. I never have seen that wheel design before.

The word I received after I got my 2018 JCW with run flats was ditch them. I was too cheap, err frugal, to do that. I will say that I hated the run flats until after hitting a pothole one night on the way home from work and walking to the car the next morning and finding a front tire flat then driving 10+ miles to the MINI dealer for new front tires, then after this experience I loved the run flats.

For my use -- daily driver used for my 60 miles per day work commute in Northern CA -- the run flats were the better tire simply because of the peace of mind they provided. But I seldom enjoyed my JCW on nearby mountain roads...

 

Yep, thats a newer wheel design that came out. In motion i bet they look pretty cool.