Hello Everyone,
I plan on buying a Mini Cooper vs. buying a Japanese model. I don't know much about Mini but I know I love it already. I have some questions and I hope you all can help. I know you all love Mini, but please be honest if there are certain things that are negative about it.. The mini that I want to purchase is the "regular" Mini, with ONLY all standard features.

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  1. What is your average maintenance cost(oil change, tune up, brake pads, engine, etc.)? I am a college student, so I am quite poor.
  2. Are there any reoccurring problems with Minis? Are there issues with engine or transmission?
  3. I would really like to lower it a bit, is this a good idea? If I do lower it, will that affect the sport suspension that comes with the car? Will it affect performance?
  4. I live in Southern California, can anyone give me an "out-the-door-price" that you bought your Mini for? This way I will have an amount to compare to when bargaining with dealers.
  5. Is there a different between the 05 and 06 model?
  6. There is an optional "Sport Suspension Plus" that i can purchase, how is the performance on that? Is it worth the price?

Thank you All VERY much!
Joe

 

1. There are no maintenance costs for a new MINI, it is all done by MINI up to 36,000 miles or 3 years.
2. One issue (at least for my car and a lot of others, not sure if 06s do it) is that the car runs a little rich for about the first 30 seconds to a minute when the engine is cold. This can cause the car to hesitate, stumble, or even stall.
3. My Cooper is lowered about 1" all the way around on H-Sport springs and I highly recommend this. It will effect performance...in a positive way! Better handling!
4. I'm in Cincinnati, so I can't comment on the pricing out west, but you should expect to pay MSRP, but no more than that.
5. I really don't know any significant differences in the 05 vs. 06 Coopers.
6. I think SS+ is still available as an option on Coopers, but if you plan to lower it and replace the springs anyway, it may not be worth the cost to you. I didn't get SS+, but I did add the H-sport springs and rear sway bar. You need to go to www.MINIUSA.com and spec the car out. That will answer a lot of your questions regarding what's available and cost.

 

I have an '03 Cooper that came with the Sports Package (suspension, 16" wheels, front fog lights, blah, blah, blah) and heated seats. Cost was 19,800 at Long Beach MINI.

I've had reasonable experienes with both LB & Crevier MINI, and have been hearing good stuff about South Bay.

 

Things to know about buying a MINI...

Dealers typically have few in stock. Those that they do have in stock don't tend to stay there for long. (There are exceptions, but those are cars that are usually loaded with a lot of dealer add ons raising the price significantly). Most MINI owners order their cars from the factory and wait 6 to 8 weeks for delivery... About 8 weeks is typical on the West Coast.

There is little if any room to negotiate, Southern CA dealers are still known for charging OVER MSRP.

 

I think you could learn a lot by reading this topic, Do an advanced search for How MINIs are sold and delivered by DrDiff https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52573

 

Wecome,

I'm in So CA also, I have a MCS, what others paid for MC one, two, or three years ago have no effect on what you will pay. Brecht in Escondido have some in stock at MSRP, give them a call.

Earl

 

What is a MINI? It's not the cheapest, prettiest, trendiest, fastest, most macho, most girly....It is a unique car with a great personality. It is not for everyone...or everyone would be driving the same car. It has it's pros and cons, same as with other vehicles, it's not perfect....but is IS fun. Mick

 

If you haven't been to www.miniusa.com you need to go there and check out the options and prices.

In my opinion the only essential option is the MFSW. This gives you cruise control and, less importantly to me, stereo control buttons on the steering wheel. If that was the only option my MINI had I'd be perfectly happy.

 

A MINI is:

Above all, an incredible driving experience. I doubt you could find another car in the MINI's price range that's as much fun on twisties and on-ramps ( ) as the MINI. I hate driving rental cars (which I do often on business) these days because the handling in most other cars is so sloppy by comparison that they feel almost dangerous .

A right-sized car, at least for me. It would not have been the right car when I had just bought my house, and was hauling a lot of stuff around. It would not be the right car if I had growing children. But I don't . I've had (adult!) friends and co-workers in the back seat when driving around town with no problem though.

A car with "personality". Total strangers smile when they see my car, and I still field questions about my MINi, even though it seems to me that my town is saturated with 'em and then some.

If you haven't already done so, take a MINI for a test drive. You'll know in a minute if it's the right car for you!

 

If you can swing buying a new car while in college (good for you!), then buy a bone stock Cooper, drive it, and have fun. Optioned-down Coopers tend to be more lightweight and w/ stock 15" wheels are a really great ride. And don't apologize for this either...it's surprisingly good. You can lower it but frankly, since you're in school, I wouldn't even bother. The car is darn good as is....yes, even w/ a standard suspension!!!

If new, you'll have no maintenance costs either. I've had mine over three years and haven't spent a dime except for (premium) gas.

 

I second the recommendation regarding stock MC - I'm not boasting, but I can afford to lower my MC, buy custom rims, etc., but I'm so impressed with my '06 Cooper with stock sport susp. (not the Sport Plus) and the 15" holeys with just a rear 19mm Hsport sway bar, that I don't really want to do anything with it right now - The ride is great, the handling is great, and my car is so relatively light weight (holeys, no sunroof) that the 115hp is more than adequate. I got mine through So. Bay Mini in Torrance - ordered at straight MSRP and got exactly what I wanted. Now have 4000 mi. with no rattles, squeaks, stumbles or other issues at all. Go for it.

 

i found my 03 MCS on a pre owned lot for 21k....thats with the Sport Package(but with the optional 17in R90 spokes), Premium Package, Panther Leather package and bonnet stripes...in Liquid Yellow/Black...so far so good a few stumble issues but other than that its been a blast...

 

Yea--I would agree with you--I did buy mine off the showroom--and paid more because of the dealer add-ons---I did take the $3000 wheels (or whatever they were) off and opted for the lesser ones...for me, this was fine..My college years were about 20 years ago, so this worked for me in terms of price...I say, if you love the car, get what you can afford and enjoy it..
I didn't even have a car in college...so you are fortunate..

 

Both Long Beach MINI and South Bay MINI sell strictly at MSRP.

 

I never said all of them...

But the original poster needs to be ready if they should walk into a dealer and find that a)they want more than MSRP and/or b)refuse to negotiate.

 

First of all if you're a "poor college student" why ya looking to buy a new car? From someone who was there, make sure you don't get carried away with a large car loan, student loans, high insurance, etc.

With that being said, several people have put together a list of the car they wanted and shop via the internet and the phone and gotten Mini's below MSRP. I wish I thought of that, when I got mini.

My son just his 97 Honda Civic Ex, it was lowered and had a West Wing body kit. He complained about excessive wear on the tire and scaping the body kit on just about everything.

Good luck with what ever you decide

 

Thank you VERY MUCH Everyone! :-) I knew I can count on your help! I have done a lot of research on the Mini, and I did go to the MiniUSA.com site, but I figured it would be better to get comments and feedbacks from first hand buyers and owners.

If there are more comments and feedbacks, I am here to listen.

Just a few more questions. I have read the "How MINI are sold and delivered" article, by the way, but I am still a bit confused. Do I order my Mini at MiniUSA.com or should I go to the dealers? Am I going with the "West Coast Option?"

At the time I order my Mini, what financing do I have to choose, or can I find my own financing bank?

By the way, do I have to order floor mats separately? How about mud guards?

THanks again Everyone! :-)

Joe

 

You usually purchase your Mini thru a local dealer. You can of course buy one as is of the lot, or order one just the way you like and wait.

When I ordered mine, I put $1000.00 deposit down (used a visa) then I had the choice to use the dealership's financing or my own. (I've heard that the deposit is often refundable too) The financing was done when the car was picked-up, not when I ordered.

I had to buy my floor mats, I have heard of some dealerships giving them away (my dealer was pretty cheap!) Mud flaps do not come standard either.

Don't understand the "west coast option" part.

Hope that helps!!

 

Hah. The dealer gave me the floor mats and forgot to mention it!

 

Thanks!

So just to make this clear, all I'll have to do is go into a dealer and tell them I want to order a Mini(unless they have one on the lot that I want)? I don't need to go online or anything to build and order one? If I am lucky, I can't bargain with the dealer and hope they'll lower the MSRP at the time I order it with them?

Joe

 

You probably won't need the rear mud flaps unless you're going off-roading, but the front ones help keep the side door panels relatively clean. These are very cheap if you DIY--maybe 15 bucks for the fronts.

 

Yeah, you got it. The whole "mini usa" is just a cool site to help you put together a hypothetical Mini of your dreams. Once you get your Mini order, they will give you a order number which you can go on to "mini usa" and track the status of your Mini being built!

 

To me, the entire Mini experience is about the "sense" you can have in owning one -- very community oriented, very broad appeal, people waving at you all the time, commenting on your car. I think Mini is the only brand that can actually pull off co-opting a common verb - MOTORING -- as described here: http://www.taylorsmith.biz/Motoring.htm

As to putting together the "deal," here in Chicago last year the car was MSRP for everyone - no exceptions. We have three Chicagoland dealers so it was pretty much a question of location --- EXCEPT for the fact that one of the three dealers agreed to provide a discount of $1,000 on the dealer-installed addins.

Quite a few of the options are dealer installed - including the JCW kit in my case -- so I got separate quotes for that and one dealer offered $1K off. I ended up doing the entire purchase with that dealelr as a result.

Hope that helps. And good luck! If you choose Mini you'll never regret it.

 

It is not impossible to get a true discount off MSRP. Trying to get the best deal can be a lot of fun. I would never accept, "we don't give discounts" as being the final word. They may be selling MINI's, but they're still car salesmen.

 

Just take your time. Don't make a quick decision. I made an overnight decision to buy a Chevy based on price. That was a mistake that couldv'e cost me big time, but I lucked out. After almost a year, I finally got the car of my dreams, a Cooper. It's simple and well built.