My girlfriend is in the very early stages of looking for a new car and is interested in a hatchback. I frequent this forum (and own a R56S), so I feel pretty well acquainted with the MINIs. But I wanted get to opinions from people who might have had experiences with other options. Most of the models that we are researching would be used, so I was interested in opinions about reliability, driving experience, or anything else that seems relevant. Specifically, we had looked at these (I know it's a diverse group, but this is just the beginning of the search):

Ford Fiesta ST (new)
Mini Cooper S (2003-2006 or 2011+, I own a 2007 and while I love it, I'm not convinced enough about the pre-LCI reliability to recommend it)
VW GTI (2008+)
Volvo C30
Mazdaspeed 3
Audi A3

I know that the MINI is the best (especially here), but any opinions (preferably based on experience) would be really useful.

Thanks.

 

If looking at the Fiesta, why not the Focus ST?

 

HUGE price range there......
what $$ are you looking at ?
You also list new and used.....kinda muddies the water....
if you say $20,000...it is a different group of cars than if you say 15,000...or even 10,000 or 5,000....lets face it..there is a HUGE range in price from a 2002 $2500 cooper to a $32,000 volvo c30!!

 

Thanks for the feedback.

We hadn't looked at the Focus ST just because of cost. It seemed like a bit of a reach.

The price range we were considering was $15-20k (as I said, this is early, so we were trying to understand whether it was worth going to the top end of the spectrum). I know the Fiesta is a little beyond that range, but it comes with a warranty, which I thought had some value. For all the others, we were considering used.

 

She needs to decide if she puts a premium on lower repair costs....
The Volvo and Audi are kinda $$...the vw may/may not be depending on history and local shops.
IMO you should step VERY carefully when considering a is d, small, sporty car...they often tend to be abused by folks and then sold....and bang for the buck...one step up from the smallest, like the focus can be a great deal...better so when you sell it used too..less of a hit...
Only you know her...but if she just likes to get in, start the car and drive...you might want to add a slightly older Honda/Toyota to the list...usually safe bets used till over 200,000 miles....run pretty cost effectively for till nearly 300,000 if taken care of.

 

Thanks.

Around here (I was looking at used cars on the internet), I could find multiple examples of each of the cars between about $16k and $20k (well, except the new fiesta and the older MINIs, the latter of which were a little cheaper). Here, it looked like the GTIs were a kind of the cheapest of the lot and the Audi (not surprisingly) was generally, but not always the most expensive. But all were in the same general range.

Do you have experiences or opinions with any of them that are worth sharing? Or alternately, can you suggest the best forums for learning about them?

 

Ford Fiesta ST (new) - Hate the internal clutch slave design, I talked to ex field service engineers... its an issue.. same as the Focus ST. Shame, they are both sweet cars.
Mini Cooper S (2003-2006 or 2011+, I own a 2007 and while I love it, I'm not convinced enough about the pre-LCI reliability to recommend it) - Points well taken.. lots of issues got fixed/updated starting in 2011.
VW GTI (2008+) - Solid car. I've owned two later VWs. Easy to live with. Avoid the FSI motor, get an TSI motor and you'll be fine.
Volvo C30 - Blerg. I can't get over the center stack. Given its design roots (Ford Focus), I don't feel its worth the $$.
Mazdaspeed 3 - Solid car, but I wanted heated seats and a sunroof. Known for people crying about torque steer. I say learn to drive a FWD car.
Audi A3 - Solid as the GTI, but more $$$, same FSI motor issues.

 

I love my Ford, but I Love my Mini more.

+1 for Mini

 

Dan -

Thanks for the great comments. We'll take all those as useful advice. Regarding the Fiesta clutch design: I'm not familiar with the issue, and a google search didn't turn up too much that seemed useful. Is this a reliability issue or something related to clutch performance?

 

Personally, I wouldn't expect a used turbo anything to be inexpensive to maintain.

 

Both,

The design uses an internal slave cylinder/throwout bearing that is one piece, its main job is to save a company money in terms of speed of build, and cost of build. When a slave cylinder leaks (and they do) on a basic trans, its a 20 min job to swap out... on an internal design its a much, much bigger job since you have to remove the trans to get to the slave.

As an dded bonus, when they fail, they puke brake fluid (clutch fluid) all over the disk and pressure plate and flywheel.. so now the clutch needs to be replaced and the flywheel resurfaced.

After having a Jeep, with this same design fail FOUR times in 100K miles, I swore I'd never own another internal slave car again.

When seriously looking at a Focus ST (to the point of having them look for a color for me..) I found a few threads online with people talking about the clutch, and having some of them fail in less than 100 miles. It was then I looked into the design..

I spoke to a friend who was a Ford field service engineer when I told him this... he threw his hands up in the air and said "Jesus FFFing Christ! Didn't they learn anything about the crap design from the SVT Focus?! I used to buy those cars back after the second clutch failure.. and I'm not talking 16 year olds who can't drive stick.. but 40 year old men who toy with it as a daily driver..!".

It was then I bailed on the car.. I just can't have a critical part fail like that again on me... when they fail, one day.. out of the blue.. no more clutch.. can happen anywhere any time...

http://www.focusst.org/forum/focus-s...ch-issues.html was the thread I found that shut me cold on the car.

Its a shame, I still *really* like the bang for the buck of the car... (But I'm quite happy with the Clubman.. and frankly I got a car that is more more "me"...)

 

And I'll add that the VW GTI (6 speed stick) uses an internal slave as well.. however it does not have the same number of reported problems as the Focus. (however that said, it does fail the same as the Focus..)

 

I'm a huge fan of the newer GTI's. they are fun and fictional. As well as having an awesome but simple interior design. And just the mere fact that they don't have an Audi symbol on the front makes them much easier on the wallet maintenance wise.
The mazdaspeeds are also fantastic. I almost got one instead of my MINI but the mini had a drop top and got better gas mileage as well as being more unique so it wasnt a hard decision. But I will say I wish my MINI cost the same amount as that Mazda to repair and maintain. And the Mazda is much, much more practical than the MINI.
On the other hand it seems that you're much more likely to find a mini that has been taken care of, as most people that buy speed3's tend mod them carelessly and trash them.