I often thought I would trade in my MINI when it was 5 or so years old. Then they came out with the R56 and I decided that I would keep my 05 MCS. It does not mean I won't buy another MINI, but I am going to hold on to the one I have.

 

that is awesome!

 

MINI is my first car, been almost 3 years now

Too many memories, first car, first car I took a girl out in , car shows, awards, praises, magazine features, the list can go on for a long time!

 

here is my first car that i wanted to keep forever

 

I plan to keep mine for years. Eventually it will become a garage barbie and come out on the odd weekend.

 

Ack!! A Jeep TJ! Those are the last of the "real" Jeeps in my book, and definitely something I would have kept forever as well. (A lifted '94 Jeep Cherokee shares the driveway with my MCS)

Sorry to see your loss!

 

Forever. And a day.

I plan to retire Blimey from "daily driver" service in 3 more years - at about 100-110K miles. He'll be a weekend car after that, and some other MINI (Clubman? Crossman? or track-prepped R53/R56?) will become my daily driver.

 

i would never get rid of my mini.. i waited to long for that dream and now i got one, and it for ever..

MC 2

 

I plan on keeping my R53 until the wheels literally fall off. The engine is fairly easy to work on (except for the stupid canister oil filter), and I enjoy detailing the car on a regular basis.

My wife asked if I might trade it in for an R56, while the resale/trade value is still high, but I simply don't like the second generation Minis. There might be a Clubman in the future, but I'll still keep the R53.

 

There was a time back in 2006 when I had my eye on an R56 S but I held off, being leery of the usual bugs in first run re-designs. The continuing presence of the cold start chatter issue--still being reported in new delivery vehicles BTW--was and is a concern to me. Premature wear is likely and the jury is still out. The way MINI addressed the 1st Gen PS pump fan/electrical harness issue (a quiet re-design in '05 and no attempt to recall and fix cars with the old design) doesn't give me a whole lot of confidence that they will treat the cold start issue any differently. Along with the list of other minor issues, I'm glad I didn't pull the trigger on an '07.

Since then, I've made a commitment to my '05. I've regretted getting rid of cars I've loved in the past, so I'm going to keep this one for as long as I can get parts for it. It also makes me less hesitant to consider investing in mods, since I'm not at all concerned about recouping the investment...I just want to have fun with them.

----

Edit: So much for my original prediction 51 months ago. I've since had an '11 MCS Hardtop (still glad I avoided the N14 engine in the '07 - '10 model years) and my present '13 MC Roadster. I have to confess that the Roadster is my favorite among the three...thus far.

 

Definetly for as long as I can. The whole story behind how I got this car and the good times with it make it like a child of mine. I think I really grew to love this car more and more. Even my friends are in love with him(named him Bruiser) and told me they'd hate to see him ever go. Def a keeper, thats for sure, and with my long list of mods, many more years of work ahead.

But a Clubman "Woodie" project once Bruiser gets more wear is not out of the question. If only we could get a 1st gen interior in a Clubman. Sigh.

 

I could not agree more with your post I will continue to purchase MINIs (And I have a new Clubman), but I will keep my '05 R53 S around

The new MINIs are nice, more refined and the fuel economy is supreme in the Turbo models, but the first gen cars have exquisite design details, a visceral driving experience and the sweet noises coming out of the supercharger and exhaust are missing in the new cars.

 

An Aussie R50 MINI!

We Americans would love to see a pic of your dashboard with the big central Tachometer

 

In the first 3 years of owning my 03 Cooper, I was putting on 100 miles a day, racking up over 85k miles. In the last 2 years I have put on less than 20k miles. So with a goal of at least 200,000 miles, and going at the current rate of miles per year, I'm looking at keeping my MINI for another 10 years at least

We may trade in the 05 Cabrio in the next year or so for a Clubman, and I'm hoping a Moke may be in the works someday soon.

Mark

 

Does it spin counter-clockwise?

 

My wife refers to her MINI as her baby!

Guess we will not be leaving our baby anytime soon, offers to purchase being left on windshield not withstanding!

 

Mine just won't go away...so I think it will probably stay forever. Planned a few years back to trade on an upgrade MINI but wife forgot to put brake on and in gear and the upgrade was long gone before the $5K of damage was repaired. So I then did some mods to make it like the one that got away. Another time it went on a commissioned used car lot at a silly high price when I thought I had too many cars but it didn't sell so I took it back for my daughter to drive that summer. Then the next year I went to trade it on what I thought was a better car for this daughter to drive but they cut the trade price ridiculously for a busted rear bumper, compliments of said daughter, so we kept it instead. Recently, after said daughter went to college and I got my MINI back, a very nice '06 caught my eye and I looked and looked but couldn't swallow the price differential from trade value on my '03 so now I cleaned mine up and I am back in the thick of more mods. I think I should just accept that its a lifer. I love this car-and it must love me.

 

mines been around 5yrs+ with 28k miles... it's paid off and has a dedicated
garage spot so im in no rush to sell.

i can only get wat, $15k or something max right? absolutely not worth
selling this fun toy. car still looks brand new inside, out, and under.

 

I could not imagine a situation that I would get rid of my 2006 Astro Black

MCS. I have three more years til retirement so it will take my up through

the golden(?) years and into the great beyond!

 

You should name your car "Boomerang".

 

Bought one of the first 2002 MCS and wasn't really planning to sell it, but MINI started to offered an LSD with the 2005s. I really had to think about keeping the 2002. I really wanted the LSD for the added winter performance capability. When I found out what the dealer would offer me as a trade in I could not refuse.

The information that was coming out about the new R56 did not thrill me so I put off buying a 2005 and decided to wait for a 2006 MCS, the last of the R53s, with an LSD. This one is a keeper. Not planning on selling it any time soon. Will keep it as long as I can get parts for it. Still not happy with the R56 interior and changes to the suspension.

Maybe by the time I am ready to change, MINI will have made something I like and not some dumbed down piece of general appeal pablum.

 

I like it! It never got an official name ( other than "the MINI") so its about time.

Boomer. Yeah. That's it.

 

My MINI has been my dream car and I have it . I have had it so far for 2 years 6 months and I have put 60k miles on by myself. I have driven many times back and forth to Olathe, KS (Kansas City, KS area) 293 miles each way and mileage while in town which can be around 250 all said and done. Other places I have driven to or driven through Denver, Omaha, OKC, Amarillo, Albuquerque, Farmington, Phoenix, Las Vegas.

I plan on keeping my MINI till I die. I have many plans that include going turbo-only.

 

i was at my girlfriend's house last night and her nephew had a Mini R/C car and he kept insisting that i be the one to play around with it around their living floor because he knew i have a Mini while going round and round the living floor, i thought to myself "i love it that i have the actual thing in our garage. i'm one lucky bastard". i was smiling like an idiot

i think my Mini's a keeper

 

Our 03 MCA is staying with us. We love the car & it runs great.