who all on here was 16 when they got their mini cooper? i was when i got mine and i am now almost 18. loved every day of it. all i wanted to do was drive it when i first got it and i still do two years later... tell your story and post any pics..

 

I wish MINIs (or Minis) had been sold brand new back in 1988 when I was 16. At the time I really wanted a new 1988 Honda Civic hatchback which were sporting a full redesign that year (To me the best looking Civic hatchbacks are the '88-'91 generation). I don't remember what happened and ended up with a brand new 1988 Ford Tempo GL. Don't ask me how or why, but that car was a huge mistake of all sorts. What a piece of junk. Had it for about 2 years and traded in for a new 1989 Honda Accord LX sedan 5-spd that was a freaking airplane in comparison to the Tempo.

MINI came out in 2002 when I was 29 years old. So my first MINI was purchased when I was 29.

 

Much to the chagrin of my friends and the envy of many girls I started driving my MINI a couple months before I turned 17, basically my first day of my junior year of high school. Of course my parents werent exactly going to give give the car to me, when I graduated. My parents said that if I could average a 3.8 GPA my senior year of high school that they would let me take the car to college. I managed to make that happen and so my parents have been taking care of the payments and the insurance but leaving all of the maintenance up to me, which is more than fair fair given that I do autocross the car and run it pretty hard.

Needless to say taking care of my wn car has been quite the learning experiance for me, the words "you gotta pay to play" have never held more truth to me now.

 

I was 15 in 2002 when my dad got me a chili red MC... took my driver's test in it. My dad liked it so much he bought himself an electric blue MCS later that year. The story is not very interesting, but my sister now has that MC and I have the MCS.

 

Spoiled brats. Just kidding. I was 18 or 19 is that close enough?

 

PS - that was back in late '03 or early '04 I believe.

 

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I had a geo tracker when i was 16 but now im 19 and have a chili red mcs with some mods on the way. i did have to pay for it all myself thought : (

 

Sheez, it was like 1937, when I was 16, and I had a horse. JK

 

Spoiled brats.... not kidding lol.

I didn't buy my first car until I was 19. I borrowed my parents cars from 16-18, and when I bought my first car they gave me a couple hundred bucks to help with the downpayment and then I financed it through a buy here-pay here lot where I got an interest rate around 29% I think... I then had him print out my payment history and brought to a real bank to refinance some 6 months later. They gave me a loan on that even though I had no credit. That car was a 1996 Pontiac Sunfire automatic coupe.

Don't worry I don't hold it against anybody for having their parents help them buy cars. If mine could have I would have been all over it. But I will say that the sense of accomplishment knowing that I built my credit from scratch never having a co-borrower in my life, and now at 25 I got approved for credit on my fiance's 2006 Tribeca AND my 04 MCS... that makes you feel good.

 

man if your 16+ and you have a mini cooper then your a super lucky person but honestly you wont really take care of it until you pay for something you self. but hey enjoy the MINI

 

I had to wait until I was 17 to drive, I did learn in a Mini, the driving instructor had a Mini 850. The MINI brand was yet to be invented. I didn't own a car until I was 25.

 

I learned to drive on a Mini when I was 16. However my first MINI (the 03) wasn't made till I was 37.

 

I got it October 25th last year. I am 19 does that count? Ill post pics later today.

 

The "MINI" equivalents that were new in the market in 1988:

Honda Civic Hatchback (I think the Si model came a little later for the '88-'91 generation)

Honda CRX (HF, Standard and Si)

Toyota Corolla GTS FX16 hatchback

Suzuki Swift GT (Sweet little car at the time)

Ford Escort GT (Gasp!)

Dodge/Plymouth Omni GT and Shelby versions

Probably there were more "Pocket rockets" that year but these are the ones that I looked at at the time.

What "new" MINI like cars were available when you were 16?

 

Picked up my first MINI a few weeks after I turned 19... but I also got the joys of paying for it

 

i was 17 going on 18 when i got my mini.

<3

 

I not sure I'd call those "MINI Like", I can't actually remember what cars were around when I was 17. A little bit of searching and I find that:

The MINI Metro was launched when I was 17, I thought that was supposed to take over from the Mini, but never did. Also launched that year was the FIAT Panda, my first car was a MkII Panda 750l.

The Ford Fiesta was really popular, including its XR2 variant. The family had a 1.0 at the time.

The Renault 5 (aka "Le Car" in the US) was available, including the Turbo variant.

The VW Polo.

The Vauxhall Chevette.

The Chrysler Horizon.

I don't even remember the Peugeot 104 or the Citroen LN or the Lancia A112.

Possibly in the same class is the Alfasud.

 

The Mini Metro and Fiat Panda were never offered in the US. The Ford Fiesta and Renault 5 "LeCar" were pretty much gone from the US market by 1988.

The Polo was never sold here. Instead we got the Brazilian built VW Fox that debuted in 1987. It was sold as a small 4 door sedan or 2 door coupe. It looked pretty crappy even new.

The Chrysler Horizon was a French Simca-Talbot derivative and was sold here as the Dodge/Plymouth Omni. Towards the end of the Omni's production cycle in the US, Chrysler released lower priced versions named "Omni America". The Dodge/Plymouth Sundance took over the Omni.

There was a Omni Shelby version of the car.

The Vauxhall Chevette was sold here as the Chevy Chevette (Beginning in either 1980 or 81) and was sold as a 5 door or 3 door hatchback.

 

I was 17 when I got my '06 Cooper. I recently celebrated my one year anniversary with Stella. So I am now 18 almost 19.

 

i was 22 when i got my first coopr october 2008. 2003 MCS w/navi for only $4500, paid in full LOL! title's in my possession. Awesome car! own an 03 impreza wrx twin turbo charged, which is actually funner than the mini, but the best of all an M5

http://www.myspace.com/mrbond_o

 

I got my first mini (the current one) when I was 36!

However, my kid (currently still in utero) will get this one when they turn 16

 

My parents insisted that i learn to drive a manual (I'm thankful they did) and after almost crashing a twin turbo Carrera into a garage. My father went out got a 2004 MCS which i learned to drive on and my mom drove full time. I got it on my 15h birthday. then my mother bought me a 2008 MCS as a graduation gift. I love it at this point in my life I wouldn't own anything else. It's perfect. small enough that if i don't feel like giving someone a ride i say theres no room, and fun enough that i normally give people rides just because i love driving it.

 

yeah my mom wanted a mini when they came out i had restored an old one and it was our track car. so at 13 i went to the mini dealer in west palm beach and we ordered a chili red one with everything on it. when i turned 16 i took delivery of it. two months later the ecu got fried and the whole car got waterlogged when an ac hose broke so i took it in for repair and the guys down there know me relle well and they told me they just got a gp traded in and if i wanted first look at it i could have it. after test driving it i fell in love with it and traded in. gp 0573.

 

Bought my car when i was 15. Hyper blue MCS. Got it for really good price. Love it to death. I have been dreaming of one ever since i was 5 years old. I wanted the old one. But those were out of question when i got older. So the new one came out and bought that