When we got our Mini our other car was a 98 Maxima. It was fast and comfy, with a huge back seat, and our intention was that it would be our road trip car. Well, the Mini is plenty big in the back for our kids, and is way more entertaining to drive, so the Max was always being left behind when it came time to go anywhere.

A couple weeks ago we realized the Maxima was redundant, and traded it in on a more "useful" 2nd car - an 01 Tundra.

Has anyone found their Mini has exceeded expectations and unloaded your other car because of it?

 

What other cars?



(See, I don't even realize what else is in the garage anymore!)

 

My 94 dodge dakota owes me nothing, think I'll keep it
don't use it much

 

1995 Saab SE turbo, has snow tires, and is only used for that purpose now. I used to think that was a great performance car, now it is laughable. Not to metion it needs brakes, exhaust work, and has developed a suspected head gasket leak.

 

My '83 Porsche 911 is the perfect weekend compliment to my MINI. The MINI rests on the weekends, while the 911 gets a thorough workout. I'm happy to get into the 911 on Friday after work and am happy to get back in the MINI on monday before school. Life is great in sunny So Cal. with two great performing cars :smile:

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'04 BRG/B S, stockified
Someone in So Cal please buy my S-lites, first reasonable offer and they're yours!

 

Our 93 Lexus LS400 was our "Cushy" car before the MINI. We got rid of an SUV for the MINI, and now our LS400 sits at home collecting dust. I'll clean off my MINI every day and wash it every 2 weeks. The LS400 get's washed every 2nd washing of my MINI. Hahaha, my MINI sits in the garage, sparkling clean, and the LS400 sits in the sun and gets bird crapped on! I don't mind the LS400 getting dirty, but I can't stand my MINI having any dust on him.

After our son was born, we drove the LS400 for 2 weeks, and then I convinced the wife to take a ride in the MINI with a donut cushion under her, and she's fine with the ride. Today we drove all over with the infant in back, stroller in the boot, wife in the passenger seat, and anything else that would fit anywhere else!

Of course, when I went to Costco last week, with the same "cargo", I had enough sense to take the LS400 for the extra space. So yeah, the MINI is the main car for just about everything, except when space is really needed!

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Octane Guy

c3:Lets Motor for a Worthy Cause :::
Or Find a MINI Motorer near you!

 

:smile: But that will change once my Cabrio arrives...

Chow!

Donna

 

>>When we got our Mini our other car was a 98 Maxima. It was fast and comfy, with a huge back seat, and our intention was that it would be our road trip car. Well, the Mini is plenty big in the back for our kids, and is way more entertaining to drive, so the Max was always being left behind when it came time to go anywhere.
>>
>>A couple weeks ago we realized the Maxima was redundant, and traded it in on a more "useful" 2nd car - an 01 Tundra.
>>
>>Has anyone found their Mini has exceeded expectations and unloaded your other car because of it?

Yes my MINI has exceeded expectations and
No I have not unloaded anything in fact I have a 95 Maxima that I am modding up because my MCS has been in the shop for a month now trying to install an LSD and now a leaky clutch seal. The MINI is undrivable.

I have to use the Maxima SE and since the last track event where it excelled in stock form (108,000 miles with nearly all original stock parts except tires) I have new found respect for that old car. It was passing heavily modded MCSs when driven by my instructor. So now I have new tires and GReddy SP exhaust and I was looking for some light 15" rims so I could put some Kumho victoracer V700 205/50-15 tires on it and take it to autocross. I'd have spare stock wheels with Bridgestone Potenza RE950 tires in stock 215/60-15 (which also work really well for street use).

 

Haven't "unloaded" anything else but I do find it eaiser to get into the MINI and leave the others sitting. Took the Corvette out for the Sunday drive yesterday. It sure is a brute and gets loads of attention, but after 100 miles and about 11 gallons of 2.50/gal gas the MINI still looks pretty good for my daily driver...................mgg

 

>> I have to use the Maxima SE and since the last track event where it excelled in stock form (108,000 miles with nearly all original stock parts except tires) I have new found respect for that old car.

I think the 4th gen Maxima is generally misunderstood. It's a really, really good car with hardly any faults. Tons of room and tons of power, and I was sad to see ours go. It had 89k on the clock and I had a total of zero problems for the 30k I drove the car.

>> So now I have new tires and GReddy SP exhaust and I was looking for some light 15" rims so I could put some Kumho victoracer V700 205/50-15 tires on it and take it to autocross. I'd have spare stock wheels with Bridgestone Potenza RE950 tires in stock 215/60-15 (which also work really well for street use).

Do you have a rear sway for your Maxima? I never got one but I heard they made a dramatic difference on those cars.

 

MMMM let me see . My 1972 K5 with a 454 gets me about 7 miles to the gallon if I am nice to it. The Mini gets me 25 MPG if i beat on it . Gas was 2.49 this morning at the pump what am i going to drive today ?????? :smile:

Randy
Team M7Page Title

 

My wife was skeptical of my MC purchase, but the other day she suggested that when I go to work on the weekends, that I should take her car (93 Saturn POS) so she can drive my (or "our" as she says) MINI! I should have known this was going to happen.

 

>>>> I have to use the Maxima SE and since the last track event where it excelled in stock form (108,000 miles with nearly all original stock parts except tires) I have new found respect for that old car.
>>
>>I think the 4th gen Maxima is generally misunderstood. It's a really, really good car with hardly any faults. Tons of room and tons of power, and I was sad to see ours go. It had 89k on the clock and I had a total of zero problems for the 30k I drove the car.

After learning so much on this site over the last 15 months I went to Maxima.org to get the scoop on my Maxima which I had intended to do mods back in 1995 but never got around to it other than replacing tires from the stock Toyo A05 to Toyo Proxes and then Michelin MXV4 plus (which I ground up at the track on the front right).

At that site I learned about all the different Maxima generations and read a comparison article about power to weight ratios and performance on the track and at autocross. The newer Maximas are more powerful but heavier and have larger heavier 17" wheels. I have a moderately powerful sedan that is light with small 15" wheels about 40 pounds for tire and rim in stock form.

So the 4th generation is quite a good maxima and it showed on the track. No rear swaybar upgrade needed, handled fine. Maybe not as crisp but the tires were more of a limiting factor than anything else.

>>>> So now I have new tires and GReddy SP exhaust and I was looking for some light 15" rims so I could put some Kumho victoracer V700 205/50-15 tires on it and take it to autocross. I'd have spare stock wheels with Bridgestone Potenza RE950 tires in stock 215/60-15 (which also work really well for street use).
>>
>>Do you have a rear sway for your Maxima? I never got one but I heard they made a dramatic difference on those cars.

The exhaust is really quiet at idle and coasting or going downhill but drones with going uphill under constant throttle. Can't wait to see if my wife and daughter notice since they have been away on a trip and get back tomorrow. Under acceleration it is loud with a low tone. Power is better. The shop I went to claimed that an owner dynoed his car and got 12 whp more. I don't think so but it is good. I have a clean/oiled drop in K&N filter that is pretty old.

Anyway while my MINI is held hostage I am tooling around in the Maxima and trying to burn up my gas so I can fill it with premium gas which I used to use but my family has been putting in regular lately. I want to see how the car does with the good gas and good tires and exhaust.

If I autocross the Maxima it would be in G-stock so only drop in Air filter, cat back exhaust and stock wheel size with DOT tires. No suspension mods. On the track it does fine as is.

 

Let's just say that I took my '94 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited (inherited when I got married -- so no, it was not my choice!) to the coin-o-matic car wash after changing its oil yesterday and all I could think about was, "Man, what a waste of quarters." Even though, the Jeep is great in snow and Lowe's trips for power tools. But, seeing that it has 135K miles and the AC is out, we don't drive it much.

My MC is the daily driver and even though I've always loved driving home AFTER work, the Cooper has made me love even the drive TO work.



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02 CR/W MC

 

No car could replace either of my other Brits, a 62 MGA and a 69 MGC. These make great summertime rides. The MCS enjoys the break as the roadsters get their annual workouts. But once the weather gets bad, its 100% MINI time.

 

Nice truck, maxmini.

Our Passat wagon still gets the call for weekend use with the whole fam, dog included. I don't really want the dog and the toddler in the MINI if I can avoid it.

The MINI makes the Passat feel like a UPS truck, handling-wise.

 

When I got my first MINI, my husband had a Honda. I realized when we put over 6k miles on my MINI in the first 3 months, it was time to sell his Honda and get another MINI. Now we each have one. No more arguments over who gets to drive :smile:

 

My wife's 2000 Accord has been downgraded to teenager's work car. Two of our teens share it until one of them can afford to buy it from us. Then once some bills get paid off or her ex coughs up some back child support she is next inline for a new S. Pretty good considering for the past 5 years I could never get her to even look at something other than a Honda. The last couple times I got her into a dealership other than Honda the sales people would start bashing them and ruin the rest of my day. Now, she steals my keys every chance she gets.

 

Our family of 4 drivers (two teenagers and one college student away from home) has three cars.
The MCS for me as a daily driver- nobody else wants to drive it. Although three could.
2001 Honda Odyssey used for hauling stuff and 4 or more people. Less reliable than my MINI
1995 Maxima SE- was my car before the MINI but used as backup and for teenagers or when parking is tough (easy to park compared to the Honda).

Sold an older 91 Dodge Caravan SE to buy the MCS in 2003 but I was commuting in that car for 3 years.

So no none of my cars are obsolete from owning a MINI. None are sold but I tried to sell my Maxima to finance another MC but my wife was not impressed with my thinking so I'm just modding the Maxima instead. Hey, it's fun. Tomorrow they get to drive in it. Too bad the music doesn't play louder. The radio works but not the CD player. It's on my fix list after I totally refinish the body. Did the wheels already and it looks new minus 10 years of wear and tear.

 

I know of a certain '97 M3 that has been collecting dust in a garage since August.

 

>>....traded it in on a more "useful" 2nd car - an 01 Tundra.

Very practical, extremely reliable, surprisingly comfortable, relatively efficient, and remarkably safe! A wise choice, Mike!




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Still have my '95 540! Was gonna sell it when the MCS arrived in March but I've decided I still like the car too much to let it go. I love the MINI and spend most of my time in that car but it's tough to beat the change of pace that a smooth V8 provides.

 

Out of 4 cars, the ones get driven the most are the 2 manual shifters, which of course, includes the MINI. With gas price sky rocketing, the MCS is much more fuel efficient than the other gas-guzzling V8. More importantly, MINI is just too much fun!

 

My 1999 Mercury Mountaineer is now the victim of "rusty rotor disease" after not having moved for over 2 months

 

This damn MINi is making everything else feel like a piece of crap! They all feel like school buses with the shocks removed.

Except for the old Caddy in the picture. That still handles like, well, a 1969 parade float.

Regards,

Red