1. The car is COOL! And the S in particular.......
2. Good gas mileage, good car for driving around town. Beats the 16 MPG I get in the Avalanche.
3. My hobby is autocrossing and I want to get into racing. Would like to do One Lap of America next year, but plan on leaving the car stock.....at least for now.
4. Its a fun car to drive ... Period.
5. The whine of the SC, the roar of the exhaust, the panoramic sunroof... what more can a guy want in life?
6. Because I've always wanted one of the classic Minis but not the problems associated with maintaining traditional British sports cars.
7. The BMW genetics, i.e. the ultimate driving machine.

 

1. I wanted a convertible. Wife wanted a back seat for the kid. That limits the universe quite a bit.
2. Car had to be fun to drive - sporty. I did not like the drive of the competition that met #1 (vw bug, PT Cruiser, etc). MCSC was really fun during my test drive.
3. I'm 6'2", and need legroom. Most covertibles are too small. Mini, surprisingly, is roomy. It is a very well engineered car.
4. Had to be under $30k. Really, wanted to stay around $20K, but I couldn't meet 1-3 without spending a bit more.
5. Resale value was a plus.

Things I don't care about:

1. Zillions of trim options.
2. Cute 20-something advertising gimmicks.

Things I don't like:

1. Having no local dealer - I'm going to have to drive 3 hours for service.
2. Reported build problems (stalling, cracked windshields, window scratches, etc.) I have not gotten the car yet, but I am concerned about long term reliability. I hope my concern is misplaced.

 

Has to be that "German supervision!" What a great comment!

Loved the original Minis and when I saw the MINIUSA website on Christmas Day 2001, I fell in love with the looks, the specs, the whole thing......and the German supervision!


Clover

 

I bought my MCS because it was slam-dunk the best car (for me anyway) under $25,000--nine month wait notwithstanding. Jimbo

 

Brought back the feel of the great English cars of the 50's and 60's without watching parts fall off of it while it sat in the driveway.

2. The Prince of Darkness (Sir Lucas) was not involved.

3. Permagrin

 

It was between the MCS and the RSX Type S, and I chose the Mini over the Acura because the Mini had options that were not available on the Acura such as Navigation, Xenon, LSD, heated seats, and the MFSW. Oh, and it's a helluva lot more fun to drive!

 

i did a spread sheet that included a bunch of cars i liked. i included things like gas mileage/cost, insurance, resale value (projected), overall cost of car after 1 year and 3 years (projected cost) and some other stuff, reliability, safety. the mini came out on top, well not totally the TDI and Matrix are pretty sensible but the matrix is ugly and slow and the TDI is slow, ugly and unreliable, i put those in there for comparison cause the TDI has great MPG and the Toyota has good MPG, reliability and resale value. the only mini negative was boot room, wish there was a tad more of it but i think i will survive. resale value of the mini is what really put it on top of the other performance cars! here are the cars i put it against, including my current car audi S6 which i am desperately trying to sell with no avail. nissan frontier '05, Nissan maxima '04, infiniti G35 coupe, lancer EVO, acura cl type-s '03, legacy 2.5 gt '05, subaru WRX '02-'04, Toyota Matrix XRS, VW tdi wagon '05, volvo V50 T5 '05, audi S6 '95, mini cooper s '04, RSX type-s, honda accord '03-04....

 

I had a classic in the 70's. It went were I pointed it.
I test drove my 03, it went were I pointed it.
Enough for me.
Get my point

 

'cause I could'nt afford a Ferrari!

 

I was driving several hundered miles to buy a used Audi TT and I thought "there is a MINI dealer there, I should drive one for the fun of it".

I never made it to my appointment for the Audi.

 

I love the car.

Sorry for the boring answer most gave, but I bought my 02 in 02 because I love Minis. I had a 64 and a 67 back in the early 70’s when they were an oddity here in the states.

I got my name on a list the instant I heard they were going to make a new MINI and be allowed for export – the old ones were banned from the states because of safety restrictions if you recall.

That’s it. Short and simple. I love the handling.

May not be the Ferrari I’ve always wanted, but I sure passed one on Hwy 28 in July near the Dragon and when I pulled over he sure seemed interested in where he could get one of these monster killers.

 

The results so far are interesting, not quite what I expected. I expected "cute" and being able to "youify" (i.e., customize, dressup) to be high and thought good gas mileage might be higher (and it was NOT). Allowing for people to pick multiple entries .... so far

1. The car is CUTE! (and I can dress it up) (12)
2. Good gas mileage, good car for driving around town (5)
3. My hobby is hot rodding and its a good car to modify. (4)
4. I'd rather be a race car driver than a (you fill in the blank) so the next best thing is to pretend I'm Mario Andretti on track days in a car I can modify. (0)
5. Its a fun car to drive ... Period. (14)
6. I like fixing all the little things that go wrong (e.g., broken windshields, brake pads that wear out so quickly) ... its my hobby to visit repair shops (0)
7. The whine of the SC, the roar of the exhaust, the Wind in you hair... what more can a "person" want in life? (2)
8. Because I've always wanted one of those British Imports but not the problems associated with maintaining traditional British sports cars. (12)

There were a couple of votes based on price, resale value and BMW.

I think it surpising that #8 is so high ... didn't know their were so many British car enthusiasts left in the world.

KEEP VOTING. Somebody's hobby has got to be replacing windshields, premature brake pad wear, etc.

 

Well, we are few and far between, and most of us are not spring chickens. I finally gave up on British cars in 1980 when I sold my big Healey and went to test drive a TR-8 (new). OMG it was fast and OMG it had a "Lucas Moment" during the TEST DRIVE.

I bought an RX-7.

 

I had followed the MINIs since I first read they were being built. I didn't get a 02 but did buy an 03. It was love at first drive. So, when the Cabrios came out, I had to have one being a convertible girl:smile: The grin is still on my face after 3 years

Lois

 

What Mikem said

 

Mostly because I felt my old car was falling apart and I didn't feel like spending 35k on a WRX STi which is what I really wanted :smile:. But I do like the go-cart handling, the xenon headlamps and the factory lsd along with decent gas mileage, though I think the dsc leaves something to be desired, it kicks in way too early most of the time.

For the most part I'm happy, but I already want more power and the tires that came with it, to quote James May are "rubbish". I wanted a hot hatch, which is what the MCS is, well, a warm hatch in the stock state, I'll probably change my mind once I get some decent rubber along with a pulley/exhaust/intake.

So I guess it'd probably be number 5 and 7

 

#7. A man after my own heart ... boop on the Ipod ... Crank up the exhaust!

 

1. At 6'7" ... it was one of the few cars that I could drive comfortably

2. The 3/36 maintenance free warranty

3. yeah, it's hella fun

 

I drove one.

That's all it took.

 

Scions, cheap copycat Japanese made tin cans.

Oh yeah baby! Those are sooo desirable!

 

Why WOULDN'T I have bought a MINI?


Seriously... what else out there is worth buying?

 

Funny thing is with nicks in my windscreen as big as a nickel and driving the Dragon no less than three times a year in a very aggressive manor, have never had either fail or break on my 02 MCS. It was bought new and looks a little battle damaged, but it's a car and I drive the crap out of it. I have no Garage and it's been through two major hurricains in the last six months.


I did BTW have a temporary spasm on my July trip and YuccaPatrol directly behind me wondered why I waved him on to pass as I headed straight to the rock wall across the road. They got to hot and froze for a few minutes.

 

I bought my MC to give the finger to all the "bigger-is-better-got-to-have-an-SUV" fools out there.

and because MINIs are:

-not mainstream
-classy and sexy
-friggin nuts in the twisties
-worth holding on to until one of you die.

If I ever just buy a Toyota or Honda I may as well be DEAD. I didn't compare every aspect of every car out there on some comprehensive spreadsheet to find a perfect match for me. I looked at other cars but I fell in love with a MINI and its until-death-do-we-part.

Can I get an AMEN?

 

Lighten up dude.

Don't confuse arguing about the quality of different car manufacturers with bashing. I can probably argue the other side against scion if need be. My point is there are different vehicle for different needs. Some people need VANS cause they got 10 kids to haul around. Others may be single and alone. Everyone has different needs so chill out. Your needs are YOUR needs

 

I think you meant to say that your brakes got too hot and stuck for a few minutes, affecting BLU MENE's performance.


Clover