Weigh in your professional opinions here.

I've been active duty in the Navy for 8 years this month, and make a fair wage. Currently I have 2 car-notes, both for around $500 a month. I sport a 2005 MCS now, which I traded in my 1996 Camaro for. My wife drives our 'utility' vehicle, which is a 2001 F150, Supercrew, Lariat, 4x4 w/off road package (~30k miles). She works 1 mile from where we live.

That said... We've been paying on the truck for 3 of 5 years, and we could probably make a couple thousand trading it in. I've got 2 years left to pay on it, 2 years until I'm up for orders to move to somewhere (anywhere. Could be seattle, germany, hawaii, SoCal... Anywhere), and 2 years before I have the option to get out of the Navy.

I think there's many many reasons to keep the truck for these upcoming 2 years, so that if we have to drive cross country, haul anything in the meantime, or anything else, then we're good to go. There's also the safety consideration. In February of this year, she ran a red light, and demolished a pontiac grand prix, but the truck had a towbar bent on the front, and that was all.

We've been doing quite a few Mini events, and every time we do, she mentions how much she wants a Mini convertible. I spoil her, and it makes me feel bad to deny her a Mini.

My MCS with all the packages except convinience, came to under 25k. A MCSCa with the same, plus nav = 34k.

I find it hard to justify considering she never drives if we're going somewhere, and she works 1 mile from home. But even though she says 'Ok, we'll see in 2 years...' its in quite a pouty way which always makes me feel bad inside.

Oh, one other thing. If we do move in the military, she obviously won't have a job lined up wherever we move to as she works for an east-coast based car dealership... So thats something to consider seeing as how we'll probably buy another house where-ever we move, and 1 car payment is better than 2.

And, she doesn't want a non-convertible, and she doesn't want a base MCC.

So... Get her a Mini?

 

Yep.

But then, what else would you expect us to say?

Our 2nd MINI should be here in a few weeks. The AIDA should land on the 17th, dealer is expecting us for a 27th delivery, though we might just take a day off and do it earlier.

Of course, I DO still have my more utilitarian cars. '66 VW camper, and a '60 International 1 ton.

 

Go ahead and get her the Mini! She deserves it! You can always rent a truck if you need to haul one. The gas alone should make up the difference in the event you do need to rent one.

Remember the married mans motto: Happy wife, happy life!

 

Yeah, get her a Mini, sad wife=sad husband, never fails...

 

Truck may only be safe for HER!

Although i'm a small car person (went from a miata to a mini, and still dated another miata owner) it's nice to have something to carry and haul things. BUT, the mini holds ALOT of things most cars wouldn't! I say get her the mini. I dont know how storage is in the cabrio, but if you have a hard top... it would still do fine

She may not drive alot now... but i'm sure she will once she gets that fun little convertible!

 

We have the same setup currently as you and almost the same F150 (we have the 2004 FX4 Supercrew 4x4). My wife's MINI will be here in a few days and we are keeping the truck that is paid for, and the 2 MINI's. We cant do without the Truck, and she doesnt want to be w/o her Convertible MINI, so my opinion, Go for it, she and you wont be sorry taking those weekend drives together!

 

I say give her the MINI for a month see if it really fits her. I know you share the car but my wife and I switch off doing the grocery shopping ect. And one day she too thought she wanted her own MINI till she had to to buy 250.00 in groceries. Thats all it took she now enjoys her Expedition more than she did before at least till we get her a Maurano. Although the MINI is a killer little car to sport around in its kinda small for some of the larger things we do from time to time. What ever you do keep her happy

 

Get the MINI. It sounds like you use the big truck as a car more than 99% of the time. For the rare occasions that you do need a truck, you can always rent one rather cheap or trade vehicles for a day with one of your friends that has a truck and would like to drive a MINI for the day!

Of course, I am biased here because I have just ordered our 2nd MINI. I drive a nearly fully loaded (most everything except NAV) MCS but we ordered her a Cooper CVT. After having all the fancy options, I was able to order her car with only the most useful and important options, leaving out the more expensive and less necessary ones. My doesn't feel that she is being shortchanged in the least! For instance, she HATES the auto climate control and is thrilled that she gets to have simple straight-forward ***** that make sense.

I know she doesn't want a base MCC, but you can save money by getting a MCC with limited but good options and remind her that she prefers the convertible over the extra power. ..

For instance, I just went on the configurator and built this nice MINI for $24,900:

MCC Chili Red with CVT auto transmission
Chrome exterior package
Xenon Lights
Fog Lights front and rear
Sport Seats with Leatherette
Multifunction cruse steering wheel

Your wife will be super happy with a MINI set up like this. And it costs the same as your MCS, so I am sure she can budge with some of the more expensive options since her big option is that it is a convertible!

 

I tried this, but it's a 6-speed, and she can't drive a manual, and isn't really willing to learn.

 

Same thing with my wife but instead of thinking I think since it means I get to drive my MINi all the time!

 

Or. . . an MCSa with no extra options except Multifunction steering wheel and the auto transmission. . .. for $27050. . . just $2k more than my previous example. .

 

I assume you have no children. If that is true and you have no plans to have any, 2 MINIs will be fine. Although $30,000 plus for a MINI is way too much money to spend on ANY MINI !! Just my opinion.

 

Nope, no children.

And there's some things she won't budge on:
convertible
automatic
navigation

And then when it comes to everything else, she says "you got it, why can't I?". He says "I didn't get the $4000 convertible and $1300 automatic and $1700 navigation". She says "So. Thats what I want."

And that again brings price into the issue. Her Mini is going to cost more than her annual salary. I make a decent amount... But I'm just finding it hard to justify, despite using the truck as a car 99% of the time.

 

Sorry to be a smartass, but if she's got a one mile trip to work, is the NAV really necessary?

I echo what Yucca said - no need to drive around a huge truck for 2 years just in case you might need it for one move. You can always rent at that point, and have much more fun (and use much less fuel) in the meantime.

On the other hand, if the truck is nearly paid off, there might be smarter things to do with that MCSa money, depending on your situation - like saving it for a down payment on the house that you might be looking for in two years.

In any case, thank you for your service, and let us know what you decide to do!

Chris

 

I don't know, it sounds like you might be spoiling her a bit much. We all want lots of things, but that doesn't make buying them a rational decision. It's not like she's driving around in a 10-year-old Cavalier or something.

 

Sell the truck (as people have said you can rent one when you really need it), invest the money from its sale and when it will cover the MCSC outfitted with the options she wants, get it. In the meantime, since her drive to work is only a mile she can get a nice scooter :smile:

I'm a firm believer in getting a car a car you enjoy with whatever options make you personally happy if you can, however I guess the logic of having and paying for the car in the first place is that it will be driven (unless it is a showcar/collector weekend car of sorts). Not only is it better for a car to be driven more and longer then a mile each way, if its not driven much you can end up with a car that actually passes the warranty period before even having enough use and mileage to run into the warranty issues before they become your problem.

Anyway, I'm sure you'll figure out what best suits your situation, it just sounds like financial concerns and planning for the future purchase of a house etc are significant factors to consider vs getting a car that is not needed and won't be used very much. Perhaps a used Miata would fit the bill for now?

PS:RE: having enough room in the Mini - we've used it for pretty big Costco trips with no problem so I can't imagine what kind of groceries your wife had DSA :smile:

 

Duh, why didn't i think of a miata? Stupid.

I agree whole heartedly she NEEDS a miata :P Although automatics are very rare, if you look hard enough, you can find one. No back seat, and the trunk isn't huge, but it's SO much fun to drive... with a much much smaller price tag. I'm biased towards the simple 90-93's, but 99-00's come with more features, and are probably 8-10k$ now. They really refined the miata's in 01, and you can get limited slip and stuff... but no nav.

It's nice to spoil her sometimes, but don't go overboard. If you're buying it for her, be a little bit more firm about how the features she wants cost so much extra.

I also agree if she's driving 1 mile, why pay over a grand for a nav? Show her your computer, and where you have mapquest book marked... and buy her a "welcome home, MINI map" just in case. 20$ vs. 1400$. Hmmm...

 

I prefer that people, esp ones that may have been distracted into running a red light (sorry, but its the truth), not refer to maps while driving *

Maybe she wants the nav for the future when they move to a new area, it would be very useful - but as pointed out not nec needed right now...

* Note to ardent map readers; please try not to take it personally but I've just seen way too many people not paying attention while trying to drive and look at a map/driving directions at the same time.

 

I have a cabrio and two kids, plus, that is our only car. My husband rides a motorcycle. I've not had a problem hauling anything, yet, and as mentioned, just rent a truck when you need one. Heck, I even took a broken dryer to the dump. As far as moving, we're military too, and I'm sure you know they'll move everything, so that shouldn't be the only reason for keeping the truck you don't really want. If moving is an issue, you can rent a u-haul, pull one MINI, and the military will pay, so sell the truck and go for the cabrio...

 

Get the cabrio, you'll both enjoy it. And, to make the cars more even in terms of value, buy yourself the JCW package for your MCS. :smile:

I keep "promising" my wife that once our Honda Odyssey is off lease next August, she can have the convertible if she lets me replace the van with the last of the 06 JCW's.

 

I would say get the cabrio, but I also agree with those questioning the options she wants. If an actual "need" for a NAV system were to come up in the future, you can get an aftermarket one that can be put in either of your cars. Also, it does get a bit pricey when you start adding all this stuff, particularly when you say that the car will be costing more than her annual salary. The hard part is trying to convince her that she doesn't need all the bells and whistles without you getting into the dog house over it. Hmmm, what to do?

 

"So. Thats what I want."

My answer: "Fine, go ahead and buy yourself one. I won't mind."

 

compromise, teach her to drive a stick in BATMINI and save 1300$!! :smile:

 

Tell her you won't pay a cent on that car until she TRIES to learn manual. I didn't want to learn at ALL, until i was convinced how rare automatics are for miatas, and that manuals are "more fun." Now that i know it, i wont touch an automatic.

I bought mine used, with only the sunroof, spoiler, and 16 inchers. I got a great deal, and i can deal with the 5 speed. Aftermarket nav sounds good to me too. I didn't even think about that. I can't believe NAV is so expensive.

Think about what your interest rate will be + insurance too!

 

Easy solution. . . Give her a budget.

For $25k she could have:

MCS hard top with nav, automatic, multifunction/cruise steering wheel, all fog lamps and xenon lights

MC hard top: Premium package, sport package, cold weather package, convenience package, CVT auto transmission, xenon lights, nav system, rear fog light, and harmon kardon stereo

MC Convertible:with CVT auto transmission, Chrome exterior package, Xenon Lights, Fog Lights front and rear, Sport Seats with Leatherette, Multifunction cruse steering wheel

MCS convertible: with absolutely NO options and costs $450 over the $25k budget. . . .