I'm going to be in Phoenix for business most of next week and was hoping to rent a Cooper S Covertible to take some drives through nice twisty desert roads.

First - anyone know of a rental agency that has MINI's in the Phoenix area? My backup plan is to get to the Scottsdale dealership for a test drive.

Second - any recommended drives?

Thanks!
Steve

 

There is a Hertz rental agency at the MINI dealership in Scottsdale that rents MINI's. I am not sure if they rent just regular Coopers or the 'S'. I do know that they also have convertables.

 

Some of my favorite drives:
Check out Oak Creek Canyon and Sedona. Oak Creek Canyon is easily the most beautiful drive in the US. Take I-17 most of the way there. Go to Mapquest for specific directions.
Once you're in Sedona and driving through Oak Creek Canyon you might as well hit up Flagstaff. It's beautiful year-round. Lots of fun drives once you're up there. Follow the signs to Snow Bowl and drive up a good portion of Humphreys Peak, the tallest peak in AZ. Normally the ski slopes would be in full swing, but to my knowledge, they haven't had any snow yet this season. Bad for skiers, but good for you if you've got the time to hike around for a bit.
If you happen to have one whole free day you could drive all of that if you don't dawdle for too long anywhere.
For a quicker trip (maybe 1/2 day) you could take 60 out towards Globe. Lots of little mostly abandoned mining towns out there. Beautiful drive. Not a whole ton to do once you get there, although the area around Globe has a bunch of little roads to explore.
If you've only got an hour or so to kill, you might head up South Mountain. It takes about 15 minutes to drive up there and on a clear day the view of the city is kinda cool.
Besides those trips, if you're feeling really adventurous, just hop on any major road (I'd go either North or East) heading out of town. Once you see something (a mountain for instance) that looks like it's worth getting closer to, take the next exit and just feel your way around. There's lots of beautiful scenery to behold.

 

Here's the Az club's event calendar:
http://dynamicminicollective.org/calendar/month.php
Join in on one of the events or check out the forum section and perhaps we can arrange a meeting.
Have a great trip

 

thanks for the help! I called Scottsdale MINI since the Hertz closes at 7pm and the woman there didn't know if there were MINI-specific rentals from that location. Guess I'll have to call Hertz in the morning. Unfortunately my hotel is more than 15 minutes from their location so I'd have to get there somehow to pick it up myself.

I checked out the AZ club calendar and unfortunately there's nothing scheduled during the days I'll be in town. Maybe some other time!

 

Confirmed that they rent mini's from the phoenix hertz location on Princess Drive (they're adjacent to the 'scottsdale' MINI dealership). Just automatic coopers, but they do have convertibles! Guess I may be getting familiar with a CVT. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

 

Glad to hear things are working out for you! (I was born and raised in Mesa, AZ and went to school in Tucson. That's why I poked my head in this thread in the first place.) Unfortunately AZ drivers are nuts (and I say this as a resident of CA)! There are also lots of snowbirds around this time of year. Have a great time, but do be careful. And don't forget sunglasses!