My main gripe about the MINI it that since I got her I spend way to much time online on the forums. Between here on NAM, the OL, and my local MINI club (MINIcci) forum, I spend way to much time online and not enough time out motoring.

 

That's your definition but I think the people that own hardtop Ferrari's and Lambo's might take you to task

For me the numbers of doors or seats or roof configuration doesn't determine how I classify the car, the spirit of the car determines that. The spirit of the Mini, both old and new, is that of a rally car hence it's a sports car to me.

Now, on to the gripes. The car should come with a factory fitted alarm, the brake pads need changing and the car needs two electrical outlets in the front. Today with cellphones, GPS systems and whatnot you need to be able to plug more crap in.

 

I find that you can stretch the clean car window by giving the car a quick dust off with something like the California duster. I just use the smaller dash duster as it stores easily. The boot does get dusty after every drive but it only takes me a whole 30 seconds to give it a quick dust off. No dust off= daily wash. Frequent dust off's=3-4days without wash.
14 months, 30,000mi and the only semi gripe is the loud Dunlop rf's. Actually, the Mich. Pilot/Alpins covered 5,000 of those miles. I'll run the rf's until late fall, I hope and, over the winter, get a summer tyre of some sort. Don't know which yet.

 

Do you mean you wish they came standard, at no extra cost? MINI sells an alarm for about $300, and although most people probably have the dealer install it before they take the car, a lot of people (myself including) just installed it themselves. The cars actually come pre-wired for it so installation is extremely easy (if you have the patience to peel back tape for 30+ minutes). From there all you have to do is have your dealer activate it.

 

I had the dealer doing after the fact because I brought a pre-configured car (it was roughly what I wanted, in fact had more options than I would have picked) and then I was doing the bluetooth at the same time so figured "what the hell".
I think it should be a no extra cost, standard feature.

 

My only gripe is the boot will stay clean for about 10 miles after a wash and the front wheels are a similar problem. It's a joy to wash though, so not a huge issue. My last vehicle was an SUV and washing/drying and waxing what seemed like acres of sheet metal was a real pain in the ***.