...it was owned and produced by a different company, and if you wouldn't have bought it what would be your "replacement buy car, if any?"

Since the rebadging thread is going eight different directions I thought I'd throw this question out there. I'm interested to know.

It wouldn't change my final desicion if the MINI was owned by a different corp. Don't forget, it would have the same options and looks, but different company.

Take for instance the Mazada's. They were bought out by Ford and look at there sales and designs now. They have tripled in sales since 1995, and there fleet of cars are pretty well built, with some good looks, IMO.

Comments...

 

eerr Mazda blows nuts and they do finish 5th in sales in big Japanse auto makers but yea, for sure. For me, it was never about BMW owning MINI although im an avid BMW fan. Now if it was made by Toyota or GM....I might not be on this forum....

 

Made by a different company?... well, who knows? A company from China making MG's seems a bit strange though.

 

Different company? You're tapping into my worst dreams.

 

If Mini were owned by any of the big 3, I would not have bought it. I just do not like domestic cars. Having owned BMWs for close to 30 years, BMW had nearly everything to do with my purchase. My new Mini (almost here) will be replacing a 2002 325i and will share the garage with my '04 330i. No doubt, I'm looking forward to the delivery of this car more than any that I have purchased. It must be the wait. C'mon "Liberty"...get moving!

 

Brazil or Mexico

 

if MINI's were Fords, then no, i wouldn't buy it.

 

I bought my MINI despite BMW owning it but it took me two years to break the promise with myself that I would never, ever, ever own a POS BMW as long as I lived.

 

This question doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I like the MINI because of how it was built, the styling, engine, gearbox, the way the interior is, the service provided by the dealer.

Now if GM built a small car like a MINI, would it be the same car? No way, if its not the same car, would I buy it? Probably not.

But what if its the exact same car with a GM badge? Yeah probably. However, if GM could build a car to this standard that is this much fun, I don't think they'll be in such deep troubles right now.

 

Ditto!

 

Actually, I was a bit tenative about purchasing my Mini because it was built by BMW. BMW builts wonderful cars, but they're expensive. I didn't know if I wanted a BMW-built economy car. I think I'd still actually prefer if my Mini was built by Honda or Toyota, who have experience building great econo-cars.

However, my initial fears seem pretty well unfounded, so far my Mini has been cheap to own, reliable, and a pleasure to drive. So it looks like BMW can build a good economy car, too.

And Mazda hardly "blows nuts" They make some great cars, ie the Miata and RX8, not to mention the 3. And unlike Mitsubishi, I don't hear any talk of Mazda pulling out of the North American market because of dismal sales. Not that I wouldn't love a Lancer Evolution, but a car like that isn't going to keep Mitsubishi afloat.

 

I don't give a flyin' flip about BMW, so yeah, I would have bought a MINI regardless...probably even if it were still made by Rover (were such a thing possible). At this point though, I am very grateful to BMW for keeping the Mini tradition alive and for paying very close attention to getting the MINI right. However, I don't think even BMW would have succeeded (their cars bore me for the most part) had they not had such a darn good little car to emulate. That they did so successfully makes them worthy of my respect.

 

I don't think so. You can't support a company of GM's size on a niche product like a Mini.

GM can, without question, make a world-class vehicle. Witness the Corvette Z06 (edit, and the Pontiac Solstice). GM is facing much more complicated problems than product.

 

I don't know a ton about GM so I can't really speak too much about them, but I do like Ford. I guess I don't see why people don't like Ford. I think they make good products (or at least they're improving). I also believe they're backed by good people, headed in the right direction, and believe its nice to support a company that's headquarters are 35 miles away and not thousands. I am certainly not against foreign cars (as I own one) but I don't see why someone would be against Ford...

 

if you want exciting, own an M even my moms 530i, oohh god do i love it. Exciting as hell to drive!


have you actually sat in a ford/lincon and then sat in a VW or BMW? This might be because I see these cars in large scale, my dad being a dealer and going to auctions but they can all confirm, Ford engines are pos. They give troubles fast, crappy suspension with noise hitting at 20k miles, cheap enterior etc. but i dont wanna high jack the thread cause there is never convincing one side or another

 

I disagree, they are facing problems BECAUSE their mainstream products aren't as good as their competition's.

If they could build all their cars with as much care as they do with the Corvette and the Solstice/Sky or the MINI, they wouldn't be in so much trouble. Anyway, the point is, GM just didn't build our MINI, if they did I wouldn't care about the badge, I would buy it.

 

Um, yeah, it looks like that to me too. And they can build a pretty hot little sports car too, in the form of the JCW Cooper S! I just can't afford one of those...

I probably would have bought my '02 Canadian Launch Edition MINI Cooper almost no matter who owned the company. I have wanted to own a Mini ever since I got my first ride in one as a young lad. Alas, I have never been mechanic enough (or fanatic enough) to try to acquire, restore and maintain a "classic" Mini.

So I was ripe for the picking when BMW started the pre-launch hype of the new MINI in the dawn of the 21st century . I have to admit, the blend of factual information and humourous marketing job that the MINI division of BMW did (and continues to do) on the MINI.com and MINI.ca web sites prior to the arrival of the first '02 MINIs in North America made the difference between doubt and "Where do I sign up to get one ASAP!" for me.

I ordered my first MINI on line at www.MINI.ca in January 2002, and got delivery that April. Woohoo!

I drove the that car for four years and almost 80k kilometres, with a big grin on my face most of the time I was in it. Every one of my friends and family to whom I handed my keys and allowed to sit in the driver's seat also got the "MINI grin" before they had finished turning their first corner.

So it was with considerable sadness that I handed over the keys to my '02 Cooper when I traded it in...I really loved that car!

But then the dealer handed me they keys to my new '06 Cooper, and I felt so good that I went auto-xing for the first time in my life the next weekend! Don't ask how I placed, but ask me if I had fun or not!

I can not complain at all about after-sales service from BMW. MINI Winnipeg/Birchwood BMW has always treated me as well as their much more well-heeled BMW customers every time I had to take the car in for a service. I was super-impressed to learn that "bumper to bumper" warranty means exactly that. Even things like burned out headlight bulbs and cracked leatherette seat upolstry were "warranty repair" items. So was the transaxle seal that cracked one night when it hit -42Celcius here and my 2-year-old MINI dropped tranny oil all over my garage floor.

They towed the car in and fixed it for me, and even gave me a loaner Beemer while waiting for the replacement parts to arrive!

After sales service for MINI Winnipeg = x10!

Having said all that, I doubt that any other (domestic or foreign) car company can create (much less deliver upon) clever pre-sales marketing with a fabulous product like the MINI, and follow up with superb after-sales customer service the way BMW has done with the MINI.

I have owned quite a few other vehicles in my lifetime, and the only one that was anywhere near as much fun to drive as a MINI was my 1980 Volkswagen Rabbit. That was a pretty hot little car for its day...it would beat my new MINI off the line quite handily (though any old Mini or new MINI would far surpass it on twisty roads).

But by the time I sold that car, it had cost me far more in repair bills that weasel words in the warranty got Volkswagen out of covering than the car cost in the first place. (For those who never owned a Rabbit of that vintage, it had crappy CV boots that cracked if you looked at them wrong, and unless you happened to notice the cracks right away, you were replacing the CV joint AND the boot. And neither of those parts were covered by the warranty.)

I had OK service/warranty etc. experiences with a Honda Civic hatchback and a Toyota Paseo that I owned in between the VW Rabbit and my first MINI. But neither of those cars were ever close to putting a big grin on my face like my MINI-s did and do!

To sum up, I think the only North American company that could have done a comparable marketing job and followup customer service is GM's Saturn division. My wife bought a Saturn after a stupid red-light-running driver totalled our Honda, and she bought another one a couple years ago. Good (almost cultish) marketing and great service was what brought her back.

Too bad they are way boring to drive ... but they are at least cheap to own...

OK, Chrysler has a very cool design in their PT Cruiser, but I've never had one of those, and I never will. (Same engine as my Cooper, pulling around a lot more weight...that spells sucky performance and lower gas mileage. Bad news with today's gas prices. )

 

I agree . But don't forget everyone it's not a BMW it's a MINI Cooper, that's the BLUF(bottom line up front). BMW just took an idea and made it theirs to sell, now they do a great job i.e. engine, safety, looks. But the classic paved the way, not BMW.

I would still have bought it either way, I don't care for the "Big 3" companies either, but every once in awhile they make a car I would buy. And if they would have made this MINI then yes I would ****** it up. And to the comments about GM, Ford, etc. not being able to produce a car like this, who's to say they can't, I'm not a car designer, and I'm pretty sure most of us aren't either.

 

If it was literally that simple, why wouldn't they just fix it?

GM is fighting history. They have a legacy of sub-par cars built in the 70's and 80's (and to a lesser extent, the 90's), and they're fighting an uphill battle to win back customers who've become loyal to foreign brands (like myself). They also carry some of the highest legacy costs of any automaker, ie, it costs GM more to build a car than it costs Toyota or Honda.

GM's product is not their problem. Look at Buick, they have very high initial quality scores. Go drive a Pontiac G6, it's a great car. But like many people, I sure wouldn't go pay full price for a Pontiac. That, coupled with GM's high cost of building a car, is the majority of their problem. And how do fix that?

 

certainly, I have nothing against Porsche

 

The only way I wouldn't have bought the MINI is if it was one of the big three. BMW, Audi, Porsche, Volkswagen, or any of the Japanese makers would have been fine with me. Although it would have seemed odd for MINI not to be from a European automaker.
Annette

 

Had the MINI been an American made car. No. I wouldn't have looked at it in the first place. Don't get me wrong, my previous car was American made. It's just that American made and small car don't go together or for that matter hold together.

 

I think Madza still makes great cars in spite of their relationship with Ford, not because of it.

I bought an 86 Mazda B-2000 pickup in late 85. Most dependable vehicle I ever owned and still gets driven almost every day

I would probably buy a MINI if it were made by some other company.

Someone commented that the PT Cruiser has the same engine as the MINI in a heavier vehicle. I don't think the PT has a 1.6 liter engine...and it's engine is available in two turbo models, one of which is about 230 hp.

 

Most of us know that the new Mini was started by Rover..... but it is the decisions about...handling, feel, brakes, etc...etc.... that were finally made by BMW employees/engineers/designers/whether out sourced or not..... I am glad it was BMW making the final call as opposed to several of the other companies mentioned.

get behind a Mini on the highway and look at how that proud little car just owns the road..... I don't see that in many of the other monikers discussed..JMO

 

My understanding is that the Sky is not GM or Saturn but a Vauxhall. I saw an episode of Top Gear where they tested a Vauxhall roadster that Vauxhall would not produce but sold the design to Saturn.