I got our MC when I was 22 and love it! I pay about $65 a month for insurance and $320 for Mini payments.....The insurance kicker for me, I'm married and have a kid on the way :-) So it will go down even more around the 1st of March!!
The best part of being the youngest in your club is that I have a little more energy when at the race track :-)
Motor On!

 

I think it's great seeing so many youngsters ( I say that like I'm actually old myself ) earning their own MINIs and paying their way. Your determination is very respectable. I'm not going to trash on those who have their car given to them by their parents because if my parents had given me a MINI I would have gladly taken it. It's ok to give kids nice things as long as they still gain an appreciation for hard work and responsibility. My parents gave me a car to drive in high school, it was the old family Volvo Station Wagon. But I had to pay for all the maintenance and they made me get a job as well. The work ethic that my parents taught me helped me out a lot in college and it has so far in my very short "career."

 

Yes, having and paying your own car when you are young is a great feeling... but it turns difficult some times when you have your own car, apartment, girlfriend, dog, etc.

MaC

 

A MCS? Nah...maybe parents buying their kids a Porsche, etc are trying to flaunt, but not a MCS. I think it's a reasonable car for a teenager.

 

21, full time student with a double-major and working 2 jobs to get by. I paid a local club member in full for my MINI back in June. Mods will only come if I decide to go straight into teaching instead of grad school in 6-7 months.

 

I got my second Mini a month ago.
My first Mini was a 1300cc Cooper S. I paid cash for it. It was in 1962, I was 25. Obviously I am not the youngest for a first Mini. Not even for a second .
At the time I was pretty good at local rallies. Now I am very good at grocery shopping .

All young Mini drivers, enjoy this amazing car. It's a forgiven car but be alert, always anticipate, and take seriously care of its maintenance. It is a rewarding car .

 

 

:impatient Dude, your barely out of HS and your worried about getting old????

The average car sold in the US is $28K. You think its reasonable for parents to give their teenager a $24K car. Free? :impatient
Wow. What is this world coming to.

Chicken Little was Right

 

I'm 20, pay for my car and insurance on my own. Oh, and this is my second Mini

 

Not all parents...but for someone that has the means to buy their kid a $24-30k car, I dont think it's that unreasonable. Right?

For the record...I pay for part of my car...it wasnt 100% free, lol.

 

I make my own payments and insurance, but thats only because I modified the car. my dad said if I wanted to change it I had to buy it haha.

 

Well, since you asked. If you got the dough, good for you.

In general, just my opinion, there is a VERY old saying

"Things easily attained have little value"

Anon.

You can probably figure out what that means on your own.

 

Got my first MINI at 24.
Now on my second. And I still swear I'm 24.

 

Hmmm, I dunno. I tend to value things that are given to me much more than things I buy on my own...maybe I'm just weird.

Either way, I actually paid a good chunck of this mcs. It's my third new car at age 19, so I didnt expect the rents to cover it.

 

It may be a great feeling, until you calculate the future value of the money you spent on the car, with interest

 

+1!!!

 

I'm 21.

 

Just out of curiosity, for those of you who are in high school or just out and paying for your car and insurance, what sorts of jobs do you have? I don't recall any high school type jobs when I was that age that would have afforded me car payments and insurance. Luckily, for my sanity, the MINI wasn't around when I was a teenager .

 

I noticed a lot more MINI at the local high school and city college than I have seen in the past. I think MINI has to do more advertising to educate people what a deal MINI is . Base MINI at around $18K with 3 years maintenance free is alot better than buying a Honda and doing or paying for all the upkeep yourself...especially when you don't know anything about cars.... Tell all your buddies to tell their mommies and daddies that if they want to own a MINI ,to sell their folks on the "3 years maintenance free + 4 years bumper to bumper warrantee" that will get those old guys attention...

 

How is that any sign of what the world is coming to? It's a set of parents who are well off giving their child a gift that, in your opinion, costs too much.

Maybe you couldn't find it reasonable because of your situation...but if a set of parents has enough money and wants to give their kid a car....where is the problem? The kid will be able to learn the value of money from plenty of other fronts....he will just happen to have a sweet ride.

Yes, some kids who get a free car are spoiled and have a terrible sense of what money is actually worth because everything was bought for them.....but there are plenty of kids who werent so fortunate who STILL were never taught the value of money. It is more about teaching your child to respect and value money and learn to use it responsibly....this is still possible if the parents happen to buy them a semi-cheap car (like a mini).

 

Not a teenager, but still young (22), i havent even star my collage... purchasing dept... enough to pay car, insurance, aprt., etc.
MaC

 

I bought my MINI (back in 2002) during my senior year of highschool.....i had been saving up money from selling artwork and working as a graphic designer (plus whatever money i made on summer jobs)....and my parents taught me how to properly invest and manage my money well enough that i could later afford the car (granted...it was a very basic cooper and back in 2002(original pricing) which comes nowhere close to the 24k number being thrown around).

 

I'm 53 years young this week...

 

I'll be turning 22 in a couple weeks.

 

My husband and I bought my MC when I was 22. Now we're both 24 and just bought him a MCS.