Ok, so I've got an 06 Cooper S, and the wife wants a fun car too, but it's got to be a convertible. So here is the question. We have 2 kids, 4 1/2, and 18 months, who will be riding in the back. We are just concerned about what the visibility out the side will be for them with the top up. This will be a big factor in making the decision to add a cabrio to our home. Please let us know your experiences, thx.

 

Good question my daughter has always been in when the top was down have to check.

You need to get her to drive it with the top up the vision out the back is awful and there are large blind spots. I got the mutlivex mirrors and it help alot.

 

I put my daughter and a six year old back there and they said they could see out.

 

Test Drive.

 

Yeah, the only problem is that the nearest dealer is 2 hrs away, so I thought I'd get some opinions here.

 

Do you mean visibility for your wife while she is driving or visibility for your kids to be able to look out the windows?

 

For the kids. Her concern is when we might take the car on a day trip on the highway with the top up, that the kids might not be able to see out the side of the car very well do to the "c pillar" sail. They do ok in my car, because the rear windows are bigger on the hatchback.

 

The kids wouldn't have tons of view out of the window. The rear windows are small. I would say from the front seat headrest to the back seat, window barely goes 1/2 of the way & the rest is top. Also the rear seat sits way low so a child would not be able to see out of the window from a height perspective very well. I don't have children so I dunno how long they are in carseats but a carseat would make them sit up & forward quite a bit & they might have some window then.

 

The key is test drive with the top up. This is a great car but I can see that as a daily driver you could hate it. Your rear vision is blocked with the roll bars and the c pillars. Very different than the hard top I've had both.


TEST DRIVE is a must with the top up.

Michael

 

I've only driven with children in car seats, and one of them can't talk (15 months). The car seats bring the kids up to a respectable eye level and the older kids can definitely see out.

I think a test drive is the only way to satisfy you and your wife.

Bill

 

Also Davis, to save you the 2 hour drive, if you let people know what area you are in there may be a convertible owner near you that would be more than happy to let you check their's out or you could go post in a local club thread to see if anyone has a convertible you can check out.

 

my firend with his MINI has two kids also. and he brings them to our weekely meets every week. one is about 2.5 and the other is also around 18 months... i think..

Well When i saw that he had two car seats in the back i was more than happy. Im 26 with no kids, My mini would be paided off for 5 years, its an 06 also. So I was excited to see that he had 2 car seats that I'm not worried if i do have a kid in the next 5 years.

 

I might add, another consideration is how well your kids like the wind with the top down. I have one who loves the wind and one who hates it. Fortunately, he's out-voted most of the time, and he's finally getting a little used to it.

Visibility isn't great with the top up. Fortunately, my kids are old enough to entertain themselves with vTech stuff and GameBoys on long trips. (Keep them as car-only toys if you want to save your sanity!) Yours might be getting to that stage too?

 

We currently have a 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible, and the kids love going for "country drives". We also have a minivan. The thought was that we would sell the convert and minivan and just have the two Mini's. The reason that the visibility with the cabrio is so important is that it would be the primary trip car, as it would have an automatic transmission (wife has no interest in learning a manual).

On that note, we did pass buy a local car dealer that had a used 05 cabrio out front and we went to look at it. We could tell that the visibilty would just not be sufficient for the two kids in back for a long trip.

Thanks to those who replied, we'll have to work on plan B!

 

You made the right choise. It is a fun car but would make a bad everyday kid hauler.

 

Convertibles and kids? I am not too sure about that in any car seat, but we just got hit by a BUS. We didn't roll over, but I'd hate to think about if we had and it was a "no-top."

 

Here are my two girls in the back of the MCSC -



I only really drive them around with the top down on short trips, as the wind is a bit much for them at higher speeds.

I don't drive them long distances in the MINI as my V70R is much more roomy. My girls are 4 and 2, and the two year old will ride behind me in the drivers seat (with it almost all the way back) and not complain too much, but the 4 year old requires extra room, and complains if the passenger seat is too far back. I'm a little worried that I won't be able to drive them around when the two year old starts complaining about leg room as she gets bigger, but I'll deal with that when the time comes.

As for visibility with the top up, they can see fine. There is enough of a view out the side windows for them, and they love to be able to see the speedometer to yell at daddy when he goes too fast!

 

Cute kids

 

You too, huh? Who's great idea was it to teach them how to read?

 

Two kids, 3 and 5 in booster seats. No problem seeing out with the top up. A little windy for them with the top down so we keep the top down trips short.

 

My girls are 8 and very thin, so they still require a booster seat. However, they are very long legged. They tend to sit criss cross apple sauce in the backseat since they hate putting their feet underneath the front seat. They don't complain about the room and giggle constantly back there. I have a Grand Caravan, a Suburban in addition to my MCSCa and they prefer to take the Mini.

Sometimes they request the top up though. I have found, using the sunroof feature gives them enough air, me in the sun, them in the shade, so all are happy.

Oh, and I tell them that if I am backing up, I have to have the top down, no arguments. They understand. It's great family fun. We just did our first Mini run on Sunday with SF Mini and they are still talking about it.

 

We are in very similar situation, although we've had our's for a week. My wife's got an old Volvo XC wagon and I drive a Chevy Avalanche (tv's in the headrest for long rides), but the kids love the Mini (top down, of course) and don't miss my truck at all. The kids are 7/5 and sit cross-legged a lot, but can put their feet down if need be (I am 6'3").

 

My son's are 10 and 7...they love the top down most of the time (except for when it's chilly out..even colder for them) They aren't much interested in looking out unless there are corvette's nearby.

 

This is the best description. With a car seat, I don't think that you'll have too much problems, but the canvas top covers about half of the rear window on each side (as mentioned above). This also create a huge blind spot. It's a convert so that's expected.

Our kids a little older, 12 & 7 so it's a little different... They fit back there reasonably comfortable.

 

We drove 12 hours to Colorado with my 2 kids in the back of my MCSC. They were as good as they would have been in any car for that long. We took a video player, but didn't use it. I use this car as my everyday driver and the kids love it so much they don't complain. They are 8 and 3. Tip: I bought a travel electric blanket that uses the cig. lighter for power. Keeps them warmer in the evenings. My 8 year old just told me he will buy a mini when he gets older, and that's ALL he'll ever drive. How cute!