Carefully controlled scientific studies have been done on the typical age of MINI owners...ahh...well, at least one NAM thread of which I know:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=113833

 

Hello, I just had to comment on this. I am one of those seemingly spoild college-soon-to-be MINI owners. My first car was given to me when my mom got a new car, because of my good grades and heavy involvment in academic activities, my senior year of high school. Now I am in college, and have become really into my dad's MINI (he makes me clean his car for car shows). We came up with an agreement: my current car as downpayment with a little extra to make the monthly payment a certain figure, then we each pay half of the monthly payment and I pay for my own insurance. I have gone from just buying gas to buying insurance, half a car (of which he has equal say to what happens to), and premium gas. I do have a job, and scholarships which completly removes my mind from the money needed for college. I guess I am lucky. I could never ask my dad to buy a car for me in full, as a matter or fact I am only allowing him to pay half of the car payment for the first 2 or three years.

 

MINIgirly ...

From your summary of your accomplishments and plans to buy your MINI, I, too, would be honored if you were my daughter or grand daughter !!!

My daughter graduated from law school when she was 23 ... driving a Honda Civic that was four years old ... since then, she and her husband have had a 528i, MINI S, and now an Audi S4 (V8) ... all stick shift ...

Again, I doubt your Dad has any buttons left on his shirts ... all long ago popped off ... keep up the good work, the benefits will follow along.

wls

 

Hrm. I drove a 64 Chevy II wagon and a 68 Riveria in high school. Very poor family. I was 40 when we bought our first house, 41 when we bought our first new vehicle, and now, at 45, am buying MY first new car. So I'm not spoiled.

But. I worked hard to earn my doctorate, to raise us up the socio-economic ladder. So I honestly would have no problems buying a MINI for one of my kids in high school if they are mature and responsible. Maybe its compensating for things I didn't have. But the MINI is a safe, well-built fun little car. I'd feel great having my kids in one.

Just not a MCS

 

My Dad always said " You can have anything you want in this world,, you just have to earn it" So I always had some sort of Job to pay for my "things" . Starting with a Paper route when I was 12 years old.
It made a difference in what's important. I screwed up a few times when I was young and my parents were always there to help me out of a jam. But "That" lecture that came with it,,,,,Geez.

PS I am 54 now and I miss that damn Paper route, life was simple then.
Carl

 

For reference I'm 27. I don't know if there is a "right answer" to the op's question. It's really a matter of both the times (cars have become much more common in today's society than 30 years ago), and also how well off ones family is and their beliefs.

I have driven about 5 cars since high school (if I was to include the Mini). With the exception of a Honda Civic which was essentially a gift from my folks back in high school after my first car (the 10 year old family station wagon) was totalled by someone running a red light in an intersection. All of the rest were hand me downs (on avg 5 years old) and #4 I bought from my dad after he decided he wanted to switch to something else.

The Mini was the first car I actually bought for myself new (I've had it for about 1 month now). I've been working full time for almost 3 years as a programmer and basically after car #4 was totalled (ironically by someone running a red, again, 11 years after the other accident). I decided to take the insurance settlement, throw a down pay on it and buy a Mini.

In general I would consider my parents on the generous side and my upbringing privileged when I look at what some of my friends in college had to go through. At the same time there were kids in high school and college driving brand new MB's, BMWs and Jag's so obviously there is a wide spectrum out there. From what I've seen so far in the "real world" there are people out there that will never drive anything less than a Porsche or equivalent their whole lives, and at the same time there are people out there who will go from driving one beat up econobox to the next for the next 40 years (and working multiple crappy jobs to make end meet). This is where life is simply not fair sometimes, where there can be in some cases absolutely no correlation between the effort one puts into life and their level of comfort and success throughout.

From what I've seen what one's parents contribute to someone's life financially throughout college has by far the biggest impact on what the rest of that person's 20's will be like. Basically about 15 - 25k (assuming a UC over the course of four years) can make the difference between having to tear one's own a-- for the next 5 - 6 years to make ends meet while having to pay back loans for the tuitions and text books you couldn't afford at the time or being able to get up to speed fairly quickly as you start out with the relatively small income that an entry level job will entail.

What's the "right" way? I have no idea really. I know great people who have come from both backgrounds and people in between as well. There is definitely a certain work ethic that one can learn from doing it the hard way and having to work for every penny they ever spend after they are 18, but at the same time I've seen people who've also had relatively priviledged lives and still have pretty good work ethics, and I've seen people who have really been financially crippled permanently by the excessive burden they had to endure throughout college (imagine having to support your parents as well as yourself).

I think it basically it comes down to a balance of giving your kids the tools to do well and handle life's problems, and then allow them to deal with the challenges that life throws at them (without shielding them from every little curve ball). Kid's can usually tell if parents are making their lives extremely difficult for the sake of making their lives difficult or for selfish reasons and I think that the only thing this acheives is usually to create a certain amount of bitterness and resentment later on.

 

I am pleased to say that so far in this thread no one has fallen into the trap of referencing the "younger crowd" as being "spoiled".(That I could find) I am NOT trying to mention this to make you feel like you misspoke as much as I am pleased at the tone and direction all of the posters have taken. It seems that too many times lately I have seen people get upset over perceived slights and it is nice to read peoples opinions without anyone getting upset or quickly slamming someone.

As a parent of two teenage girls, ages 16 and 14, who are about to enter into the beginning of car owning and driving stage of their lives it is nice to hear from the younger crowd that many of the same values I hold dear have been used to obviously good results. It is encouraging as a parent and when I joined NAM while I expected to receive quite a few positives and benefits, this wasn't one of them! My thanks to all who have shared their personal opinions and experiences.

 

Wow~ great thread!

Robin- wonderful pics. Thanks for sharing.

My first thoughts were that, yeah, I didn't get my first car until I was in college with the help of a loan from my dad that I paid back in 3 months. (It was a 71 Chevy Impala that was a whopping 2700 dollars. In 1985 it had 11K miles on it, and had been driven by a little grandma in Oklahoma. Opie served me well for about 8 years )

I'm in my 40's, and most of my friends and I relied on employers to hire us, so we were trapped in minimum wage land!

Where I live today, there is the entire range of economics among my students. One student's dad owns a private jet, and they have a phenomenal lifestyle. Other students are living with 2-3 families in a 2-bedroom apt, and struggle for everything they get. What they ALL seem to have is access to computers, either their own, or free internet at the public library.

I think lots of people in their teens and '20's have the ability to do lots of web based work, and get paid pretty nicely for it. One of my students hosts an eBay site, and brings in about 2K a month. Another designs websites for his parents' friends!

I don't recall those options when I was younger.

I think it's great that MINIs appeal to so many people across different generations!

(Boy, this is really rambling, but hey! I'm on Christmas break, and low on caffeine these days!)

 

Of course MINIS were not around then but at 14 my dad told me I would get a nice car when I turned 16 if I kept my grades up (which I always had). At 16 I got a Toyota Sunchaser which was pricey & quite groundbreaking for 1981. My dad also traded the Sunchaser in on a new 1985 Honda CRX si for me when I was in college. After that I was on my own for car purchases.

I was an only child, my parents spoiled me a bit but I always kept up my end of the bargain that got me the car. I don't think there is anything wrong with giving your children things. Making a child work hard from the age of 16 to buy everything for themselves isn't the only way to teach responsibility

just my

 

When I granulated high school I owned three cars (67 Mustang, 69 Road Runner, and a 68 Falcon Station wagon). I paid for them all from money I earned working. I hot rodded all of them. Transporation in college was a piece of cake for me. Gas money was the problem after I started college.

But I learned to hustle pool so that kept the tank full. I got zip from my parents. They gave it all to my sister who used it to buy drugs instead of going to school.

 

I'm 24 just got my MCS this past summer. I paid for it myself.....Before that I had a 2004 Saturn for 3 years, then 3 beaters since highschool all that didnt last very long.

I love the MINI and its an awesom car to drive.

 

Now parents are much more worried about their children's safety than in years past, which is part of a big motivation to get their kids into newer safer cars. I could have afforded something like the MINI by co-oping at engineering jobs but i saved most of my money till after I got out of college. I would surely think the MINI would get targeted by drunk vandalism in the inner city campus than most other cars. Another factor with the MINI could just be insurance, I think my rates went down about 300$ a year coming from a 5 year old civic to a brand new MCS.

 

When I was a young man in Dublin Ireland I was fascinated by the Classic Mini that was made by BMC Morris in England. i could not afford a new one as I was an apprentice electrician at the time and only made about 2 shillings/hour. However i saved up my coins and worked as much overtime as I could . I finally purchased a one year old 1964 Classic Mini for 300 pounds. What a great car it was for its day, Very basic indeed. just a speedo and some switches , but it had all the pep and stability that I needed and you couldnt roll it over if you tried, what a fun car to drive. Now that I an 65 and retired in florida I got me my second Mini R56. I still get the same feeling when I drive this car as I had in 1964, ---43 years later BDY I have a reproduction of my original licence plate numbers from 1964 on my front plate as seen in my sig.

 

I'm only 19 and studying mechanical engineering and driving a very nicely modded '07 MCS full of Alta engine upgrades and JCW suspension and carbon fiber pieces; how is this possible? I set goals that I want to accomplish in my life in general, and this car was one, so I saved $$ and currently have a good job, did everything right and have no problem affording my car.

 

There you have it. Can't make too many assumptions about young owners and parental contributions...

 

Somewhere along the line the concept of a "new car for graduation" shifted from the wealthy to the average income bracket, I think. And I do think kids are expecting more than in my generation (don't ask). If they work for it, fine, but it shouldn't be given freely.

Our local BMW salesperson says he gets a lot of "repeat" customers in the under 21 age bracket--repeat because they totalled their previous (new) cars, and daddy ran right out to buy them another. Madness!

Having said all that, I also think this kind of forum skews the statistics. Cars, especially new cars, are a bigger deal to its readers/writers than to the average person--at any age.

 

I'm 19 and I've got two cars. I have a 2006 Scion xB and a 1977 Leyland Mini. Although the xB was bought for me new by my dad I've had to get a job to pay for everything else. I make payments on my Mini and I pay insurance, gas, rent, and cell phone every month. I've been through school already (it was a tech school) and I have a pretty decent job and I'm hoping to get a new job. I also have school loans to pay off too with no help to do it so I don't think I'm spoiled. I love my xB alot and I also love my Mini too. I plan on keeping both of them for a very long time.

 

I started working full-time when I was 15 and paid Mom rent.
Left HS a year early for college; got a '71 Torino 500 in college so that I could get back and forth to work.

Good work ethic? Pish-tosh; I wish my parents were RICH. Dirty bastids. Buy me a frickin' BMW and spoil me already, will ya?
Dang.

 

Deleted my rant, I'm starting to realize there are things I can't change:
1. Bad dog owners who think they can control their dogs
2. Elimination of blow up lawn ornaments
3. Terrible drivers
4. Parenting that doesn't set up children to be a contributing member to society
5. People making poor decisions regarding the use of their money. Be it credit card debt or the current "bad" mortgages (which we clearly outlined in black and white on the contracts).

Peace out, time for me to focus my energy on things I can change. (today, it's cleaning the garage!)

 

+1
I live less than a mile from our local high school. The cars in that lot make what I spent for my MCSM seem cheap (corvettes, audi A4, etc). I parked in that same lot 27 years ago in a 4th owner 67 Mustang that I worked for and that was Cool then. Not today, my daughter knew very early on you work both at school and your job. My daughters biggest complaint is nobody her age wants to work at either(she's 19 and a chip off the old block).

 

This is a nice piece of data:


Shows that roughly 1/4 of mini owners are 16 to 35, assuming a normal distribution in that subsection gives a median age of 19. so roughly 8 to 10 % of owners are around 19 or so.

Just means this board is highly populated by that population.

So I am in the wrong forum. ( statistically speaking )

 

Unfortunately age isn't a variable you will be able to assume is a normal distribution as the purchase of a vehicle will be driven by non-normal factors:
1. Money
2. Marketing
3. Needs (i.e. pre-kids, kids or retirement)

I'm certain that the distribution from 16 to 35 will be biased toward the upper end of the age group.

Also, you typically can't take an overall population, section and then assume a normal distribution; you have to use the entire population.

 

Woha settle down, I didn't say my analysis was perfectly valid.

I said assumption, it also is very gross data to start with, it only shows age breakdown, which is what I looked for.

even sooo, roughly speaking the point is that there is an over representation of a statistically insignificant portion of the population in this forum. Period.

That being the point, I am in the wrong place.

 

Sorry, I've just seen the misquoting of statistics too many times (including during presidential elections!).

Your conclusion is correct, the overall population of Mini Cooper owners vs. NAM members appears to show that NAM hits primarily the younger portion of the population thus inflating the appearance of many many <20 year old owners.

 

I too am a college student (21 years old) with an R56 MCS. I'll summarize my story as quickly as possible. I worked thoughout middle school and high school. When I turned 16 I got my dad's 3 year old Toyota Camry with 114,000 miles on it. I was only allowed to get it when I got a 27 on the ACT. Later that year, my dad sold it because he was afraid of losing too much money on it later on because of the miles, so I got a Ford Focus ZX3. I was required to pay every-other six months insurance (I paid half year, Dad paid half year). I drove this until I graduated from high school.

I got accepted into a 6 year Medical School straight from High School. At the same time, my younger brother turned 16 and needed a new car. My dad drove a 2 year old Mercedes C240 at the time with 105,000 miles and was then given a company car (so now one extra car in the family, and a younger brother without one). He was obviously required to drive the company car, and he wasn't going to give the Mercedes to my 16yo brother, so I got it. I had to pay for all of the service on that car with my student loans (which was a lot of money on a Mercedes without warranty).

When I turned 21, my dad said I could get a new car that I could pick out for a few reasons:
1. I was/am top of my class in Medical School
2. The Mercedes was a money pit
3. (probably most important) My dad knows that I will take care of and not take for granted my possessions. (I grew up in a third world country and in the slums of Missouri living in houses with rats and cockroaches everywhere)

I was able to get the MCS because I got a scholarship and he said if I pitched in that money I could get this car. So I found the cheapest MINI I could with almost no options, pitched in my scholarship, and now love my MINI.

But to put in perspective how spoiled some of people my age are nowadays, I go to school with probably some of the richest kids in the nation (my school is $40k/year in state, $65k/year out of state). There are kids in my class that came to school at 18yo, had never had a job, got bad grades, and drove 1. BMW M3; 2. Mercedes ML; 3. Lexus IS300; 4. BMW X5; 5. Mercedes SLK350. And these were all new. You can't do anything about it, but just think how those people have nothing to look forward to and how irresponsible they will be with money with they actually have their own.