I took the trek down to the dealer (~60min ride at rush hour) tonight with my dad. In talking to them, if I want anything new it's got to be custom ordered. The Cooper S has an estimated arrival date of December-January. He said he may be able to get me a JCW ordered in September or so, but he wasn't sure. Ugh.

They didn't have any 08 Cooper S's for me to test drive, but they had a used 07, so we decided with that. We took a 15-20 minute drive on varied roads. It was, of course, lots of fun and pretty much what I expected.

We came back and I played around with the options and stuff. My dad sat in the back the whole ride and he was very impressed with how much room he had.

Anyways, I'm really happy with what I saw and have no doubts about getting a MINI Cooper anymore. After I looked at some of the options on the MCS I drove, I'm actually considering going with that one. Some specs:

07 MCS
Laser blue, black roof, black bonnet stripes
Front and rear fogs
White turn signals
Cold Weather package
Sport package, maybe? It had sport mode, 17" crown spokes w/runflats..
Multifunction steering wheel (I think weather)
DSC
Auto AC
Sunroof
Armrest
PB Color Line
English Oak trim (meh)
Comfort access
Punch Carbon leather

Hmm...I think that was it. If it had a LSD and different dash color it'd be nearly perfect. I'm going to talk to my credit union and see what they can do for me for financing, and if things work out I may end up going with it. If not, I'll have some more time to order.



EDIT: I forgot to mention that it comes with a 6 year, 100k mile MINI Next warranty.

 

i just got mine and am loving it. Great to drive, props from all my friends. Great on gas... get it

 

great

just add this option... anthracite headliner.. which makes the roof all black instead of the grey color..

 

Yeah, if I was ordering new I'd get it. Can I order it and have it installed on a MINI that's already built?

 

Does anyone know if the headlights here are Xenon? The dealer said yes, but the website says no.

 

yes they are xenon

here is the difference
1st pic - Xenon the 2nd is not

 

Those are the xenon.

 

you can but i dont think its worth it if the car is already built

 

6year warranty???? i'm liking that, especially with the amount of stuff i'm claiming under warranty!

 

You can always tell the xenons because of the washer unit that sprays water on the headlights.

In the comparison photos provided by Dubian, the washer housing is the silver half-moon-shaped unit at the right of the assembly on the blue car. You can see the same assembly at the left of your photo.

 

Thanks for the clarification. The dealer mentioned the chrome power washer thing, but I figured if there's any place that can reassure me, it's here. :P

And yeah, the only thing that has me considering this used one is the crazy warranty.

 

i owuld get it... warranty sounds great too

 

The only downside to getting the 07 is that they're in such demand right now, you might not find that much of a discount from a new 08 configured the same way. And if you order now, you'd end up getting an 09, not an 08, from what people are saying. The 09 will be two years "newer" when it comes time to resell it yourself, and you'll be the first owner, both of which will probably contribute to a higher resale value.

Then again, if you order you have to wait. There's a lot to be said for not waiting.

 

It's only 6 weeks though, don't let impatience get in the way of a smart decision. If it wasn't for the super hero warranty I'd tell you to go new in a second as the difference between getting a brand new car and getting a 2 year old car is definitely worth the 6 week wait but that is a very nice warranty. Nah, screw it, go new.

 

+1

 

it's 4 years of the remaining new car warranty plus the 2 years of CPO warranty. so it's not really 6years from date of purchase. technically it should have 3 or 2.5years of new car warranty and 2 years of cpo warranty that kicks in after the new car warranty

 

Get the price down as low as possible. It is a used car.

 

I *might* be able to order a JCW and get it in August/September, but if I go with a Cooper S I'm looking at a December delivery date, according to the dealer. If that was the case I'd wait so that I'd get it in April or so. I certainly don't want to be buying a new car in the middle of winter.

As for the buying new vs used - Yes, buying new will hold its resale value a bit longer, but it looks like I might be waiting ~9 months to get it. For me that might feel like an eternity.

As for the price, there's no way I'll be able to knock it down. It's in perfect condition, is loaded with options, has the great warranty, and demand is so high that they won't budge. I'm a little worried someone else might ****** it up before I do, in fact.

The warranty ends sometime in 2013, I saw on the car.

Does the normal/CPO warranty cover the clutch? My current car's clutch died about a week after I bought it (dealer did replace it), so I'm a bit leery.

Thanks, all! Keep em coming!

 

RE: Clutch being warrantied - the answer is depends. The dealer will inspect it and deny warranty service if they see what they think is "abuse". Just check the several threads on clutch issues in the Stock Problems/Issues Forum for some real life experiences .

 

I found that the MINI NEXT warranty does NOT cover the clutch.

If the previous owner didn't beat on it then I should be okay. I consider myself a great stick driver and I know how to drive without wearing the clutch down considerably.

Anyway, something to consider.

 

What are peoples' thoughts on the LSD and snow? I won't be tracking the car and I can deal without having the LSD for normal driving, however I'm somewhat concerned about driving in slippery conditions with no LSD. The car DOES have DSC, however.

I plan to get a nice set of snow tires for the winter. Will I be okay without a LSD?

 

Check with another dealer. Maybe the one you are dealing with doesn't have any allotment and that is why they give you a december date to custom order one. A different dealer may be able to custom order something with a 2 month wait...

 

I've heard very little in good things from the only other dealer within driving distance.

As a little update, the dealer said they have one more JCW that they should be able to customize with a delivery date estimated at the end of September. Tempting. But is it worth the extra money? Tough call.

Anyone know insurance differences between an 09 JCW and 07 MCS?

Also, anyone have any thoughts of the LSD as I posted above?

 

I"d go new. I'd also prefer an almost no options JCW over a heavily optioned MCS. If this is car you plan to have a while go new, get what you want, damn the wait. You'll never have the coulda, shoulda, woulda, in the back of your mind...

 

Understandable. Will a JCW be faster than I need, though? Will I end up wishing I had gotten something with more options? Will I wish I'd saved ~$5k in the end? Tough questions, for sure.

It doesn't help that someone could take the last JCW spot or buy the 07 from under my nose. Puts a little more pressure on me for sure.