Perhaps you should wait to see if Fiat brings over the Alfa Romeo Mito when they start making use of all those Chrysler dealerships. According to the 5th Gear video, it is more fun to drive than the MINI.

http://www.motoringfile.com/

Downside, reliability has never been Alfa's strong point.

 

And is it just me, or did she say she used the turbo alfa and an older base Mini?

150 hp vs. 110 hp. doesn't seem fair to me!

 

I don't deploy with Navy I will end up deploying with Marines so this advanced pay you speak of does not exist. And the money I have saved up is deployment money.

 

The sad part is the MINI still did better

 

The sad part is, the Alfa is BUTT TUGLY......I hate that small grill in the front, BLAHHHHHHH

 

I'll add my voice to those saying "pay off the car and keep it for a while". When you're no longer making payments, that's usually several hundred bucks a month "added" to your income. you can save it, play with it, whatever. (I suggest half and half

I've usually gone and done something silly shortly after paying off a car. When I finished paying off my Saturn years ago, I went and bought a motorcycle (and helmet, armored jacket, gloves...) and learned to ride. The money I'd freed up in my monthly budget let me rapidly save up and buy a nice used bike in cash.

So, with a "refreshed" Mini coming down the lines, I would hold out, enjoy your 07, save some pennies and play with some of the money you aren't spending each month, and revisit the idea next year. You'll have saved a lot of money, and since you got a great deal on your current Mini, you won't get hit too hard by depreciation. :-)

Okay, those are my thoughts -- FREE and probably worth what you paid for them. Nothing.

 

No car payments = Better BAH to save up, live outside the base that is nice, and have two cars (MINI and a Fiat 500 Abarth SS or JCW)

Advance Pay is an option that you can take on PCS Travel...used for security deposits on places to live at your next duty station...etc

Lot of people used to take it to pay off credit cards, car loans, and the pay is taken out of your pay...in monthly increments...Rules have probably have changed over the years.

 

They picked those two because they're comparable in sticker price. The Cooper costs as much as the MiTo with a turbo... Probably because a.) it's Fiat product, and b.) it's built on an existing platform (Grande Punto). The Cooper S is more expensive than the MiTo 1.4TB by £2,500 ( that's a pretty hefty sum!). The Cooper is more comparable to the MiTo 1.4TB, as they both sticker around £14,000.

Probably, when 5th Gear requested a non-S Cooper from MINI, MINI sent them a fairly gussied-up (read: more expensively spec'd) Cooper--which would be a Cabrio. Likewise, Alfa seems to have sent them a well-spec'd 1.4TB Veloce. Both are well-spec'd for their trim level. The R56 Cabrio probably wasn't out at the time of filming. Really, the MiTo 1.4TB is a competitor to the MINI Cooper, not the MINI Cooper S. The (240 bhp!!!) MiTo GTA will be more of a competitor to the Cooper S JCW.

But yes, the MINI did very well. Flat out power didn't matter much on that course, and the MINI's chassis really shone. I think the only reason she says the Alfa is more fun is because she's driving closer to the limit, which is more thrilling--whereas you feel "safer" in the MINI because it's more capable. I don't give much credence to TV reviews anymore--websites and blogs are much more objective and thorough. TV car shows are purely entertainment these days. I hope the emergence of more competitors (500, MiTo, DS3) will keep MINI on their toes--I want to see a more refined interior, and the price point is getting a little high.

 

Yup, 1.4 liter turbo vs. the MINI's 1.6 liter non-turbo. However, she claims the Mito is less expensive and faster in a straight line. The MINI is faster on a go-cart track, but the Mito is supposedly more fun. Perhaps a stiffer rear sway bar on the Alfa would fix the oversteer.

 

Didn't take advanced pay. I don't need it cause I would end up paying it back. They didn't give me DLA cause the command I am going to is making me check in the barracks first then move out which is retarded. And trading the MINI in on a new one is an idea not a commitment. Also I won't take a hit on my mods cause I kept the stock parts and will go back to stock before I get rid of the car if I ever get rid of it.

 

You'll probably be one of the few sailors with a Bad A** MINI in JAX.

 

Porthos, are you a Field Corpsman? I was a TAR AG and a YN.

 

Yes I am. Its kinda going to be lame when I got to the hospital with all the political nonsense. I would say it another way but I offend people.

 

Porthos...My Bad...

You can get anything you want! You only live once! Some people just don't understand your job is one of the most hazardous duty for anybody.

Some of my friends were Field HMs...they got out because of IRAQ...they came back to their duty station and got discharged...within 30 days as a reservist they got sent back over...now that's harsh...