I hope to. This will become my autox/weekend car when my wife gets sick of it. If it ever goes, I'll try a supercharged R53.

 

I have a 2011 R57 cabrio and only drive it on days that warrant a top down drive. I car has been flawless since new except for the rear view mirror **** failed. Replaced. I have done many mods and it only just turned 9k miles and half of that is going to the dragon twice. Love the car and its our Schnauzer puppys favorite.
I am going to order an R55 before its to late. I just got the 2014 Stingray but the Mini is still more fun to drive (under a 150 mph ).

 

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My last MINI. I'll be 75 years young in August of this year. I went from a Mercedes ML 500, to a 2012 Clubman S, to this 2013 JCW Hardtop, new from Oxford last year 8th of this month. Only 6,200 miles on it now. 2,000 miles came from a trip from Cali to Colorado and back. Other than the GP2 it is the only JCW Hardtop with the N-18 engine.

My wife has a 2011 Clubman S. She wants a 2015 F54 Clubman S next year. Says it will be her last car too.

The JCW is just too much fun. Hadn't driven my GMC pickup for a while til yesterday. Now I know how Indy car race car drivers feel when they go to NASCAR. What a whale it is after driving the JCW.

 

Keeping both of mine. I thought about getting a classic BMW or Porsche but then thought it would be better keeping what I have and modifying /maintaining it over time. A long time........

 

I've only had my 2010 Justa for under a month, but I'm in love with it and it's not going anywhere.

 

We bought a new R56 before they went away last year, so we could keep him longer. I don't know if it'll be forever.

Apart from a few small problems with our 07, the R56 has been very reliable for us. The 07 was perfectly reliable after I bought the extended warranty as well. Maybe 50,000 miles of trouble free motoring.

 

My wife and I just picked up our 2013 Cooper S Hardtop last week and I think we're planning on keeping it a long while. it's not a daily driver...it's our "fun" car that sits in the garage during the week and when there's bad weather, so it'll be a low mileage car that's always detailed. My wife would really like to keep it for our daughter (who's only 5 months old) so she can have it when she starts driving.

 

I tend to keep cars for a long time. We had my wifes last 3 series for 15 years before it started killing us with repairs. I love my MINI and plan to keep it as long as it stays reliable. I've put a few thousand into upgrades.
LED daytime running lights, Integral Audio soundstage, and more leather in the interior. It feels more like a luxury car now- one that handles really well! So I plan to hang on to it. The only thing that might sway me into a new car is a mid cycle refresh on the F56, with a fix for the front end of the S, or the new BMW 1 series (if they bring one back to the states) and if it turns out to be basically a better looking BMW version of the MINI. But for the time being, I have no plans on getting rid of one of the best cars I have ever owned.

 

again for me, it does literally everything i want it to. no reason not to keep it forever.

 

I don't plan on getting rid of Fenimore any time soon... He's been good to me so far, with good economy and good performance and lots of fun going around corners. The only problems at this point have been the oil solenoid leak (warranty) and the jack failing to lift the car and damaging the rocker panel (covered under goodwill).

It's possible that, a few more years down the road, I will see some other car that I want even more. But considering that I tend to keep most of my cars until they start falling apart (8 years for my last CRX, 10 for the one before that) I don't see myself replacing my MINI very soon.

Come to think of it, this is the only new car I've ever bought. So it might last me even longer!

 

Trading my 09 justa hatchback for 14 clubman.

 

Forever is a long time. I tend to keep cars about 8 years and I always think that "this is the one" that I'll keep longer...The two things that will keep me going longer with my mini is the frustrating trend of everything always getting bigger, and the decreasing number of vehicles available with a manual transmission.

 

may wait for 2015 Clubman S all-wheel drive...
or the 2015 M2, 360hp turbo straight 6 (wish they made a 2 class wagon/hatch)

 

well if the new clubman looks like the photos I'll not be getting a new one. So depending on how it maintains I'll keep it or go elsewhere for a replacement.

 

I agree gr8ful. I purchased a ZR1 last year, and while it's a fantastic track car, my R56 JCW is just as fun, if not more, on the street. With the couple of minor suspension upgrades I have done, the car handles the twisties remarkably well.

I plan on keeping it forever for sure. With the introduction of the F56, the BMW-izing of the Mini brand is in full swing. I just can't stand to see some of the wonderful items that make a Mini a Mini becoming homogenized to the point that a Mini interior will soon look exactly like a 1 or a 2 series BMW....

Glad I got that dinner plate speedo while I still could

 

Ha Ha I love that large dinner plate speedo.. idk how many times people would say. "omg is that the speedo!! That's cool" So what happens.. BMW gets rid of it.. All the corky things that made a MINI a MINI are just about all gone!

 

I get they are following JD Power surveys where John Q. Public has said that having the speedo in the center of the dash is not ergonomic and should be directly in front of the driver, blah, blah.

What's unfortunate, is that like you say, people will comment "cool" regarding the big speedo, and have no clue why it's there. Heck some of those 20-something interior design engineers that moved it in the F56 probably don't know the significance of it being huge and dead center of the dash either.

sad....very sad....

 

Its is very sad really.. And those surveys should be used for toilet paper ha ha. But if you look at where we started with the R53 to where we are at with the F56. Most of all those corky things are gone. And the term MINI uses as a selling point of not being "NORMAL" is nothing more then a word now.

 

Truth. While the F56 has some nice build quality, along with features.. I really enjoy the "quirks" of my R55.

Planning to keep it for 10 years.. Then hand it off to my kid as his 1st car.

I hope the quality issues don't bite me in the ***.. I mean the real issues.. HPFP, oil leaks, chains, clutch, etc..

 

danjreed.I have the same concerns as you do.. Its something we will have to keep a close eye on. I would think the 2013 would be the more reliable out of the whole run of the R56. But again only time will tell. Nice R55 btw I love quirks! and not the norm..lol.. I don't want to come off harsh at all against the F56 because I do think they have tightened up the quality of things. I do like the options one can get in the interior. electronic gadgits. and maybe the power plant they have will be a bit more bullet proof!

 

I FOUND IT!!!!!! It was my trunk!!!! My driver side rear, it's connected to the hinge(metal) and it's loose compared to the passenger side rear. I just drove the car while I was in the back seat and left the trunk open and it was it! Glad I found it. I'm guessing these bastard potholes loosened it up.

 

Plan to keep all my MINIs forever unless they each start becoming a money pit !

 

I'm envious of you folks who have a beater for the bad days... I wish I could have kept mine off the road this winter. I washed it today (hand) for the fist time... in months.. its been brutal.. but it held up ok given how nasty this past winter was.

 

I hope you can keep the rust at bay if you want to hand it down to your kid. No doubt the Mini can handle the snow, but I'd look for an old honda or something as a winter beater.

 

rust treatment ftw: http://r56hs.com/2013/11/23/coating-the-undercarriage/

i coated my entire undercarriage with rust protectant - suggest anyone who's ever gonna drive in the winter to do the same, if u are planning to keep the car a long time.