I can and I did! I traded in my '05 MINI on a Juke SL.

I did it for the following reasons:
1) "My Countryman" would be $30,000, as I could not live without certain specs that I've gotten accustomed to on my MC, no matter how I sliced it, and tried to restrain myself.
2) My Juke was $23,000 total. About $8000 less than the Countryman in the end. The base Countryman cannot compare to the Juke's DiG-T engine, so only a Countryman S would be a fair comparison, so add $3000 more and we're now talking an over $10,000 difference in price.
3) Naysayers on the Juke are generally those who have never seen one except in pictures. In real life, it's been universally praised for its looks (not kidding!)
4) Every review I've read about the Juke has been glowing by and large, and in particular, in the head-to-head, the Juke bested the Countryman.
5) I only wanted FWD and manual transmission, so All4 and/or AWD on the Juke were of no interest to me.
6) The Juke and the Countryman are of the exact same exterior dimension, but I believe the ground clearance on the Juke is significantly more (7.5").
7) The cargo area on the Juke is a true fold-flat solid surface; whereas, on the Countryman, you need that board to fill in the gaps of the contoured seats.

Having said all this, I still wonder if I did the right thing. I think there are some cheap aspects of the Juke, and I still am getting used to the exterior dimensions which make it more challenging to parallel park than my MC which I knew like the back of my hand (time will heal that, I imagine).

I am liking the Juke more and more as time goes by, but it was not love at first drive, like the MINI was. However, I can categorically say that the Juke is a lot of fun to drive in Sport mode, and feels very refined.

I will always love MINI but I chose the Juke with my mind, not with my heart, and I defend my choice even still.

The Juke is no more or less ugly than the Infiniti EX/FX or Murano. They all look very much like siblings. The Countryman looks okay to me, but many consider it to be rather "ugly" too, don't forget. I'm much more concerned with how my cars drive and how comfortable they are inside than how they look on the outside. I'm only out to impress myself, not other people.

As for the second row of seats, it's all better than in my MC, so limited legroom and headroom in the back is of minor consequence. I'd say everything is double what I had in the MC and that was fine by me. My cargo room with the second row down is vast compared with the MC; with the seats up, it's also double what I had in the MC. I had rear seat passengers in my MC maybe 6 times in 6 years. I could care less about the headroom/legroom back there. Having said that, and sat back there, it's not so bad, unless you're over 6', which I am, but I'm the driver so ... who cares

 

We currently have an '05 Nissan Titan Crew Cab. The CM that we just ordered will be the replacement everyday driver for the Titan. My husband and I have both been long time fans of Nissan. We have had a few over the years (me starting with Datsun, then Nissan, then Infiniti) so we bought the Nissan as loyal Nissan drivers. The Titan has been a huge disappointment and we are both pretty bummed with the truck overall. The issues are way too many to list here, but suffice it to say we won't be back with Nissan anytime soon . We may keep it as a hauling vehicle, but at this point it is up in the air. Of course, this experience kept us from even looking at the Juke. While it would fit the basic requirements we were trying to meet, getting another Nissan product (and dealing with their service) stopped us from even putting it on the long list, much less actually going to a dealership and test driving one. I hope you have better luck with your Juke, because I really do want the Nissan name to mean quality, like I said it was always one of my favorites and I have a soft spot for them.
Annette

 

I guess I am in the minority as I went and test drove a Juke because I actually really liked the way it looked. I actually really liked the way it drove too, and I really like the price.

Now, I expect to place an order soon for a CM because overall I think it's better for me. The Juke is really tight on headroom and rear seat room... If you can fit, more power to you but I can't (and I am not that tall at 5'11"). I really like the CM, but you shouldn't sleep on the Juke if you can fit in it and if you are getting the stick or tolerate the CVT, as its pretty nice, especially for the money. It's a surprisingly worthy competitor. They both handle really well. Good luck with your new ride.

 

I test drove both the Countryman (All4) and Juke... to me, the Juke steering felt kind of mushy, and I didn't care for the CVT transmission much at all as it was too laggy (I thought the same of the MINI CVT when I tried that a few years ago). The Countryman automatic was much more direct, even when not in sport mode...

I also thought the Countryman cornered better, but since you have to test drive the Juke with a salesperson in the car I wasn't able to really get a great feel for that.

As noted, the Juke is also smaller in back (somewhat less storage and my head brushes the roof in the rear), the main thing I don't like about those super curvy top designs and why I have liked the MINI since it came out.

I like how the Juke looks in person and the concept of the split AWD, but the other aspects of it kill a possible purchase for me (not that it's easy to move away from a MINI anyway).

For what it's worth I also went to test drive a Kia Soul, but then found out it didn't have AWD, just FWD so I didn't try it out. The space inside was good though.

 

Not to dismiss your experience, but the Titan is the worst Nissan. It's the big exception to otherwise reliable cars that they make. I believe CR and others said this.

 

I hope the dealer told you about the seat height adjustment. I'm 6'1" and I still have a couple of inches above my head, AND I have the sunroof, which robs at least 2".

 

The truck itself wasn't as bad as the service experience. Kind of killed the whole line for us. :(

 

I read the motor trend article that featured the juke against the countryman, and to my shock, the juke won. Now that I own a MINI, i'm a MINI fan for life. But, with that said, many in my family have owned nissans and I can't say that I absolutely hate them. The price is right for the Juke, but as many others are saying, I agree that the styling is a little off. When I first saw it from a side view, I thought it was pretty decent looking. IMHO, it's not terrible, but they really messed up with the exterior lights. Those lights in the front throw off the whole design flow of the car. Those combined with the side-to-side grille makes the front look like a smiling mosquito. The tail lights aren't much of an improvement either. Just a thought

 

I've seen about half dozen very well equipped A4's and none were over 37K ? What options did you put in there ?

 

I think this is more appropriate on a Nissan forum as opposed to a CM forum.

 

People will remember the following:

1. That is one "UGLY" Nissan!

2. That MINI looks "GOOD"!

 

Yeah he did... What can I say, I have a long torso. With the sunroof, I had about 1" or so of clearance. It was tight. By comparison, I have a few inches in the Mini.