http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...take_road_test

I haven't driven a countryman, so can't add my personal impressions. Actually, I haven't even seen a countryman yet. They look cool in the magazines. People here seem to love them, but so far the journalists haven't been huge fans. The countryman lost the comparo to the Nissan Juke and received a collective yawn from Car and Driver as well. Is it that they just don't get it, or is this group high on the mini kool-aid?

I love my cooper S, though I would be the first to admit it is over priced. I think the countryman takes that to a whole new level. 39K as tested. Wow.

 

I think the Countryman is great.....however......price-wise, the Juke is a bargain. Up here in Canada, you can get a fully loaded Juke with AWD/Nav/leather/sunroof/Bluetooth for $30,000. The camparable Countryman will be about $10,000 more.

The disparity between US and CDN pricing is a joke.

 

Agreed. My wife and I were in Toronto for a weekend getaway (great city by the way) and we dropped in a dealership to register for the MINI Invasion event which happened to be taking place that very weekend. We were shocked by how much higher the sticker prices were on the showroom cars than they are in the US. Sorry about that

Funny thing about Countryman pricing... I think for those folks already in the MINI brand, the Countryman seems overpriced. I'm coming from other brands (Audi, BMW, etc.) and the Countryman at $38K seems like a good value. Yes it is smaller than other vehicles at similar price points but rightly or wrongly I do not correlate size to price.

 

Is countryman expensive? , to me it's a value statement

I have driven a wide gamut of cars from the exotic to craptastic rental cars and owned mostly German cars for a reason. They may not be the cheapest car but if you live with one day to day you will appreciate the underlying quality. Yes mainstream non german makes can make a nice looking car and when brand spanking new it might be ok , go drive one after 20,000 miles. Or better yet throw one into a bend

I used to work for an interior trim supplier and worked in NVH/Vehicle dynamics and trust me there is a vast difference in what goes into a Nissan vs MINI.

My last car was an audi a3 and the countryman I just picked up is I believe better built and a ton
more fun to drive. Could it be improved? absolutely and that's also a small part of why I came back
to MINI as they have a great tuning community

Now I never really dug the current MCS as I think it did go backwards from the 03 MCS. Now the countryman is more versatile car and for me it works as a single car.

 

Well, historically, Car and Driver was not exactly falling head over heals about the 2005 release of Porsche's Cayenne

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...term_road_test

 

Does anyone remember some of the "Car of The Year crap" they all thought was so great?

I think the Countryman will be a """HUGE""" success with the people that buy one. It is just a Mini with more room for a family of four or five.

The Magazine people are all raving over the stupid electric cars like the Chevy Volt. What good is a car you can't drive from Florida to Seattle Washington? After 40 miles you run on gas anyway up to 300 or so miles then you have to plug it in to an outlet. Anybody out there ever got a cheap electric bill from just regular living expenses? Imagine after you start plugging in your electric car.

If anything they need Hydrogen powered cars but of course the gas/coal company's would not go for that at all.

There ain't a single thing wrong with the new Countryman. It is really in a class by itself. The Juke is good but does not have the room a Countryman provides. The Juke is just plain """UGLY""". Compare a Juke with a Clubman and I'll take a Clubman any day over that Ugly thing.

My opinion is the Electric to run your car is just as stupid and foolish as using your food supply to run your car.

For right now: HYDROGEN is the way to go.

 

I told my wife some folks were comparing the Juke to a Countryman. I showed her a pictures of the Juke and she was shocked at how ugly it was. To each his own but if I'm working my butt off at my job every day I want a car I can get into when I leave that puts a smile on my face...and for us that's the Countryman.

 

That is the way it is up here - stuff is just more expensive, even with our dollar floating around parity.

 

Do you have VAT up there in the Great White North, like they do in Yur-up?

That could account for some of it, otherwise I'm at a loss for the huge disparity in sticker price, other than the old German standby - "because they can"

I've looked at the Juke, and while I'm not head over heels for the Countryman's looks, the Juke is just too weird and ugly - I would never even consider one, and I like French cars!

 

Agreed!!! I want something thoughtful and different in a good way. solid, and a beefcake of a car. not just some tin and plastic nissan. They truly are UGLY! My 15 year old vert was parked next to one the other day, I actually gasped... ewww.. (I really don't understand the comparison, maybe the 4 banger utility car thing... I dunno...) My well designed car looked more modern and classy than the new, overdesigned juke.. well, duh, it's nissan vs bmw.. The only think the nissan has that I have my eye sort of on is the GT-R.. one fast bugger.

 

Well......it doesn't have to be. Here is the news from Porsche today _

The strength of the loony will finally allow Canadians to pay a little less for their cars! Though it won’t necessarily be the case with every manufacturer, Porsche has paved the way by announcing the price of its models will drop by an average of $5,200. The German automaker will also be reducing the price of optional equipment.

“Porsche Canada has historically been the first to act decisively and responsively to currency fluctuations in the North American market,” said Joe Lawrence, Porsche Canada’s CEO. “Our status as an independent subsidiary since 2008 has greatly strengthened our voice in Stuttgart, allowing us to deliver unprecedented levels of value to Canadian Porsche buyers.”

 

"I told my wife some folks were comparing the Juke to a Countryman. I showed her a pictures of the Juke and she was shocked at how ugly it was. To each his own but if I'm working my butt off at my job every day I want a car I can get into when I leave that puts a smile on my face...and for us that's the Countryman,"

Very well said.

 

I think the Juke is kind of cool, but my wife is with the majority here and thinks it is just plain goofy. The Countryman and Juke do have a lot of similiarites, direct injected small turbo fours, all will drive, diminutive size, both considered cross overs. You certainly have to give the style and utility to the mini, you can't fit much in the juke.

I didn't really start the thread as a comparison for the two, just commenting on how the journalists don't seem to be as in love with the mini as the mini owner.
I guess I am also commenting on how rediculous the price of Mini love is. I love my MCS, but not sure build quality ranks as one of its top attributes. Handling A+, Style A+, Performance B+,Ride C-, Build Quality B-.

That is my report card anyway.
TREX