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Go for the mini, the only thing i would do though is maybe price a good used one then use the extra money saved to do some customizing to it, another drawback would be check a few mechanics to see how many will work on them, the older minis everything was packed in there real tight and some mechanics might flat out refuse to work on them.
I agree. I'm not big on little cars myself...in fact I don't like cars altogether (for me to drive that is), which is probably the reason I drive a big-a$$ truck....I cringe everytime I pass a tiny car like that on the highways! Especially the very tiny ones, like the min-cooper that come up to about the top of my wheel...ARG!! I'm cringing now!!! They make me nervous! I will admit they are VERY cute looking, but I'm sorry...I'd rather pay the $70 for a tank of gas.... Not to say I've never owned a car...have owned lots...especially loved the little 5 speeds...but after moving to the country...everything changed, not to mention all the MVA's I've seen and attended to involving car vs truck/semi. ARG!! Cringing again!!
That's pretty much how I feel. My husband and I have a full-size Dodge truck, and a Dodge Durango. I prefer trucks and SUV's, and I don't really like cars at all, particularly little ones! Well, unless it was a muscle car; that's in a totally different catagory. A couple of weeks ago, as we were helping our son buy his car, (he finally bought a Pontiac G6, 4-door sedan. Actually pretty sharp for a car), and we were wandering the lot, I spotted one of those Mini Coopers, and slid into it, just out of curiosity. It was like sitting in a very small tin can! As far as "cute" goes, yes, they are that, but good heavens, what a way to have to get around! Of course, I'm used to our vehicles, so it made it that much worse, but they wouldn't be practical for any of my crew, anyway. I'm the shortest adult in the group, at 5'8"! The tallest adult is 6'10", and there are a bunch of growing young'uns. So, a Cooper would be a little goofy for any of us. I could just see us driving one of those!
I also feel a tad safer in a larger vehicle. No guarantee, obviously, but I prefer them, anyway. Besides, I like my V-8, 360 under the hood, (both vehicles)! Yes, it eats the gas, but as you said, I'd rather pay the extra money.
It's always at trade-off, no matter what a person drives. If ScrantonWilkes wants to own a Cooper, I'd say go for it! Sounds like he already really likes them. That's why there are different type vehicles, so everyone has a choice.
As an owner of a Mini (my wife lets me drive hers ) probably the biggest drawback is the dealer network. Minis are a product of BMW, however, to get your "free" standard maintenance and not void your warranty, the work needs to be done at a Mini dealership by a Mini service person. THe same goes for any repairs while the car is under warranty. So if there's no dealership in town, you can end up driving/towing your car a couple of hours to the nearest dealership. If you get one that is past the 4year/50k warranty a BMW mechanic should be able to work on it, but as noted by joee it is small so stuff is crammed in pretty tight under the bonnet.
As for snow - it hasn't failed us, but we live in Omaha, so we aren't getting quite as much snow as you are ScrantonWilkes.
Location: Finally made it to Florida and lovin' every minute!
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My boss has one, it's standard, and she had no problem with the snow this past year, she just adjusted her driving accordingly. She likes it, but she's only 5'1" tall. I don't know how tall you are, but you may want to reconsider. The other thing, too, is tires. The tires are specialized and you can't just drive into Sears for one.
But I agree, you'd look pretty cool behind the wheel.
The "Minis" are awesome!! I have a Focus ZX-3 SVT, which is a little bigger than the Mini. I drove a Mini for a day but ended up buying the Focus because of pricing issues. (Talking New here). The Mini has amazing agility. I believe that it has great crash test scores as well. I have heard about some 'reliability' issues w/ the Mini-something you might want to look into further. For overall "Fun Factor"---it would be hard to beat a Mini!!!
As an owner of a Mini (my wife lets me drive hers ) probably the biggest drawback is the dealer network. Minis are a product of BMW, however, to get your "free" standard maintenance and not void your warranty, the work needs to be done at a Mini dealership by a Mini service person. THe same goes for any repairs while the car is under warranty. So if there's no dealership in town, you can end up driving/towing your car a couple of hours to the nearest dealership. If you get one that is past the 4year/50k warranty a BMW mechanic should be able to work on it, but as noted by joee it is small so stuff is crammed in pretty tight under the bonnet.
As for snow - it hasn't failed us, but we live in Omaha, so we aren't getting quite as much snow as you are ScrantonWilkes.
Thanks for the mentioning of the dealer issue. We have several BMW dealers in and around the city, but we don't have a Mini dealer. The nearest dealers to our home are in Northern and Central New Jersey, about 90 minutes away. I suppose this pretty much rules out the purchase of a Mini for myself.
Thanks for the mentioning of the dealer issue. We have several BMW dealers in and around the city, but we don't have a Mini dealer. The nearest dealers to our home are in Northern and Central New Jersey, about 90 minutes away. I suppose this pretty much rules out the purchase of a Mini for myself.
SWB~
There isn't one in Binghamton? I thought there was. I could have sworn it was part of the Mathews auto group.
Nevermind, I just checked the Mathews website. Sorry!
Last edited by Lauri_25ny; 04-26-2007 at 02:04 PM..
Reason: Checked something
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A couple of weeks ago, as we were helping our son buy his car, (he finally bought a Pontiac G6, 4-door sedan. Actually pretty sharp for a car), and we were wandering the lot, I spotted one of those Mini Coopers, and slid into it, just out of curiosity. It was like sitting in a very small tin can! As far as "cute" goes, yes, they are that, but good heavens, what a way to have to get around! Of course, I'm used to our vehicles, so it made it that much worse, but they wouldn't be practical for any of my crew, anyway. I'm the shortest adult in the group, at 5'8"! The tallest adult is 6'10", and there are a bunch of growing young'uns. So, a Cooper would be a little goofy for any of us. I could just see us driving one of those!
) probably the biggest drawback is the dealer network. Minis are a product of BMW, however, to get your "free" standard maintenance and not void your warranty, the work needs to be done at a Mini dealership by a Mini service person. THe same goes for any repairs while the car is under warranty. So if there's no dealership in town, you can end up driving/towing your car a couple of hours to the nearest dealership. If you get one that is past the 4year/50k warranty a BMW mechanic should be able to work on it, but as noted by joee it is small so stuff is crammed in pretty tight under the bonnet.
