[BRG/Blk Cooper S]

Quote: Originally Posted by Tigger, Eeyore & Roo (original)

I take your point there.

It really hurt when I traded a perfectly good 2 1/2 year old Cooper for a new Cooper S in Feb last year; the car was properly serviced and I'd got the spec just as I wanted it. It was just the last chance I'd ever get to get a new supercharged S, so I went for it.

I'll be making up for it this time around though It's staying for as long as I can afford to run it, or it goes to the scrap yard, whichever comes first!

So I'd agree, get the purchase right in the first place and hang on to it for as long as possible. Don't trade just because you feel you have to.

ok, you are forgiven..
I know what you mean though as I did a similar thing, purchased a Cooper at 10 months old/4 k from the dealership (showroom then directors car) fell for the "Mini" drive and then desperately wanted to get an S I could hold onto for a long time - told myself I had to get a used one though so bought privately at 2 years/12k and boy did the original owner get hit with some depreciation - I paid aprox 60% of the new price.

This thread reminds me of my first car which I purchased when I was 17 and living in good old Australia - it was a 7 year old 1.6ltr Holden (Isuzu) "Gemini" panel van, red and black with roof racks, tinted windows, big "mag" wheels with BF Goodrich Radial TA tires (with the chunky white lettering) and I pimped out the back with padded crushed red velvet - I thought it was pretty slick, well.......it was actually, much fun was had.......
Cost me $4k Aussie dollars and had 160k kilometers on the clock.

It was economical, cheap to tax, cheap to insure, I could cart all my (musical) gear around in it, surfboards on the roof etc and with a Haynes manual I could do all the basic servicing myself.
I certainly learnt a lot with the forgivingly simple mechanicals of that car and polished it to within an inch of it's life.
No air-con though, it was an absolute oven in summer, did have an aftermarket removable glass sunroof (thank goodness).

I owned it for nearly 8 years (just didn't see the point of changing it) and during that time it had a used Jap Import 1.8ltr engine and 5 speed gearbox fitted at a cost of $1000 (after the original engine had valve issues, it was more economical and made sense to fit the used low mileage engine) and usual wear and tear items, servicing.

Called the AA twice because I once stupidly ran out of fuel and another time left the lights on flattening the battery - other than that it was totally reliable.

Sold it with 345k kilometers on the clock for $2500 Aussie dollars (to someone who approached me asking if I'd sell) and didn't realise at the time it was the cheapest car I was ever going to own in this lifetime..

Oh.........those were the days