Hello everyone,

So I'm 100 percent new to this site, but I am desperate for advice. I live in Austin and go to school and work full time. I'm buying a mini in the next week or two and I wanted to get advice on buying a new 2013 mini vs buying a used 2010 Mini S. The new Mini is pepper white, black top and mirrors, manual, premium package, bonnet stripes and 16 alloy wheels at a cost of 22,750.

The used 2010 Mini S is certified Mini "Next" and has 13K on it. The car is baclk and comes with the premium and sports package. The car is currently selling at 21.9, but I'm sure I could get the dealer to budge.

I'm not a super fast driver and I just recently learned how to drive stick, so this would be my first standard transmission car. I would like the car to have good pick up. So, what do you guys think? Brand spankin new or used and luxurious?

I would personally choose an S, but that's because I always opt for "more" horsepower. If you're not concerned about power per se, and prefer that new car smell/feel, then the non-S will surely also serve you well. At the end of the day, as both come with warranty, it's all about power & a bit of mileage vs. "new".

Good luck making the decision.

Oh - re: color; I have owned 3 black cars (and currently still own one - a non Mini). They look great when they're clean, but they look dirty very, very quickly. And stone chips and light scratches will show much more prominantly. If you're choosing between white and black, I'd personally go for white. Plus, as an added bonus, it might actually keep ever so slightly cooler in Texas temps. OK, realize this goes somewhat against my recommendation above, as you're now back to the new Mini... :)

Hello everyone,

So I'm 100 percent new to this site, but I am desperate for advice. I live in Austin and go to school and work full time. I'm buying a mini in the next week or two and I wanted to get advice on buying a new 2013 mini vs buying a used 2010 Mini S. The new Mini is pepper white, black top and mirrors, manual, premium package, bonnet stripes and 16 alloy wheels at a cost of 22,750.

The used 2010 Mini S is certified Mini "Next" and has 13K on it. The car is baclk and comes with the premium and sports package. The car is currently selling at 21.9, but I'm sure I could get the dealer to budge.

I'm not a super fast driver and I just recently learned how to drive stick, so this would be my first standard transmission car. I would like the car to have good pick up. So, what do you guys think? Brand spankin new or used and luxurious?

If you get an s you will be a super fast driver! Go used an get the MCS


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If you do not drive fast , go for the new one. Always nice to be the first driver of the car and enjoy the newness.

thanks for the feedback! I'm still torn between the cars and now a new player is in the mix. I found a 2011 white silver Mini JCW with 15k on it for 25.9.

I have a question that I hope someone can answer. I like the idea of going new because I plan on keeping the car for a long time and I believe resale value would be better, but what I would like to know, is are base minis with manual transmission fast? I used to drive an 01 mercedez ml320....would a base mini beat that car?

The thing that is in my head, is that does it make sense to go manual and not get an S?

Buying new (i.e. selling as first owner) isn't going to materially affect resale value. In fact, if it's resale value you're hoping to maximize (or specifically, minimize loss on sale due to depreciation) you should definitely buy used, as the first owner already took a material depreciation hit - which will lessen yours. The car probably loses 10% value just from being driven off the dealer not as new...

Personally, if I were in your shoes, I'd probably buy a first gen with very low mileage, spend $2-3K on an aftermarket warranty. You could easily save $5-7K upfront, and you'll "save" even more when it comes to reselling the car.

I just bought a close-to-loaded 2005 MCS with 19K on the clock in the mid $15K range. Not a screaming deal, but you get the gist. MSRP was around $27K new. First owner kindly took the $12K depreciation hit. I'm normally a fan of buying new, but couldn't justify new with that low mileage...

Re: your "fast" question. No Mini is fast, if we're honest. That said, an S would be faster 0-60 than an ML320. Not sure about the standard Mini - but I suspect it'll feel slower - due to substantially lower HP and torque ratings.

My wife recently sold an ML500. It was advertised as 0-60 in 6.9 when we got it in 2002. That's not far from an MCS. But I can tell you with absolute certainty that it would have obliterated a MCS in any and all acceleration tests you could have thrown at it (of course it had just a bit more power and torque!). Handling, of course, would be a different story.

Again, if you're worried about speed/acceleration, you should definitely get an S or a JCW package-equipped car.

I have the ML280 cdi and it don't hang around so if you are used to having a bit of power under your right foot then get the MCS.


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I have the ML280 cdi and it don't hang around so if you are used to having a bit of power under your right foot then get the MCS.


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Or a new JCW GP of course, that will wipe the floor with most things, especially on twisty cross country B road. :D

Well I found a 2011 JCW with only 15k on it and certified pre-owned. The car is white silver and has black rims. It looks like a good deal at 25.9 and when I think about the resale value for this car compared to a 2013 base manual, who is going to want to buy a base manual that is 5 or 6 years old? The JCW mini in Houston was a lease car, so that means that it probably was taken car of, and shouldn't that give me more leverage with the dealer? I mean they did not have to buy the car back from whoever leased the car....

I have added pictures of the JCW Mini.

Well, if you're going to spend that much you might as well do it properly. There's a 2006 Mini Cooper JCW GP edition for sale in Houston with just 9K miles on the clock - I'd personally get that any day of the week over a 2011 JCW. There's another one some north of Houston too, I believe. Check out autotrader.com

As for pricing - I tend to triangulate against 3-4 sources to figure out whether I'm getting a good deal (you may have already done this):
* Autotrader.com (asking prices only, so I figure sale prices to be at least $500-1000 less)
* Nada.com (seems much more realistic than the inflated prices suggested by KBB.com, plus all dealers seem to always reference this site, not kbb.com)
* eBay (for "buy it now" prices on cars in your area - you'll often see dealers selling the exact same vehicle offered on autotrader.com but with a lower "buy it now" price on eBay - Texasdirectauto.com is a classic example - they'll tell you their prices are non-negotiable in the store, but sell for less on eBay, and if you ask, they'll also tell you the auction reserve price - great way to shave off $500-$1.5K for their cars)
* edmunds.com TMV - though I find these values unrealistically low for Minis.

Good luck.

The 11 is still under warranty! A low mileage 2011 that still has the original warranty is the best of both worlds. You get a newer vehicle with out the new car price but still get the new car warranty. Get what you want, with what you want on it so you won't be wishing you did later on...

The 11 is still under warranty! A low mileage 2011 that still has the original warranty is the best of both worlds. You get a newer vehicle with out the new car price but still get the new car warranty. Get what you want, with what you want on it so you won't be wishing you did later on...

Yea that is a very good point, except I'm just not sure if I'll be able to take advantage of the extra hp seeing as this will be my first car will manual transmission. It's difficult because the other option is a NEW car and just the word new sounds so good, but at the same time the 2011 JCW is already loaded and customized so I wouldn't have to put any money into it. Does it make sense for my first manual to go with something with such power?

As said before, Minis are not fast cars. They're fun cars. An S doesn't give you much power relative to most other cars on the road, but it does give you more than a standard Mini. I seriously doubt it'll be enough to get you into trouble - it's not as if we're talking about a high end sport bike with a power:weight ration of a Bugatti Veyron. We're talking about Minis here - fun cars, but not powerful by any stretch of the imagination. So I wouldn't worry about "too much power" - and the fact that it has a manual transmission shouldn't factor into whether or not to choose an S.

I don't think anyone ever got into one of the "faster" Minis (of any type - be it an S, JCW or JCW GP) and came out thinking "holy smokes, I should've gotten one with less power... this thing is out of control." That said, I do think someone probably came away from a test drive of Cooper and thought "Gee, I wished it had slightly more oomph."

At the end of the day, it's all about what YOU want. I'd recommend you drive an S and non-S and decide what you want.

Go for used. My car was £7000 cheaper than new and was only 14 months old.

If you want something fast I can recommend a 1000cc motorcycle.

Well it is all but final now everyone. I decided to go with a new Mini and I'm very pleased with how everything turned out in the end. I would like to thank everyone who shared their opinion and I look forward to being part of the Mini community for the foreseeable future.

PS: I'll post pictures of the new ride once I pick it up either next week or the week after.