[AprilWhine]

Now is the time to get my order started. I have a few possibilities, and haven't decided on a hardtop or convertible.

That said, I like yellow or black for the hardtop, or cool orange for the convertible. Get the sports, cold weather, and convenience package for both. Add Nav, an Ipod input, MF steering wheel.

I like the half leather for both, but am not sure about the red/yellow combo. This one works much better in the MCSC-A.

So, color combos are yellow/black or Black/white with the red interior, or the orange with the blue top and the orange/blue interior.

Nice?

[GBMINI]

What frustrates me most is that MINI makes arbitrary decisions about what you can and can't have - for example you cannot have the red interior on a US spec convertible; although you can have it in England so the parts exist

[AprilWhine]

Ian, I didn't car about the red interior for the convertible option, I much prefer the orange/blue. I think I would get the MCSC without stripes, and add a asymetric blue stripe.

I'm slightly leaning toward the topless version.

[GBMINI]

Quote: Originally Posted by AprilWhine

I'm slightly leaning toward the topless version.

I this last weeks dreadful weather, I don't know how I could deal with no rear wiper! I suppose the rear view is so limited anyway, a bit of extra crud makes little difference.

[stryder]

Why no premium pack?

The orange is certainly the most unique and brightest, but if you plan on selling it in more then a few years, people could look and wonder at what you were thinking, the other colors are a bit more normal. Of course if you sell it in 2 years, orange will be the new thing still, so that could work to your advantage.

[AprilWhine]

No premium pack because I no longer want a sunroof. I would rather have a decal or paint, and the lack of UV filters made the sunroof an annoyance. I just added all the other things from the premium pack and left off the sunroof.

[stryder]

Ahh, but if you get a convertible, there's no sunroof in the premium pack, maybe you need to clarify.

[AprilWhine]

You are right, I should be more specific. In the convertible, it has the boomboom stereo, and I just want the regular one. After all, how loud can you stand to listen to the Monkees?

[stryder]

I really like the H/K Stereo, not because its loud, (I can't stand loud stereos, they give me a headache) it just sounds crisper and cleaner. The digital processing is nice too, I like the driver setting, since I'm usually alone, so it sounds correct to me, not to the middle of the car. Of course that makes me notice that FM radio sounds like garbage, which wasn't an issue on the stock system. Up to you though, I thought it was worth the $550 as a standalone option.

[AprilWhine]

I do want to use my Ipod through the stereo, I'll listen to the HK before rejecting it. I don't have the hearing loss most people get as they age, I think it was because I couldn't afford concert tickets as a teen. Silver lining?

[stryder]

I'd call it a silver lining.

Though if you don't have hearing loss, little things annoy you - especially in my case, people who leave TVs on, and then they make annoying high pitched whine, and no one else can hear it. Argh.

Listening is probably a good idea, it is a personal taste. Clearly some people don't even think H/K is good enough, since they've bought it and ripped it out to install other stuff.

[AprilWhine]

Luckily, Fuzzy and I live alone together. We both prefer a quiet enviroment, so do not have TV, radio, etc playing constantly. I think if I had to live with that it would drive me daft. :googley eyes: Smart almost too late, I now religiously wear hearing protection in noisy work places.

[S2000&CooperS]

AW,

I love the orange/blue with the Sunrise interior - very nice!!

My selections would be:

1st - MCSCA - Hot Orange/Blue Top/Sunrise Orange-Blue
2nd - MCSA - Black/White/Red or Cordoba Beige (for me, all black w/red or beige interior)
3rd - MCSA or MCSCA - Yellow/Black/Black

[AprilWhine]

Quote: Originally Posted by S2000&CooperS

AW,

I love the orange/blue with the Sunrise interior - very nice!!

My selections would be:

1st - MCSCA - Hot Orange/Blue Top/Sunrise Orange-Blue
2nd - MCSA - Black/White/Red or Cordoba Beige (for me, all black w/red or beige interior)
3rd - MCSA or MCSCA - Yellow/Black/Black

Thanks Mike, those sound very nice.

[milliethemini]

** Looks around to make sure Fuzzy isn't watching **

/Gives AprilWhine a big huggles

April, I'm so excited that you're getting another MINI!! I can now see that in the grand scheme of things, you were destined to move on to greater (MINI) things

I think your choices are pretty darn good, big thumbs up on the half leather, and the colour combos you are thinking off are pretty spiffy too. And you are keeping the Jeep you just bought, right? If so, I figure you will be using that for inclement weather, and the MCSC for top-down only weather, so snow and rain shouldn't matter

Will you be selling the Beetle then though?

[AprilWhine]

Thanks Millie!

Selling the Beetle, keeping the Jeep. The Jeep is actually Fuzzy's replacement car, the lease expired on his Buick. This MCSa will be a daily driver, the main reason I'm thinking of a hard top vice convertible.

[stryder]

The point of a convertible MCS is that it can be both a daily driver and a fun weekend car. The only real tradeoffs of a convertible are price, rear visibility and slight performance. If those don't matter, then you get the benefits of both worlds. My mom drives a Cabrio, and she loves to put the top down when she can, but its not a problem to drive it all winter and leave the top up. That's what heated seats are for.

[AprilWhine]

I agree, and I used to drive a Triumph. It was a great daily driver!

But I worry about vandalism. I park out in a huge lot near the piers when I have an assignment. Hard to believe, but security for parked cars is lax on the Navy base.

But I love the top down feel, and may risk it anyway.

[stryder]

Don't leave anything in the car, and get good insurance with a low deductable?

I understand the worry - maybe that's some vague incentive to choose a more subdued color. But you shouldn't worry about everything possible, that takes the fun out of things. Part of the great features of a MINI (in the US) is that they don't look expensive, and people generally don't get jealous. Sure your MCSCa may cost over $30K, but hopefully no one's going to resent you for it, as if you had a BMW convertible in the same lot.

[AprilWhine]

You have a good point.

My Triumph was never really vandalized. Someone stole the tarp off it during a storm, but the damage was incidental.

So now it's back to just trying to decide.