[tomartinh]

Hi I'm seriously considering purchasing a Clubman D and have arranged a 24hr test drive, does anyone have any suggestions in what to try/look for during the test drive?

I have never owned a mini previously nor a diesel, so any advice gratefully received.

It's down to the Clubman D or a Civic Diesel at the moment.

Thanks

[BU51 BEZ]

just enjoy it mate
dont get put off by the stop start feature you'll find you like it after a while, as for being a diesel you really wont notice a difference apart from from tick over, the only thing i find noisy is the 17" runflats
just go and enjoy then put your order in and be part of a nice crowd, you wont get that with a civic i bet

[tomartinh]

I've now completed the test drive (about 100 miles over 24 hours), and have to say we really enjoyed it. To that end we're probably going to order one, even though no discount was offered for cash (no surprise), although I will ring the spec around to see if anyone else can do better.

Our dilema is whether to go for a D or the 1.6 Petrol given this will be a 2nd car for us and will probably struggle to cover 20k over 3 years. On that basis the petrol wins on cost but the diesel wins the "green" vote.

My main concern is the diesel engine being sourced from PSA, as I have a bad experience with a PSA car, is the BMW influence on the unit sufficient to remove those concerns?

[CapriGT]

Quote: Originally Posted by tomartinh (original)

I've now completed the test drive (about 100 miles over 24 hours), and have to say we really enjoyed it. To that end we're probably going to order one, even though no discount was offered for cash (no surprise), although I will ring the spec around to see if anyone else can do better.

Our dilema is whether to go for a D or the 1.6 Petrol given this will be a 2nd car for us and will probably struggle to cover 20k over 3 years. On that basis the petrol wins on cost but the diesel wins the "green" vote.

My main concern is the diesel engine being sourced from PSA, as I have a bad experience with a PSA car, is the BMW influence on the unit sufficient to remove those concerns?

Hi there, just a thought as Clubman D owner........with regard to the petrol decision I thought the D was worth extra money over the petrol on a performance basis alone, to me the £35 a year car tax, plus 50mpg and green issues are just a bonus! I think the D will hold a premium over the petrol in say 5 years time on the secondhand market so taking everything into account the extra seems quite good value!

[dlpruk]

Another vote for a D over petrol. Just be careful with the options choice as it's all too easy to go the wrong side of £22K.

I suggest you start by ticking the Chilli and Xenon boxes as these are good value and will help with the eventual resale. But I wouldn't say that of lots of the other goodies - nice though they may be.

[Stiggy]

Quote: Originally Posted by tomartinh (original)

Our dilema is whether to go for a D or the 1.6 Petrol given this will be a 2nd car for us and will probably struggle to cover 20k over 3 years. On that basis the petrol wins on cost but the diesel wins the "green" vote.

My main concern is the diesel engine being sourced from PSA, as I have a bad experience with a PSA car, is the BMW influence on the unit sufficient to remove those concerns?

The petrol engines are PSA too!

You'll see a lot of petrol vs diesel threads. Basically, I think it comes down to how and why you drive. The petrol feels and sounds better for a high rev blast, but the diesel just gets on with it with low rev torque. I love my Cooper D - it's more than fast enough for me, and it eats up motorway miles with really good fuel economy.

[BU51 BEZ]

Quote: Originally Posted by dlpruk (original)

Another vote for a D over petrol. Just be careful with the options choice as it's all too easy to go the wrong side of £22K.

I suggest you start by ticking the Chilli and Xenon boxes as these are good value and will help with the eventual resale. But I wouldn't say that of lots of the other goodies - nice though they may be.

second that, we had the showroom model so had no real choice of extras but xenons and chilli is a must
go for the diesel mate

[ViscountCharles]

D's are likely to hold their value - the low tax band helps, but there's also restricted availability likely to continue for the rest of this year (my local dealer has *4* Clubman D's that they can sell over the next three months - and two of the four were already allocated; so that's just two cars that they are *allowed* to sell between now and June!).

I had a ten-hour test drive in a Clubman D this week. I really liked the stop-start, thought that there were some improvements over the original R50/R52 interior that I'm used to but also some retrograde steps (that awful stereo, in both sound and appearance, and the lack of little spaces to put stuff), thought that the performance was alright, didn't like the noise, did like getting 45 to the gallon around town. And loved the Clubman size/shape - not just the looks or the Clubman door, but the way that I could shovel an awful lot of stuff into the back, including a set of step-ladders that would never have fitted in the hatch.

Agonised for hours over whether to get the D or wait for a JCW (no point in looking at a mere S - might as well go sensible or completely insane). Then got back into my R52 S, grinned all the way home, and found it much easier to make my mind up.

The D might bear the Cooper name, and it's fair to say that it's no tortoise, but I'm going to pay the extra for the JCW. it's not MPG that you need to think about, but also GPM (grins per mile).

[billy.batson]

[quote=Stiggy;3370771]The petrol engines are PSA too!

They may have stemmed from a PSA design, but the engines are built in BMW MINI's own factory in Hams Hall, England, so they have full quality control and really no practical connection with PSA.

[Derek J]

Clubman Diesel for us too....

over 8500 miles now with no probs......

tick box for Sports button and Suspension.....

[tomartinh]

Thankyou everyone for your feedback.

We placed our order for a PW Clubman D, with Pepper pack and sport seats, which is as far as our budget would stretch. Now for the wait...

[dlpruk]

Quote: Originally Posted by tomartinh (original)

Thankyou everyone for your feedback.

We placed our order for a PW Clubman D, with Pepper pack and sport seats, which is as far as our budget would stretch. Now for the wait...

Well done! What delivery did your dealer quote? (Some say that Clubman Ds are in such demand that they can't get one for months - but some will say anything ... !)

[daro911]

Quote: Originally Posted by dlpruk (original)

Some say that Clubman Ds are in such demand that they can't get one for months - but some will say anything ... !

A friend of mine decided on a Club "D" 2 weeks ago. Picked a specification and then was offered 12 cars almost to exact spec required off the deck ex factory! Needless to say armed with this info he negotiated a good discount and cars being delivered this week.

My Clubman "S" is also being delivered this week but I did place the order first week January and got half the discount he achieved

Always remember there is one guranteed sign to tell when a salesman is lying .... the lips move :-)

[tomartinh]

Quote: Originally Posted by dlpruk (original)

Well done! What delivery did your dealer quote? (Some say that Clubman Ds are in such demand that they can't get one for months - but some will say anything ... !)

We just got confirmation today of April 21st delivery, our expectation was May, so this is a pleasant surprise!

[tomartinh]

Quote: Originally Posted by tomartinh (original)

We just got confirmation today of April 21st delivery, our expectation was May, so this is a pleasant surprise!

Better and better, it came into the dealer on Monday and we collected it today, no rattles or squeaks (unlike the demo). Just looking for excuses to take it out. That's less than a month from the order date and 5/6 weeks since our test drive.

It was supplied by Synter in Sunningdale and so far they've been excellent in keeping us informed and organising everything. Once I have some pic's I'll add them to the PW/B roll call.

[NickyJ]

Congratulations, look forward to seeing some pics

[Triffid]

"My main concern is the diesel engine being sourced from PSA, as I have a bad experience with a PSA car, is the BMW influence on the unit sufficient to remove those concerns?"


PSA, particularly Peugeot engines are amongst the very best.
Its the electrics that they usually have a bad rep for.

I had 205GTIs, and absolutely thrashed them.. They usually expire through crashes or expense to get through an MOT..
I then had a 2 Litre 406 Petrol Turbo, that I sold having done 174,000 miles, sailed through the emissions every year (even after the oil level often went well below the low mark!).. My mate has it now and its at 197k. (Last time I looked on autotrader at 406s, you can see this for yourself 150k+ is commonplace)

How many taxi 406's did/do you see, quite a high percentage when compared to the amount sold They are built to last.