New Clubman JCW in Cincinnati, OH

[Mrfixie]

Hi there, after a few months of 'persuasion' from my wife, I sold my 2006 Jeep Rubicon and went looking for a nice used Clubman S. Then I discovered the JCW version.. Dilemma - I had a budget and didn't think I could get what I wanted for that... But after some searching I found one that looked just the ticket in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. I've done fly and drives before, so wasn't worried about the 760 mile distance.
Flew down there on Friday evening, picked up the car (a 2009 with 41K miles) and drove her home with an overnight stop with friends in Nashville. I've had a few performance cars in the past (Cobra, STI, Volvo V70R) and was expecting fun, but was nicely surprised by how wicked fun this car is! And it was a bargain in terms of bang for buck. Very pleased! Need to fit a hidden hitch for a bike rack (both of us are avid MTB'ers) and it'll be perfect.
The only thing that disappointed so far was finding that I need a 'special' cable to pipe my tunes in from my iPhone.. I figured having a USB input it would all work.. I can input thru the 3.5mm jack plug, but without steering wheel controls. But that's a nit... Awesome car! Look forward to getting lots of tips and tricks with you guys on here!

[The Nun]

Interesting to see as its a completely different front end to the UK version.

[Mrfixie]

Nun, I hope the UK version has a better hood trim! I ended the 750 mile drive home to find the chrome hood trim adrift (all the clips were broken...) and rubbing the hood! Fortunately for me the original owner had put the adhesive clear stone chip protection on, and only that was rubbed by the trim flailing in the wind at $%^mph up the highway!
I suspect the Honda dealer didn't know how to open the hood (it's a tricky little lever!) and pulled it too hard.... Replacement is on order.
I also have the Curt hitch on order to mount my bike rack, an absolute essential..!

[The Nun]

The chrome strip looks the same, the grille is different, the front lower spoiler is completely different and the side sills dont appear to have the rear vents in them like ours do here on the JCW.
Must be something to do with your regulations over there, maybe our bits are not so crash friendly to pedestrians?

[Mrfixie]

I'll have to check pics of the Brit version, sounds more aesthetically pleasing. Since I'm a transplanted Brit maybe I should get upgraded to that look...

[Tackleberry]

I see that you got it from Gary Smith Honda (Beal Pkwy, FWB, FL). That is a superb place to do business. They have been in business there for years. From what I hear, they always treat their customers right. Nice JCW Clubman. It is a shame the '09 models did not come with the aero kit. Fortunately, you can always add one later. BTW, how about those Reds. Coming home for Game 3 with two wins already. I really hope they go all the way this year. They have the team to do it. I have been a Reds fan since 1973.

[Mrfixie]

Hey Tackleberry! Yeah, I see you are based just up the coast from FWB, Pensacola was one of the airports I looked at flying into... Managed to find a reasonable flight cost into FWB though. Yes, the guys at Gary Smith Honda were great! If only used car salesmen were that nice everywhere!

I have to wonder if they really knew what they had though, they originally had it advertized for $26K and dropped the price to $19.9K when I saw it and immediately jumped on it. Driving it home we realized that it has pretty much every available option, and the original window sticker in the glovebox had a retail price of $39.9K! I think we got a pretty good deal...!

As far as the Reds go, I'm afraid that I am about as ignorant of pro sports as you will find. I prefer to do stuff rather than watch, even the stuff I'm crazy about (cycling, MTB'ing). I do know that folks here were pretty fired up, so I guess they are doing well?

Cheers all, and thanks for the warm welcome to the forum!!

[Tackleberry]

Sounds like you got a super deal on the Clubman. You are really going to love driving that MINI.