[Tim in Scotland]

I’ve never looked on the Mini Approved Used website before, but in the UK there are a lot of low miles, and some pre-reg PHEVs for sale at the moment if you don’t want to wait in the long line for a factory ordered car
https://approvedusedminis.co.uk/result/?model=COUNTRYMAN&page=1&source=home&trim=PHEV

 

[Realevil_uk]

I am on there daily looking for a 2017 PHEV with a good spec and a decent (interesting) colour anywhere near where I live. So many PHEVs are black/grey!

But yeah it’s a handy resource. Shame the site is garbage and often parts such as cars spec list via category eg “Exterior” don’t open fast

 

[Tim in Scotland]

I don’t know why but Black and Grey seem to be really popular colours............ I would never buy a black car, they are just so much hassle to keep looking good (and they are the colour that really only funeral directors would like....) The other thing with some of the grey shades is they are almost a perfect match to the plastic trims on wheel arches and bumpers and JLR’s Stornoway Grey and Corris Grey exactly matched the plastic trim bits so you got colour coding from the factory for free!
Must admit that I have owned a few metallic grey cars over the years for exactly the opposite reason why I won’t have a black one - they don’t show the road dirt for weeks and weeks. Reds fade too much even today and blue and green seem to be out of favour (I you look at Land Rovers configurator for the Evoque , Range Rover and Range Rover Sport there are white, metallic red, black or about 8 different shades of grey unless you start paying £3500 to £7000 extra for a “premium” metallic yet Jaguar (same company AND some of the cars are built on the Land Rover lines at Solihull) offers blues and greens. My Defender is a dark metallic green. My PHEV is Melting Silver, which isn’t silver at all, it’s more a very pale willowy green!

 

[Shiki2000]

Yeah, it lives up to the melting name...as if they literally melted some silver at the top of a mountain and it was able to stay liquid while running down said mountain, picking up all of the dirt and other colours of the mountain on the way down, until it hit the Countryman, where it cooled off...

 

[Realevil_uk]

What do you think of the melting silver?

I saw one on YouTube with yellow wing mirror caps that added a nice touch I think. Many I have seen are melting silver with black roof/wing mirror caps and I (personally) think it needs a bit more colour?

All this is just my opinion of course. I currently have a metallic grey Merc which I’m bored of, and I think melting silver is a little too close to that...

 

[Tim in Scotland]

I like it, it is easy to keep clean as it does show road dirt too much, I would not have a black roof again as on the few sunny/hot days we get it heats up the interior a lot which then causes the battery cooler to cut in when parked up, increasing electric consumption. I also have the panoramic roof and there is an issue with the cheap and nasty brittle fibreboard shades - no matter if they are open or closed they rattle - so far the only fault I can find with my car! I also saw the one with the yellow mirror caps and agree they look good but what roof colour would go best as body coloured roof might not work so well in Melting Silver
A neighbour has a Thunder Grey 3 door Cooper D with a white roof and mirror caps and that is nice combination. Such a pity that so far the 2019 rich Metallic Blue hasn’t made it to the Countryman as I love that colour. If you cannot find a colour that you like then have you considered finding a price/spec compromise you like and then getting the car wrapped in a colour you prefer?

 

[Keeff]

We have melting silver and it is good at looking clean. I have changed the all4 badges colour from brown to red but would love to have the roof and mirrors in red .i think it was only available in the JCW . You can get side strips in red but need cutting around the all4 badge. The colour was the only thing we struggle with when ordering are car as they don’t do all the colours available on other minis like the blue or white silver that would look good .

 

[Jackdaniel]

Interesting about the colours white black and grey seem very popular at the moment no one wants colour... I saw a comparison picture recently of a car park in 1970s and today and in the 70s was very colourful, today white, black and every grey in between

I am considering a Mazda MX5 and the choices on the configurator are: white (free colour), white again but costs money, ****** grey, grey, greyish blue, red, black

Would love some real colours like yellow, British racing green, or royal blue not the greyish blue

 

[Shiki2000]

I think the melting silver really needs to be checked out in person, mistake I made choosing my company car. The 'melting silver' I saw on YT was very different when I finally got my hands on the car. Is lucky only stuck with it for three years then can go try some thing else out. Do agree though, I can get away with washing it way less often, because the dirt doesn't stand out like a sore thumb. All I have to do is give all of the windows a good wiping down every so often and good to go most of the time

 

[R22 JGB]

Prices of the low mileage cars seem to vary greatly! I struggle to find the difference in spec. Some ads refer to Chilli pack, but they are not mentioned in the brochure' very confusing for an old man!

 

[Keeff]

Mini have stopped the chilli pack but it gives you a lot of kit for about £3000 like led lights ,sport heated seats ,climate control,wheel upgrade, sport driving modes and more . It also adds to the car resale value with are cooper all4 its value was up by £2000 after three years on a pcp . It did make buying the easy and cheaper as you got most of the thing you need.
We are on are fourth mini and fined the best way to buy is make a list of kit you need and start looking for that .

 

[R22 JGB]

I picked my PHEV up yesterday. Built & registered in September 18, less than 3,500 miles in white, my favourite colour. It has a Chili pack, comfort access, Heated screen and the larger screen on the Sat Nav. List price in excess of £37k, I got it for just less than £30k. This is the second most expensive thing I have ever bought, My MoHo beat it!
Car is fine, but for the price should have had front parking sensors fitted as standard, also it is lacking cubbies for small items such as house keys. My Leon and previous VAG cars had a small cubby next to the steering column, I’m sure MINI could have fitted something similar for little cost!

 

[Keeff]

Have you got the storage under the front of the driver seat . Sounds like a good spec the chilli pack does help so you should have the LED lights that we find are great.

 

[R22 JGB]

No storage under the seat, would like it!

 

[ro_explorer]

My first countryman, chilli spec, had a small storage box under the drivers seat. The replacement car, "maximize" version (above "chilli") is lacking that storage compartment. A genuine one is quite expensive as an OEM BMW part.

 

[Tim in Scotland]

My heavily optioned PHEV built May 2018 doesn’t have them either.