[jclewitt]

All things going well I will be putting in my order for a cooper next week (just need to sort that little thing called money) and I see a lot of people have lived with their mini for a fare bit of time now.

What extras do you think are worth having and what do you wish you had never wasted your money on.

I will be finically stretching myself to get the car I want so I would really appreciate you comments.

The things I am almost definitely getting are the 16” wheels and CD player, the rest is up for discussion.

Cheers

 

[Sirobbo]

Worth while options

jclewitt,

The cd Boost is well worth getting, make sure you get the TLC package (It saves you money and only costs £100), I`d break the bank and get some sort of air conditioning (some people will tell you it`s not needed but five years down the line I think all cars will have it anyway and those without will be hard to sell), sports seats are nice too.
The thing is it`s hard to keep the price down. Where abouts in the Midlands are you? I drove past Godfrey Hall in Coventry the other day and they`ve got loads of new Minis outside.

 

[Dave Wright]

If you do want the 16" wheels, I would have thought the Chili pack makes sense. Is the Pepper pack still compulsory? If it is, the Chili pack costs £290 more than the 16" wheels alone but you get half leather sports seats and a leather steering wheel. A leather wheel is surely a must (its going to be standard on even the basic new Fiesta) as are sports seats. You also get Sports Plus suspension and a rear spoiler, though in my opinion these may be a mixed blessing.

It is very hard to know when to stop though. A car with a list price of £11,600 very quickly reaches £13,000 +

I decided to opt for aircon over the 16" wheels. Just a matter of opinion of course, but I would very rarely get to use their grip. I also didn't go for the CD player - had to cut costs somewhere!

 

[dinger]

Hi

1 TLC this will save you bundles of cash over 5 years

2 Manual aircon is a better benefit than having 16" wheels

3 cd prep this is a free option as one day you might want a cd multi changer in the boot.

4 Sports seats you'll need something to keep you in your seat when driving through twisties ask Anne. lol

5 Alarm it will keep light fingered harrys at bay and could also reduce your insurance premiums.

Sorry if there are any harrys here no offence was meant.

6 Mud flaps as the MINI does get extremely filthy {the back more so}.
Hope this is a help

 

[rich]

Hi

1 TLC this will save you bundles of cash over 5 years

2 Manual aircon is a better benefit than having 16" wheels

3 cd prep this is a free option as one day you might want a cd multi changer in the boot.

4 Sports seats you'll need something to keep you in your seat when driving through twisties ask Anne. lol

5 Alarm it will keep light fingered harrys at bay and could also reduce your insurance premiums.

Sorry if there are any harrys here no offence was meant.

6 Mud flaps as the MINI does get extremely filthy {the back more so}.
Hope this is a help

I concur with dinger's selection, except I would add at least a single slot in-dash CD, both for its direct usefulness & that it may help resaleability of the car (when you trade up to an S!)

 

[jclewitt]

Cheers all, this site really does seem to have a good bunch of people using it.

You don’t have to have a pack now, as of mid December I think but it may be a better option.

I think I need to drive a few differently specification models, see whether I really need the wheels, sports suspension etc.

How have people got on with the seats, I will be doing a are few miles in it, I commute about 60 miles a day.

Yeh is true it does not take long to get to 13,000 does it. That has to be my absolute limit less hopefully. Bet I cant get the money now I have decided I am going to get one.

Cheers

Jim

 

[ELISEBOY]

I got carried away!
Ordered mine last week, was going to just go for the Cooper and ended up spending nearly £15k!
Am pleased with what I have got though

 

[Dave Wright]

If the price of £14,500 for the Cooper S as reported elsewhere in this forum is correct, I think keeping to a limit of £13,000 would be very sensible.

 

[ELISEBOY]

I agree! already given over me dosh though!!

But as was said, is £14.5 the standard car and whats the options?

the Cooper is only £11 OTR

 

[jclewitt]

Thing is with these things is you always want more.... and before you know it.

I read a fully loaded cooper would cost about 18 grand. now we see how BMW make the money on such a good car at such a low price, suckers like me.

But you are right, I walked into the show room wanting just the CD boost, maybe that is all I need.

You have to remember the insurance increase with the cooper s though

 

[dcfkan]

Apparently ASC+T is a bargain for £100, and so is the Mutli-function steering wheet as you get cruise control with it.

There is a debate going on about the merits of full leather upgrade, I suggest you check the postings out by doing a seach on seats.

I would get at least manual air con.

Chili pack is worth it IMHO, and you can upgrade to 17" S Spoke wheel if you have spare £370 (inc. VAT). However, replacement cost of 17" run flat tyres could be as high as £120+ each.

Hope this helps.

 

[rich]

You think that's bad...

However, replacement cost of 17" run flat tyres could be as high as £120+ each.

...17" runflats are AUD750 here in Australia (UKP270!!!) according to my dealer

 

[Amberthecat]

Which option depends on what you want to achieve

If you are looking for what will help residuals / resale then min extras should be.

Air con (manual is fine - all cars will have this soon)

Salt or pepper pack (bright interior, external chrome - most will have it and if yours does not it will stand out)

CD player (either multi changer on the std radio or CD boost, ideally radio boost and CD but thats a lot of dosh)

Leather steering wheel and gear knob (instant sex appeal when you hold the wheel - the buyers already got a grin on their face and you haven't given them the keys yet)

Colour is important too. Of the solid colours red and black are safe. Avoid yellow (I'm going to get killed for that). Metallic tends to be best but lots of people think green is unlucky (inc. my wife and I wanted BRG). Safest is silver, classy, timeless, suits the cooper, I'm biased cos mine is pure silver

Thats all you need, other bits are cool but when it comes to appealling to the biggest market that's all you need.

If you want it to look great then the 16 inch wheels are a must (not that it doesn't look great in basic trim cos is does) but it just adds that sexy bad boy (or girl) look that a fiesta or a corsa couldn't manage in a million years

If it's a cooper then the chilli pack is great value and the 16 inch wheels and roof spoiler look fantastic. I've seen posts where people are unsure about the SSP. It's a Mini Cooper !!! It's supposed to handle like a go cart. If you want a comfy ride buy a mini one, safe 2 grand on the basic price and then blow it on options.

For what it's worth I've got ASC and I love it. Damp road, traffic light grand prix with a sporty renault clio, bend, bumpy road, neck and neck, hit bumps, traction light flashes, clio history, huge grin

 

[ricardo]

ISOFIX and Spacesaver Spare Wheel ...boring but useful extras

Not much money and will help re-sale value.

ISOFIX: as a hedge against future competitors all having it as standard, e.g. at re-sale time, a potential buyer may have bought an ISOFIX car seat.

Spacesaver: 'cos some people are allergic to the can of gunge idea.

 

[batemano]

Definitely get heated washer jets and heated mirrors. Worth 40 quid on those winter mornings.