[swamp]

Hello folks, I've been looking at the '05 MINI Cooper as one that I may want to purchase but am a little hesitant. Could I give you all a brief discription of my driving habits and let you, as owners and drivers of the car, give me some unbiased advise on whether the MINI would be right for me? (yeah Steve, come to a MINI owners forum for unbiased advise...right! )
The main reason I am hesitant is because I am looking to buy a car for a daily driver and not a weekend fun car, and the closest MINI dealer is over 100 miles away so reliability is of the essence. I am also a person who keeps my car until well after it is paid off, so I don't purchase very often and don't have the money to start doing so. I travel around 60 miles per work day from the country to the city and back, average around 100-150 miles during weekends and also like to travel occaisionally with my wife to the vast far reaches of South Carolina and as far as Florida, USA. I do have two teenage stepsons, but we already have a midsize sedan for travel that may include them or for extraordinarily long trips.
I've looked at pretty much every car in this price bracket and I must say that the Scion Tc is the most attractive to me in terms of the common sense approach...it's much less expensive, proven motor, more horses, more standard equip. The thing is, though, I keep coming back to the MINI...it's got some sort of mystical power that keeps trying to pull me in!
I guess the reason I am here is to see if y'all could reassure me that the MINI would be there for me for years to come If I decided to get one. The several thousand dollar diffence between the scion and mini is looking pretty good in favor of the scion...convince me that it's worth it to go all out and get a MINI!

Thanks for listening to me rant!!
Steve Boland

 

[swamp]

Well, thank you both for the advise! Unfortunately, Andromcs, I will not be getting the S if I decide to go with the Cooper. I lost most of the use of my left arm about 15 years ago which could make driving with a manual transmission every day too much. I have driven my brother's truck several times with no problem, but I just don't see myself doing it every day especially with the city driving that I do...if the auto tranny was available for the S, then sure I'd definately look into doing that.
I suppose the real deciding factor for me will be the all so important test drive Toyota is going to let me drive one of theirs this weekend, but I will have to wait at least two weeks after that to drive the MINI because I'll be busy until then...still not sure about any of the others I've considered, the WRX and the Volvo S40. I've pretty much narrowed them out of the equasion mainly because of price.
I do have plenty of time to mull over the cars, my current car is a wonderful vehicle that will surely last long enough to find it a replacement...or companion, depending on whether I decide to get rid of it or not.
Anyway, thanks again and if I decide on the MC, you'll surely see me here some other time!

PS, I forgot to ask! Does BMW offer service work on these cars, or do you have to take a MINI to a MINI dealer?

 

[swamp]

Well, I've got the test drive scheduled for this coming Friday in Greenville, SC! Unfortunately there are no automatic transmissions there for me to drive, but the guy said I could drive the manual or have him drive me around if I didn't feel comfortable driving the stick. I believe I'll give it a try and see how it feels for myself. Thank you all for your advice, some great points have been made!

Another question...if I were to decide to order a MINI Cooper here in the US, is there a set amount you must put down that is standard among the dealerships, or does each individual dealer decide how much it will cost you to reserve?

Oh, and i forgot to add...when I was asking about reliability, I was referring to major problems (brakes, engine, transmission, suspension, window leaks, etc) A few squeeks and rattles here and there are not going to bother me. I used to have a '78 VW Rabbit that had a bell that would ring like a telephone at around 35 or 40 mph. I never was able to figure out what it was or where it was...Daddy figured it was some German's idea of a joke, put in there just to bug us