Well, hmmmm

First, I've owned a 9/02 MCS for 2 years now as my daily driver and it's still the best car I've ever owned. When I'm not driving it I still glance longingly at it in the garage. I've been to the dealer twice for scheduled service, once for a leaky coolant bottle, and 4 times for MINI gatherings or just to look at the new features in person. I expect to keep my car for at least 10 years and then either give it to my daughter or throw a Works conversion on it and keep it myself (or maybe get a convertible?).
Second, I never look at the other cars that were on my list and say "what if", but I know I would look at MINIs that way if I hadn't gotten one. It's part of my family and we all love it and everything about the MINI "experience". I take my daughter to meets and my sons are familiar with all of the MINI variations. I take kids to school and daycare in my car and I've been told it's the coolest car in the parking lot at work. Catching a glimpse of myself in a window only confirms that I made the right choice.

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

I have a holding deposit on a VW Concept C, which I am told is expected summer 2006.

http://www.germancarfans.com/news.cfm/NewsID/2040301.003/volkswagen/1.html

But the thought of giving up my MINI made me so depressed, that I have now ordered a MINI Cooper convertible for summer 2005 for the interim. In fact I changed my order at BMW/MINI from a BMW 120d SE a faster,larger and basically more practical car to the MCC because I couldn't bear to give up owning a MINI.

I also did this on the basis that I would probably not lose much money (the MCC should hold 90% of it's list price after a year due to demand and availability) if I did change from the MCC to the VW and I would have had a summer of MCC ownership. Your Scion reminded me of the VW with what appears to be an all glass roof as well as being a practical 4/5 seater saloon (is that sedan?) with a reasonable sized boot (trunck?).

But why don't you rent a MINI for a while I truley believe it is a unique car that will possibly change how you feel about car ownership. A friend of mine who is a VW fanatic has just rented a MCS for the weekend and said it was the most exciting car he has ever been in or driven, a true successor to the Mk 1 Golf GTI which he owned originally and again quite recently. His only reason for not buying one is that he wants a 225hp Audi TT.

Yes my MINI has had his fair share of trips to BMW, Boot Latch, Seat Levers, Power Steering Motor, Gear Lever Gaiter and Bonnet Heat Sheild to mention a few. I also don't do your mileage, currently I do about 8000 a year. But when he was first registered he did do a round trip from London to Nice (South France 2200 miles) and coped fantastically, Air conditioned cruises at 85MPH with the sun blazing down, driver passenger and two large suitcases in the back with the seats down. I believe the build quality is constantly being improved from what I'm told by other owneres and what I read on MINI2, in fact there are some very high milage virtually fault free MINIs around if you do a search.

Currently my biggest problem is chosing my final spec,

Silver/Blue with Blue leather or Silver/Black with Black/Red leather or
Red/Black with Red/Black leather or Orange/Black with Black Leather or
Orange/Blue with Blue leather or BRG/Black with Beige/Black leather.....

With bonnet stripes or without them... with driving lights or without them... Could I afford Satnav if I went half leather?

Come on go drive a MINI and then think about it what other car could do this to you?