You're missing the joke that he's only getting 27 mph.

No, I got it. Typos just aren't all that funny. :)

Not you, Miata boy below your post who took literally.

As a side note, Turbo Miatas are still slow. There's about a half dozen in the local Miata club.

The Miata is too safe, too "my first sports car" with training wheels.

Ex girlfriend had an 05 (I think) Mini, not an S, auto. Lot's of repair issues, auto trans was terrible. She ditched it several months ago before any more miles were racked up. To be fair, it had been hit a few times, professionally repaired. Everything hard plastic bit in it rattled and crackled.

Ouch! My first sportscar was a 911, and I went with the miata for monetary purposes. The miata seems like a great second choice to me, lightweight, great handling and it can be steered with the throttle. My next car will be another Porsche though.

I have an 06 Mini S

Picked it up two years ago with 70,000 miles and just hit 99,000 miles this week.

Other then tires, brakes and oil changes the only issue the the airbag light permanently on-refuse to pay $1,000 for a new P/S seat sensor and the harmonic crank pulley separated at 94,000 miles ($500 in parts including belt tensioner and idler pulley)


Just hoping the super charger, A/C and power steering pump do not crap out soon that might turn it into a parts car.

Good news is engine failures are rare with the pre-2007 Mini Coopers.

your complaining about 27 mpg?

Do the math - a used car you own, and know (the Miata), vs the time to sell to known to you used Miata, time to acquire the new to you Mini ,and increased cost of acquiring another car that gets moderately better mpg, but is an unknown quantity to you. Amortize the ~$5k in higher purchase price vs the gas money you'll save and time you'll spend. The Miata has probably hit it's final skid in depreciation, the Mini has not. Not that at this price level depreciation is much of a reason for purchase, but, if that sorta thing floats your boat, it's not a smart $ move.

Plus, the only even remotely fun Mini is an S...and that will bring a higher purchase price and likely higher maintenance costs

sounds like 1. you're bored of your Miata, or 2. your nitpicking the wrong expenses

at 40 miles a day, living in San Pedro, you could drop $3k on a really nice bike, take the extra $5k + all the gas $ and insurance $ you'll save, invest it, and come out way ahead on all fronts :)

Mini
 

Bought a 2006 18 months ago with 28,000 miles.........now has 41,000 mile
The wife & I just love it
No issuses to speak of
Looking forward to buying another one

#3 on this guy's list, FWIW:

Yahoo!

Noah, that list is really interesting - thanks for posting the link. A fresh new way to look at cars, in a segment that's hard to get data on. It's very telling that 8 of his top 10 are made by Toyota, and the other 2 are Ford trucks.

Relevant to this discussion, the major problem with the Cooper according to that report is the transmissions, which is a well-known problem - in the automatics. I haven't heard of any problems with the manuals. And yes, lots of cheap interior bits. When I first saw our I thought the brushed steel dash really complimented the chrome trims. Then I discovered every bit of it was plastic. There wasn't a drop of chrome on that car - even on the outside. All plastic. I guess you could argue it was for weight savings... :)

If you get a MINI, get a 2nd gen S and the newer the better. I bought 3 MINIs when they first came out: 02 Cooper 5 speed that was a lemon and traded for a 02 S 6 spd, and an 02 CVT I bought for my mother. The CVT was also a lemon. If you get a 1st gen, stay away from the autos as they are expensive to fix and are crappy. MINI went back to a traditional auto after that.

Stayed away from MINIs for quite a while until my mother wanted another one. Found a really nice '10 S back in 2012 and mom loves driving the car. It is an auto with paddle shifters and I think the car is a blast to drive! It makes a really fun commuter car if that is what you want/need. No problems with the car and it is still under warranty. The build quality of the gen 2 MINIs are much, much better than the gen 1 cars.

It all depends on which MINI and which generation you're talking about. Only common factor is they use premium.

I've had a 2006 S from new (135K miles now) and the 2005-2006 are regarded as the stoutest builds of the first generation Ss. I'm in the mid-high 20's for mpg, with occasional AC and mild mods (intake, pulley, tune). After 2006, everything (body and drivetrain) changed. I've only driven a second generation S once, and it was softer than my car. Gas mileage is supposed to be better with second generation cars. If I was in your position, I would look at 2006 Coopers with manual transmission.

MINI COOPER :: North American Motoring is a pretty good place to go if you want to research owner experience and opinions on all generations of MINIs.