A proper Mini?

She wouldn't appreciate it. So probably best to buy me one instead.

In British Racing Green please.

A Mini, or a MINI ?

Buy a Golf instead, it's about the same size but more practical

New shape Mini

A Golf is also about 10x larger on the inside..

The new Mini is based on a reverse TARDIS, huge on the outside, yet tiny on the inside.

I take it you mean BMW Mini? The older ones have power steering pump issues, £600 fix as I found out! Door locking mechanisms are poor too, replaced both sides.

Yes get one . Mrs Oggy has one and loves it.

Apropos of almost nothing, a new production line starts up at Cowley next month!

I'd rather have a cold, unreliable in the wet (carry WD40 and a piece of cardboard at all times) old Mini. Still look longingly at them every time I see a nice one.

Car or skirt? So many images to post that would get me on the naughty step. 😉

Depends, does she want one?

Yes! I bought the wife a new MINI Cooper earlier this year. She loves it and so do I. Seems well screwed together, performance is ok and handles really well, can really throw it around. On a negative there's no space in the back and the boot is tiny but there's only two of us and I have a large saloon car so troubles for us.

There are a few people who knock the car but have probably never driven one, I've nothing against the original one but wouldn't like the idea of driving 200 miles in it or using it as a daily commuter.

Are you looking at new or used and if used how old?

My mechanical skills have come one in leaps and bounds since owning my 1st gen MINI, I certainly didn't envisage replacing it's gearbox on my driveway when I got it! The main reason for buying was it being more fun to drive than most of the similar cars I looked at at the time, but it's not he most practical and the ride can be uncomfortable.

1st gen = poor economy, power steering pumps likely to fail, prone to high oil consumption, harsh ride, early 5 speed gearboxes suffer bearing failure and worse at relatively low mileage.

2nd gen = Timing chain issues, turbo engine in Cooper S prone to carbon build up in the inlet valves and rough running as a result.

We've used it to go on holiday with a 3 year old toddler and not had too much trouble fitting everything we needed in the boot and on the back seat. Rear leg room is non-existent if any of the front passengers have long legs.

Wife looked at one but wife quite petite and she found the steering very heavy bought an mx5 instead much more fun

Yes! I bought the wife a new MINI Cooper earlier this year

I hope you tell her what to wear as well... 🙄

Why do you have to buy her the car?

Here,is a radical solution.

Let her go and arrange it herself.

I will have this over MINI any day ...

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... but perhaps minus the ironing board at the back just to reduce the insurance cost and I want the one with four(five) doors.

Mrs. W has had two. The first was a diesel One and pathetic. Ok mpg but lacked guts and didn't do justice to the name. After a couple of years away from that she badgered me into releasing funds for another. This time we trotted off to BMW Mini and she picked out a couple...... based on colour. You have to understand that she will offer more than the asking price if it's what she wants and I realised that I had to get her away quickly.
With her out of the way I returned to the showroom and preceded to negotiate. I felt violated when I came away with only £500 off the screen price of £16k! Anyway it was a 1600 diesel in cooper trim/tune. So once we get past the chocolate body with candy bonnet stripes and toffee leather seats with vanilla piping it's a really nice car....... if you are the driver.
Good build quality, handling and economy. But if you have low profile wheels/tyres the ride is rough in the extreme as a passenger. BMW are servicing pillagers and will suggest that you buy a new car rather than inflate the tyres to the correct pressure.
So in summary. A nicely built car with little rear space that is good fun to drive. Middling running costs if you resist main dealer pressure and yes I'm happy we got it. Is it worth 3 times my Alfa 159 ..... no way.

Bought my Mrs a 2004 Cooper S. Low miles and excellent condition in and out. Should it be classed as a classic being nearly 10 years old? Anyway it drives like a new car, reliable so far, very quick. She loves it.

no, because they are derivative and shite.

Some people must have some odd "partnerships"

My Mrs R has just got one. A Clubman Cooper S so a bit more room than a normal mini. Having spent the last few weeks looking at them there are a huge variety of cars out there. We were after an excellent condition car with as many extras as possible, having looked at a few price was no real indicator on what the car would be like. Worth holding out for the right car, there are some pampered cars out there, as well as some that have had a hard life. Look at as many as you can.

Pleased with it so far, fun to drive, plenty of space for what we use it for, our kids love the side door and back seats (although the novelty may wear off) Agree about the ride on low profile tyres, I am not sure 18" alloys are the best for a comfy ride... Given the performance I was surprised at how cheap insurance is.

Strangely when the BMW Mini was first launched I never imagined I would own one, but this seems to suit what we wanted.

You're not going to win suggesting another car when it comes to trendy Mini's and women so may as well just give in now and save your energy for the next time you want to justify a bike related purchase of significance. My wife had one. It is very small inside relative to the exterior size, but it is built well and has a quality feel about it and they drive well.

She had a One, I didn't think it was worth the premium going for the Cooper as its the same engine just chipped and actually not that much quicker by the seat of the pants feel - forget on paper stats, rarely to they translate into real world noticeable performance. And who really tears away from the lights at the on-paper 0-60 acceleration?

She's now got a Fiat 500 and the Mini is a far better car.

bigrich - Member
no, because they are derivative and shite.

Thats hard to argue against.

Are we so dense that we need to ask which Mini? Did you really think Rochey was asking about the old Mini? Really? Every time someone mentions the modern Mini the same old tosh comes out.
Whether you like it or not, a car called a Mini is being made in Cowley. Some people like'em and some people buy'em.

Yes! I bought the wife a new MINI Cooper earlier this year
I hope you tell her what to wear as well...

No, she wanted one so I bought one for her 🙄

What's with all these men folks buying their wives cars. This is 2013!

My wife was after a mini too. I have convinced her to get a VW Scirocco instead 😉

Being a modern man .. she gets to pay for it herself too.

After a couple of years away from that she badgered me into releasing funds for another.

😮 😮 😯 😯 🙄

I'm flabbergasted that in this day and age this 'I bought my wife a car' thing still goes on....

Good to see modern man is alive and well. I wouldn't 'buy' my wife a car, she has the means and the wherewithal to do it herself. And I certainly wouldn't tell others I'd 'bought' her a car. That really sounds like something a Tory MP might do for 'his' wife.

Who says flabbergasted these days? 🙂

I bought our lass's last car and I'll soon be buying her next one. I earn three times as much as she does so I do the car buying, so what?

I earn three times as much as she does so I do the car buying, so what?

It might be this idea that just because you earn the money it's yours (singular) to do what you want with rather than yours(plural).

HTH

Damn right it's mine, thanks for your help.

My Mrs earns more than me but I still bought her car for her. Because she has zero knowledge or interest beyond it working and being easy to drive. She buys my shirts for me because I'm colour blind and would come home with rubbish. I'm confused, should be both be offended, just her, just me or neither of us?

And don't buy a mini, they're horrid.

My missus wanted a mini so I did a bit of research and found he mk 2 was way better on economy than the first model and eventually bought an 07 cooper s. Now I want to drive it all the time cos it's a rocket car and great fun to drive.

I bought our lass's last car and I'll soon be buying her next one. I earn three times as much as she does so I do the car buying, so what?

Like I said , some odd idea's about partnerships, I earn twice what my Mrs does, we bought a car.

My take home is double my wife's. She bought a car, because she drives and I don't but [i]we[/i] paid for in, in the same way that [i]we[/i] pay for everything.

You'll be telling me next that you have joint accounts!

Who buys your bikes? Who owns your bikes? If you want to sell one do you have to ask permission?

Someone's having a bad hair day...
Herself wants a W113 Pagoda, and as far as I'm concerned if she wants one, she can pay for it.

I've never got the her car/his car thing unless it's provided by you employer. We have three cars which we jointly own. Like we do for other big purchases such as houses.

some strange comments above, I was only asking about what was good and what was bad on the cars, does it really matter who buys it!!!!

I'm prop going for a Cooper and not a cooper s (insurance will be high), with full Chilli pack etc, budget approx. £9/£10k so I keep looking, we are in no rush.

As above two cars both of which are not too shabby I take whichever one is on the drive and so does she

some strange comments above, I was only asking about what was good and what was bad on the cars, does it really matter who buys it!!!!

To be fair, the "new mini is shit" row never really got a foothold as there was too much agreement. Thus, another tack was chosen....

That was a similar budget to what we had, lots of nice cars around that price. You will find most, if not all will have a full Mini service history if the original owner took out a TLC pack which covers servicing for 50k miles or 5 years, that is transferable to a new owner too.

Strangely insurance on a Cooper S was cheaper than the 10 year old diesel Mk4 Golf it replaced.

Oh come on, the new mini isn't a shit car. Its as good as any in its class. My wife's Polo that preceded her mini was shit - has all sorts of problems and was just dull as dishwater. In contrast the Mini was a very good car, never cost us a bean and I even enjoyed driving it - though never admitted it at the time. Very much style over substance, but fundamentally a good car. Its just not correct to say it is shit. Cars like this are bought for the style rather the fact they're good cars. Like the Beetle, Fiat 500 (which is shit). If your wife wants one, then get her one. It'll be a good car, you'll enjoy driving it though never admit it, it'll hold its value better than anything else and she'll enjoy it. Its may not be the best car out there, but its fundamentally a good car.

The original mini was shit. I love them, they're a classic with bags of character, would love one to mess about with, but they're not a good car. Noisy, slow, unsafe, uncomfortable, inconvenient, unreliable (everyone I know who owns them spends all their spare time fixing them). But is a classic cause they were different. They were the right car at the right time and that's why people love them - pure nostalgia.

Wobbliscott is basically spot on - I had a old mini estate for years and loved it however compared to the Cooper S I've owned from new (10 years so far) it was frankly rubbish. The Cooper S makes me smile when I drive it just like the old mini did but it has the advantage of starting without WD40 or hitting the starter motor with a hammer...
Anyway back to the OP - you need to test drive one - you'll either love it or you won't. In which case don't buy it!

Oh come on, the new mini isn't a shit car

you are confusing 'poorly engineered' with 'shit'

The MINI, Beetle and Fiat 500 are intellectually and aesthetically bankrupt designs, conceived by marketeers.

The originals looked the way they did because the engineers who conceived them designed them that way to fulfil a specific purpose.
The new ones are a cynical, successful attempt at selling more for less.

They're all nice to drive though.
Your wife sounds a lot less cynical than me, so crack on.

I just make the assumption that all mini drivers put prices against houses, or wish they did.
Which, in my book, is worse by a factor of about 1,000 than being a hairdresser, or someone who lives in Hoxton.

The MINI, Beetle and Fiat 500 are intellectually and aesthetically bankrupt designs, conceived by marketeers.

Allegedly, "Automotive insiders regularly refer to Stephenson as "one of most influential automotive designers of our time"

But, you know, cynicism and all that

The MINI, 500 and Beetle are very well styled.

But they are pastiches - purely form over function.
A Panda is a better car than a 500 because it was engineered and designed to fulfil a useful funtion.
The 500 is a sujectively prettier car which has less space inside and is priced at a premium.

It's looks aren't derived from the engineering, they have been imposed on it.

Your mate Frank also designed the BMW X5.
Ta Frank.

Not sure why but I think both the designs (red and white cars) are ugly ... No imagination and not creative at all.

Having driven a Cooper S, I can confirm that they function just fine.

It'd function even better if it wasn't made to look like an original Mini that had been on the pies.

It'd function even better if it wasn't made to look like an original Mini that had been on the pies.

How do you know?

The old cars had looks derived from engineering.
The new cars have engineered looks. Not to mention better engineering 😉

Well, it would have more space for a start!

You can't design a thoroughly modern car to be as efficient as possible if you impose an external shape on the engineers from the off.
It's impossible.

Better engineering than the original?
I don't think so.
Bearing in mind that all modern cars are more reliable than those of the past, the original Mini was a work of genius.
The layout and packaging was way ahead of it's time, it was utterly classless and a bit of a racing legend.
The MINI is a generic hatchback in a stretched and stlyised posh frock.
Issigonis would be appalled.

What car is as "efficient as possible"?

Issigonis would be appalled.

Who cares?

As a car for two the Mini is fine. I've got a Cooper D that's just over 18months old and it's a second family car with the other being a small people carrier type.

There isn't much room in them but with a bike carrier on the Mini towbar I can get our family of 4 out with the bikes on a nice day (with minimal extras beyond Camlebacks and helmets).

It is good fun to drive, not super fast but it feels nippy and is certainly fast enough to get a ticket. It's got 17 inch wheels and fairly low profile tyres which seem to help make he ride quite firm, I like that though. My last car had 18 inch lower profile run flats, I liked that too.

The curvy shape does seem to result in the reverse Tardis affect mentioned before but as I say for a second car or if there aren't many if you to transport it's fine.

I have been a bit disappointed with the feel of the interior but then the car before was a BMW which despite what some say about being bland blah blah was very well put together compared to any other car I've had.

Test drives are the key. It won't take very long for you and your wife to decide whether it's right for you both or not.

You can't design a thoroughly modern car to be as efficient as possible if you impose an external shape on the engineers from the off.
It's impossible.

It's a good point, sadly.
There are lots of very efficient cars out there, but they don't sell as well as the boutique options.