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.

Funny, design of the MINI and 500 were overseen by the same guy.
One of Frank Stephenson’s other designs:
(Worked on “distinctive features” including the rear wing)
This:

Oh, and this (He is McLaren Chief Designer):

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.

In this day and age, I’d suggest that there are diminishing returns to be gained from making (what you would call) a dramatically better car at this price range. There are however massive returns to be made from making a stylish car that sells.
Let’s not forget that both cars were designed to sell. I would suggest that the new MINI is better engineered to sell than the old Mini – it borrows from all of the Mini’s past heritage, glamour, style and nostalgia, without making an ounce of it itself! How much more efficient can you get?! 😉

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.