The mini cooper is a fun car to drive when it works. Over six years, I have had to replace the steering system, the exhaust system, the air conditioning system, the entire brake system 3 times and have gone through 3 batteries that just died for no apparent reason. The car is only 6 years old with 60,000 miles. I was told by the mechanic that because it is so low to the ground, things go faster. I expected more from BMW. Buyer beware.

Great handling, high gas mileage, larger interior than you would think, and it just looks cool.

Wears badly on tires (I've had six replaced in less than 5 years with average annual mileage). The car is also fragile, with little but expensive things like the oil pan and struts cracking, becoming dislodged, etc. The cost to maintain the car rises dramatically in years 4 and 5.

The Mini is a great car for three years - coincidentally, the period of time during which everything is covered. It's a fun car to drive, but over time maintenance costs erode that fun.

Super Fun
Great Chassis
Great Looks
Supercharged Grunt
Good enough Mileage
Cheap to own (surprisingly)

Rattles (Most can be easily fixed)
Rough Ride (Much better w/o Runflats)
Odd Seats (Stock seats do not fit me well, they need more bum padding)
Low Chin (slow down!)

This is the greatest car in the world. When driving, the car feels beautifully connected to the driver and it just wants to play. When driving hard, the car begs for more, and when cruising, the cabin is a very pleasant place to be.

As for the 'issues' that some may have with Minis, I can only say that this car does what it does very well. It has Character. It has rattles. The ride can be rough. The boot is small. The mileage could be better. It's low. There are better deals for the money. If you want Toyota quality, buy a Toyota. A smooth ride? Lexus. Lots of space? Minivan. Good mileage? Hybrid. Ground clearance? Jeep. Value? Kia. Driving Experience? Mini

The Mini is not the most practical car, but it provides something that is becoming increasingly rare in the car industry: Character. Nothing else looks like it, and nothing elicits the same kind of emotions that a Mini does. You won't regret owning a Mini.

I have taken 8000 miles of road trips in the last year, run the Dragon's tail numerous times and never regretted a minute of it. The only maintenance I have done is:

-Oil Change - $80 (Every ~10,000 Miles)
-New Tires - $500 (Non-Runflats 205/55-16)
-Upper Strut Mounts - $260 (OEM Part is weak, passenger side cracked)
-Computer Reflash - $0 (Free from dealer, OUT of warrantee)
-Headlights - $20 (H7 55W)
-Gas - $$$ (~33mpg Highway, ~26mpg Town)

Buy this car. Drive this car. Love this car.

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Cars.

Cute, sporty, good mpg, we will see!

Dunno- i'm nervous

Ok- have purchased this car sight unseen, to be brought home by my husband picking it up 600 mi. away.Car has 17" wheels with yokahamas, dinan strut bar, shortened shifter throw, and cold air induction. It also has 80,000 mi. Owner ordered his & hers (2) while stationed in Germany.One of the earliest serial numbers. Built in Germany, not England. Owner says car drives like new, has kept bra & mirror covers on. I'm introducing here and will post again after some driving experience.

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Porsche 914 2.0
Bmw's 3 & 5 series

It's unique and fun. You get a lot of looks with this car. While in Sedona, I parked it, leaving the windows and sun roof down, and went into a restaurant to eat, taking a window seat to keep an eye on my baby. Adults and kids alike were just drawn to it. They'd walk around it, look at the funky dashboard, point at the custom graphics on the sun roof... Lots of fun and respect you'd expect to get from driving an exotic sports car. Only, this car is cheap.

Because most Americans want instant gratification and you have to wait up to half a year after you order one to get one, and in spite of the fact that the Mini factory in Oxford, England cranks out 3500 cars every WEEK, you rarely see them on the roads here in America. I understand they are everywhere in Italy and other places in Europe.
The car handles like a go-kart. It mocks me. It says "You took that corner at 35mph? What are you an old man? Trade me in for a Buick, you wuss! You don't deserve me."

Ok, it FEELS like it mocks me because I feel like I am taking a great risk going around the corner that fast, and the car just does it without hesitation or a difference in control. Suggesting to me that the car is mocking me by making it look so easy and saying CHALLENGE ME NEXT TIME!

I have just over 2,000 miles on the car, and after three months of ownership, the worst thing that happened was that I parked under a tree that dripped maple sap all over it. A little rubbing alcohol on my precious paint and it was gone...but it was painful to worry about the long term affects of rubbing alcohol on my paint job.

Because I have always driven 6-cylinder, rear-wheel drive cars, this front-wheel drive, four-cylinder revs up pretty high and it gets me nervous.

I tend to shift early (3k), but the power-band isn't really felt until 4k rpms. It just makes me cringe to hear the engine working that hard and I need to realize it's designed to work that way. My gosh, at 3k in my 6-cylinder, I'm hauling butt.

Complaints? As with any BMW, it prefers the expensive gas. So, it's still $35 at the pump, and the mileage is averaging just over 31mpg, and I do a lot of freeway driving!

Also, I live in Arizona, home of the 110-120 degree summer days. The A/C is not as good as I would have hoped, but not terrible. It is VERY loud when you put the A/C on maximum.

I was curious if the little motor would struggle going up hills and such, but on a trip to Sedona, I was passing everyone and conquering those hills/mountains like they weren't even there. Sure it's a small engine, but it doesn't take much to move such a small and light car. I didn't expect that.

The car is used primarily for weekend and evening driving. The clutch is a bit difficult for me to master and, as a previous reviewer commented, it likes to grind when putting it in reverse even though I'm not moving. I think the trick is to have one foot on the clutch and the other on the brake (which you're supposed to do any way) and it goes in reverse easier. It makes no sense since the car isn't moving while having a foot on the brake should make a difference.

On a slightly sad note, the car is just too low to the ground. I constantly scrape the bottom of the car when I exit the driveway and, while recently parking at KFC, I hit the cement parking block and slightly cracked my front 'ground effects' bumper. I thought I had enough clearance to not worry about hitting it. I was wrong.

Being an nerdy American, I have always had an infatuation with all things British: Doctor Who, Monty Python, Benny Hill, etc... And a little research on the history of the Mini (Englands pride of 40 years of making this car in a truck and a van version) really intrigued me.

When the PT Cruiser first came out, I liked it because it was different, which made it exotic. Now, they're every where. I figured a Mini would be too expensive to own once I discovered they were owned (not made) by BMW. On a book tour (I wrote a book called the Healthy PC), the president of the computer club and I were the last to leave when the meeting was over. In the parking lot were two cars. My Blazer and his Mini. I was shocked. I asked this 'old man' "YOU own a Mini?!?" and he turned to me, smiled and said "I figure you only turn 75 once."

I decided then and there that I did not want to wait until I was 75 to get something I wanted. I went to the BMW dealer and learned they start at just $17k. Well, that is in my budget. I took one for a test drive (stick shift, of course) and went home to think about it.

I went back a month later, took it for another test drive. They told me I had to put $1,000 down to be on the waiting list to order a car. In 3 months, they would call me for my turn, at which point I would order the car and put another $1000 down. Once the car was ordered, I was told the deposit was non-refundable. My immediate concern was what if I can't get financed on the car? They had me fill out a credit app and it was approved for $21k, however, they couldn't start billing me for the car (or acquire the credit) until they had an actual car, so I would have to re-fill out the credit app in another 3 months when the car arrived.

Once I ordered the car, I was given a tracking number to see where the car was in production. Kind of like tracking a UPS package! This was very unique and very cool.

The salesman was the same person throughout the entire transaction and never asked "What do I have to do to get you into this car today?" or pressured me AT ALL during any of my test drive visits. She really just answered my questions and told me the rules, take it or leave it, but in a friendly way.

Having purchased Fords, Nissans, Chevy's, etc... I was not accustomed to being treated this way. I was taught to never pay sticker. On the test drive I asked, "How do you negotiate on the price of a car that has a waiting list of people who want to order them?"

The reply? "You don't."

There is only one MINI dealer in the entire state of Arizona, where I live, and they do not add any DAP (dealer added profit). People who live in New Mexico have to come to Arizona to buy one, as it's the closest dealer. In Vegas, the dealer tacks on $2500 to the price of the car. So, I figured myself lucky in this case.

From the time I put down my first $1000 to the time the car arrived, 5 months had gone by. Then I was introduced to some features of the car that blew my mind.

The glove box has a small dial within it, that when turned, lets the A/C blow inside. Say you wanted to keep a can of soda and a sandwich cold, it becomes like a small cooler. Neat idea.

The Xeon headlights self-level and automatically wash themselves.

The oil is synthetic. This means your first oil change is at 10,000 miles. Instead of putting a fading window sticker to remind you of your next oil change, the dash is programmed to count backwards from 10,000. When it gets close to 0, it alerts you that it's time to get the oil changed. All oil changes after that are every 15,000.

All the stereos in the 2005 models play MP3 CDs. Who needs a CD changer when one CD will hold 150 songs? The steering wheel radio controls are also much nicer. You can even activate the blue-tooth cellphone steering wheel controls to use your blue-tooth cellphone wirelessly and hands-free through the car. ($600 option).

The dealer can program the remote key lock to unlock all doors or just the driver side with one press. Holding the unlock button down on the key results in all the windows and sun-roof to open automatically.

The doors will auto-lock once you reach 10-miles an hour, or not. It's up to you.

The dealer asks me what my favorite radio stations are and programs the radio for me. A simple thing, but no Ford or Chevy or Nissan dealer ever offered it.

I bought the base model, no super charger for me because I wanted the insurance to be as low as possible. No trade-in either. The $2000 I used while ordering the car is also used as a down-payment off the price of the car (if you were wondering). The add-ons were the sun-roof, the Harmon Kardon stereo and the Xeon headlights. $19k but after tax, title and license fees, it was about $21k.

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Other compact 2-door coupes, which is just not fair to compare it to.

Fun to drive Good Gas Mileage Attention grabber Excellent resale value Excellent Harmon-Kardon Sound System 3 yr/36,000 mile full maintenance

Little space in the back seat Runflat tires Interior noises after a year To few dealers, we had to drive 100 miles one way to be serviced

When we went to test drive a Mini Cooper S I thought I would be too tall (6'2") for a comfortable ride, the car would have no power, and Semis would blow it off the road. I was wrong! Plenty of room, as long no one is in the back seat. The car had power, but only in the "S" supercharged model. The base model lacked anytype of pick up and go. As for being blown off the road by Semis, we didn't even know they were there. We ordered our Mini and had it in a few months. We were able to monitor it being built on the internet and had an idea when we were able to pick it up. (Our dealership parks it on the show room floor and lets you drive it out the door.) Be sure to get the premium and sport packages. The Mini is a blast to drive, once again as long as no one is in the back seat. It is basically a two seater with cargo space. The car is like driving a go cart, especially if you have smooth roads with curves. As for gas mileage we got about 29 mpg. That is driving in the city and on the highway. You can't help yourself to push the car and drive it crazy, which doesn't help on the gas mileage. We actually got 45 mpg on the interstate when we kept it under 65 mph. Do not get runflat tires! They can not be repaired and you have to replace the tire if you get a nail in it. Normally you wouldn't pay over $20 to repair a nail in a tire, but we paid $200 per tire to be replaced (twice) for nails. The Mini Dealership wanted $350 per tire. We eventually removed all the runflats and put regular tires on the vehicle which actually gave a better ride. After the first year we started to get the rattles, as other have mentioned also. Noises in the dash, the windows and the boot. We had to take it to the dealer several times to repair the noises, but they seemed to always come back. As others have mentioned people are in "AW" when they sit it. The chase you through parking lots to get a look. I still stare when I see them on the road, I think they look awsome. The Mini Cooper S is a blast to drive on short trips. It is the type of car you keep in the garage and take it out to play. It also makes an excellent car for a single person with out any kids. We recently traded are Mini in on a 2006 Dodge Charger. The Mini holds on to it's value. The main problems is that most dealerships do not know much about them and are slow on giving you a good price. Would we buy another Mini? Doubtful. Not enough toy for us. A BMW Z4 will be the next toy car. I would like to add that the service you receive from BMW and Mini is far beyond any that we have ever received before. I have owned several cars and been to numerous dealerships and Dryer & Reinbold BMW/Mini in Indianapolis go beyond any sales/service experience I have ever had.

Looks, performance, sound, did I say performance? Fuel economy is good, comfort is good.

Resale value. Paint chips. Fit and finish not 911 standards, but costs less.

The car is a Porsche-----little more can be said. It is not a 911, but does not cost as much either. Runs good, handles awesome, brakes are superior. Sounds great. Lille cheaper fit and finsh than a 911, but not as low as a 968/944/951. Stero need help. Would buy a gain, but the resale value has been poor. The 993 was the last great reseller in my opinion.

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I have owned 90+ cars including 20 Porsches.

Gas Mileage near 30 MPG. Looks, attention if you like it. Many amenities including self levelling Xenon lights. Handling. Braking. Long lasting new car leather smell. Climate control works well in inclement weather. Resale value.

No spare. Rough, harsh, loud, TERRIBLE ride. No power without high revs, will not climb a hill from stop. Gas mileage okay, hoped for more. Rattles, plastic, interior fit and finish. Twitchy on the highway. Attention. Insurance higher than my Porsche 911. Paint chips, winsheild chips, stripes show bug splats. *suggestions to potential buyers- test drive on a warm/hot day, power really goes down hill on turbo/supercharged cars when hot. This car really loses power. Drive it on rough roads and highways. Note the twitchy gabbing on uneven imperfect roads. Note the plastic interior and fit and finsh. You have to live with that. Cute is nice for awhile, but it wears off.

My wife and I really lusted after this car and shopped for one for nearly a year before purchasing. We drove a few and liked what we saw. Lots of amenities, cool features, suprising cabin room. The handling, breaks and supercharger were also interesting. During our search we found some dealers who wanted to add a huge amount to the price due to the availability. Ha! We finally found one on the BMW lot that was fully loaded and was the dark silver which is a more sedate and richer color for us. Our love affair with it did not last more than 6 months before the jarring ride(run flat tires make this worse) twitchy on the highway, and lack of power unless you are really whipping it. When you whip it, it will really haul but I do not like to drive my cars that way. It is a shifter car, the gears are definitely used a lot and do not try to start on a hill in 80 degree weather because it will not pull it until the supercharger spools. The rattles started soon, the windows shudder when going up, and the paint ships easily. Ours has the optional stripes, but when a bug hits them it takes some of the black coloring off the vinyl and makes the stripe look chipped. they are replaceable for $250, but one bug and it looks chipped. The car draws so much attention it is annoying. I have had Ferraris and many Porsches, however people follow you to take pictures of the Mini, many times without asking. I will have the car fully detailed and come out of a fine restaurant and find handprints all over it and face prints on the glass. Very annoying! the car has many options and for a $26000 car you get a lot with the resale value. We would not buy one again, but I understand the appeal.

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Depends how you define and compare. I owned 90+cars from Hondas to Ferraris. The mini is a good value for what you get. The equipment is luxury car level.

easy to drive, looks great, lacks seriousness

haven't found any yet

I love this car!!!! I paid AUD40 000. Cars are very expensive in Australia, compared to the US, so this was an excellent deal. I paid AUD30 000, 7 years ago, for my Honda Civic! My husband was a little hesitant when I decided to buy this car. He's very conservative and is 6ft 1. We now fight over who gets to drive! it's so much fun, it's hard not to smile when you are driving. I attended a motor show this week, with a large range of vehicles of all shapes and sizes. Other than the prominent expensive luxury sports cars (Ferrari etc), none of them managed to win me over as much as my much loved Mini! The interior is gorgeous! I have the two toned red and black leather seats, leather steering wheel etc. I love driving around with the sun roof open. It's perfect for our climate down here. I've been in full convertibles before, and hated being blown around, so this is a perfect solution.

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Ford Escort 1974, Ford Laser 1987, Hyundai Excel 1996, Honda Civic 1998

Fun. Cute. Fast. Friendly. I loved all 6 days of it.

Impractical for the amount of rain in Texas apparently. BMW's lack of ownership of this problem.

Was driving in less than 6 inches of water (in my 2005 model), through a crowded gas station, when my 6 day old, 580mile MINI stalled. Nearly one month later, I await a response to a letter that my attorney sent to BMW. BMW claims they can't help me because 'floods' aren't covered under warranty. They say not to drive in over 4 inches of water. Supposedly this is in the manual, but I'm not sure where. And with all the flooding that happens regularly in Houston, TX they rightfully could've precautioned me. I have been driving my 1994 HONDA CIVIC on the same streets for 11 years without a SINGLE problem. My insurance will cover the $8000+ to re-build a new engine, but we're waiting out BMW. It seems they could be more responsible. I'm not the first who has had the same problem. I am however heart-broken. It is the first car I've truly desired. I guess I will have those 6 beautiful days of driving MINI to dream about for years to come.

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Honda Civic 1994-been driving since 1994. My first experience with BMW.