i am thinking about getting a MINI

dpskdpsk

dpskdpsk

Member
Aug 13, 2010
75
3
#1
I found there is a MINI cooper club in the forum. But right now I am driving an old grandma's car which always cost me a dent in my wallet. So just I start thinking getting another car. I love the look of MINI so much so maybe I wanna purchase one.

But I have a lot of concern mostly financially. I just repaired my old car by $2,000. My wallet felt really sore after that. I look around those 2-3 yrs old MINI cooper s. They usually cost 23k~25k in my area (SF bay area). I also hear that the MINI dealers are super tough. It's hard to bargain with them. Sometimes people pay extra over MSRP. I could finance MINI with a little down-payment. errrrr... So usually how much do you guys bargain on MINI?

Also people said since MINI is a sports car, stick shift should be much more fun. Unfortunately I could only drive an automatic one which means I may lose fun driving:sad:. Maybe my dad can teach me the stick shift when I am back home this May. Does that sound good?

I kinda want to get mini cooper s. Or you guys think mini cooper is good enough for daily use?

Thanks for reading my rambling. But any idea on MINI will be appreciated.
 
#2
If you can afford it, a Mini is a pretty solid car.

As for transmission...have you ever driven a manual? If not, it really takes about 2 years to get pretty proficient. Will the traffic in SF be a lot of stop and go...the hills?? But I will only buy a car in a manual, cause yes, it's much more fun.
 
#3
Charles said:
If you can afford it, a Mini is a pretty solid car.

As for transmission...have you ever driven a manual? If not, it really takes about 2 years to get pretty proficient. Will the traffic in SF be a lot of stop and go...the hills?? But I will only buy a car in a manual, cause yes, it's much more fun.
Click to expand...

I actually live outside the city. So no hills for me. But does it really take two yrs to nail it? I never tried a manual one. I am thinking asking my dad to teach me. I have been driving automatic cars ever since I start driving.
Thanks for your advice!

Sent from my iPhone using PurseForum
 
#4
To be good at a manual...yeah. I mean, you'll be able to drive it after a few weeks, but there are subtle nuances to a manual and they take a while to learn. Also, typically (stereotype time), girls don't enjoy driving manual cause you have to do use both hands a lot and it's hard to do things while you're driving (putting on makeup for example). And like I said, it takes a while to get good at it. The first few months you'll be jerky and will probably stall it fairly often. Then again, maybe you'll pick right up and be a natural. I'm just going from my experiences dealing with women driving manuals. ;)

But, I do encourage you to learn. If there's ever an emergency and there's only a car that's a stick, you'll be good to go.
 
#5
The Mini Cooper S is quit a bit peppier since it's turbo-charged, whereas as the regular Mini Cooper is not turbo. As to whether you want the S or the regular Mini Cooper, it all depends on what you're looking for in a car. For me, the more power the better...but that's just me.

I personally love driving a manual, and won't buy a car that is automatic...I feel like you lose part of the driving experience with an automatic. But many women do like automatics. I find driving a manual to be a lot more fun. I also prefer driving a manual in snow, because you can always drop a gear to slow down some rather than using your brakes, so I feel safer with a manual in snowy weather.

A lot of the newer cars are coming out with automatics that have a sport shift mode, though. It's kind of similar to a manual trans in that you can change gears, but you don't have to work a clutch. You just use the + or - to change gears. It's still somewhat regulated by the computer though in most cars, so you couldn't use in as much of a spirited manner as you could a true manual transmission. I've driven some cars with the sport shift, and it's more fun that just shifting into "D," but it's still not really the best choice for me personally. That might be something you'd like though; kind of a compromise between a plain automatic and a manual trans.

I learned how to drive a manual pretty quickly; it's not really that hard at all. You just have to be patient with yourself. Don't get mad if you don't get it right the few tries; it's a learning process and it does take longer for some than others. I think I was born with racing gas in my veins, so driving a manual kind of came naturally to me to some extent.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Back