Off Topic Penalty for Mini ownership?

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Off Topic Penalty for Mini ownership?

Don't get me wrong - I like Minis, but they are more overpriced than the 500 in my view.

Hmm. Remember the Mini is (probably) built from better quality components, has cheaper servicing & may have better residuals - I'd say that just about evens things up, leaving both cars similarly overpriced. But that's just my opinion & I suspect how well someone does in practice with either car is down to whether you get a good one or a lemon.

Best perhaps just to go for the one you like best - if it were all about the money, you'd likely buy something else entirely.
 
Uwe
I just compared a Mini First with a 500 1.2 Pop on their respective configurators. Both in white, with no options, the Mini is £11800, the 500 is £9900, so still nearly 2 grand difference. The performance and equipment levels are similar. The Fiat has a better choice of interior colours - with the Mini it's grey. Normally I'd say the Mini would hold its value betterthan the 500, but I can't see the First being popular on the secondhand market. In fact, for £11500 you can get the 500 1.2 Lounge - hate to think what the Mini would cost if you specced it similarly to that. Don't get me wrong - I like Minis, but they are more overpriced than the 500 in my view.

I quite agree the 500 is still cheaper, my point was just that with this new model it brings it much, much closer than it has been historically to an equivalent 500 (it was only about two and a half years ago that you could pick up a Pop for just over 8k; now it's nearly 10 grand).

And as jrkitching says, the servicing plan which is included as part of the package helps to bring the price difference down even more.
 
I quite agree the 500 is still cheaper, my point was just that with this new model it brings it much, much closer than it has been historically to an equivalent 500 (it was only about two and a half years ago that you could pick up a Pop for just over 8k; now it's nearly 10 grand).

And as jrkitching says, the servicing plan which is included as part of the package helps to bring the price difference down even more.


You call a Mini First a proper Mini? I would never buy one of those. I buy cars i can afford not just some cheap ghetto version. Its like buying a BMW 316! If you cant buy a 3 series, dont buy one! I wanted the Mini but i would never settle for less than a Mini Cooper S. I saw that the Fiat was cheap and very well specced with leather, sunroof, auto etc for a good price. This was the dealbreaker for me!

And lets not forget the 'servicing plan' has some issues with it. If somethign breaks out of warranty, then you are 'in deep dodo' because to replace anything that you have to pay for will cost A LOT OF MONEY. Now if you do the '3 year plan' UK style (i agree with that in the uk i would never buy a car cash!) well then technically you dont own the car anyway so you might as well lease it, and when you lease a car you never pay for servicing in the first place.


If you want a car as a long term investment, then the Fiat will be much much cheaper.
 
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I agree that overall cost of ownership between the Mini and 500 is probably similar. Like Ahmett, I would never have considered a Mini First. A quick trawl of Autotrader reveals several 1 year old, low mileage Coopers for similar money, most of which have 4 years of the TLC package left on them - far more desirable.
Not sure what UK style 3-year plan I should have used - I paid cash (plus part-ex) for my 500, the money was earning next to nothing in a savings account, and I begrudge giving someone else interest, and the car is mine, mine, mine!
 
You call a Mini First a proper Mini? I would never buy one of those. I buy cars i can afford not just some cheap ghetto version. Its like buying a BMW 316! If you cant buy a 3 series, dont buy one!

The First is a 'proper Mini', it's sold at Mini garages and is made in the same factory as all of the other Minis. And it has a Mini badge on the bonnet. And it says Mini on the logbook.

What's with the 'I'm too good for base models' attitude? Some people can't afford the higher end models, or don't necessarily want extra features, they just want a nice looking car! Nothing wrong with that.
 
What's with the 'I'm too good for base models' attitude? Some people can't afford the higher end models, or don't necessarily want extra features, they just want a nice looking car! Nothing wrong with that.
What he said.

Why not go completely down market and get a Chevy Spark with all the options :p

The MINI is a better car than the 500. But it does cost more. I wouldn't mind a First, it's got everything I'm likely to want though I will admit the plastic bin lids it uses for wheel trims look nasty.

Anyway, I used to have a _real_ Mini. It was an 850 Super Deluxe. The Super Deluxe bit meant you got an oil pressure gauge, a temperature gauge and some vinyl stuck to the dash rail.
 
The First is a 'proper Mini', it's sold at Mini garages and is made in the same factory as all of the other Minis. And it has a Mini badge on the bonnet. And it says Mini on the logbook.
.

if its bigger than this, its not a proper mini

mini.jpg
 
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The First is a 'proper Mini', it's sold at Mini garages and is made in the same factory as all of the other Minis. And it has a Mini badge on the bonnet. And it says Mini on the logbook.

What's with the 'I'm too good for base models' attitude? Some people can't afford the higher end models, or don't necessarily want extra features, they just want a nice looking car! Nothing wrong with that.


Fair enough! Still more expensive than a Fiat though, no matter how 'base' they go = ) For it to be cheaper than the 500 i assume they would have to do some more cutting down! Maybe a 1.0 50 hp engine!
 
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Interesting they kept with 1600cc for the first, as a 1970 Pinto lump has pretty much the same specific output. Probably not so good on emisions, admitedly :)
 
Interesting they kept with 1600cc for the first, as a 1970 Pinto lump has pretty much the same specific output. Probably not so good on emisions, admitedly :)


Yeah no joke! What did they do, put a restrictor on it? The 1.6 engine of the Cooper (same one i believe) has 120 hP!
 
What did they do, put a restrictor on it? The 1.6 engine of the Cooper (same one i believe) has 120 hP!

It was the case when the BMW Mini & Cooper were first released, that they had the same engine with different map, hence superchips et-al could simply flash the ROM and whack the cheap one up to 120bhp. That was a long time ago obviously but it would be a score with the first, if it's just a firmware upgrade required :)
 
I just traded my '06 Cooper S for a 1.2 Sport - simply because the MINI was too expensive to run. There wasn't a day I didn't enjoy owning the S, but it's a very expensive car for what it is and in this climate its residuals were poor. I had to px it - no one wanted to buy it privately.
 
I had to px it - no one wanted to buy it privately.

Probably because everyone's buying them new, it was the 8th best selling car back in May, 9th in 2010 as a whole. I can't imagine it's slipped that much recently.
 
Probably because everyone's buying them new, it was the 8th best selling car back in May, 9th in 2010 as a whole. I can't imagine it's slipped that much recently.

I wonder just how many of those folks are buying them, as opposed to obtaining the use of one in exchange for signing some sort of structured finance agreement:rolleyes:.
 
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