Picked it up this weekend. Here's a pic with the PO new toy. Had fun driving it back to MD from NY, solid lil car I must say.



JLO meets her new garage mate, says her butt is bigger.

 

Looks great Tony, enjoy!

 

Thank god it did not turn out to be a clunker. Whew!

 

I loved my MINI 2002 Cooper, but it had an ECU issue that caused it to stumble from start under hard acceleration in first gear....had ECU flashed 3 times to no avail.....apparently the first couple of years it was a real issue....actually unsafe to go out into traffic from rest.....MINI people called it the "yo-yo" effect on the forums......after 10 years of being out there I would go for one again, but the original update looks best to me from an exterior styling standpoint.....they are starting to get too big and expensive for what they are......better off maybe with a 1 series BMW for the money........

 

Here is my winter car, a 2007 Cooper S.

Loads of fun to drive. It goes like the clappers and the exhaust pops and wheezes every time you let go of the accelerator.

 

Congrats! You'll look forward to driving both. Life is too short to drive boring cars!

 

Nice to see so many collonials enjoying something so quintessentially British as the Mini - although it has to be said that the new one is nowhere near as mini as the original.

Here's our latest addition to the family, a one-owner, 60,000 mile, late 2006 Mini One Seven, factory black on black with alloys aircon, computer and CD as standard. I bought it as a first car for our 18yr old daughter to learn to drive in, hence why it's not a Cooper. The plan is to freshen up the bodywork later as it has picked up a few very minor scrapes during its first 6 years on the road; no complaints though as I picked it up last week for a lot less than £5000 including the new tyres, discs, wipers & mats that I fitted on day one. Bit of a bargain really as other similar mileage Sevens are going for around £1000-£1500 more.

As you can see, JJ really enjoyed her impromptu first ever drive around a local private airfield......


PS After fitting new Pirelli P6000 on the front, methinks I will have to replace the new Trackmax on the back - are Minis supposed to oversteer in the wet? ;-)

 

boy, that looks like one happy daughter!!

I thought the Minis understeer in the wet - oh I get you!

You are a great dad Colin! I am in the same boat - promised my older daughter a Mini if she got a Scholarship for University for a full four years - well she did, so I now own her a car. Figured it still cheaper than paying for the Tuition... of course she has to cough up the operating costs, so she will likely get one when she graduates next year.

Cheers,

Mike

 

Congrats Tony. I've been saying I want to get a Mini for several years now. One day.

Hope your wife (and you) enjoy it.

 

Thanks...she loves it!

First mod - to buy a oil dipstick. You would think with all the MINIs on the road, there will be an easy way to check your oil. No sir, no gauge an idiot design the stock dipstick , have to buy a craven dipstick http://www.cravenspeed.com/mini-dips...vpage=2#review for like $75 bucks and they're on back order. Dealer recommends 15k oil changes. A lot of MINIs on the road are running with low oil, me included since the last oil change was 9k miles ago and there's no easy to check level. Also have to add a catch can as they're prone to carbon build up.

 

My wife bought a Mini Countryman about six months ago. She'd tell me that it was her all time favorite car. I would just laugh and say "it's justa Mini". By the way it is the S version. Well, two weeks ago we took a camping trip along the Blue Ridge Parkway which also included the Diamondback loop. I had a blast the entire week. The car handled great and plenty of room for our gear.

 

a thread from NAM a year ago....

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

. . . and it's Time for ANOTHER Inspection
Yes, it was just 4 years ago (Jan 29, 2007) that my MINI was in
for its 200,000 Mile Inspection. But, It just passed 416,000 miles yesterday -
so, I'll be back at Milwaukee's International MINI for another Inspection
day after tomorrow.

They'll know how to do it now; - but, when I called to make the appointment
for my 60,000 mile inspection, Tim said, "We'll have to call you back -
we've never done one of those." I never thought my driving around
'just for fun' was anything out of the ordinary till then.

Actually, the car and I still look pretty much the same -
and both of us are still working as well as our Creators intended.
If my attempt to attach the picture works, you'll remember the moment.
I did have to get a whole new license plate, holder, bumper, etc. when I hit
a BIG Racoon at 65 mph. (But, I'm pretty sure I spoiled his day also.)

.......and a year later...2/2012

Not a Million Miles Yet, - Not Even 1/2 Million - But,

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My 2002 MC just passed 473,000 miles a few days ago.

Nothing else has changed much - except
I got married in November . . and
turned 86 in December.

Car still amazes me - and everyone who sees or drives it.
EVERYTHING still looks good -
and works just as it is supposed to -
nothing seems to be getting tired.

Sell it?
Why?

 

 

We almost got a Cooper S....but she wanted this little Italian instead:

 

Replaced my 2002 Tundra with a 2004 Mini S. Love the mini. It has made it possible to sale my '73 914 after mini years. There is still a 964 in the stable to fill the more aggressive needs.