First cars should be cheap, safe and be able to take a beating with no maintenance. That rules out the MINI. Get a Honda or Toyota because they are cheap, safe and reliable. College kids never take care of a car and abuse it. Remember we all had a first car we loved but trashed it.
Just ordered a ByteTronik OBD Tune for the Mini along with a set of plugs one range colder than stock. As soon as I receive the cable and program all I have to do is download my current tune and send it back to BT. Within a couple days they'll send me the stage 1 tune set up for my mods along with program I started with. That way I can return it to stock whenever I need to take it in for service.
Not me, I did just the opposite. I took the 73 Lemans my parents bought new, and my sister trashed and restored it in High School. My parents were amazed at how good that car looked after I was done with it. They bought me a brand new car for my graduation from HS. My sister was pissed. But, she learned a valuable lesson -- don't crap in your bed. My parents sold that seven-year old Lemans for about 2/3 of what they paid for it new. My dad made it very clear to my sister, that's why your little brother got a new car for graduation. People are genuinely surprised when I tell them my MINI is ten years old. CD
My MINI is at home in the garage, while I do the family xmas tour in a rented Silverado crew-cab 4X4 pickup. I've got to build something for my sister this weekend, so I need a truck to pick up a bunch of lumber. I'm not paying for it, so I'm okay. Man, five hours of driving in that truck sucked. The seats are soft and spongy. My back hurt when I got to my destination. But, on the good side, I'm going to Scottsdale next month, and rented a Toyota Corolla and got a free upgrade to a Mercedes C-class from Hertz. I got benefit from rentals that I didn't pay for -- I bill my customers for my rental expenses. That Silverado scored me some good points, too. CD
Drove the R53 home from the airport, in the rain. There was a wreck on the interstate so it was stop and go traffic. Some moron behind me was tail gating me and not paying attrition. I gave the car ahead of me plenty of room so I could slowly stop, but the a$$ behind me would still almost hit me and then nail his brakes hard. The good side is I am home till after Christmas!!
She already has membership in a car sharing program. Most of the cars are Toyota Prius . She absolutely hates the handling of them. Since she can drive manual, shopping around here, MINIs are probably the best value for money in a market where high mileage beaten up Honda Civics cost more than a low mileage CPO'd MINI Cooper with manual transmission. I recommended a Honda Fit or Mazda 3 Sport. The ones we have seen have fairly high mileage and cost a bit more.
My son bought a CPO Fit a couple of months ago. Pretty nice car & as practical as a Swiss Army knife.
That's a good starter car. Some of my friends' kids have them too. Since I live out in the burbs, a lot of them complain how noisy their Honda Fits are on the highway after getting a ride in a MINI. :cryin: But they do run regular gas and have fewer things to go wrong with them.
I drove my MINI for the first time in a week. It was 33 degrees out, so no AC compressor drag and 33-degree air blowing through the intercooler -- and into the intake. So, I was enjoying the maximum combustion conditions. Other than wrestling with some torque-steer, it was very pleasant. CD
I installed my methanol upgrade this past weekend. I stepped up to the newer updated HFS-3. Now my car is sitting in the garage since it is 12 degrees outside and I had to login to work today.
My daughter gave me a $100.00 gift card specifically to buy something for my MINI R52. What would you all suggest? Everything I want is significantly more expensive than that, so I am looking for a little something to add. Looking for ideas?????
Do you have a "Light in Sight" for when your top is up and you are at a traffic light, craning to see the colors change? It's a prism that reflects the light color downwards and thus allows you to sit and not have to be a contortionist while stopped. They are made in Cincinnati. www.lightinsight.com, I think.
I have a Light in Sight in each of my MINIs and if feels sooooo good to sit in a normal seating position while at a stoplight. MINI windshields are notoriously almost perpendicular and the driver needs all the help he can get to safely get through stoplights without causing a wreck or spraining one's back or neck in the process.
My MCSa is getting new snow tires tomorrow, which is good, since we are getting snow tonight. My Bridgestone Blizzak Revos are 12 years old and have about 3/32s left. The guy who put them on told me that if the tires were not already mounted, he would not have put them on the car due to their age. The car drives okay, but then, knowing that the tires are so old aged, I'm not driving real fast, either, and the wear bars seem to be getting closer with all the dry road Winter driving I've had for the last month. Those tires have been wonderful.
About tire age. The rubber on the inside of the tire deteriorates from the oxygen in the air inside the tire. It is not visible from the outside and most experts agree that 6 years is the safest life of a tire although some people claim 10 years. One local tire company uses nitrogen instead of air to prevent this damage. Old tires are not to be trusted...