Your opinion Miata or Mini?

BoxheadTim wrote: There's more to life than "because cheap" .

I agree with that for the most part, but if the MINI requires as much maintenance as it seems to? I'm looking elsewhere for my giggles. And spending less for them in the process.

My dad has owned 4 Mini's 2 of them where on leases and 2 of them he bought. If you are buying or leasing new and you have a Mini Dealership in your town, I would defiantly go with the mini, because it has the zero maintenance deal and can be had cheaply. The problem my dad has now is that he moved away from the mini dealership, the closest is 100 miles away, so anything he needs to get fixed he has to drive it 100 miles.

BoxheadTim wrote: There's more to life than "because cheap" .

With the Mini it's "Cheap Because"...

This is why we lease our MINI's. The 2011 Cooper was dead nuts reliable the 3 years we had it, only going back to the dealer for scheduled maintenance (and one CEL that came on in the first 60 miles, due to an oil cap that hadn't been tightened during PDI). The 2014 has been up to Maine and back,, up to CT and back, and down to Florida and back with nary an issue (and long trips like that should be impossible ac cording to most forum posters, as MINIs are so unreliable that they break just leaving your driveway, right?). Regular Coopers tend to be more reliable than the S, it's true, (at least for the older models, the '10 and up seem to be pretty decent overall regardless of model) and so long as you stay away from the automatics/CVTs, you eliminate most of the failure points for them.

Last one, the 6 speed Cooper:

And the new turbo fun toy:

In reply to Chris_V:

And... Now I'm looking at Mini leases.

The op's question was in regards to used $4k cars though. In which case I would be more worried about reliability.

In reply to Chris_V:

Wait I'm confused. The reason you lease is so you can say they're reliable for 4 years?

I think they got ironed out a bit more by 2011. We're talking used coopers that are about $4k buy in. That's old Cooper territory where there's lots to go wrong or maintain on them.

I'd say Cooper with a roof rack but at least in a 500 mile search from my area. Most of the Mini's under $5k or under have something wrong with them or super high miles with a couple rare ones with decent mileage or nothing wrong with them.

The Mini's under $5k with nothing wrong are simply between breakdowns.

clutchsmoke wrote: In reply to Chris_V: Wait I'm confused. The reason you lease is so you can say they're reliable for 4 years?

Basically. lol. I want my wife to be in something that I don't have to work on, is safe, and she finds fun. Leasing MINIs is a perfect way to do that, and they've been reliable enough for LONG distance road trips. Plus we get to write the lease off partially as a business expense for her home business. Again, considering many people thik that even new MINIs are unrelaible, I have at least expereince enough to know that since about '10 or so, that's not actually true. Sure, they are near the bottom of the JD Power surveys for problems per 100 vehicles, but they still have fewer problems than a 6 year old Accord or Camry had when new, and no one woudl call those unrelaible even now. Just shows how really good even the worst new cars are now.

I think they got ironed out a bit more by 2011. We're talking used coopers that are about $4k buy in. That's old Cooper territory where there's lots to go wrong or maintain on them.

I'd get an old non S cooper, as they didn't have most of the issues that the S versions seemed to, so long as you stay away from the CVT automatics (which is something none of us here would probably buy anyhow). And yeah, by '10-11, most of the issues were ironed out anyhow. I'd have no problem buying an '11-up Cooper S. in fact, the short list of next cars includes the '00-05 XKR convertible, the '08-11 Miata, and the '12-13 Cooper S roadster. With my wife also working at the local MINI dealership as a MINI Genius, the latter might be moved to the front of the list.

I can fit in a Mini fine, but what is the fitment for a 6'2" 230lbs guy in a Miata? I have a long torso so fitment of a roof can be a challenge sometimes.

trigun7469 wrote: I can fit in a Mini fine, but what is the fitment for a 6'2" 230lbs guy in a Miata? I have a long torso so fitment of a roof can be a challenge sometimes.

I'd say not good. I'm 6'1" with a long torso... and I ditched my NB Miata after only 3 months. Before that I tried carving seat foam out until my spine was resting on steel. This caused back pain which was only cured by selling the Miata. The pain hasn't returned in almost a decade.

The MINI and FRS/BRZ fit my torso just fine! Oddly enough some larger vehicles don't... I remember borrowing an older Town & Country minivan with the seat (at lowest position) so high I had to duck to drive.

I also hate sunroofs for the 1.5" or so of headroom they steal.

trigun7469 wrote: I can fit in a Mini fine, but what is the fitment for a 6'2" 230lbs guy in a Miata? I have a long torso so fitment of a roof can be a challenge sometimes.

If you don't remove some of the seat cushion, you may have to buy a racing seat and bolt it to the floor. I'm 6'1" with long legs and I have problems fitting in one. I've autocrossed Miatas owned by guys quite a bit taller than me, so you can do it, but it won't be a stock one.

In reply to trigun7469: I'm 5'11" with an almost 29" inseam, and short arms. If I keep a Miata around, it gets an aftermarket wheel, seat bottom somewhat forward and leaned back, so that I have head clearance. I have DD'd them, mainly in VA, though with winter trips to ON since 2000. If you learn to pack well, they are totally doable. I would love a MINI, though we don't have a dealership in town, and that's the sort of vehicle I would want to own under lease with them handling all maintenance.