Opinions please Mini Cooper 1.6D for Commute

Juicethief

Hi
Just wondering if anyone would recommend this for a 50 mile e/w a day commute? love the car, but is it practical?

Thanks

starbelgrade

Practical in which sense?

Owen

Practical in size? No, not a chance. That's what the Clubman and forthcoming jeep are for. Economical - hell yes. I've seen 85mpg on one, and usually got around 68 with hard driving.

One thing to bear in mind about the Diesel, is that the engine is a lot heavier than the petrol, which makes the front of the car squat down. The suspension was never altered to compensate, and so if you're gunning it on a twisty road the back of the car ends up being quite twitchy and light.

No point in buying a 07 one either - I know they're out there, but the tax on the 08 is 104 Euro.

Juicethief

Sorry starbelgrade -- Is it comfortable, reliable, economical etc, I guess

Owen

Juicethief wrote: »

Is it comfortable, reliable, economical etc, I guess

Comfort depends on wheel size. For Irish roads, either 15"s or 16"s suit the MINI perfectly. The 1.6 Cooper D uses the R56 chassis which was deliberately setup to be a softer drive than the model that went before it.

It's extremely reliable, you'll find the same engine in the Peugeot 307. It's 110bhp, which can be remapped to 150bhp easily for more power, but more impressively, without any remapping, it has the same torque as the Cooper S - 260nm (Which is only 20nm off the 3.0 BMW Z4).

Economical as I've said before, definitely.

Make sure you get one with at least a Pepper Pack as you'll end up with leather steering wheel, aircon, front fogs, trip computer, exterior chrome pack, interior storage pack (Gives you a bigger boot when no one's in the back), ambient interior light pack (Change interior lighting through 5 colours).

If you go for one with a Chili pack - you get all of the above, plus sports seats, sport steering wheel, 1/2 leather seats, lumbar support, and 16" alloys.

Juicethief

PaintDoctor wrote: »

Comfort depends on wheel size. For Irish roads, either 15"s or 16"s suit the MINI perfectly. The 1.6 Cooper D uses the R56 chassis which was deliberately setup to be a softer drive than the model that went before it.

It's extremely reliable, you'll find the same engine in the Peugeot 307. It's 110bhp, which can be remapped to 150bhp easily for more power, but more impressively, without any remapping, it has the same torque as the Cooper S - 260nm (Which is only 20nm off the 3.0 BMW Z4).

Economical as I've said before, definitely.

Make sure you get one with at least a Pepper Pack as you'll end up with leather steering wheel, aircon, front fogs, trip computer, exterior chrome pack, interior storage pack (Gives you a bigger boot when no one's in the back), ambient interior light pack (Change interior lighting through 5 colours).

If you go for one with a Chili pack - you get all of the above, plus sports seats, sport steering wheel, 1/2 leather seats, lumbar support, and 16" alloys.

Something along these lines? http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/200934340124718/sort/pricedesc/usedcars/make/mini/price-to/11000/fuel-type/diesel/maximum-age/up_to_3_years_old/postcode/l35ul/page/1/radius/1500?previous=%2Fsearch%2Fresults%2Fusedcars%2Fpostcode%2Fl35ul%2Fradius%2F1500%2Fmake%2Fmini%2Fprice-to%2F11000%2Ffuel-type%2Fdiesel%2Fmaximum-age%2Fup_to_3_years_old%2Fsort%2Fpricedesc%2Fpage%2F1&anchor=advert200934340124718&logcode=p

Owen

Without seeing photos, and going on description only, that seems good value. If it's 10850 sterling, you'd probably buy it for 10500 (Discounts in the UK are always smaller, plus the Cooper D is highly sought after as it doesn't pay a congestion charge in London), and VRT would only be 14%. The value is probably as a result of the high mileage - but on UK roads, that's probably low stress motoring.

The only thing to be cautious of is colour. Pure Silver is a death sentence for MINIs, as is Mellow Yellow. Pepper White while popular, accounts for 1 in 3 MINIs, so if you want to sell it again later it'll be a pain. Best colours to go for would be Nightfire or Chili Red with a White Roof, Lightning Blue with the White Roof, Black all over, or Red with a Black Roof.

Juicethief

PaintDoctor wrote: »

Without seeing photos, and going on description only, that seems good value. If it's 10850 sterling, you'd probably buy it for 10500 (Discounts in the UK are always smaller, plus the Cooper D is highly sought after as it doesn't pay a congestion charge in London), and VRT would only be 14%. The value is probably as a result of the high mileage - but on UK roads, that's probably low stress motoring.

The only thing to be cautious of is colour. Pure Silver is a death sentence for MINIs, as is Mellow Yellow. Pepper White while popular, accounts for 1 in 3 MINIs, so if you want to sell it again later it'll be a pain. Best colours to go for would be Nightfire or Chili Red with a White Roof, Lightning Blue with the White Roof, Black all over, or Red with a Black Roof.

that one was Pure Silver unfortunately- although as I'll be puting up a lot of mileage the resale value probably wont be great anyway!