At least I do. I first had heated seats on my '94 Infiniti J30 and absolutely loved them. When I ordered my PT in 2000 I made sure to get them, so when the car arrived without them I threw a "Southern Girl Hissy Fit", which means I welled up, batted my eyelashes and lamented over my disappointment and the hardship this would cause me and my fanny over the next few years . Ok, not really, but I did convince to dealership to add them at no charge. I just love the fact that I can turn those on in the morning when I start the car to warm it up and know that when I come back in 5 minutes to head off to the bus stop that the seats will already be warm. They warm up way before the engine does, so I don't have to wait if I'm in a hurry.
As to resale, if I were buying used and had to choose between 2 similar vehicles but only 1 had seat heaters, I'd definately get the one with the heaters.
Good luck and enjoy the ordering process!
Annette

 

Ding, Ding, Ding! Two options for the MINI that are absolute "musts" in my mind are the CWP and MFSW. IMHO, the MFSW shouldn't even BE an option. It should be std equipment.

And from the perspective of someone who's MINI will most likely be a used one, the MFSW is must and the CWP would be a deal-clincher. As rare as the MINI is, there are still enough used ones out there to look for a car that has the options you want and I would probably not buy a car w/o heated seats after having them in my current and previous cars. Sure, I drove for years in cars without heated seats, but now that I have them -

I suppose what I'm getting at is neither option is very expensive to add when building the car new, but both greatly enhance the car's long-term value. If you can absolutely guarantee you'll NEVER sell your MINI, sure, dont' bother getting them, but let's be realistic here...

Or to put it another way, I'd pay say.. $20K for a car with the CWP, but there's no way I would pay $19,500 for a car without it.

 

For the $350 that it is ... its worth every penny ... $350 man !!!!


Most other car manufacturers sell this type of package from $700-$1000

And those heated seats are divine.

Close thread

 

Long live the heated seats! My backside is grateful for this cheap option every winter, or even during the Fall while driving around town with the windows open.

Get 'em!!!

 

DCE, it sounds like you ordered your MCS fairly similar to mine. and I did order the cold weather package (the only thing I could live without from my spec is the chrome int. but I added it as a bit of a treat to myself). I think I have a great argument/opinion to share with this option. My dad got heated seats in his envoy denali and flat out told me to get the option if I could justify it at all. Living here by philly I think we may have similar climates too. Well the parents went to hawaii for a few weeks and I've been driving his truck. The first day it was misty and starting to get cold and miserable. I remembered the heated seats and turned them on and they are AMAZING. they heat up in 1/2 the time that the truck does (not sure how long a MINI takes to heat up) and they really warm you through and through. I use the high to get the temp up quick and the low setting after I start to feel it being warm. Now the heated seats are one of the things I'm going to be looking forward to the most! Sure it's a little bit of luxury and not absolute necessity... but so is the car. A base Toyota corolla would be more practical, but I'm getting the MINI for myself. Even if you are only financing for 24 months it's only an extra 13 bucks or so extra in the payment. I'm pretty sure every time you use them you will think they're worth that 13 bucks!

 

Give me a cd player and a/c and I'm happy. My last vehicle was a 1989 Chevy S-10, so I wasn't about to spend a bunch of money on stuff I had never had. If you've never had it and never wished for it, you won't miss it. At least I don't.

 

when we test cars at work.. they dont pass my "ok" unless they have heated seats!!

I love them and i'll never own a car with out them.

I can live with out the other heated options in the package, I just need my seats!

 

My perspective:
- I live in a temperate climate
- I'm a diehard minimalist.
- I'm not really into pampering myself.
- I've had cars I really loved that barely had any heat at all...you were lucky if you had an AM radio and a door handle.

Based on that, I think the CWP is an "option" because....it is optional. You don't need it. You may want it, though. It is a good deal. If I were to get a cabrio, I think it would be nice.

 

Not to go off topic, but there are options I wish i got!!!
1. Anthracite headliner.
2. Rear fog light (looks better than the plastic insert+the extra switch in the dash.)
3. convenience pack(want homelink).

These are all very expensive to do after the car has been delivered, compared to when ordering.

Thats why i got the LSD.

Don't include the JCW as one of these options... its $6000.
And you could do the same aftermarket for 1/2!!!

 

Might not be the route you take, but I sacrificed metallic paint and picked up rear fog lamp and cold weather pkg with the savings... I am now officially spoiled it's great!

Tatt

 

When ordering my '06 cabrio the heated seats were $270 and the cold package was $300. Living in South Carolina I was only interested in the heated seats for top-down driving but for $30 more it seemed like a good deal. I'll probably never have to deal with frozen washer jets in this climate but if it keeps my mirrors clear it's worth the 30 bucks, especially with the poor rear visibility with the cabrios. I'll certainly recoupe that 30 bucks on resale of the cold weather package vs heated seats only. I do agree with the philosophy of keeping it simple, but it's something that's not adding any significant weight or complexity to the car.

 

In Indiana -- cold weather package is nice, but not a necessity. It can get cold here, and it is nice to have a seat heater while waiting for the engine to warm. I never had them before, but they are really nice to have now. Passengers (esp my gf) really appreciate the bum-warmer on those colder winter days. I don't regret for one second spending an extra $300 for the package

 

Chili Pack is $300, not $350. Where the heck you getting your info from? One of those dealers that charge $5K over MSRP

 

Of course I love my seats: great for mountain motoring in the twisties with the sunroof open and windows cracked so I can really hear my revs, plus they really relax your back when you've had a tense day.

You really need to look at options on your MINI as: What will I wish I would have gotton a year or two down the line? I wish I would have gotton the H/K, but I've come to terms with it. If you even use the seats two or three times a year, you'll be thankful you got them.

On the other hand-
The heated mirrors, if they are similar to other cars and trucks, are two thin pieces of sandwiched glass with an anti-freeze liquid in between them.
I was driving my bosses HUGE Caddy Escalade down some super tight streets in Denver, and I connected mirrors with a parked work truck. Well, the mirror exploded, and the liquid went everywhere. On the side of the car, on the side of the dash (I had the window open), it was running down the side in streaks. Well I tried to wash it off, and water couldn't get it off, so I used some alchohol (what was I supposed to do?!?!?:impatient ) and it got it off but not before it started to corrode the the finish, especially the plastic dash and side skirts. This stuff is super heavy-duty. The whole side of the car had to get repainted, and the dash had to be relaced. I didn't have to pay the deductable ($500) and I told him I was used to driving a MINI, not a 10 foot wide mobile command center.

So if you do get the package, mind your mirrors.

-Steve

 

The mirrors get warm, they must have heaters

 

I'm not going to try to convince anyone of anything. I'm just being chatty. FWIW, I live in socal. I wouldn't even begin to consider the cold package myself.

If it's cold enough to freeze water, the ambient humidity will probably be low so you wouldn't see much condensation. In a foggy situation -- that is warm and cold air mixing, with water condensing out in the atmosphere, there might be some condentation on any cool surface. But I really wouldn't expect to see it happen on a side mirror, especially if the car is moving.


This is the only one that seems useful to me. Every night this week, we've had lows in the high 50's to low 60's, and in the morning, it takes about 5 minutes for the window to warm up enough to stop fogging. Warm water would significantly decrease that amount of time. But then again, ambient temp water will often do the trick, too. (I love the reactions of people who live where real seasons exist when I tell them I just hose down my window in the morning if it had gotten iced overnight)

Don't get me started. =D I think heated seats are a huge waste. They're the number two reason why I won't buy a magnum. (number one with a bullet -- no pun intended -- being the lack to a manual tranny model) They decided that you can't get the V8 without also getting heated leather seats. The only options are color and RWD vs AWD. In general, I have no need for the extra weight and extra potential problems.


Wow. You're a man of my own. My added-expense options when I finalize the deal in a few days will be: Limited slip diff, metallic paint, anthracite headliner, chrome interior, and cockpit chrono. And then I intend to buy and install myself the aux aduio jack and a chrome grill. They've tried to sell me on the packages by saying you'll save $x on this exquipment by getting a package and I just say, no I'd be spending $y more for stuff I don't really want.

 

Anthracite headliner?!?!?! That's $200 and it doesn't do sh*t.

TWO-HUNDRED.

Anyway, I think the heated mirrors use an element heater behind the sandwiched-liquid-glass. The sandwich just evenly distributes the heat across the surface.

 

You really should consider the MFSW, (cruise control), even if it's just for resaleability.

 

Hehe, I used to do that to my mom while riding in her old Volvo a lot. They took a little bit to heat up, so all of a sudden, she'd realize she was getting warm (mind you I'd do this in the heat of a Florida summer), realize why, and she'd yell at me =) In a mostly amused way though =)

 

considered. declined.

It does a few things. It looks FAR better. It should be the stock configuration, IMO. It also saves me the trouble of locating and installing dark A-pillar covers. And with the chrome interior (another $200 option that 'does nothing'), it makes the stock loadout look absolutely proletariat. And in terms of color and contrast composition, it makes the interior 'make sense'.

Besides, $200 financed over 5 years is less than $3.50 a month. And I know for a fact that many people here spend more than twice that to replace their stripes every year or so.

So, basically, it's my money and my car so I'll get what I like and I want. If I could find one on a lot to examine in person, I might even consider getting the piano dash. I like dark interiors.

 

I may not agree with effusant, but having the choice is one thing that makes the MINI so great. :smile: