I've been researching the Clubman and reading lots of posts in this forum. I've searched and found info on baby seats, but I'd like to hear from someone with older kids.

I have a 3 and almost 6 year old (so both in easy booster seats). We are looking to replace a high mileage van with something my wife can zip around to/from work (when I don't steal it), to client meetings, and pick up kids at schools/day care as needed. So I'm looking for someone with experience in this arena. Its probably perfect for my wifes work needs, but how is it as a kid hopper, running around to soccer games, picking up groceries, kids in and out, etc.? And figuring ownership time, how is it with 2 kids say 7 and 10?

On my past 2 recent cars with manual trannys my total average MPG was better than the EPA highway estimate. I know how to coax good MPG out of a stick. I would not be looking at the Mini if it only got 30 mpg and from what I read given my light foot 40 mpg is feasible. Our other car is a 1997 7-seat Audi A6 Wagon I love and will keep a long time, but we don't need 2 large gas pigs.

I'd be keeping price low with standard Clubman only adding premium pkg and a few trim options keeping under $23.5k, plus can easily wait for order.
My only other thought now is the forthcoming Jetta Wagen TDI at 55 mpg, but I bet the actual cost when released this summer will be at least $4-5k more than clubman.
Thanks.

 

Steve -
I don't have the real-world, have-the-tee-shirt experience to give you the endorsement that you are looking forward to, but we did the test drive with the 5 year-old, 45" 55 lbs little guy in his Britax Parkway, and we were sold. There was lots of room, more than enough for a second seat - and this is coming out of a Toyota Appliance, er, I mean Highlander.

Now mind you he is an only, and there is no vehicle with only two rows of seats built that will prevent the "he's breathing my air" kind of sibling complaints.

On a side note, I loved my '00 P-Wagon V6. It made tolerating the Toyota Appliance, er, I mean Highlander, that much harder.

 

I suspect your kids will love the Clubman. My kids are older -- 15 and 11 -- and they are thrilled with it. They (and frankly my adult friends) have no problem at all with the backseat or access to the backseat. I suppose there is some risk that younger kids would get tangled in the seat belt clambering in and out of the club door, but I think that is pretty unlikely.

In short, I think this is an excellent 2-kid family car.

 

the coolness of the MINI will more than make up for any space issues they might experience. I am pretty sure you won't hear any complaints from them

 

First let me say that I don't have a Clubman. I drive a "regular" Cooper and have 2 kids in the back seat. My children are 4 and 6 years old.

When it's just me and the kids we fit just fine. Adding my husband to the passenger seat makes it a wee bit crowded. My kids don't seem to mind though. They say that they LOVE my car. I think their favorite feature is the huge sunroof.

At a recent MINI club meeting we got to check out a Clubman. With the passenger side doors open and the seat moved a little bit forward my kids could get the car without having to fold the seat forward. My husband and I LOVED that.

Seeing the improvement in the rear leg room and cargo space makes me think that the Clubman would be a great "mommymobile".

 

As a "regular" mini owner with a 6yr old and 8 yr old, I can vouch for the viability of using a MINI as an around towner. I coach soccer and T-ball and I can get the equipment bag, basebal T, two boys, and a couple bags in the car. My boys are pretty patient about the scrambling in and out. Their only beefs are "we don't like dad's music" (i run a kiddy music free zone), and the fact that the back windows don't roll down. We use my wife's Passat for overnighters and big grocery runs with the 4 of us, but the Clubman may make those runs more feasible.

After taking the boys over to the dealership to scramble in and out of a Clubby, if I was buying a MINI today, I would definitely be getting the bigger version.

 

I think if you haul the family around, you should skip any options but the MFSW and then spend the money on an "S". I don't think loaded with four people the Base model will have enough pull. I have a wife, a 4 year old and one on the way, wife still says we have to take her truck (FORD Edge) on vacation in July, but I am chipping away at her, so that will be me, wife, mother-in-law, 4 year old and luggage. I'll keep you posted!

 

CDMINI - Steve says he has a "light foot" on the gas. I didn't notice much difference in acceleration with three adults in my manual base Clubman, or when hauling 400 pounds of topsoil, for that matter. A base Clubman manual can certainly handle a spouse and two kids without getting bogged down, and it gets about 10% better mileage than the "S", and top mileage is another one of Steve's criteria.

 

Hmmm, interesting. I guess I'll have to think about dragging the family to the dealer and let the kids in and out to see how it feels (oh the dealer will love that).
And yep, I'm looking for great mpg. There is something about a stick and a mpg computer readout that makes you want to squeeze every mile out of a car. In my former Passat it was a personal competition to see how high I could get each trip. I'd bet if a mpg readout was mandatory in cars, millions of gallons of gas would be saved each year in the US.

Sure a Prius costs the same as a MINI, but I have to enjoy driving it too.

My old '97 Jetta had 23.14 lbs/HP. The Clubman has 23.08 lbs/HP. The Jetta was very peppy and loaded with skis and gear could drive in cruise control to Vermont on the very hilly I-89 and not vary pace by even 1 mph, not 1.
Now the MINI has a 6th gear so I'm guessing I'd have to downshift to 5th for the big hills in VT, but it also won't have to rev at 3400 rpm at 75 mph on the local highways then either.
My wife doesn't mind manual, but would likely normally get an automatic. However, after seeing the Clubman at the auto show where the bug first bit, and her really liking it, she said the car must have a standard or it wouldn't be right (whoo-hoo!).

 

You would be MORE than happy with the Clubman - go for it... It's got just enough more room like others have said.... We have no kids at home to cart around, but plenty of friends that have been in it and 4 adults fit fine too.

Donna

 

We have the non "S" Clubman and at times drive around with 3 adults and an 11 year old. I haven't heard any complaints about the space. It goes fine with the extra weight. You can tell you have the added weight but you don't feel like you're dragging a boat around. We get 39mpg calculated - 41mpg by the computer.

The "S"/Turbo cost around $4000 more - you can buy more than 1000 gallons of gas for that - With the Non "S" version that's 40,000 miles!

My brother-in-law has a Mini Cooper "S". It is a little more fun to drive. I don't drive to beat the other cars - I'm racing the mpg monster all the time.

 

Funny you should mention the Passat. I just sold my 03 5spd 1.8t wagon yesterday and the average over the last 4 tanks was 27.9mpg. I always had my MFD set to mpg and would switch back and forth between the trip mpg and the total mpg - on long freeway trips I'd be glued to that readout trying to get over 32mpg. I'm almost regretting it already...

I'd been driving it for 2 years w/the 93 octane program from APR and just recently decided to switch it to stock. I didn't really notice much of a performance hit and my mileage went up 1-2mpg per trip . Made me wonder how much $$ I might have saved over the long haul.

Oh well - just going to be carless for 4 weeks now while the mini ships out.

 

Not quite true. The net difference between the Cooper Clubman and the Cooper S Clubman is more like $2,000 between both cars. Initially, we wanted a Cooper Clubman but changed the order to a Clubman S and could not be happier. Those extra $2K give you more power, effortless acceleration, better suspension/seats all for a few less MPG in comparison to the standard model. I have driven the Cooper Clubman and liked it a lot, for for highway cruising, I much prefer the extra punch of the turbocharged car. We have a 18 month old toddler and our experience with the Clubman as a family hauler has been fantastic. As a matter of fact, this weekend we will be leaving to Walt Disney World in the Clubman for a family vacation...can't wait! We are also a 2 MINI family and the MINI is the most kid friendly car you can ever imagine.

 

stevecaz,

If you want a MINI, the Clubman is a great choice for your family size. I have two daughters, 8 and 5, and they like the car and fit great back there.

But... we also have a Honda Odyssey and no amount of MINI love can tip the scales on which car is more convenient for, as you say, "a kid hopper, running around to soccer games, picking up groceries, kids in and out, etc."

With the van, the kids can let themselves in and out of the car. In the Clubman, with just one parent up front, he/she must get out, go around, open the passenger door, slide the seat ahead, open the club door, and finally the kids egress. (Yes, I know they can get out the driver's side too, people.)

I love my Clubman and the gas mileage is getting to be a bigger deal every week. But the trade-offs are real. Plus, I don't want you to buy one, find you can't live with it, dump it cheap, and hurt all of our resale values!

Good luck,

 

I feel safer knowing that my kids can't just "Jump out of the car" on their own, without me first opening the door.

 

Steve,
I've got 5 and 8 year old boys. Our Clubman works out fine for the running around town. The only issue I have run into is for that monthly Costco run and the weekly grocery store runs, there is not enough room in the back for all the groceries. I usually end up stacking all the extra stuff that doesnt fit in the passenger seat (because I usually have the boys with me while shopping, so I can't put the rear seats down). With several bad past experiences on that, I now take the Suburban shopping.

Thats about my only negative thing I can say about the car for daily family use. Everything else is perfect.

I hope this helps and good luck!

 

Well I could never see being a 2 MINI family, so this is why we will keep the Audi Wagon. I do love minivans like jvandewark since they do it all down to plywood sheets from Home Depot. Our current van though is high mileage and becoming a maintenance cost hog, hence my thoughts on fun and economy. Ideally I would get the Clubman, and also get rid of the Audi for another minivan, but the Audi has no payments, drives great, has AWD needed for trips to VT, still can seat 7, and has been a very low cost/year car to own. It just can't move plywood or large furniture like a minivan (and I'm surprised how much that need comes up).

The part about getting out, go around, open the passenger door, slide the seat ahead, open the club door, and finally the kids egress is something I have thought about. But I think in the end the Clubman is more the weekday work car and weekend quick trip alone car; not as much the run around to kids sport games, BJs, Target, Lowes errands car without knowing a specific agenda of smaller things your getting.

 

Then if thats the case, then ON with the CLUBMAN!!!

They're perfect 'zip to work and around town' cars...in my opinion.

 

No problem with the "jump" door here. My daughter calls it "HER" door, she is only 4 1/2 but she gets there before I do. Then on the way out, she either climbs to the front or I tilt my seat forward and out she scampers. The key will be how to manage the luggage for 3 adults and 1 child!

 

If optimizing mpg is important then a Cooper is a good choice especially w/ a stick given the added control you have. I regularly get 40 mpg around town in my coupe...once I really tried to really see what it would do mpg-wise and got over 42 mpg! Most folks aren't willing to go that far (I used all the tricks), but 38-40 city is pretty realistic.

The big thing I'd say is that if you enjoy MINIs, get one, let the kids in on it and have fun. Life goes by too quickly and enjoyment of motoring is one of those things that can build some great memories for both you and them. I will say this...motoring in a MINI continues to exceed my expectations. The car is a delight.

 

This strikes me as a bit odd. The Mini is absolutely the perfect runaround car because it is small, nippy and thrifty. Also the rear deck whilst not having plasma swallowing capacity w/the seats up is surprisingly roomy. It's actually bigger than my wife's R350 when she has the 3rd row up and if you need to get something long in there, the rear seats are a one-touch flip -down.


My Passat wagon always had the child locks enabled in the rear doors so inevitably I'd have to go around to get my 5yr old daughter out of the passenger rear side rather than have her climb over the arm-rest or boot the ashtray in the center console moving over to the driver's rear. What's going to be different about a clubman in that respect? If the kids are old enough to get out on their own why not just reach across and open the passenger door for them and let them slide the seat forward on their own? - maybe I'm missing something here...

 

ClubmanS - Yes, the "S" is a great car, but it's $3,500 more than a base Clubman, not $2,000 more. A base Clubman is $19,950, and the "S" is $23,450. For some, that's a pretty big difference.

 

In my case, a similarly configured Cooper Clubman vs Cooper S Clubman came out exactly at $2K difference.

 

ClubmanS - I agree that adding the "standard" features of the "S" as options on the base narrows the cost difference between the two. If you want most of the standard "S" features as options on the base model (where available) it can make the "S" a much more attractive option. I wanted to post the actual MSRP figures for the two models for those not familiar with the pricing.

 

Great question. The Clubman is my wifes daily driver and she hauls around our two boys who are 9 and 11. She absolutely loves it and so do the boys. Granted it is not as easy as you might think to get the clubdoor open from the backseat but they manage and it works well. I'd say that more than 50% of the time if the boys need to just jump out at a stop it is almost easier for them to have my wife tilt her seat up a tad and they head out the driver's side. But overall, around town and running errands and the boys to all their events like karate, art, etc. it is a tremendous car. Now all of my wife's friends want one - and are considering trading from their monster extra large size suvs. The only drawback that she mentioned as I'm writing is the Costco run - there just isn't enough room to pack in a load of TP and paper towels along with all the other stuff. Hope this helps your decision