Well after months of thinking about test driving a MINI I finally went and did it the other day. I actually went in to look at a Pepper White one but when I got there it had been sold so the salesman showed me a 2007 regular Cooper, manual shift, in Astro Black. Took it for a spin (alone, which surprised me) and was very impressed. To me it had more than enough power but then again I'm used to driving a 1962 Sunbeam Alpine with 80 hp. Anyhow I've got a few questions that I'm hoping some of you might have answers for.

1) is the Astro Black colour a true black? Kind of a strange question I know but it seems to have a slight purplish hue to it. Maybe it just needed a good polish. Anyhow the colour is growing on me I must admit.
2) Is there no intermittent wiper setting? It's supposed to have some sort of rain sensor device which I'm assuming is supposed to automatically turn on your wipers but it didn't seem to be doing a very good job.
3) I have a sciatica problem and some cars with hard side bolsters on the seats can give my left leg a bit of a hard time (foot goes numb). I noticed the side bolsters were a little hard but no problems felt but it wasn't a very long drive. How have others found seat comfort on the regular Cooper. I only ask this because I've been suffering off and on with my '08 Tacoma (has sport seats) but that might also have a lot to do with the actual seat position in that vehicle.
4) This particular car comes with the MINI Next extra warranty. Is this worth the extra money I'm sure it tacks onto the car? I'm feeling it might be worth paying a bit more and buying one of these certified vehicles. I'd be interested in hearing others experiences. Being a dealer car it is priced a bit higher than a private sale of course. They're asking just over $22,000.00 Cdn. and the car has 44,000 km on it.
Thanks,
Alan

 

1. It's not a real black. It's more of a dark blue, but it can look black in certain light.
2. No intermittent wipers on these cars.
3. The seats are okay. The non-sport seats hurt my back and butt after a long drive, but I haven't had a single problem with the sport seats even after 5+ hour drives.
4. $22,000 Canadian sounds like a lot for a 4 year old car with that many kilometers on it, even with the extended warranty.

 

I have a 2007 Astro Black. People say it is blue.

 

Astro black is a very blue black.

Blue in direct light, black at night.

It is very very similar to BMW's Carbon Black...which is purrrrty

 

I've never been in a Mini with automatic wipers, but with the standard wipers you can turn them on intermittently with the button on the end of the wiper stalk. What you can't do is adjust how often they wipe.

 

The Astro Black has blue and silver metal flake in it. In bright sunlight and when it is well polished it reflects a bluish hue.

My '07 has intermittent wiper. It is the button on the end of the wiper stalk.

The stock seats are OK, not great but OK. It depends on how long your legs are. I have fairly long legs and a similar problem and for long trip I need to use the cruise control and move my legs around to not have a problem. The seats also have up and down adjustment which also changes the tilt of the seat bottom a little. This helps to improve the support and probable works better short legs than mine...Now the Euro Recaro JCW seats, every Mini needs these

 

CAD$22K sounds rather pricey for a 2007 justa Cooper with 40K km.

You could probably get a 2007 Cooper S for a little more than that?

 

Thanks for your replies. I gather the sport seats are only available on the JCW model?
Re: the price, I agree it does seem a tad expensive but he did say they are open to offers. I just noticed an '08 MCS with the same mileage (actually 2,000km less) at a Mitsubishi dealership for a bit less (one year newer and an S to boot). I might go test drive that one and see how I like it compared to the regular MINI. Seems the MINI dealerships charge the highest price but being a MINI Next car might account for that, I don't know. Besides our car prices are always more up here in Canada. A new MINI Cooper goes for about $34,000.00 or so up here the salesman told me, I'll have to see how that compares to the U.S.
Thanks again for your replies.
Alan

 

The S is everything you liked about the Justa and more.

You can get the sport seats in a Justa as an option, but whether or not the one you are looking at has them is something you will have to see for your see for yourself. The JCW Recaro seats are only available in Europe.

 

I don't know what part of Canada OP is in, but here in Victoria that's a fair price. I got my '06 with 30,000km for $17k, which was over $3k cheaper than MINI had other '06 Justas on the lot for (19k-22k.)

 

Hi Danny, I'm in Richmond so pretty close to you geographically speaking. Looking around some more $22,000.00 does seem to be a fairly common price for a MINI dealer to sell an '07. A bit more than some other dealers might sell but it does come with the MINI Next warranty which I like the idea of. It is funny when you see that a new MINI Cooper starts at about that price but I guess by the time you add all the options etc. it can get up over $30,000.00.
Now my next decision is manual or automatic. After driving the manual I thought that I wouldn't even bother looking at an auto but now I'm thinking I should at least test drive one. Traffic is so bad in the Vancouver area it almost makes more sense to get an automatic but I'm still a bit hesitant. Manuals are so much more fun to drive but I might get sick of it on a daily basis plus I have my two old Sunbeams if I want to drive a stickshift. Might be better with an S if I did go automatic.
Thanks,
Alan

 

MINIs seem to be more expensive in Canada than the US, by a fairly wide margin. That seems like an average price to me, and the warranty is valuable for peace of mind, even if you never need to use it. I actually bought a third party warranty, and if I don't use it, it's refundable. If you like driving a manual, I'd say go for it.. but I know how traffic can get on the mainland! I don't even take my car when I need to go over there. I spent a few days with a Clubman S, and the Turbo made the automatic fun. I have driven a base auto and I really didn't enjoy it. Can't hurt to test drive, though. Good luck in your search!
Dan

 

You've owned your car for three years almost and didn't know it had intermittent wipers?

 

Thanks Dan,
I think I will test drive an automatic S. As you say, it can't hurt. I understand the paddle shifters but I noticed there is also plus and minus symbols beside the floor shifter. Can you manually shift up and down using the shifter as well? That would at least make it a bit more manual like.
Alan

 

I live in Toronto and would not imagine my next MINI without a manual - despite the traffic. The MINI automatic is just a traditional slushbox, not an SMG unfortunately and I don't care for it... but that's just my opinion.

 

I gather he/she doesn't own it yet - just test driving.