Thinking about Buying a Mini Cooper...NEED HELP!!!

Are you talking about the new MINI or the classic Mini?

"miniownerwannabe" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@localhost.talkaboutautos.com:

student looking for a fun car, but reliable. I live in New England meaning lots of snow and ice. I've searched many sights on the web, reading review after review after review...I LOVE the looks of this car but if it's not going to be reliable and run well, then I'm afraid i will have to resort to something more boring...I'm worried that since it's a foreign car, that parts may be too expensive, and mechanics would be hard to come by...I've read all about the problems with the tires, windshields, transmissions, etc....Is this a practicle car for a college student who has the money to pay for it, but not the money to have to deal with foreign parts and large mechanic bills? PLEASE HELP! ANY INFO WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!

First of all, you can't form an opinion of the MINI's (or any other car's) reliability on websites and forums. A lot more people take the time to bitch about their problems than write about how everything is going well.

EVERY car make has lemons, and MINI is no exception. But there are thousands of MINIs out there (including mine) that have had ZERO problems. Plus it's a brand new model and needed to get its kinks worked out, so you have a bunch of first year cars out there with growing pains. They've solved most of those early problems out at this point.

I've found that MINI parts and labor are no more costly than any other car, so that's not really an issue.

I live in New England too, and the MINI is great in the snow. I did put snow tires on it however.

Just to let you know I have a Cooper S Sept build 2003 - only had 1 minor problem. A/C faulty - replaced under 3 year warranty. You can get an extended warranty and won't have to worry about paying out of pocket on faults for a few more years. I would recommend the car highly.

student looking for a fun car, but reliable. I live in New England meaning lots of snow and ice. I've searched many sights on the web, reading review after review after review...I LOVE the looks of this car but if it's not going to be reliable and run well, then I'm afraid i will have to resort to something more boring...I'm worried that since it's a foreign car, that parts may be too expensive, and mechanics would be hard to come by...I've read all about the problems with the tires, windshields, transmissions, etc....Is this a practicle car for a college student who has the money to pay for it, but not the money to have to deal with foreign parts and large mechanic bills? PLEASE HELP! ANY INFO WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!