I just purchased an almost new Mini Cooper that I’m absolutely in love with. I’m so much in love with it that I’m wondering whether I should reserve driving that car for special occasions like weekends or dates, and buy a daily driver car, a beater kind of car.
It would probably be a very economical vehicle like a Prius or Yaris. What do you people think? Yay or nay?
I came in here expecting to see a thread about a 1982 Nissan you planned on driving to work.
Honest, I would say just drive the Mini, specifically because a Yaris is going to be just as nice (since it will be relatively new) and it doesn’t make much sense to save a nice car by driving a nice car.
I guess that just echoes pool’s post but I wanted to throw in my two cents.
I would imagine that unless you have specifically setup the Mini for certain things (as in made it extremely show-condition only by modifications) I would drive it. How much cooler could a car be, right?
You buy a beater to save your high-quality car from wear and tear.
A Mini does not qualify as such.
The amount you’d spend on the Yaris would certainly exceed any maintenance costs incurred by daily driving of such a spectacularly average car as a Mini.
This is funny. I’ve been thinking of posting a thread called, “How bad an idea is it for me to buy a second car,” because I want to buy a Mini to drive around for fun.
I’d keep my current car, a perfectly good, two-year-old econo-sedan. But at least it has four doors and room to carry some goods around.
Tell me more about how fun it is to drive the Mini.
This is what I was thinking when I saw the thread title, too. To me a beater is a POS car that runs, that you have no intention of doing maintenance on, to get you through a cashflow slump, while one needs a car, and can’t quite afford a better vehicle.
Buying a second daily use vehicle to spare a more loved vehicle never was what I’d call a beater car. I don’t get the desire to protect a Cooper Mini, but that’s your milage. If you can afford it, and have the space to park the spare vehicle, why not?
Driving my Mini Cooper is Great! I bought an almost new 2006 with only 8000 miles on it, and pretty well loaded (no leather, but heated seats, sunroof, on board computer, aux input). I researched this car for about 2 weeks before I took the big plunge and I got an EXCELLENT deal on it. You want to get a 2006 if you can help it because it’s been redesigned in 2007, because of new European laws to protect people who get hit by cars. The new look didn’t sit well with me, not as stylish, not as cute, and one never buys a first year redesign. The 2006 model was the last year of a design which started in 2003 and perfected year by year. So all/most of it’s problems are ironed out.
I disagree with the person who said it was not a nice car. It’s got a very stylish design, it drives like a BMW (obviously since BMW makes it), it’s very unique in terms of not many people drive them (well at least not in Oklahoma City), but the proof is in the resale value of these cars. It’s a fact the Mini’s are among the top if not at the top of cars that retain much of their resale value over the years. This says something in terms of the quality and actual driving experience of the car. It’s one of the only cars I know that you can make uniquely your own by adding stripes and various other little adornments (check out mightystripes.com).
I drive very conservatively. I don’t crave speed. I’m more interested in style and fuel economy, so I opted for the base Cooper, not the S type, which gets about 1-2 mpg less than the base. I’m getting about 36 mpg, but this is driving conservatively.
The driving experience is excellent! I highly recommend getting one.
The only down side with these cars is that the cargo space is tiny. 5 cubic feet with the back seats raised, more if one lowers them. So I think of the car as a sports/luxury car that gets excellent fuel economy, and it definitely turns heads (female heads too ; ) ). I definitely think it’s a status symbol, up there with Mercedes, Lexus, BMW, but an affordable one, which is the great thing about it.
The ones that aren’t so decked out in terms of options are probably less fun to drive, so I would recommend getting one with most of the options (sports package, premium package, etc).
The original question I posed…I guess “beater” wasn’t what I meant. I guess I meant a second car to drive around during the week, pour the miles on like a Yaris or Prius, inexpensive but still reliable, and drive the Mini for the special occasions, to keep it’s resale value.
Though I can afford having a “nice” car, I have only driven beater cars. Right now my daily driver is a 1995 Pontiac Sunbird. I got it free from my uncle a couple years ago. Before that, I drove a 1987 Mustang. And before that, a 1980 Mustang.
Don’t forget to look at factors such as insurance on the second car. My insurance was cheaper with two cars when the second just had liability but went up when I got a second car that I put full coverage on. You also have higher maintenance costs, though with two cars each gets fewer miles put on them.
I do the two vehicle thing because one is a gas hog and the other gets 25-30 mpg - and is a convertible If gas cost $1 a gallon I’d drive the pickup more.
I say go for it. Just make sure you get a second vehicle that you like, not one you bought just because it was cheap.
This is really my first car that I can honestly say that I bought partly NOT for practical reasons. Prior to this I’d driven a 92 Honda Accord for 13 years, and then a 1999 Honda Civic for 2 years. Those 2 were great in terms of reliability and fuel economy. I’ve had my eye on a Mini Cooper for a couple years and just took the plunge one day. I could have played it safe and stayed with the Civic, but I thought one only lives once, and why not stand out from the crowd for once.
As Ferris Beuler once said, “If you have the means, I highly recommend acquiring one”.
When I got my 1994 Yamaha Seca II I thought I shold get a ‘beater’ bike for commuting and save my shiny new one for weekends. That bike has 80,000 miles on it now. When I bought my Yamaha YZF-R1 I thought I’d save it for the weekends and ride the Seca II to work. It’s got about 15,000 miles on it now. (The low mileage is due to more limited riding opportunities in the PNW, and not to a desire to keep the mileage down.) My '66 MGB is almost finished. An improperly installed freeze plug (the engine guy was more familiar with American engines) caused the coolant to stain the engine, so that will have to be detailed, and the car is in the shop now to have the lids and doors fitted better due to the body guy’s poor job of it. This one I’ll save as my ‘weekend car’. Sure, I will.
Well, feel free to disagree with me, but keeping the resale value doesn’t seem like the best justification here. From a financial standpoint, it seems like the best idea would be to take the money you would spend on a second car (+insurance+maintenance) and invest it. You could probably siphon off money for the occasional rental and still come out ahead. Whats more, it doesn’t really sound like you plan on selling your baby any time soon. But if you just like the idea of having two different cars, well, that I wouldn’t argue with. I’ve met plenty of people who own a work car and a babied car, there are plenty of worse things to spend money on.
I have a MINI too (2005 Cooper S). I say drive it. It’s too much fun to leave it sitting at home; they love to be driven. I use mine as a daily driver and drive it in Wisconsin winters (with snow tires on it, of course).
I think if you bought a beater you’d have such a boring time driving it that it would end up just sitting while you drove your MINI.
I’ve had mine 2 years now and I’m still in love with it.