2021 Clubman Cooper S Classic
Discussion
First some back story.
I got made redundant at the end of last year, and as part of leaving I was able to buy both my company lease cars for a low cost. Having no job to go to, and nothing in sight, I decided to do that and ended up with:
1) A Holden Calais Tourer: a pretend SUV based on an Insignia estate with quite a nice V6 (Australia was the only market to get a V6 Tourer) but horrible road manners. Badly compromised when they jacked up the suspension I think. It really, really, really gave me the s
ts. (I only bought it because I wanted an estate and they didn’t have any normal estates left in the fleet, and it was cheap.).
2) A Holden Trax: a CRAP (not just crap with a capital c) small grey SUV, albeit one that is fairly well spec’d on account of being top of the range. It has leather (i.e. everything except the bit your arse touches is vinyl) seats, a sunroof, aircon etc etc. Sadly it is just crap. It is a rebadged version of the cheapo Chevrolet version of the dreaded Mokka i.e. the interior is worse than a Mokka. Like this (not the actual car, I can’t bring myself to take a photo of it).
Anyway, needs must and all that.
After 4 months off I got another job, which brings a company car with it and as a result at least one of the two was spare. My OH had been wanting a MINI for a while, so I decided that to treat her, get rid of both cars, and we’d buy ourselves a MINI.
We need something that can be a family car but not necessarily full time as my company car is a mid-size SUV (in some sort of shade between silver and grey). OH had her heart set on a Clubman, but I thought it might be a bit small so we also looked at the Countryman. To be honest, the Countryman felt like an SUV that had been MINIfied, whereas the Clubman felt like a real MINI (if you know what I mean: i.e. not a real Mini but a real MINI). Clubman it was. As a bonus they no longer sell the base spec 3 cylinder Clubman here so it had to be an S
Anyway, we spent an hour at the closest MINI dealership and walked away $2k lighter for the deposit and with them agreeing to take the Calais as a trade in – they gave me $3k more than I paid for it . A couple of days later they rang to say they’d been able to secure an exact match that was already on a ship and due in mid-May. The following weekend I dropped off the Calais and 3 days later I had the money in the bank.
They then valued the Trax, and because it is crap and they’d punt it straight to auction offered me $11k. That is for an 18 month old car with 7k km on it. Cars that go for about $25k drive away from a dealership. They upped it to $13k but I told them no thanks and that I’d sell it privately.
After that we waited. The ship was 2 days late, and I then found a way of tracking the car through the transport company’s website so I knew when it was delivered to the dealer. No phone call! I waited a couple of days and then rang them. I don’t think they were too impressed I knew it was there, and they said we’d have to wait because they were pushing out all the cars that were on the ship that had been ordered earlier than ours and were for May delivery – fair enough. So, an appointment was made for the 1st of June.
Then along came another COVID lockdown
Thankfully they opened for contactless collections when restrictions eased a bit, money was transferred, and I was able to collect it on the 8th.
So here it is, a March 2021 built Clubman Cooper S Classic in Chili Red with black roof, mirrors, and stripes, and with Multiray spoke wheels. An antidote to the sea of white, silver and grey SUVs that seem to be taking over every driveway.
It came with the Piano Black exterior pack (badges, handles, light surrounds) and Lane Departure Warning as standard – I’m not sure if UK spec cars are the same. It also has a load of other functions and stuff that I doubt I’ll ever use and I know the OH will never use.
I quite like it so far (albeit I’ve only done 40km in it) and the OH is thrilled, which is the important thing. Hopefully the heavy rain we’re currently having goes away tomorrow and we can start using it – OH is a bit worried about driving it for the first time in the pouring rain and the dark! She is still taking the dreaded Trax to work...
Now I have to take pics of the Trax so I can sell it
I got made redundant at the end of last year, and as part of leaving I was able to buy both my company lease cars for a low cost. Having no job to go to, and nothing in sight, I decided to do that and ended up with:
1) A Holden Calais Tourer: a pretend SUV based on an Insignia estate with quite a nice V6 (Australia was the only market to get a V6 Tourer) but horrible road manners. Badly compromised when they jacked up the suspension I think. It really, really, really gave me the s
ts. (I only bought it because I wanted an estate and they didn’t have any normal estates left in the fleet, and it was cheap.).2) A Holden Trax: a CRAP (not just crap with a capital c) small grey SUV, albeit one that is fairly well spec’d on account of being top of the range. It has leather (i.e. everything except the bit your arse touches is vinyl) seats, a sunroof, aircon etc etc. Sadly it is just crap. It is a rebadged version of the cheapo Chevrolet version of the dreaded Mokka i.e. the interior is worse than a Mokka. Like this (not the actual car, I can’t bring myself to take a photo of it).
Anyway, needs must and all that.
After 4 months off I got another job, which brings a company car with it and as a result at least one of the two was spare. My OH had been wanting a MINI for a while, so I decided that to treat her, get rid of both cars, and we’d buy ourselves a MINI.
We need something that can be a family car but not necessarily full time as my company car is a mid-size SUV (in some sort of shade between silver and grey). OH had her heart set on a Clubman, but I thought it might be a bit small so we also looked at the Countryman. To be honest, the Countryman felt like an SUV that had been MINIfied, whereas the Clubman felt like a real MINI (if you know what I mean: i.e. not a real Mini but a real MINI). Clubman it was. As a bonus they no longer sell the base spec 3 cylinder Clubman here so it had to be an S
Anyway, we spent an hour at the closest MINI dealership and walked away $2k lighter for the deposit and with them agreeing to take the Calais as a trade in – they gave me $3k more than I paid for it
. A couple of days later they rang to say they’d been able to secure an exact match that was already on a ship and due in mid-May. The following weekend I dropped off the Calais and 3 days later I had the money in the bank.They then valued the Trax, and because it is crap and they’d punt it straight to auction offered me $11k. That is for an 18 month old car with 7k km on it. Cars that go for about $25k drive away from a dealership. They upped it to $13k but I told them no thanks and that I’d sell it privately.
After that we waited. The ship was 2 days late, and I then found a way of tracking the car through the transport company’s website so I knew when it was delivered to the dealer. No phone call! I waited a couple of days and then rang them. I don’t think they were too impressed I knew it was there, and they said we’d have to wait because they were pushing out all the cars that were on the ship that had been ordered earlier than ours and were for May delivery – fair enough. So, an appointment was made for the 1st of June.
Then along came another COVID lockdown
Thankfully they opened for contactless collections when restrictions eased a bit, money was transferred, and I was able to collect it on the 8th.
So here it is, a March 2021 built Clubman Cooper S Classic in Chili Red with black roof, mirrors, and stripes, and with Multiray spoke wheels. An antidote to the sea of white, silver and grey SUVs that seem to be taking over every driveway.
It came with the Piano Black exterior pack (badges, handles, light surrounds) and Lane Departure Warning as standard – I’m not sure if UK spec cars are the same. It also has a load of other functions and stuff that I doubt I’ll ever use and I know the OH will never use.
I quite like it so far (albeit I’ve only done 40km in it) and the OH is thrilled, which is the important thing. Hopefully the heavy rain we’re currently having goes away tomorrow and we can start using it – OH is a bit worried about driving it for the first time in the pouring rain and the dark! She is still taking the dreaded Trax to work...
Now I have to take pics of the Trax so I can sell it
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