How Smart Is A Smart?

[900T-R]

Los Angeles said:

£18,000 for a decent new Mini with some extras? Poo. Who are they kidding?

Um, that's because of 'fashion conscious' buyers and sales people bleating on about how 'a decent spec' is essential for resale - how comes then, that every extra I put on my company car disproportionately drives up the monthly rates (I know the finance component is the largest in a fully operational leasing contract, but if you compare the list price/monthly lease rate ratio of extras to that of the whole base car, it's about the same even though they don't only finance but also run the car at that rate)? Even with 'essentials' such as air con and metallic paint?

Arguably, new (N/A) Mini's are at their best and purest to drive on base 15" wheels and non-sport suspension. Sport seats (Cooper S spec) are good to have, especially if you're not a midget and are a high-mileage driver. They add 420 euro or something to the price. Solid colours like Pepper White or Chili Red work well on Minis and I've added the bonnet stripes which cost 1/7th of metallic paint to hide the effect of the 'pedestrain friendly' R56 front end and give it a bit of attitude. The only glaring omission in the base Cooper spec is air con, which I don't want or need. Otherwise I'm not sure what else you would need; mine came with a radio/cd and even the 'interior light pack', the cloth upholstery is of high quality as is the rest of the interior. Call it £14K with air con if you must - the price of a bum-basic Astra, Golf or Focus.

[patmahe]

Up to 83 mpg, the answer to your prayers?

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/www/cars/TOYO...

Can't go too far wrong IMO

[900T-R]

Los Angeles said:

How easy is it to clean the interior of a BMW Mini? It looks toothbrush intricate.

Um, what are you planning to do in/with your 'city car'?

When the lease on my former R50 Mini One ended, I tipped the car to one side to clear it from a tonne of press kits, Via Michelin printouts, pens, the odd candy bar wrapper and all those other essentials of a roving Tech Ed on the road, took a vacuum cleaner to it and returned it with 170,648 kms on the odo, looking a bit worse for wear on the outside due to a burglary among other things - but pristine on the inside.

OK, I'm not being completely truthful here. There was a small wear patch on the driver side door panel where I used to put my elbow in traffic jams.

Edited by 900T-R on Monday 29th September 09:58