# Bought a New daily for my wife...



## rrtec (Sep 5, 2008)

I got a Brand NEW Mini Cooper S for my wife. We have been saving for a long time to make this happen. And are excited about the new car. We have never bought a new car before (only new motorcycles) and my wife really deserves it..

Feels like a BMW on the road and the fit and finish is pretty darn good.. 

I will post some pictures when I get a chance.


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## All-Or-Nothing (Mar 27, 2007)

I have always wanted to drive one of them. Hope you really enjoy it.


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## Andrew*Debbie (Jul 2, 2004)

Congrats! Welcome to MINI.

Photos _ could _ go in the Mini forum.


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## ThereIsNoMafia (May 29, 2010)

+1
I had a mini before my E46. You should enjoy it as well as your wife.


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## rrtec (Sep 5, 2008)

I will check out the mini forum here... Thanks for the kindness! 

My wife is in love with a car for the first time in her life.. She may become and enthusiast.. Is there like a secret handshake or wave I need to teach her..?? HA!


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## 6 Brit (Jan 19, 2009)

don't get in an accident... they are not very safe, the 5 or six examples I had the privilege of seeing totaled at my old shop were pretty scary looking, and all the people who were driving them were pretty seriously injured 
I sold mine after seeing that...seriously


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## brkf (May 26, 2003)

Loved mine. Great car.


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## Burning2nd (Aug 26, 2010)

Ive heard that since the power steering pump is electric, and it has the cooling fan for that pump mounted under the car.. they are prone to braking from road debris.. and are quite expensive to replace...
other wise Tight little ride


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## Just Bryce (Sep 23, 2005)

I bought and sold one earlier this week, 08 with 16K miles @ $14,500. I'll never pay for the depreciation of a "new" car again


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## SARAFIL (Feb 19, 2003)

6 Brit said:


> don't get in an accident... they are not very safe, the 5 or six examples I had the privilege of seeing totaled at my old shop were pretty scary looking, and all the people who were driving them were pretty seriously injured
> I sold mine after seeing that...seriously


Fortunately, I'm going to have to call you out on this one. I don't know what type of accidents you saw, or perhaps they were the 1st generation car, but the 2nd generation R56-based cars are incredibly safe.

These are a couple of pics of my father's 2007 MCS. He was hit head-on by a teenager that lost control of his pickup truck, I'd estimate that each vehicle was driving about 40mph. As you can see, the passenger compartment remained entirely intact with no intrusion at all. You could literally open and close the doors with no problems after the accident.

Yes, this car was totaled... but that is what insurance is for. My father had only very minor bruises and no injuries. The car was about 4 weeks old at the time of the accident, and he replaced it with another one just like it.


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## rrtec (Sep 5, 2008)

Yeah the r56's seem to hold up better... I am not worried, my wife had a miata with no rollbar previously, this will be much safer then that..lol


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## 6 Brit (Jan 19, 2009)

SARAFIL said:


> Fortunately, I'm going to have to call you out on this one. I don't know what type of accidents you saw, or perhaps they were the 1st generation car, but the 2nd generation R56-based cars are incredibly safe.
> 
> These are a couple of pics of my father's 2007 MCS. He was hit head-on by a teenager that lost control of his pickup truck, I'd estimate that each vehicle was driving about 40mph. As you can see, the passenger compartment remained entirely intact with no intrusion at all. You could literally open and close the doors with no problems after the accident.
> 
> Yes, this car was totaled... but that is what insurance is for. My father had only very minor bruises and no injuries. The car was about 4 weeks old at the time of the accident, and he replaced it with another one just like it.


I have seen them both totalled, new and old - one at freeway speed
girl could not walk - call me out all you want but I DID work in a body shop for a while - my dad could bend the metal in the back with his hand...which is just scary. You learn a lot about a car when it's torn down and you can see what is underneath. Which in the case of the mini is not much. And the metal they use is second rate at best 

To me that picture looks horrible! 40 MPH only? and the car is totalled??? And you think this is good??? :tsk: We are going to have to agree to disagree on this one.

So don't go over 40 mph and you should be fine :thumbup:


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## 6 Brit (Jan 19, 2009)

rrtec said:


> Yeah the r56's seem to hold up better... I am not worried, my wife had a miata with no rollbar previously, this will be much safer then that..lol


It will FOR SURE be a lot safer than the miata hahaha :thumbup::thumbup:
even though the miatas are so dinky I want one so bad!


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## Bethesda E39 (Sep 23, 2008)

6 Brit said:


> To me that picture looks horrible! 40 MPH only? and the car is totalled??? And you think this is good??? :tsk: We are going to have to agree to disagree on this one.
> 
> So don't go over 40 mph and you should be fine :thumbup:


Pardon me for saying so, but that sort of thinking is just plain ignorant.

Think about _why_ the car looks so bad. Because the car _absorbed_ the impact (hence protecting the occupants). The energy has to go somewhere, right?

This whole "that car looks like a little tin can" BS is just plain stupid. If the Mini lacked advanced safety features like crumple zones, the impact energy would have traveled _into_ the passenger cabin, killing or severely injuring the occupant.


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## 6 Brit (Jan 19, 2009)

Bethesda E39 said:


> Pardon me for saying so, but that sort of thinking is just plain ignorant.
> 
> Think about _why_ the car looks so bad. Because the car _absorbed_ the impact (hence protecting the occupants). The energy has to go somewhere, right?
> 
> This whole "that car looks like a little tin can" BS is just plain stupid. If the Mini lacked advanced safety features like crumple zones, the impact energy would have traveled _into_ the passenger cabin, killing or severely injuring the occupant.


right but pretty much anything in the subcompact category is just as safe if not safer...look at the smart car...people just make the mini out to be a lot more than what it is because it's built by BMW

I never said the car looks like a tin can either so please don't put words in my mouth. I had one and I loved it...other than the fact that is was not well built, I am sure the newer ones MUST be better - take one apart, then argue with me about it lol. :dunno:


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## SARAFIL (Feb 19, 2003)

6 Brit said:


> To me that picture looks horrible! 40 MPH only? and the car is totalled??? And you think this is good??? :tsk: We are going to have to agree to disagree on this one.


Have you see the frontal collision test that IIHS does at 40mph? Find one of those cars that would not be totaled. You can find hundreds of pics of different cars if you go to IIHS or do a Google image search.



















Scientific data shows that the impact of two vehicles driving at 40mph would be the equivalent of a 40mph impact with a wall, like the picture above.


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## 6 Brit (Jan 19, 2009)

SARAFIL said:


> Have you see the frontal collision test that IIHS does at 40mph? Find one of those cars that would not be totaled. You can find hundreds of pics of different cars if you go to IIHS or do a Google image search.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


it's what happens after 40 that you have to be concerned with...just imagine! :thumbup:


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## GiaGiaJa (Sep 6, 2010)

Poor guy. He just bought a mini for his wife and you guys busy showing photos of crashed left and right 


Let's have some commercial break shall we???

Grab some drink everyone. 



Cheers to the new mini!!!! Congrats and enjoy.


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## hpowders (Jun 3, 2005)

Should be a lot of fun!


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## Andrew*Debbie (Jul 2, 2004)

Burning2nd said:


> Ive heard that since the power steering pump is electric, and it has the cooling fan for that pump mounted under the car..


The OP purchased a 2nd gen car and it doesn't have that cooling fan. The power steering is entirely different.

The first generation MINI (R50, R52 and R53) started out as a Rover project. BMW came in well into the design process. First gen. MINIs , especially ones before the facelift, have reliablity problems. I'd stay far away from anything built before 2004.

The second generation MINIs (R55, R56 and R57) are BMW designed. They may look similar but they are an entirely different car. 2nd gen MINIs are more reliable.

More about 1st gen cars here:
http://www.motoringfile.com/mini-r50r53****ers-guide/

*R52 Power Steering (with fan) *









*R56 Power Steering (no fan) *


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