As my car is wearing out quite quickly (05 Vectra), its time for a change of car....
In a garage near me they have a 59 plate Mini, but is it a bit "girly"?
Either that or I go for a 10 plate Focus.......

If you have never owned a Mini, then I suggest you go for it 

I remember buying one to cover a job transition for £50 and a year later selling it for £50.  Great fun 

Go for the Ford, our boss's daughter bought a mini, it's been in the garage more than it's been on the road!

I've got a 2004 Mini Cooper after upgrading from a 2001 Mini One (also half owner of a 2007 Cooper S ) and they're definitely non girly, unless you get the soft top

Great cars, lots of fun to drive. Very much like a go-kart. The pre 2007 facelift ones are better as they uglified the newer ones to meet EU pedestrian bounce off rules and messed up the interior while they were at it, but the newer ones fixed a lot of the glitches in the earlier ones, so they're still great cars.

If it's a Cooper or a Cooper S I'd say go for it, you won't regret it. If it's just a One or even worse a First, I'd go for the Focus. Dull but decent engine. The One is the Cooper engine detuned to about 90% power and you need to rev the nuts off it to make it work. The First is detuned to 75% power and is rubbish. Basically a tuned down for young drivers to keep insurance cheap version, badly underpowered.

Yes , loads of girls DO drive them.....but who gives a flying wotnot !!! My partner has a black Cooper which is over 10 years old & she loves it !! In the 5 years I've known her , this MOT a month ago is the first time that she's had to spend serious money on it - several hundred pounds on rusted brake pipes & a couple of other things . Everyone who has worked on it always goes on about how reliable they are , how little goes wrong with them . Me ?? I hate it !!! A real boneshaker , the hardest ride I've ever known.....they forgot to put any suspension in it ! I drive a Vectra like you - an 06 diesel automatic , top spec . 130 k miles on it , still a nice ride , economical motorway cruiser . Need it to go on a bit longer yet !!! Best of luck , Ric

Quote from: Leo1961 on June 02, 2013, 08:38:40 PM
If you have never owned a Mini, then I suggest you go for it 

I remember buying one to cover a job transition for £50 and a year later selling it for £50.  Great fun 

No, never had a Mini before, basically the one I have my eye on has a 1.4 engine which is basically what I'm looking for...

Quote from: Zwilnik on June 02, 2013, 08:45:32 PM
If it's a Cooper or a Cooper S I'd say go for it, you won't regret it. If it's just a One or even worse a First, I'd go for the Focus. Dull but decent engine. The One is the Cooper engine detuned to about 90% power and you need to rev the nuts off it to make it work. The First is detuned to 75% power and is rubbish. Basically a tuned down for young drivers to keep insurance cheap version, badly underpowered.

It's just a One, but it has the size engine I'm in the market for though!!!!!

Quote from: Bigric on June 02, 2013, 08:49:18 PM
Yes , loads of girls DO drive them.....but who gives a flying wotnot !!!
I drive a Vectra like you - an 06 diesel automatic , top spec . 130 k miles on it , still a nice ride , economical motorway cruiser . Need it to go on a bit longer yet !!! Best of luck , Ric

That's what I'm worried about - a lot of girls do drive Minis....
My Vectra is a diesel too, but time to change to a smaller car as diesel is expensive these days and I'm not doing the mileage anymore, used to do Basingstoke to Hounslow 5 nights a week in the Vectra with 137k on the clock.

Ah right, for the 'newer' ones they dropped the engine size to 1400cc instead of detuning the 1600cc one that's in the Cooper. Still a very fun car and if the Focus is 1400cc too I'd go for the Mini.

There's a really good Mini owners forum, based in the US but with a huge UK membership that has a ton of handy data and tips..

http://www.mini2.com

I am very biased,  I have a 2002 Cooper S which I love to bits and my son has one that he races. I will keep mine until it falls apart, which it shows no sign of doing any time soon. It is great fun to drive and still turns heads. My husband agrees about the hard ride but it doesn't bother me ( more padding )   

My wife had a 2003 MINI Cooper S and it was fantastic! Went around corners like it was on rails 

Sadly Milo the MINI gave his life to save my wife. During an overtaking manaouvere a van pulled out in front of my wife and she swerved, hit a couple of trees and rolled over!! Milo lost both front wheels and was a complete mess. My wife walked away with severe bruising but nothing broken.

In the first generation (up to 2005) the engines where a Chrysler/Rover design (used in some PT Cruisers).
The second generation use Peugeot engines from the 207.

Michael

Everyone I know who's had one has had problems, they generally need maintenance between services as well.
Then again I own high revving Honda which usually need up to a litre of oil per thousand miles so can't hold that against them.

Get one, just check consumables often.

Milo MINI only had two problems in the year before his death:

1: A Xenon headlight failed. Bulb ok, control unit ok, failure in sealed part. £500 or so from BMW. £100 secondhand on eBay. Sold old unit as non-working on eBay for £50

2: Boot mounted Kardon Harman amplifier failed. £1000 for a new one!!!!!! Accident happened week before I planned to open up the box and see what had blown.

Michael

Sounds as though they are like N gauge steam locos    I've been very lucky with mine, touch wood and I'm fortunate that both my husband and son are mechanically minded and maintain my car well.

I think Cooper S models are more likely to be thrashed by drivers so you would need to find a well cared for one.

Quote from: Michael Shillabeer on June 03, 2013, 10:47:34 AM
Milo MINI only had two problems in the year before his death:

1: A Xenon headlight failed. Bulb ok, control unit ok, failure in sealed part. £500 or so from BMW. £100 secondhand on eBay. Sold old unit as non-working on eBay for £50

2: Boot mounted Kardon Harman amplifier failed. £1000 for a new one!!!!!! Accident happened week before I planned to open up the box and see what had blown.

Michael

So potentially £1500 of problems in a year.........?
For quite a lot of non mechanically minded people that would be considered a little excessive.