21 replies to this topic

[rhiannon.evanz97]

I'm thinking of buying a mini as my first car! I'm looking at 1000cc engine, small enough to not guzzle down fuel, big enough for what I need, in a good condition.

 

Is having a mini as your first car a good idea? I love the cars, I think they are beautiful.

[Domneon]

There are a lot of threads on this already, but I have found that driving a Mini (or most classic cars) teaches you a lot about actual driving as there are no assists getting in the way of things.

 

There is however the issue of safety etc. They will never be as good in a crash as a modern car will be. 

[cal844]

They are never good in crashes, my 998 with stage one kit (performance air filter, new exhaust) i was using £20 a fortnight, i admit on short journeys!

[cooperdan]

Domneon has got it spot on with, really teaching you about really driving a car... will gain great deal.

Teach yoh alot about badic maintenace too plus amongst other things.

Yeh there not safe.. but you should already know that if even thinking about it..

but as jeremy clarkson says... everyone should start with mini

[Tamworthbay]

It depends what you want from a car. Do you want a car that you can tinker with every few weeks (you will have to) or have enough money to pay someone to do it for you, are you happy with a noisy, slightly uncomfortable, relatively slow car? If yes then go for it. If you want a car to take you from A to B, never let you down, not steam up in winter, never need touching, then it's not for you.

I think they are great car to learn in, but they are SO different from modern cars that they won't be like anything else you have probably driven.

[gazza01]

They are more than just a car.

[Tubby1987]

If you're a sensible driver and not a boy racer then get one, but remember just one crash in one could cause you serious injury! Be well alert of other drivers, you've got to guess what they're gonna do before they even know themselves :)

Like others have said it will also teach you how to maintain a car properly, give you good knowledge of how engines work and which parts do what :)

You'll get loads of attention and people coming over for a chat, it's surprising how a car can make people happy! I was next to a new aston martin the other day near a bus stop and everyone were saying 'wow look at that mini' the aston got no attention at all! He looked rather pee'd off

Good luck!

[stickycreambun]

I did...so have millions of others.  Do you like  can you tolerate small impractical noisy smelly high-maintenance? (you could say reliability too but thats down to the regular maintenance). 

 

[Yellowmini998]

Everyone that talks to me about my mini says now I've driven an 'old car' I'll be able to drive anything.
I'm fine with just driving the mini though :)

[mingy]

It depends what you want from a car. Do you want a car that you can tinker with every few weeks (you will have to) or have enough money to pay someone to do it for you, are you happy with a noisy, slightly uncomfortable, relatively slow car? If yes then go for it. If you want a car to take you from A to B, never let you down, not steam up in winter, never need touching, then it's not for you.

I think they are great car to learn in, but they are SO different from modern cars that they won't be like anything else you have probably driven.

Could not have said it better myself.

[Cambelt]

Insurance on my 1275 wasn't as bad as I thought my parents being on the deal put it down a hell of a lot though

[CityEPete]

Our 1995 cooper was rear ended on the M5, we were stationary and a citroen xantia hit us at 50 mph, pushed us into 4 cars in front but we are still here, the car was written off yet it's still shown as taxed with the dvla!

[Chesterman]

I just got my 850 today for my first car I got 7 months till my 17th birthday so I've got plenty of time to get  it all set up but I do have my brother and father who are both mechanics so I will get alot of help.

[MathieuGT]

Would definitely recommend! I bought mine just over a year ago now and i'm 18.
The good:
Everywhere I go I get comments on the car, all good so far.
It's great on petrol, fitted a stage one kit a month ago and still getting 40mpg with a full car a lot of the time.
Easy to work on yourself, not one of my mates has been able to work on one of his cars due to various things but mine's all been done by myself and my dad with a bit of help from guys down our road.
Most importantly, it's such a hoot to drive everyday and is 1000x more fun to drive than most modern cars. I had a rental for a little while as mine was being repaired after someone reversed into me. The extra power entertained me for a few days but missed the cornering badly.
Insurance, the mini was £500 cheaper than most other modern cars to insure.
The bad:
The rust, i can practically watch my car rust but am happy with it at the moment, i can see it's going to need more welding soon but it's definitely a lot more prone than a modern car.
It's pretty slow, you know it's bad when a Rover 25 is happily pulling away from you...
The ride, it's not the comfiest as you'll see by watching any in car video it's pretty bouncy.

There's obviously more sides to the good and bad parts but there's a few. I know that I have massively enjoyed owning one of these and wouldn't have enjoyed the last year as much if I had to drive a 'normal' car.

[Ethel]

A lot of it is fundamentally physics - Minis weigh about half as much as a lot of "modern" cars.

 

That means it takes less effort to accelerate them, be it...

 

forwards - when you press the go pedal;

backwards - by wind resistance because it uses a bigger proportion of your power as the speed increases than it would for heftier car;

sideways - when you turn your steering to go round a corner;

upwards - when you hit bump in the road.

 

If you're unlucky enough to have one of those modern chunksters to run in to you, even if your Mini is tough enough to ride the blows, you'll be doing more harmful rapid deceleration inside it by virtue of that same ability to change direction 'n speed better.