2014 Mini Cooper Hardtop Long-Term Road Test - Introduction
Edmunds.com
Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 10,316
2014 Mini Cooper Hardtop Long-Term Road Test - Introduction
We ordered a base 2014 Mini Cooper Hardtop to test the diminutive hatchback's brand-new turbocharged three-cylinder engine.
Tagged:
0
Comments
Wow. Your options alone exceed the MSRP of a 2014 Nissan Versa. If I were shopping for a hot hatch subcompact I'm not sure I would spend the extra for this versus the more powerful Fiesta ST.
Fun - can't wait to see if the repair and maintenance costs exceed those of @Mr_Shiftright.
$33,095 for an entry-level Mini.
Holy mother of god.
I agree, for that amount of money there are so many other better options.
Bah, the silly price tag is meaningless. It is well established that Edunds always gets as many options as they can so that they can use them to see how they function and are they worth the money. I would bet that Mini sells only a handful of the base models with this level of options each year. Although, if the new engine really is as good as Dan said in his review, that might change.
Personally I am thrilled at the powertrain combo they selected. While I have renewed my love for manuals with my MG (my year round regular driver here in Chicago, but I don't drive to work), the reality is that for a daily driver in urban environments like LA, NYC, Chicago, Boston, Dallas etc an automatic makes life and commuting much more liveable.
I do wish they had skipped the 17's. While they might add something to performance in some situations, they take away ride quality and are far to succeptible too damage from potholes.
Great price. I sure would not have wanted to skip the park assist package for a 12-foot-long car with lots of windows in it. That parallel-park feature will come in handy - you can leave your white cane and seeing-eye dog home!
What a joke.
Had a 2007 Mini for 7 years 80K miles- sold to CarMax - complaints: annoying - Premium fuel mandate. Mismatched value: Dealer basic service pricing: after warranty - $150.00 oil changes?! Most aggravating - BMW pricing for repair - engine lights - $130.00 to put key into computer? really. Thought I was buying Mini heritage - was sold an expensive ticket to maintain pocket-rocket performance with painful servcie/repair/operating costs. If you are buying one for your child graduate - simply...don't.
There is no reason to automatically use a dealer for oil changes ever unless your car has the factory basic maintenance included deal. Silimarly, I would be very picky about what non-warranty repairs I would have a dealer do.
While the as tested price did shock me a bit at first it does make sense to test out the options to see which ones are worth it and which ones aren't. When you go into a restaurant it doesn't make sense to get everything on the menu but it can be nice to know what is good and what isn't when ordering. That being said I still think that anyone in the real world that options one up like that is crazy.
I bought a used '07 Cooper S with the 6 spd and 58k miles. BMW honored 3 recalls, timing chain, turbo water pump and heat shield. I got the oil changed at 62k and checks for $110. It's been a delight to drive and drive like I stole it even after 4 years in a Cayman S (traded for a family hauler). The thing is with the new one is it's too big! Oh it's got great goodies and fixed some of the oddities, but I'd like to find a '13 equipped like mine more than get the new one.
Not sure the 17" wheels were a wise choice. Some of your issues with the last Mini Cooper could be blamed on the wheels as much as the sport suspension. I understand what you say about going with the automatic but editors should be reminded regularly so we don't see a year of posts stating that this car should have a manual.
Didn't the Mini always have a digital speedometer readout as part of the tach? Having an actual dial gauge is nice, but a minor improvement. The unmentioned bigger improvement is the placement of the power window controls on the door cards where they belong and not at the bottom of the center stack.
Add me to "crazy" then, because I have a MINI Cooper optioned out very, very close to this one (mine has manual transmission and 16" wheels though, and was $30,000 on the nose). I've had mine 3 months.
Great choice, Edmunds!!
Criticize all you want, you armchair critics, but this iteration of the MINI Cooper is like no other!
The fuel-economy has me in utter amazement, and the engine is wonderfully refined and the power is just right.
I had a 2005 MINI Cooper for 6 years. This car is on a whole other plane of existence!
Very cool. But why not test the new 5-door?!!!
It's not out here yet. Maybe starting in October?
I read the options selected to my co-worker and practically ran out of breath going through all of them. Interesting choice, I'll be curious to see how reliability and maintenance winds up. I'm missing the Tesla - you guys need a electric or hybrid to fill in the gap. Pick up a cheap Leaf or Volt or something.
At $82 per horsepower (707hp for $58K), the Dodge Challenger Hellcat is a much better value than this $246 per horsepower (134hp for $33K) MINI.
Put it another way, for less than the price of two 3 cylinder MINIs you can own a 707hp piece of all time awesomeness.
By choosing another import for their long term test fleet Edmunds is again showing its rather obvious import bias.
Their current percentage of GM-Ford-Chrysler vehicles in the long term fleet is about 22%.. Past long term vehicles as listed are also around 22%. This is despite the sales of GM-Ford-Chrysler vehicles accounting for over 45% of the US market in 2013.
Therefore Domestic branded vehicles are represented by less than half of their actual domestic sales compared to import brands. Why is that?
I wouldn't drive a Dodge Challenger for free. NOBODY who likes a MINI Cooper would ever cross-shop a 70s-esque Redneckmobile. To suggest it, is like trying to sell a vegan on a porterhouse steak. It's preposterous!
I do agree though that they are currently light on domestics. For my part there are some domestics I would like to see: the Cruze diesel (even though it sells in minuscule numbers) after all the VW TDI's that have been LT tested, the Escape (#11 in August), Fusion (#12), and Impala. If they can test the K900, which will sell in very small numbers and the Kadenza, which will also never be a big seller they can include the Impala, which is very well reviewed (including by Edmunds) and outsells everything else in its class by a wide margin.
And it's not irrelevant that Mini owns the "least reliable on the JD Power Dependability Survey" slot pretty much forever. Because who wouldn't sign up for high prices and crap quality. Man that sounds appealing to me.
No wait, that's just dumb.
What price cuteness?
I ran a 2010 Cooper on KBB and came up with $11,865 for the current private sale value. Then added every option I could check and it went up to $15,591 so the options only increased the resale value by $3,726 and I'm sure they would have increased the original purchase price by closer to $15,000. So you could basically not get all the options and just give the car away after 4 years and be out about the same amount. It just comes down to priorities. If performance isn't the number one goal when shopping then most of the cars on that list fall away because of harsh ride and lack of bells and whistles, which is the priority for some.
I also tend to think that spending a ton on cars with performance that can never really come into play in day to day driving without risking others lives is crazy too. As I often say, I spend a lot of time on the road stuck behind cars that have well over 300 HP and reputations for being ultimate driving machines begging them to get out of my way. On my commute I'd occasionally get stuck behind a guy in a WRX Sti on a big freeway on ramp curve in my 130 hp Mazda wagon as he slowed down more and more for the corner to well under what I'd regularly take the corner at. Same thing with a guy in a lowered NSX; I'd cringe when I'd see him in front of me because that corner was one of the more fun parts of the drive home. And these guys in their 'performance' cars would suck the fun right out of it. But at least they had bragging rights about their cars.
"Back in 2009 the specific options we found most disagreeable were the 17-inch wheels and sport suspension..."
"First we grabbed the...Sport package...and 17-inch Tentacle wheels."
Umm. Okay.
"Park Assistant package ($1,000 — front and rear sonar sensors and parallel parking aid)."
It has to be repeated: If you can't effin' park a MINI, you shouldn't be driving!
Finally, I do like all the options you chose: interior, lights, color. But total price $33,095?! Can I interest you in a new Audi A3?
I love Edmunds. Fo' real. But this is hilarious.
Think of it another way. If no-one knew this was a MINI, and just were asked "how much would you pay for a 3 cylinder 2 door hatchback?" what do you think the answer would be?
Anyone who said $33k would be carted away in a padded ambulance.
"The manufacturer provided this vehicle for the purpose of evaluation."
To use the restaurant analogy: If the Nobu restaurant owner invites you in for a free meal, wouldn't you try all items on the menu?
But really for 33k you can get all sorts of good cars in so many categories.
Miata and cash
Mustang GT
Subaru WRX , VW GTI, or FOcus ST and cash....
Accord V6 manual with lots of equipment, or other V6 or 4cyl turbo brand midsize
Entry level Audi or Mercedes
Decently equipped entry Buick or Toyota Avalon for highway cruising...