I have a 997 and thing of trading it toward two Mini's one for me and one for my wife. She has been parking outside and both mini's would fit inside. Although I have driven Mini's never have I owned it. I like cool stuff so looking for pro's cons and what type a car guy should consider?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Minis are great and really fun to drive. I had a couple of the really small ones in the '70's. I also was looking for something fun to drive for nearly a year after selling my 996 Cab and looking for my Turbo. I test drove several of the current Minis and found them OK for me but a bit harsh for my wife. Actually she hated them. She's owned a Boxster for fun for almost 13 years and her DD is a Lexus RX400h marshmallow.

I really couldn't warm up to them 100%, being German repair costs and parts are very expensive and the ones I was looking at had steering motor issues and some suspension related issues. So I just keep driving my Jeep and motorcycles till I found my perfect Turbo. I ended giving the Jeep to my son and recently bought a Subaru Crosstrek and absolutely love it! I actually like it better than the Minis.

 

My wife has a 11' JCW cooper that she LOVES! I will never get that car out of her hands. I had the S Clubman and I liked the car but I had the Sport ++ suspension and JCW wheels and it beat me up to bad. Plus I had the panoramic roof which squeaked from day one.

If I were to get one, I would get a standard S model car with as few options as possible. I would avoid the JCW/Sport + suspensions and I would try to get one with 17's not 18's and non runflats.

 

Disclaimer: The "newer" Minis I drove were '05,'06,'07, and this was in about '09.

 

Depends on what type of 997 you'd be trading. I'd never give up a GT3 for two Mini's. Mini's are a ton of fun to drive, however a Mini will definitely depreciate where as a good GT3 will maintain value. Just a thought.