My 19 year old daughter is buying a 2023 Mini Cooper I insisted on her getting the more horsepower / turbo, John Cooper Works Engine . What do you think ?
It will probably be OK for a few years and then turn into a money pit as it ages.
The best thing she can do is not buy any Mini product. Just looking at their msrp prices there are much better cars for that kind of price. If she wants turbo and also manual get a Civic Si; the turbo engines on Honda are so much better.
I hope, for your daughter's sake, that they have comfortable couches and great TV reception in the dealer's service department waiting room. Make sure her AAA towing is paid up.
You should also kick her out of the house before she asks you to pay for the repair bills X'D Mini is the worst of worst. It won't look cute when her bank is empty.
YES! You are correct. The Cooper S has a terrible 7 speed DCT (as far as I know - it’s a Getrag 7DCT300, a mix between Ford’s Failed Dry PowerShift and Volvos notoriously expensive to maintain Wet PowerShift) while the JCW has a much better 8 speed
(instead of the old BMW 1 series’ ZF, as far as I know [I could be wrong] these Cooper JCW models have an Aisin 8 speed and that’s still a decent gearbox)
Well, I think getting a bigger engine than what the base 1.5L has is a good idea. The 2.0T isn’t the best engine out there, they last about 100,000 miles with proper maintenance before turning into massive money pits.
Don’t keep it over 5-7 years or 100k miles, it might not have a BMW badge - but definitely costs like a BMW to keep running.
(If she’s planing to keep the car for along time or drive a lot, she’s better off with a Corolla / Camry / CH-R (if she wants a “fresh” looking suv))
You should lease it and just get it out of your system. The car will be nothing but a problem as it ages.
