I've always gone for girly cars, too easy! I had a Clio for a long time, but ditched it in favour of a Ford Ka after about seven trouble free years. BIG MISTAKE. The Ford Ka was a total liability, rusted to bits and fell apart in the meantime. I know this is sposed to be about the MIni One but I want to warn people!
Anyway my current car is the lovely Mini One, it's fun, fun fun. I won't bother comparing it to the Ka, no contest really. The Clio on the other hand, it's better in some ways, worse in others. I think it handles better than the Clio, and it's also much much more powerful, so much of a giggle to drive round especially the little bendy roads round near me.
The main real down side I would say is that the head lights are a bit rubbish. The full beams do the job but you can't keep them on all the time. Actually I do find myself blinding people accidentally sometimes! Not clever, slapped wrist.
Mini drivers are definitely a happy club of campers. We wave at each other! That was more common when these little MInis were rarer. I used to spend a lot of time with my sister in her old Mini One which she got in 2002 I think, and there was a lot of hype about them then, owners were very happy to wave then.
Insurance, tax and petrol costs are all fine, reasonable. I'm a woman, and getting on a bit now! So I can expect the insurance to be quite low though, might be worth shopping around. I don't think enough people think that sort of thing through when buying a car.
The back seats are pretty cramped, but that's to be expected, and anyway I don't often have back passengers. Probably not the car for you if you've got tall people in the back often though.
I'm a driving instructor and I wanted something easy for my students to drive. I used to use a Micra, which did the job ok, but I wanted something a little more substantial, and also less cramped for me to be sitting in all day. The Mini One does the job just fine. It's better for me to be sitting in, it's still nice and small and easy for my students to drive, but it's not as cramped.
The only tricky thing is that the clutch in the Mini One is bit more of a faff than the Micra, a sort of odd trick of getting it to engage by revving first and then letting it bite slowly. Needless to say that isn't great for learners! Mind you, baptism of fire and all that, they'll never have trouble with another clutch..
The diesel engine is a little bit flat in terms of torque, but that really isn't a problem as a driving instructor. I suppose I need to be kept from driving too fast when I'm on my own, give the right impression as I've got my name all over the car!
The aircon is a must I would say, but then I am in it all day mostly going quite slowly. Still I can well imagine it getting very very stuffy in there during the hot weather. We had a very hot summer this year too.
The biggest problem for me was the fuel economy. Even the diesel isn't anything much to write home about. I'm sure I'm among the worst people to ask about that it has to be said, because my students are forever braking and restarting, revving too hard, missing the clutch etc, but still, wasn't all that impressed. I've heard good things about Skodas, might be switching for that reason.
Good things and bad things all round. Firstly, the bumps. It's not a tractor but it's hardly like riding on a cloud either. To be honest I think it's worse for passengers cos I've often heard complaints when it's felt ok for me, altho I do feel uncomfy a bit myself sometimes. Having said that it's ok over longer distances on the flat surfaces.
I think it's really stylish, it usually turns heads and I've been stopped before by people saying what a cool little bug it is. The only thing is that the Mini One, and the other modern Minis, aren't really anything like the original old sort, so you might get nostalgic people being disappointed. It's just a change though, I never knew the original ones really.
It's POWERFUL, really a surprise given the size. It's small and light as well, so it zips round the corners, lots of fun, LOTS of fun if you have the time and nobody else in the car. I'm probably a joke to most boy racers still, but it's fun for me. The only thing is that it's a bit shaky in the wet, but to be expected I suppose.
The insurance isn't too bad, ditto other costs like tax. I haven't had too many repairs need doing on it. I might be lucky though, I heard someone with another Mini (might have been a Cooper) having lots of trouble.
My local Mini dealer has always been great with me, very good customer service, and when there is anything needs doing they're very good about it. Again though, I've heard bad things about another Mini dealer. Maybe just go somewhere on a recommendation.
I got a MIni One after a grim drawn out experience with an old Fiat that almost killed me a few times. Never again!
The Mini One was better from the get go. In fairness it could hardly have been worse, but it was a lot better.
If there's a problem then it's the boot, which is pokey at best. I had a lot of trouble shoving a pram in the back there when my little one was really little, and these days I have to strap their bikes to the back with a bike rack if we go anywhere. It's ok for the weekly shop, that sort of thing, but really doesn't carry much. The seats flip down a bit but that doesn't help much, and I'm really paranoid generally about what would happen to in a crash, with stuff flying about, I like things to be stashed safely in the boot.
It's a bit of a fag that there's no spare wheel on the Mini One, I'd like one for peace of mind. Apparently you can shoot this squidgy stuff into the tyre and it makes it solid so you can get home or something, but that doesn't sound like much fun. Mind you, the spare tyre just got nicked on my old car so I spose it might be for the best. And less weight means less fuel.
Quite noisy on the main roads and motorways. It was much worse in the Fiat, but my other half drives an Octavia and that's much quieter. I suppose there are some other luxuries that the Mini One is missing, but then it's a nice cheap car so can't complain really.
Looks like I've complained a lot here! These are minor points really, it's a lovely little car. Test drive it, you'll smile straight away.
Aww I love my Mini One so much. It just matches my personality perfectly; bubbly, sweet and easy to handle ;) My Mum bought it me in 2009 as a gift for passing my test and I've loved it ever since. I don't think it's everyone's cup of tea, but I am certainely a fan of the Mini - even if it is only a One.
My Mini One is red with a flag on the roof and comes loaded with kit. There's everything from A/C to funky dials, nobody could ever become bored inside a Mini. And thanks to the way BMW designed it, you're unlikely to ever need to ask for help as the MINI never breaks down.
The only downbeat issues come from size. It's a Mini, so you can't expect limosine-style room. There's hardly a boot and your passengers won't be comfortable unless it's a short journey. So just take it for what it is and enjoy the handling prowess and agile characteristics.