Car for the Mrs - Mini Countryman?

Abyss

Abyss

Abyss

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
4,548
Location
Nottingham
I am spending more time away from home due to work so we are looking to go back up to having two cars and I would appreciate your thoughts.

I drive a new A4 Avant and this will stay as the main car, with an additional car for her to use.

Criteria for the wife:
- £10k maximum budget
- Heated front seats
- Likely to be parked in a tight multistorey at least 3 times per week so something easy to maneuver and not too huge / wide
- 5 doors and big enough to fit a larger buggy in the boot
- Isofix
- Reliable and relatively cheap to maintain
- Decent build quality
- At least slightly fun and with decent performance (i.e. at least as quick as my 190PS A4 Avant).

She will be doing a maximum of 5k miles per year so MPG is irrelevant. I'm slightly more flexible on overall running costs but don't want to go crazy as it is only a second car. I could be tempted with higher running costs if it is more fun though...

She likes the Mini countryman having test drove one last weekend, and it looks like a 2011/2012 Countryman Cooper S is in budget and the current favourite. It's the first car she's actually got excited about so this probably means looking at cars with a bit of character to them.
 
Have either of you above driven either of those cars?

If she likes the Countryman - and it certainly fits the criteria for what you're looking for - then it would be a good fit. Of course, there are other cars out there that fit the criteria, Golf, Focus, etc., but likely for that price neither of you will find them remotely interesting.
 
Yeah, when we decided to switch cars around (the Mrs had a convertible beetle, I had a CX-5), she was browsing the mini showroom and loved the Countryman, not too big, not too small, practical for the family stuff. I found her a low mileage 2011 1.6 Cooper in a nice colour with half leather seats, TLC pack for £8.5K which seemed excellent VFM. I personally think the Cooper S would have been better if I drove it more since the 1.6 Cooper is a only just 'OK'..

As for my impressions of it, I think the interior isn't amazing quality (lots of plastic) but it's got some style and it's easy/comfortable to drive and don't mind using it at all.

My main valid gripe has been that IMO they've engineered in (or under engineered in) a whole load of maintenance and servicing that you shouldn't need. Just as an example, on holiday it popped up an Amber inspection symbol, and found out it wasn't anything immediate, just a warning about booking it in for an inspection, BMW said we'd be fine for the holiday, but on the way back it turned 'red' and I thought something disasterous had happened.. As it turns out nothing was wrong, it was just scaring you into getting the inspection done.. Which we did as soon as we got back, this was for the rear brakes, but the funny thing is, the brake pad sensor hadn't even tripped yet, and the discs still had life in them, so why 'red' I can only imagine is to worry you unnecessarily, seems a bit shameful really, as was the quote for £500 for rear discs/pads.
In the end I found ECP sold Brembo pads/discs and sensors for £108, so did it myself and saved £400.. You have to imagine the only reason rear discs last 40K miles is something deliberate.. My Zafira rear discs and pads lasted nearly 80K of the same driving style and main dealer prices where £252 to change both.
 
Last edited:
Ryan-3 said:
Have either of you above driven either of those cars?

If she likes the Countryman - and it certainly fits the criteria for what you're looking for - then it would be a good fit. Of course, there are other cars out there that fit the criteria, Golf, Focus, etc., but likely for that price neither of you will find them remotely interesting.
Click to expand...
Never driven a countryman and never will it is in my opinion hideous like a golf+ or Ford Fusion!
 
a1ex2001 said:
I'd rather die than own a countryman such a hideously contrived marketing department inspired piece of poo!
Click to expand...

This.

My missus is also in the market for a 10k car, (no older then 62 reg) best I could come up with is golf/1 series so will keep an eye on this thread
 
[TW]Fox said:
Well I'm sure that'll really help the OP :p
Click to expand...
won't really harm the OP will it? Just sharing an opinion! Like an awful lot of threads like this I often feel to a certain extent the op has chosen a car and then invented a criteria which makes it the best choice!
 
a1ex2001 said:
Still just couldn't do it knowing everyday that is should be called a traveller and not a clubman would fuel my internal rage!
Click to expand...
The traveller was an estate, the countryman is a crossover kind of vehicle, larger passenger interior space, slightly jacked up, etc.. the clubman is really the traveller..


On the subject of the countryman, I don't get the hate, it actually provides quite a compelling case over a focus/golf
- larger cabin space so doesnt feel as cramped
- sliding rear seats provide reasonable boot space or huge rear legroom
- easier ingress/egress allround.
- not took big so still easy to park and still get in/out thecar

The one negative it has its the boot is relatively small unless you slide the rear seats forwards, but since we go away quite often, it seems to easily swallow up everything for 2 kids and now the dog with ease. If the kids where babies again, it would be too small.
 
Last edited:
Never driven a Mini countryman before, i have enjoyed driving my brothers mini in the past. But i can’t see a countryman being overly practical for fitting a large buggy in, did you try fitting the buggy in the boot? You also need to take into consideration will there be space in the back for when the little one gets bigger? Personally i think you would be better off with something like a focus or golf or 1 series sized.
 
Demon said:
The traveller was an estate, the countryman is a crossover kind of vehicle, larger passenger interior space, slightly jacked up, etc.. the clubman is really the traveller..


On the subject of the countryman, I don't get the hate, it actually provides quite a compelling case over a focus/golf
- larger cabin space so doesnt feel as cramped
- sliding rear seats provide reasonable boot space or huge rear legroom
- easier ingress/egress allround.
- not took big so still easy to park and still get in/out thecar

The one negative it has its the boot is relatively small unless you slide the rear seats forwards, but since we go away quite often, it seems to easily swallow up everything for 2 kids and now the dog with ease. If the kids where babies again, it would be too small.
Click to expand...

I don't get the hate either. It's "cool" to hate.
 
inflames said:
Kinda see your point, it is not as a good call as a focus or golf. I added the 1 series mostly for the spec level for the heated seats etc.
Click to expand...

The standard spec on the 1 Series is poor - things like heated seats are not standard. Frankly it's not really any better specced than a Countryman at base level.
 
Thanks everyone for your thoughts so far.

We didn't start out looking for a Mini and the Mrs had no interest in them at first. After visiting the showroom and test driving one though I'm struggling to find anything that's a better option. It's actually fairly big in size, and space for older kids isn't a huge concern as we haven't had our first yet and rarely keep a car longer than 3 years.

The wife likes the higher driving position, and room in the back is pretty good. The boot is a bit narrow but pretty big, halfway between a Fiesta and a Focus.

I do agree that something like a Focus would be a more practical option but other than a slightly bigger boot I'm not convinced it offers anything over the Mini and it's about as boring as you get (I say that having owned a Focus).

Something like the 1 series really doesn't fit the bill, it doesn't have the raised seating position, the base spec is appalling and other than getting a BMW badge on the front I'm not sure it has anything to offer in the sub £10k market that other cars don't do far better.

We did look at the 500x but wasn't a huge fan of its styling, which is a shame as I really like the standard 500 having had them on numerous occasions as hire cars abroad.

Cheers for the info on the servicing, at face value servicing seemed cheap but maybe not if it's forever telling you to get things checked!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom