Scotsmart
11th March 2012, 04:05 PM
Hi all from sunny Morar Lochaber :cool:
We are about to order a Mini Countryman 2.0l Cooper S and am seeking realtime owner drivers veiws on both the vehicle and dealership involved (Catherton in Inverness) having found the salesman a bit pushy if were honest :hand: and the vehicle almost exactly to our needs having gone in about a Clubman ?
A bit about us then im a longterm disabled driver living as i say in Morar the car will be used mostly in or about the A830 with occasional jonts further afeild suffice to say 90% B roads and there in lies my worries over it, we currently drive a new shape 3 dr Astra which is sporty looking but impossible to see out of to reverse etc, terrible on fuel and damn uncomfortable both in its seating and suspension we have nicnamed it "atastraphy" thus not wanting to make the same type of mistakes again i seek personal views on how it is to live with day to day drive over longer periods and how comfortable it really is? the main reason for going up in size a bit is a its higher off the ground and a bit larger in the cabin area thus easier to get in and out of (i hope) plus we require space for our dogs cage and possibly a scooter or wheelchair for me, plus decent fuel economy (Astra does over all 30 if lucky) we beleive all in all the Mini is the right vehicle for us its down to the assembled owners here-in to tell me different?
I was a Mini nut with older Minis in my youth and have owned probably everyone several times over, and ran a small Mini repair/ resto business in Maryhill in Glasgow at one time where we produced some amazing and unique vehicles the factory pick ups always being my favorites truth be known sadly no signs of a new Mini pick up although if the "van" is anything to go on possibly not far away? having gravitated away from Minis in the mid 90's my last a brand new Mayfair in 95 that was a disaster from start to finish ending up being returned and broken up at 8k and 7m old a truly shocking build and honestly put me off for life, seeing the BMW not as a Mini but an imposter im sad to admit? however since the introduction of the Clubman and Countryman my ideas on this have changed somewhat ...:thumbs up: ive owned many vehicles in my time most bought as we do for a purpose mostly family to be truthfull and laterly mostly VW/ Audi based at least until the Astra an 09 plate with a penchant for VW campers & motorhomes etc again having owned a fair few custom and motorhome versions :moonie: so much so i started a community for the newer T4/T5 versions a few years back that is now the second largest in the UK and is still operated singlehandedly by myself but anyway enough about me :cool:
So i think really what i am seeking at this point is general comments on the vehicles driving longterm, actual fuel consumption and faults along with the dealerships performance in a nutshell we are considering it in either white/silver ?? and adding criuse control (a shocking 180 extra
:frown:) as it will ease my driving stress a a lot.
Looking forward to any and all replies ......
We are about to order a Mini Countryman 2.0l Cooper S and am seeking realtime owner drivers veiws on both the vehicle and dealership involved (Catherton in Inverness) having found the salesman a bit pushy if were honest :hand: and the vehicle almost exactly to our needs having gone in about a Clubman ?
A bit about us then im a longterm disabled driver living as i say in Morar the car will be used mostly in or about the A830 with occasional jonts further afeild suffice to say 90% B roads and there in lies my worries over it, we currently drive a new shape 3 dr Astra which is sporty looking but impossible to see out of to reverse etc, terrible on fuel and damn uncomfortable both in its seating and suspension we have nicnamed it "atastraphy" thus not wanting to make the same type of mistakes again i seek personal views on how it is to live with day to day drive over longer periods and how comfortable it really is? the main reason for going up in size a bit is a its higher off the ground and a bit larger in the cabin area thus easier to get in and out of (i hope) plus we require space for our dogs cage and possibly a scooter or wheelchair for me, plus decent fuel economy (Astra does over all 30 if lucky) we beleive all in all the Mini is the right vehicle for us its down to the assembled owners here-in to tell me different?
I was a Mini nut with older Minis in my youth and have owned probably everyone several times over, and ran a small Mini repair/ resto business in Maryhill in Glasgow at one time where we produced some amazing and unique vehicles the factory pick ups always being my favorites truth be known sadly no signs of a new Mini pick up although if the "van" is anything to go on possibly not far away? having gravitated away from Minis in the mid 90's my last a brand new Mayfair in 95 that was a disaster from start to finish ending up being returned and broken up at 8k and 7m old a truly shocking build and honestly put me off for life, seeing the BMW not as a Mini but an imposter im sad to admit? however since the introduction of the Clubman and Countryman my ideas on this have changed somewhat ...:thumbs up: ive owned many vehicles in my time most bought as we do for a purpose mostly family to be truthfull and laterly mostly VW/ Audi based at least until the Astra an 09 plate with a penchant for VW campers & motorhomes etc again having owned a fair few custom and motorhome versions :moonie: so much so i started a community for the newer T4/T5 versions a few years back that is now the second largest in the UK and is still operated singlehandedly by myself but anyway enough about me :cool:
So i think really what i am seeking at this point is general comments on the vehicles driving longterm, actual fuel consumption and faults along with the dealerships performance in a nutshell we are considering it in either white/silver ?? and adding criuse control (a shocking 180 extra
:frown:) as it will ease my driving stress a a lot.
Looking forward to any and all replies ......