Lease costs

[Neil - TXJ]

Not due to change the Mini until November bit in a spare few mins today had a look at current lease costs.

I have my mini on a company car scheme and my company have recently changed supplier and I was disappointed to discover today that for the same spec the monthly costs have increased by £70pm. Was thinking of getting the SD but this is £100pm more than what I am currently paying.

Not happy as will be looking to reduce my monthly costs come November so if S or SD not an option not sure what I will do.

[KenL]

F56 will be out, new model so residuals may be better than what is beings quoted for the current car.

What about a Cooper or Cooper D instead? I have no regrets about going back to a Cooper from an S.

[Neil - TXJ]

Will be interesting what the cost of the new F56 will be. Was already thinking of swapping to the SD so will give due consideration to the Cooper,both petrol and diesel.

Some interesting new cars coming out next year, Fiesta ST, new Clio etc. Preference will be to stick with mini but will come down to costs - will also see what finance options at dealers are. A pre reg car may be an option but costs were considerable north of the company car costs when I last changed.

[N16SHP]

I suppose it's down to your needs Neil. My wife and I both have R56 S's at the moment and we've opted for a Cooper Countryman. We only ever drive around town and maybe 3 or 4 times a year down to the Borders and very rarely on a country roads, so for us, the extra cost for the S was just not worth it. We also wanted something a little softer for carting the new born around it. If you need the extra grunt then perhaps you are best to look at a different brand, but if you like the Mini then perhaps a drop in power isn't the end of the world.

Everyone's needs are different though, all going well with the Countryman I may well go for the Cooper hatch myself and stick more gadgets inside instead of adding horses under the bonnet.

[Mon the fish]

Myself and the wife have had a Coupe SD for the last fortnight, due to JC's continual uselessness (another story...), and I'm not impressed with the engine. Yes, lots of shove, but noisy, unrefined, and no shove off boost. Not worth it for an extra 10mpg IMO

[N16SHP]

Myself and the wife have had a Coupe SD for the last fortnight, due to JC's continual uselessness (another story...), and I'm not impressed with the engine. Yes, lots of shove, but noisy, unrefined, and no shove off boost. Not worth it for an extra 10mpg IMO

We test drove a Countryman SD and I also was less than impressed with the engine. I don't know if it's just the Countryman SD but the vibrations that were coming back through the clutch pedal was ridiculous! We also test drove an Audi A3 2.0 TDI and it has much more squirt and go and seemed much more refined.