Yes  scammer, we just had another one a couple of weeks ago . Same question

Wow. You all need to learn to recognize a scammer post when you see one.

Personally. I would NEVER, and have never bought a new car. But then, I have a pretty good network of mechanic type friends to help with maintenance/repairs that I no longer do myself. New cars are simply a BAD investment in nearly all cases. Older cars have had the bulk of their depreciation over with and their prices start becoming more in line with their actual value. second, I never buy cars on credit....always pay cash.; if you can't pay cash, you can't afford the car... you are asking for financial trouble later unless you have rich friends/family to bail you out when you loose your income source. Third, I almost always get a make/model that will either appreciate or at least not depreciate quickly. My advice is save your money until you can pay cash for something you like, that is a few years old or older. in the mean time find an honest Mechanic,(if you are not mechanically inclined), who charges fair prices, (not a dealership). Having said all that, if the idea of "Brand New" is too much of a temtation, as it is for many, concentrate on finding a low intrest or no intrest rate loan and put down as large a down payment as you can affordand. Somebody has to take the big depreciation hits on buying new, in order for people like me to be able to buy used. When you become wealthy and have more money than you need, then buying new is justified. Finally, I would stay away from any recent year of Mini; they have major issues.

The last time I bought a new car was 2005. It was an R53 MINI Cooper S model ordered just the way I wanted it. I still have it today, and I can honestly say, this car will be in the stable for many more years. First thought about your qeustion, your clearly on the wrong forum. The Classic guys here, maybe not all, as I too own a Classic, are not MINI friendly. Take a look at North American Motoring for some advice on the newer models.

Honestly, no matter what you end up purchasing, if you treat it properly, don't beat it into the ground, perform routine maintenance, etc. it's going to last a longtime. Todays cars are light years ahead of what was available 20 or more years ago. 200,000 miles on any car thats been well maintained isn't far fetched anymore.

With that said, I think if your going to go all out, get the JCW. Not all of us have been fortunate enough to be able to purchase and maintain a classic Mini. And keep in mind, a lot of us had no idea that the cars we abused in the late 60's and early 70's would become the Muscle Cars with crazy price tags all these years later. Todays MINI JCW could one day be one of those 30 years from now.?

I heard years ago "if you have to finance a vehicle more than 36 months you can't afford it" and you will hardly ever be in an equitable position. Of course times have changed and some vehicles especially trucks are ridiculous in price with 84 month financing. Dealers try everything to sell a vehicle, low or no down payments, first three months no payments, allow $4k over for your pos 200k miles trade in that has been used as an uber taxi believe me it all hits you on the back end of that payment schedule.
BMW MINI sales are way down America is shifting towards Cross overs and SUV's, there is a reason Ford is not making any more cars except the Mustang.
Some of the repairs on the MINI are astronomical when compared with other makes, research the forums and see for yourself.
If you have to get a MINI either get a lease and get one with a warranty and an extendable one just in case you decide to drive the wheels off it.

Buy a Honda! It will be cheaper to buy and fix if it breaks. Also, if taken care of you can get 400k on the Honda, but not on the BMW POS!

Good advice from Ken.
Heed particularly the words "You never want to finance a car that can go upside down in value."

If you value the money that you earn, save your money and pay cash for the car. If that is not feasible, at least save enough for a sizeable down payment. You never want to finance a car that can go upside down in value. You pay a big chunk of $$ in interest over the life of the loan when you borrow $$.

A new car can lose as much as 30% in value the moment you drive off the lot - not the best use of your hard earned $$, unless you are flush with $$. A common advice is to purchase a car that is 3 yrs old so the initial hit of depreciation is past.

Good luck!

Go with the JCW lease, just make sure you pay for enough miles and then some.

 Get some cajones.. and buy a real CLASSIC mini..  like jim said.. buy a good mazda  or honda. forget about the BMW MINI.. later bc

The only way you will ensure that you are happy with a BINI is to lease new and change it every 3 years, before the manufacturer's warrantee expires, or if you are going to keep it longer, get an extended warrantee, this way you will avoid all costly repairs.  As to how much you can afford, if you have to ask, keep the Fiat

Do yourself a favour....buy a Jap car.  Either a Toyota Corolla, or a Honda Civic.  I was driving BINIS long before anyone in the USA, and they were a piece of crap then, and they haven't really improved much. IMO.
Before buying a BINI I suggest you Google the Problems Page these cars have. It makes scary reading!

Hello everyone,,

While I am generally fairly frugal and save a bit each month, I am extremely ignorant about personal finance. I am in a new financial situation and not really sure where I stand. Fairly recently I started a new job and it's a pretty substantial raise from what I'm used to; additionally, I also haven't had a large car payment before (have had mostly beaters and currently have a <$200 payment).

 

My current base salary comes to right at $4000/mo after taxes but I also get overtime pay (the amount of which I don't really control, so not a reliable thing to count on) Mobdro that has made it as much as $5400. Average month for a year will probably end up being $4500 on the low side, could be more.

 

My other expenses are not huge -- mortgage+HOA fees for my condo are $665/mo. No other debts besides my Fiat which I am essentially even on in terms of equity (worth within plus or minus $1000 of what I owe). Few hundred a month for groceries, live 10 mi from work so gas is cheap, couple hundred each month for normal stuff Lucky Patcher like utilities and internet, etc.

 

I've read that 20% of your monthly income for a car payment is reasonable but that would be like more than $800/mo which seems ****in' insane to me. My (realistic) dream car is a new Mini Cooper S Kodi or Mini Cooper JCW. I like all of the customization options so I would be ordering one to my specifications to the tune of around 35K for the S or 39.5K for the JCW specced the way I want them -- more or less fully loaded -- including the small discount that I get (I work for one of BMW's tier 1 suppliers). I could put down preferably around 5K but as much as 10K for a loan but would prefer zero-ish down if I go the lease route. In my state TT&L happens at the DMV later, not the dealership. As of today Mint says my credit score is 756 which is consistent with what the 3 credit agencies reported 18 months ago when I bought my home -- I assume my beacon score will be similar.

 

I am not super sure but based on what I've read I think that all puts me in the $550-650/mo range for a 60 month loan. That seems like an absurdly high monthly payment to me (especially since it's a similar amount to my mortgage) but I'm in a whole different income bracket than I'm used to now and I guess I'm just looking for a sanity check. My Fiat is completely fine and I don't need to buy a car tomorrow, but I would REALLY like a MINI. Based on what you've all seen in the industry am I shooting for something reasonable here -- and am I accurate with my payment assumptions -- or do I need to adjust my expectations and/or dial it back a bit?