I'll tell you this; for all the fanatics that own MINI's and rave endlessly about all their attributes, I decided to go drive one for myself. It's a well though-out commuter vehicle (2-seater; the rear seat is useless) with a long list of standard equipment in the base vehicle.
I shopped Honda, Toyota, Nissan, VW and Scion for a subcompact coupe. Drove `em all; stayed open minded and bought an `07 MINI Cooper S. I test drove this car last as it was last on my list. I come from an automotive family and worked the first half of my life in the industry and I honestly believe that BMW Group has done a wonderful thing with this car.
Trust me, I didn't buy it for "status"; I get mostly jeered and teased by my mates and the females just think it's cute. It's important to note that I just put my 5th tank of fuel through it and turned 37.5 mpg over 500 miles. With 175 hp and a snotty little turbo 1.6 liter, it's a hoot to drive.
