Foo - I traded in my MINI Cooper :(

I was getting worried about the lack of a warranty with my Cooper and had been contemplating trading it in for a new one. As I gave it more thought I realized that perhaps I should go with something more practical. The MINI required premium gas and I'd end up with a higher payment with a new one should I started looking around for something else.

My eye first fell on the Toyota Yaris largely because of it's 40mpg claims. I went down to the Toyota dealer to check it out and was quickly disappointed. The thing comes standard with absolutely nothing, no power windows/locks, abs brakes, cd player etc. As you add things on to the car it ends up about the same price as a Corolla. Plus when test driving the car it really didn't feel solid, not at all what I was used to with the MINI. I absolutely loved my Cooper and there was no way I was going to take such a drop down in quality so I kept looking.

And on to the VW dealer. Which happens to be where I purchased a new 2006 Jetta 2.5. I was a little disappointed at first because both the GLI and the GTI seemed so nice but they also both require premium gas again and would have costed more in a monthly payment. I was sad to lose the little Cooper but the Jetta has many of the same features plus a few new ones and is definitely a solid car. These mkVs are so much nicer than the previous model Jetta! So I got an awesome new car with and extended warranty and was able to keep my same payments. Plus my wife loves it as well :D and it's an automatic so she'll feel more comfortable driving it around.

Pics to come tomorrow after I wash it again. The so called "detailing" the dealer did wasn't very impressive. :rolleyes: One thing about the whole experience I should mention is that I'm much more impressed with the local Toyota (Fort Myers Toyota) dealership. My wife and I bought a Scion Xa from them when they first came out and earlier this year traded that in for a 2006 Rav4. We told them what we wanted in a payment and in a car and they did for us pronto. Very limited negotiating necessary with them. On the other hand at VW we told them the maximum payment we were interested in and they showed us all these cars that in the end they were not able to give us for the payment we wanted. They totally wasted our time on cars they knew wouldn't work out for us but everyone there was very nice. I'll have to try out the service center to make a real comparison in service. :beer:

Or, you could save yourself even more money by buying a nearly trouble free V8 with 100,000 or so miles on it for a grand or two like I did. :D

My parents had a Jetta once. The insurance payments were a killer. After all, it's a "sports car." Yeah, a 57-horsepower Diesel-burning 4-door sports car, riiiiiiiiight... :rolleyes: They got rid of it.

I worked at a VW/Audi/Porsche dealer once. I would never buy that crap. And yes, the sales tactics suck too. I had a Landcruiser, a RAV4, and a Civic before I moved to Australia. Now I'm very happy to be back in the US, and driving an xB. Your VW will be good to you, but sell it to some sucker before the 90k mark.

Cool, my sister has a jetta:beer:

Nice pick up, but why didn't you just buy an extended warranty? That way, you'd still have the Mini, it'd still be under warranty and your payments would end soon.

Nice pick up, but why didn't you just buy an extended warranty? That way, you'd still have the Mini, it'd still be under warranty and your payments would end soon.
It gets more expensive to purchase an extended warranty as the car gets older and the mileage goes up. I didn't buy the MINI brand new so I didn't have the option. Now I have a car with an extended warranty for the same payment as the MINI.

the 06 RAV4 is nice, my mom has one, but i dont like when you are driving and you hit the gas and like it doesnt go. So you floor it and it starts to hawl ass.lol. But you could have gotten a Camry, my dad has an 06 camry it's very nice, 34mpg on 87 octane gas, and thats a mix of city and highway driving with a/c on all the time. he even pulls a trailor and gets the same mileage. but yea VW are nice german cars that are solid. Cant wait to see the pics

The new Toyota FJ's are very nice. I don't know how much MPG they get but they only cost 21,000 for a 4x4, every nice deal IMO.

While I think the Camry is a great car the style is not for me. I prefer the look of the Jetta.

I know what you mean about the acceleration in the Rav4, it's either in granny gear or turbo!

The new Toyota FJ's are very nice. I don't know how much MPG they get but they only cost 21,000 for a 4x4, every nice deal IMO.

The FJ Cruiser looks nice and we contemplated getting one of those when we bought the Rav4 but they only get 18/22 mpg with the 2wd and 17/21 with the 4wd while the Rav4 gets 24/30. And we don't need two SUVs so a sedan or coupe was more of what I was looking for to replace the Cooper.

While I think the Camry is a great car the style is not for me. I prefer the look of the Jetta.

I know what you mean about the acceleration in the Rav4, it's either in granny gear or turbo!i hear ya, i prefer my 1989 Accord over all or my brothers 1990 bmw 535i. The RAV4 is fun to drive, corners well, accept the stability controls kicks in like almost every corner

i hear ya, i prefer my 1989 Accord over all or my brothers 1990 bmw 535i.

You make Hanz and Franz (and Aaahhhnold) cry like little girlie men!

http://www.defensetech.org/images/arn_hanz_franz.jpg

I love my 2003 Element. I can roll my bikes right into the back, carry tons of stuff, sweep and mop it out. Plus, it's paid for. ;) I wish the gearing was a bit more on the economical side; I don't need to catch rubber in the first 4 gears.

My dad is in sore need of a new car but he wants something small and from Chrysler. I just saw the Caliber and it might be the car for him. The 1.8L intro model is cheap, which would suit my dad just fine.

I'm still diggin my Miata. I think you should have checked out a nice Civic coupe or an RSX or something. The VWs seem to wear out before they should.

You make Hanz and Franz (and Aaahhhnold) cry like little girlie men!

http://www.defensetech.org/images/arn_hanz_franz.jpgi dont get it?

My friend owns a Jetta (06) - he likes it, but as soon as the lease is up he is getting something else. He tells me that car feels "cheep" - but then he is used to driving BMW's and Infinities!

I am thinking about buying next year the new rabbit!

d00d, mk1. :D

My friend owns a Jetta (06) - he likes it, but as soon as the lease is up he is getting something else. He tells me that car feels "cheep" - but then he is used to driving BMW's and Infinities!

I am thinking about buying next year the new rabbit!
I don't think the car feels cheap at all, just the opposite as it feels very solid. He may be referring to the interior and whatnot since it's not bmw quality and he is probably used to wood grain and crap and less plastic.

Compare the interior on the Jetta to anything similar in price and it sure as hell ain't cheap!


i dont get it?

SNL? Paaaahmp you aaahhhhp? German pride? you knocked a BMW. Oh, never mind.

Jeeezzzusss.
So I washed and waxed my car today. The dealer did a pretty shotty job on the clean and my wife parked the car by some sprinkler heads which left some pretty nasty water spots. As I'm wiping the tire shine off I notice a nail in my tire in the friggin sidewall! The whole tire needed to be replaced.

I took the car to VW but they were out of the specific tire and recommended I try Sears. Sears did not stock that tire and recommended I try Tires Plus. Tire Plus sent me to Tire Kingdom and Tire Kingdom had a very similar tire with the same performance ratings but a different tread pattern. I had zero interest in having three of the same tires with one odd one but I did come up with the idea to swap the tire from the full size spare and get the new tire put on that. It's only a spare and I wouldn't ride around long on it anyways so it worked out. Unfortunately it cost me another $200 :( It's only been two days! I've gone 5 or more years without getting a nail in a tire or anything similar yet the second day I drive my new car with brand new tires I get an f'ing nail in the sidewall.

Well at least I had the money to get it replaced. I wonder if I can still get that tire insurance from VW?

Weird. I traded my Jetta for a MINI last year. The Jetta was an OK car (2001 VR6) but I wasn't passionate about it. I love my MINI. I understand about the warranty, though.

I sold my Mustang and got a Mini back in June. Best choice I ever made. While the manual for mine says 91 oct, I find it runs just fine on plus when the outside temps are lower, though the difference between plus and prem is only like a buck-ish more per tankful.

I find it to be extremely practical, so I'm always puzzled when someone trades or sells one for a "more practical" car. I'm getting 29mph in mixed driving, which I can't complain about. I got 16 under the same conditions with the Mustang, and that had to have premium, no two ways about it.

Hope you enjoy your new car.

I sold my Mustang and got a Mini back in June. Best choice I ever made. While the manual for mine says 91 oct, I find it runs just fine on plus when the outside temps are lower, though the difference between plus and prem is only like a buck-ish more per tankful.

I find it to be extremely practical, so I'm always puzzled when someone trades or sells one for a "more practical" car. I'm getting 29mph in mixed driving, which I can't complain about. I got 16 under the same conditions with the Mustang, and that had to have premium, no two ways about it.

Hope you enjoy your new car.
When I tried using a lower octane I started to get a knocking from the engine, when I went back to 93 it disappeared. I would say you traded in your mustang for a more practical car.;) For me I was never able to get more than 26 for any period of time from the MINI, I just kept reverting to my old driving habits. The standard transmission was just too much fun. :D

When I tried using a lower octane I started to get a knocking from the engine, when I went back to 93 it disappeared. I would say you traded in your mustang for a more practical car.;) For me I was never able to get more than 26 for any period of time from the MINI, I just kept reverting to my old driving habits. The standard transmission was just too much fun. :D
lol, well yes, that's one issue. Fortunately (probably due to old age) I don't really drive "spiritedly" very much anymore.

Odd that you were getting knocking though, as the computer is supposed to adjust the timing when knock is detected. Maybe you had a regular Mini and not the S? I think the regular Mini has higher compression, so it would be more sensitive to octane. The S is supercharged, so it has less compression (to take advantage of the supercharger) so as long as I stay out of boost, it's not as picky about gas.

Could depend on other things too I guess, like the fuel & temps in your area.

Well, enjoy your new car!

lol, well yes, that's one issue. Fortunately (probably due to old age) I don't really drive "spiritedly" very much anymore.

Odd that you were getting knocking though, as the computer is supposed to adjust the timing when knock is detected. Maybe you had a regular Mini and not the S? I think the regular Mini has higher compression, so it would be more sensitive to octane. The S is supercharged, so it has less compression (to take advantage of the supercharger) so as long as I stay out of boost, it's not as picky about gas.

Could depend on other things too I guess, like the fuel & temps in your area.

Well, enjoy your new car!

Yeah I did not have the S so I would assume you are correct.
What color is your S?

The more I drive the Jetta the more I love it. I was unsure the first day if I'd made the right choice but now I'm positive I did. I'm only 25 and I'm sure there is room for another Cooper in my future, or a m-series Z4 Coupe :D I just need to figure out what I really want to do with my life and find a career that pays more. Meanwhile I'll continue to be a "kept" man as my wife makes twice as much as me. ;)

I bought my wife a Scion TC earlier this year. So far it has been a great little car. The only problem is that we bought it at Love Lexus in Saint Albans, WV. They made the buying experience as painful as possible.

From the start they tried convincing my wife to buy a color that we didn't want. They tried to convince her to buy silver for two hours. The only problem was we didn't want silver. The guy kept telling her how much everyone liked it. I finally had to look at him and just tell him that I was glad that everyone else liked it, unfortunately the guy paying for it didn't. At that point I wasn't exactly polite about it.

Then they finally told us they could get the color that we wanted but it may take a while so they may not be able to give us as much for our trade, it may depreciate before the new car came in.

We ordered the car with a spoiler on it. They didn't get it in when the car originally came in so we had to take the car back to them to have it installed. They told us to have the car in at 7:00 (or 8:00) am and they would have a car for us to drive. My wife took the car in and no one there knew what she was there for. Not only that there was no loaner car there. She had to wait around for over an hour for someone to drive her to work (late).

They bought some generic knock off spoiler and put it on the car. It waved at you when you looked at it, very poor quality. When they had the car putting the spoiler on they took it to an automatic car wash. That put scratches all over the car, made it look like crap! We questioned them about it and they denied it.

After a few more calls someone finally mentioned the car wash and said they would have it buffed out. They took it to a body shop in St. Albans. The body shop actually made it look worse!

Once we got the car back we kept looking at the spoiler, it really made the car look bad. Finally someone there gave in and said they would have a new one ordered. Looks that Sell in South Charleston, WV ordered the new spoiler for us. When Love Lexus called us and told us the new spoiler was in we asked them how it looked. He said he had looked at it and it looked perfect. We called Looks that Sell and asked them, he said he hadn't opened the box yet and for us to hold on. He went and looked at it and said they shipped him the wrong spoiler. Another lie by Love Lexus!

A week later the correct spoiler came in, Looks that Sells installed it and it looks great. However, we still have all the scratches and swirl marks. We ended up taking it to another body shop and having them buff it out. They ended up having to buff it out on two seperate occasions. They couldn't believe how bad the paint had been messed up. Love Lexus didn't offer to reimburse us for having the car buffed out. All they said is that "they went out of their way to make us happy". Believe that if you want.

Anyway, long story short. We love the car, we hate Love Lexus.

Not the best picture but anywho....
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b148/LowCel/100_0306.jpg

Let Scion know about those problems. Scion USA is halfway decent about dealing with customers, especially when a dealership has violated their policies (that one clearly did.)

I really like Scions and I admire their business model, unfortunately it seems like 95% of Toyota stores can't carry it out properly.

That is a horrible story lowcel, I wouldn't have even purchased a car from them. I hope you contacted Scion Customer Experience and complained.
The Toyota dealer here is phenomenal and I'd recommend them to anyone. We've purchased two cars from them and they've made it as painless as possible.
The worst dealer I've ever dealt with was the local Honda. We were ready to sign on a car right there because it was what my wife wanted but they were so inept we left and I made sure they knew exactly how I felt and what they did to lose an easy sell. Toyota sure did appreciate the business though!

We filled out the customer survey that Scion sent us but they never contacted us about it. Lesson learned though, in the future I will stick with the dealership I know and trust, C&C Dodge Toyota in Marrietta Ohio. That is where I bought my 2005 Tacoma. My parents also bought there Toyotas from them, my sister in law bought hers there as well. They are awesome. Unfortunately when we bought the Scion the Marrietta store didn't have any way to trade for the color we wanted since they had just become Scion dealers that week. :(

We are sort of a Toyota family. :D
Dad - Tundra
Mom - 4 Runner
Me - Tacoma
Wife - Scion TC
Sister in law - Matrix
Sister - 4 Runner
Brother - Tacoma
Sister in law - Siena
Uncle - Tundra
Aunt - Siena
Aunt - Camry

Compare the interior on the Jetta to anything similar in price and it sure as hell ain't cheap!



SNL? Paaaahmp you aaahhhhp? German pride? you knocked a BMW. Oh, never mind.why would i knock a bmw when i have one?

Just a thought, did you look at the Scion Tc?

We have an old Acura Integra (2000) and I am going to drive it until it drops dead (or until I get a job where I need to drive to), currently my fiancee uses it to get to work. We were discussing what we would get if we had to get another car and came up with;

Mazda 3 (gets pricy once you start adding options)
Scion TC (Good price, little negotiating. However, never driven one)
Acura TSX (Whoooaaaa......to expensive)
Acura RSX (Too expensive for what you get)
VW Jetta (Reliability concerns)

I've never bought a new car, I tend to buy cars that are at least 4-5 years old to avoid depreciation but the Scion Tc seems to holds its value really well

I sold my Mustang and got a Mini back in June. Best choice I ever made. While the manual for mine says 91 oct, I find it runs just fine on plus when the outside temps are lower, though the difference between plus and prem is only like a buck-ish more per tankful.

I find it to be extremely practical, so I'm always puzzled when someone trades or sells one for a "more practical" car. I'm getting 29mph in mixed driving, which I can't complain about. I got 16 under the same conditions with the Mustang, and that had to have premium, no two ways about it.

Hope you enjoy your new car.
cydewaze, do you have a stick shift or an auto? I drove the mini with an auto and it felt jerky.

We filled out the customer survey that Scion sent us but they never contacted us about it. Lesson learned though, in the future I will stick with the dealership I know and trust, C&C Dodge Toyota in Marrietta Ohio. That is where I bought my 2005 Tacoma. My parents also bought there Toyotas from them, my sister in law bought hers there as well. They are awesome. Unfortunately when we bought the Scion the Marrietta store didn't have any way to trade for the color we wanted since they had just become Scion dealers that week. :(

We are sort of a Toyota family. :D
Dad - Tundra
Mom - 4 Runner
Me - Tacoma
Wife - Scion TC
Sister in law - Matrix
Sister - 4 Runner
Brother - Tacoma
Sister in law - Siena
Uncle - Tundra
Aunt - Siena
Aunt - Camry

The dealership makes or breaks the experience. I bought an old used 2000 Acura Integra couple of years ago and the place I bought it were idiots and thieves. I finally had to threaten legal action to get them to fix it under warranty (muffler rusted through within one month of me owning it). The battery died within two weeks of me buying it (and the claimed they had done a 150 point inspection and 'replaced the battery'). I had it changed and of course the radio was now locked (of course they didn't have the code even though they had "changed the battery just after I had bought it"):mad: . I had to take a two hour drive to the dealership that sold it new to get the code (and I had to research and find out who the original owner was)

Avoid Honda North of Danvers MA like the plague!!!!

After that experience, I took my car for service to Acura of Boston. Good service, shuttle to drop me back close to home when I was done.

One time I took it in and after I picked it is smelled of oil (they had replaced the oil pan). I called them, they told me to come back (they actually stayed late), they took the car and said they would check it out and if some oil had spilled on the engine manifold they would steam clean it. And oohh, here is a brand new Acura TSX Loaner car!!!! (which I kept for a weekend).

A year later, took it in for the 75,000 mile service. They gave me a brand new Acura TL Loaner car!!! I was floored. I had it for a long weekend and a bit. The 75,000 service actually cost me less at the Acura dealership than Midas had estimated.

Now, if I ever buy a new Acura, who do you think I will go to? And there is only one place I take my car for service (and it doesn't cost much more than Jiffy Lube etc).