Mini, Mini, Mini!

I've been loving the new Minis I'm seeing... plus, if you don't get a Mini, you're a traitor to your adopted nation.

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Mini!

Mini!

The Aygo, 107, and C1 are basically rebadged versions of the same car, so if you go down that road, bear in mind that that could make things like repairs and service easier.

I love the Aygo, though. I don't have one, but a four-star safety rating, a reasonable price, and a distinctive look all seal the deal for me.

"Even if you hate this sort of car (and I imagine that many people who read this site do), you must admit that we may all be making a decision like this in the foreseeable future. So, what's it gonna be?"

Limpin'-Jesus-on-a-pity-crutch, if it comes to that list, I'll import and rebuild a 1980's vintage Russian-trade-for-bauxite-ore, rusted out Jamaican Lada. If I've got to drive something small, ugly and poorly made, I want to be able to fix it without a lot of further aggravation. And you can pull workable replacement parts for a Lada off any mechanical thing you come across. Even abandoned lawn mowers can contribute to keeping your Lada running. Nothing can keep a French car running.

The Mini is the best of that lot, no question. But that's like saying fulminating pneumonia is preferable to bubonic plague.

If you don't get a Mini, you're a traitor to your adopted nation.

The sad bit: the Mini is a BMW and not British at all these days.

The Aygo, 107, and C1 are basically rebadged versions of the same car,

As noted on Top Gear. The C1 is the cheapest, but I think I'd still get the Toy because I'd rather deal with them in the event of a problem.

Paul, I posted this with you in mind.

Apparently, the Mini is a joy to drive... I remember reading about one reviewer who - when the loan period was up and he had to return his test car - refused to part with his.

In England, roads are small, parking spaces are small, car parks are small, and multi-story car parks are tight (huge concrete posts in the way, etc). Smaller is better.

Where I live (several miles of steep, curvy roads with houses on either side), they never widened the road and people still park on the street. So, you have to stop for oncoming traffic, sometimes you even have to reverse uphill and pull off the road. Shit, I even have to drive on the pavement to get home sometimes (if some dumb person doesn't understand the etiquette of our road and refuses to move). My Golf is pretty good, but the Renault (family car) actually feels too big up here.

My 205 Lacoste is still running nicely and the only damage to it are the locks that had to change after three break-ins. It would even start in the freezing cold in Stockholm when Volvo's had trouble handling it (mine and the BMW Bavaria were the only two cars that started one cold morning I recall.) So yeah, French cars = bad = not always true.

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* on the block. I forget to add on the block. Not in all of Stockholm. Sheesh.

Minis are built in Cowley at the arse end of Oxford, which makes them at least slightly British.

cillit bang - I don't personally care much about the fact that it's basically a little Beemer... but I know Brits who do (passionately). Apparently, BMW 'gutted' Rover.

I saw an old Mini with a bumper sticker that read "100% BMW Free!"

I wouldn't buy any of those because I wouldn't be able to sit up straight in any of them. It broke my heart when I tried to sit in a Mini at the auto show a few years ago and my head was pressing against the roof-liner. Also the Mini is the only one of that list that they bother to sell in the US (although the fortwo has been "coming real soon" for a few years now).

The Toyota, Mitsubishi or Mazda.
1. Because they're Japanese.
2. Because they're not Italian
3. Because they're not French

2nd choice, the VW, because it's German.

I have a Toyota Yaris Sport, and love it.

I want a Honda Jazz, having heard good things about it from several quarters - they are magic cars and fit an infinite amount of stuff in them, it would seem. Have you considered adding it to the list?

"... So yeah, French cars = bad = not always true."

Funny you should mention Peugeot. The last time I was in Rome, I wound up renting a 405 for a trip up to Paris, through the Rhone valley. Just wanted to do a long "week" of easy tourist driving, in northern Italy and southern France, with a girl friend.

Great car, that 405. Our second day, it failed to start in Firenza, when we came out of a museum. OK, that was a just a bad battery post connection, easily discovered, soon corrected, only two hours lost organizing tools and help. It quit for mechanical cause on the fourth day, in Pisa, when the fuel pump packed in. I have pictures of us looking pissed, with the Leaning Tower in the background. $290 refundable dollars, and 6 hours later, we got going again. As it was a one way rental, on international terms, no chance for Hertz to replace it, we were told, but I figured, hey, it's less than a year old, "How bad could it be?"

The windshield wipers quit at the customs stop going into Monaco, which was not so good, given that it was night, and raining, all the way to Nice. Turned out to be a fuse, after looking around the next morning for 30 minutes. Eh, could've happened to anyone, I reasoned.

The squealing of the power steering pump didn't really get nerve racking until it began drowning out the radio on every right turn, starting in Avignon. When the rear door handle on the driver's side fell off in my hand as I tried to open it to toss my camera bag in the back seat in St. Etienne, we just laughed, and threw it in the trunk, with the other parts that had fallen off, including some interior trim, and a fog lamp dress ring, along the way.

We finally gave up on it, entirely, in Orleans, when the clutch slave cylinder lost a seal, leaving a small pool of brake fluid under the car, and the clutch pedal flopping around pointlessly. We called the Hertz office at Charles de Gaulle, where we were supposed to drop it off, and told them where they could find it, to tow.

We took the train and cabs, thereafter. And by the time we'd got to Charles de Gaulle to close out my Hertz contract, those canny French had found the root of our problems:

It was, they pointed out, an Italian registered Peugeot.

Our weekend plans were ruined when our best friends' Renault broke down in Monmouth (they had to have it towed back) and my wife's Renault hasn't exactly been reliable... so, I'm not big on French cars.

I kicked up a fuss when she bought it, and will do whatever is necessary to talk her into something German or Japanese next.

paulsc, that sounds more like a possessed Peugeot! And it's not the first horror-story I've heard about the 405 to be honest. I think mine is special. ;)

I have a driving-lifelong love for VWs. I've owned two; my current 10-year-old Passat has 105K miles on it and still going strong.

But we also have a Mini, and it is a lot of fun to drive. In addition to being able to squeeze into tight city parking spaces, braking is quick and responsive, like having a big suction cup attached to the undercarriage.

and I've nothing but good things to say about Toyotas - not the sexiest of cars but our Carina has done 150,000 miles and still starts every morning without problems. I also know folks who have Corollas and they like them. My dad's Honda Accord is pretty awesome too. So yes, buy Japanese, if the Yaris shapes up to be as good as the rest.

I don't think I'm allowed to answer.
I love me some teeny tiny cars. And Toyotas are great.

I love a Toyota, but 'Aygo' is a pretty dumb name.

Even if you hate this sort of car (and I imagine that many people who read this site do)

For real? Us? Hate those cute tiny little things? Not likely. I vote for the Mitsubishi, because it looks as though it came from the future.

Do they sell the Scion Xb (Toyota Bb) in Europe? It's one of the few small cars that I fit in, I've had mine for a year and a half and love it even if my co-workers make fun of me.

They make fun of you? What do they say?

(I like the first-gen xB a lot, but the second-gen one just reminds me of the way that Toyota makes larger, uglier cars for the US market. Can't argue with success, but I'd take a Tercel over an Avalon, or a Hilux over a Tundra, any day.)

My parents owned a Corolla and a Tercel for 10 years each, nothing failed on them, not so much as a light bulb, ever. I've had my Yaris for 3 years now, same story.

signal, I can say the same for my Golf, and I've driven the ever-lovin' shit out of it.

Mini!