So my lease is going in a little under 2 months. I was looking at bmw 335xi’s and fiat 500 abarth, but I haven’t been awesome about saving and I started school so both of those have hit my budget quite a lot. I was hoping for about double what my current budget is. I’m now pretty comfortably out of the BMW E90 territory, but the early Mini Cooper S has caught my eye. Looks like they trade around the 4-7k range, and that leaves me quite a hefty savings for any unexpected repairs plus a healthy revenue stream from the lack of a month payment.
A bit about me, I drive myself mostly, once in a while some friends or family. I prefer small cars as I work in the city which means city garages which means tiny parking spaces. I can turn a pretty mean wrench. I also have a fun car, so this would be for a daily driver.
Thoughts?
Pros to the situation is I get to experience a supercharger which I have always loved, I get to try the daily manual transmission life, smaller than my current car which means easier mobility.
Cons, the newest one would be from 2006 so 13 years old. Milage will be high for the most part unless some unicorns are present (first time my daily won’t be starting from 0 on the odometer). Parts will be expensive comparatively. Reliability may not be there (definitely will be retaining my AAA).