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Leon Cupr R
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The choices are endless. My list would contain EP3 Civic Type R, Clio 182/197, Renault Sport Megane 225, Fiesta ST, Skoda Fabia VRS...
The Mini is a fun car but it has a few downsides, mainly that the back seats are all but useless unless you have kids and the boot space is dire. They were pretty badly packaged considering the car that they pay homage too. Also like the Audi, parts and servicing seem to be more expensive to the less 'exclusive' European and Japanese competition.
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R53 Mini Cooper S
Got a Mini One, and I think they're great. Would recommend. Test drive one.
Worth pointing out it has 4 seats, not 5, the boot isn't huge, so while you can take 4, you can't take everyones luggage. I would disagree that the rear seats are useless, they are sloped to give more leg room and fit normal adults perfectly well IME.
With the seats down you can get a surprising amount in. The ride is relatively firm. Like many BMWs they can have issues with their electric windows. Otherwise BMW feel and quality.
Tbh if we still lived in London and I had the money I'd probably have a convertible suppedup Cooper, as its the perfect car for a couple.
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Looked at Cooper S’s, Cupras, 1 series BMW, Type R & S Civics among others.
Ended up with a 5 door 1.8 Civic Ex, same performance as the Type S but with more doors. Comfy and a pleasure to drive, muchly economical and has a cavernous boot and the rear seats fold completely flat (great for loading bikes). Mine was £3400 08 plate 50k miles and full Honda service history with 10 stamps.
Pretty dull but I’m mighty happy with it.
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My Audi appears to have a terminal failure in the autobox - massive oil leak, now fixed & refilled but still clunky and can't select reverse. Quotes of north of £1k to fix and seeing the car is worth £1.5k at best, looks like time to replace...
I really fancy an R53 Mini Cooper S, anything I should know? Any other ideas for budget approx £3k? Needs 4 seats, some practicality, less than 100k miles, reasonably sporty & individual.