Clean car? No thanks
I always struggle with resisting the urge to clean my car at this time of year: it’s a waste of time and money given how quickly the grime and salt accumulates.
But I’m quite enjoying the rally-refugee vibe that the Mini takes on when it’s especially caked. It almost feels like a badge of honour: enduring proof of some arduous but enjoyable mid-winter schleps. Plus it obscures the childish racing stripes.
I’m especially glad I didn’t shell out on a full detail as it hasn’t even been sitting outside my living room window this week – like a car park attendant in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Steve Cropley borrowed it and returned it with double the miles on the odometer.
But rather than drive home backwards and reverse the clock, I’ve been inspired to keep piling them on. Birmingham, Wellingborough, Shirley, Malvern, Sevenoaks… We’ve been everywhere(ish) – and I’ve yet to uncover any major gripes. It’s even a decent mobile office.
Would I buy one?
It’s easy to become desensitised to the exorbitant prices of new cars as they creep, slowly but surely, ever upwards.
Just five years ago, the cheapest new car in the UK was £8000. Today, it’s approaching double that. So I’ll confess I didn’t immediately gulp, gasp or go berserk when I saw £34,500 at the bottom of the spec sheet for our Cooper S.
Given the general state of things, I thought it sufficiently equipped, suitably potent and aspirational enough to warrant price parity with, say, a speccy Audi A3 or a base-level Volkswagen Tiguan.
But after several thousand miles at the wheel, I’m running the numbers and wondering if I’ve been a bit short-changed, particularly when I had such a lovely time with the entry-level Cooper C, which is available for £10,000 less (albeit in our case with two fewer doors).
Sure, you get a healthy bump in power with the S, but rare was the occasion I found the C short on puff, and for the casual driver it’s still more than capable of raising a grin on a country lane.