Hi,
Let me start off by saying that considering the purchase of a Mini Cooper is definitely not something I ever thought I'd be considering! I'm, oddly, the kind of teenager that doesn't really like muscle cars, trucks, suvs, or imports. I am the kind of teenager who would love to drive a black Lincoln Town Car or a 1969 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham, the exact opposite of a Mini! So anyways I now drive a 1996 Mercury Cougar and I am wanting to get rid of it and get something that a 17 year old would be driving, civic, mustang, older lexus IS something along these lines, but I was looking around the car dealers in town and I came across a 2006 Mini Cooper S 6-Speed. I have always liked Mini Coopers but it was never something I saw myself driving. I stopped in the dealership and got out and looked at the car. The door was unlocked and the keys were in it so I put it in neutral and started it. I was looking around and thinking about how cool and funky it was. I got out and went home. I went back to my hometown (3 hours away) for the weekend since it was Spring Break. While I was on my way to my moms house I passed the Kia dealership and saw that they had a 2011 Mini Cooper in. I went on to my moms house and we went to look at it. We went to test drive it to see if this is what I would actually like to have. This one was a regular Cooper, not a Cooper S, nor was it manual. We went for about a 20 minute drive in it and I decided that I really liked it and that it would be the perfect car for me! It's just about the size I need, the back seats are fine since I very rarely use my car when I'm out with friends, and the trunk area is just the right size for my backpack, books for my college courses, and my emergency kit (tools, jumper wires, tow hooks, etc.) So Tuesday me and my dad went and looked at the one where I currently live now. I was a little surprised that they just handed the keys to a supercharged stick shift Mini Cooper to a 16 year old and basically said "have fun!" we took this one down the road about 4 miles and back so we were gone about 15-20 minutes. This Cooper was much more fun to drive and seemed more responsive than the other one maybe because it was supercharged and a manual. I also had much more fun driving this one and I LOVE that supercharger whine! So onto my question after all that background. Would a 2006 Mini Cooper S be a good car for me to purchase? Its a 2006 and has 79,000 miles on it and they are asking $14,000 for it. Should I try to go a little lower on the price? I would like to pay about $13,000 for it with taxes and such. Are there any special requirements for a Cooper S? Does it need premium gas or would regular gas with no ethanol be good? (because there are a lot of places here that sell no ethanol gas) Does it need full synthetic oil or is regular oil fine? What about synthetic blend? Let me know all the info you got! I would like to know what I'm going to be getting into before I buy this car! Something I didnt do before I bought my current car. Huge mistake. Thanks!