2003 mini with 43,000 miles vs. 2004 Lincoln Town Car with 74,000

Maintenance/Repairs
1

My husband and I are separating and I want custody of the 2003 MiniCooper instead of the 2004 Lincoln. Mini has 43,000 miles and is just out of warranty. The Lincoln has 74,000 miles and has an extended warranty up to 100,000 miles. I’m going to seminary 90 miles away, and with the price of gas, I believe the Mini is the better choice for me. What do you experts think?

Thanks.

Brenda

2

I agree with you. The Mini is the better choice for your needs. Don’t scrimp on maintenance with the Mini. Follow the schedule in the owner’s manual and it will last a long time.

3

Hmm, I think whether I give you good advice depends on who caused the divorce haha.

Seriously though, this is an easy pick for me for a variety of reasons. I’m going to advise that you opt for the Mini Cooper. You have a choice between a fuel efficient small car that’s trendy with good resale value, or a boat of a car that gets fair mileage at best, has low resale value, and makes you look like someone who just retired. Not only that, the Cooper has such low mileage that it will be running for years to come with proper maintenance.

I suspect some people will not agree with my opinion, but keep in mind that the demographics for this board tend to be folks in their 50’s and 60’s.

4

Thank you both for your answers. Your logic and rationale are consistent with mine. mcparadise, I’ll be diligent about the mini’s maintenance - especially since the Mini dealer is in the same city where I’ll be commuting to seminary.

Dave G., I am beyond the upper end of this board’s demographics. Actually, that is the straw that broke hubby’s last nerve (ha, a little mixed metaphor). At 62 I said “I’m going to seminary.” He said, "I ain’t gonna be no preacher’s husband — I’m outta here).

5

Give hubby BOTH cars, God will provide for YOU…(right?) You might be able to BS your husband, but you can’t BS God…

6

I don’t see where she BS’d her husband…

7

Which ever car you get, you need to trade it in for a Honda Accord. I think it states in the book of Acts that “the apostles all came together in one Accord”. If you are truly an old testament scholar, you will need to purchase a Plymouth. In Genesis it is written that “God drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden in his Fury”.

If you will be commuting 90 miles each direction on a daily basis, I guess the Mini would be better. Incidentally, my son graduated from seminary seven years ago and he lived close to campus. He barely had time to do much else besides study. You may want to live close enough to your seminary that it won’t matter what car you have.

8

And you’ve pre-answered a concern of mine in choosing one car over the other ; ease of proper and cost efficient service. In my small town, far from anywhere, the cooper would be out. But in your case * BINGO * take the cooper.

9

Thanks for the input.
Caddyman, FYI, God is providing very generously for my husband. He is getting 3 vehicles to my one: Keeping the Lincoln, keeping his '04 Dodge Dakota Truck, and keeping his '93 Toyota MR2. Plus he has announced that his next purchase will be a Harley 1200.

I’m not feeling the need to BS anyone, nor to defend myself.