Secondary "fun car" GTI, Mini Cooper or?

So along with looking at maybe picking up a TJ for Jeep stuff I kinda want another "hot hatch". Looking at an older 2door GTI (I had a '16 4door) or Mini.
Experience with the older (sub $10k) models?

 

My daughter had a Mini Cooper. Got rid of it because of the expense of maintenance and cost of replacement run flat tires (no spare).

 

I hear that dealer maintenance can be expensive, that explains the bargain used prices I am seeing.

 

EricTheCarGuy has a series of videos on Mini repairs. Miserable to work on (because German engineering) and built with the cheapest materials.

 

My parter has a mini. That means I work on a mini a lot. They’re quirky cars. The manual trans is fun to drive, but the auto is annoying if you’re not in “sport” mode due to electronic shifting. Definitely something you’ll be tinkering with a lot out of necessity rather than because you’re modding it. Everyone I talk to that has Mini experience complains about the same problems and are always told “that’s normal” for them.

 

If I can offer any advice from my own experience it would be to look at miatas. I know it’s not a hatch, but they are fun as hell to drive. At 6’1” I was a tight squeeze but never felt uncomfortable. Handles like a go kart and makes me want to throw banana peels and turtle shells at other cars.
I’d buy another one in a heart beat.

 

x3000 stay away from mini's.

Civic SI's have a lot of pep.

If I could, I'd own a VR6 GTI, the 1.8's are cheap and respond well to tunes, but are fading away due to failures.

Most 2.0T GTI's up north are way above 10k.

 

I sat in a miata today. Getting in was...fun. But once I was in, it felt goood. Definitely felt the gokart vibe.

 

Mine was a convertible and I always had the top down and would never open the door to get in. Just throw a leg over and slide into position. I hear the new MX5s have a higher power to weight ratio even if they are heavier.

 

If you want an old cheap fun hot hatch get a Subaru or a Honda. Plenty of options, plenty of reliability and cheap parts.

CRX, Civic, Impreza, WRX, I mean I even have fun driving a slow car (Honda Fit) fast, rather than a fast car slow. Miss my brothers old Forester as well. Plenty options.

 

Have you driven a WRX? I own a base model Impreza and I'm continually impressed by the accessible handling of this car. Never going back to non-AWD cars again.

 

I have an 05 MINI S I’ve had since new. Only problem I had was an oil pan gasket leak. It is a fun car to drive with the manual. Anything after the first gens I have no experience with.

 

We've had two Foresters and a Legacy wagon in my family. Both Foresters have had head-gasket issues and the first had the "piston slap" issue as well. At this point I'm done with Subaru.

 

I’ve had this for 13 years and 50k miles. Aside from a few batteries, the only thing that has gone wrong was replacing the clutch master cylinder. Cost me about $100 for the part from Honda. Bulletproof and worth about the same I paid in 2006.

 

I'm on the brink of buying a 2000 Miata. I've heard good things about the S2K. The other car on my list is a first or second-gen MR2 (probably a turbo second gen). Personally, I can't imagine what would compel me to buy a German car.

 

Yep they hold their value.. Those cars are special. Forged internals, 9k rpm redline, the gearbox was way ahead of the competition for its time..

Excellent handling too, technically it could be considered a mid-engine car since the engine is behind the front strut towers.

Only downside is the seating.. I'm 6-3", the roll bars arent gonna help me a whole lot lol

 

I had a 2003 VR6 that was a fun car. Even minor mods such as a rear sway bar changes the whole car.

 

Jetta or Golf?

 

S2k are awesome, but they are pricey.

 

Oh yah GTI. Fun little car. Almost got a R32 after that.