Loaners

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pictsidhe

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A lot of us have had loaners from our local Mini dealers while they worked on our SEs. So, what have you thought of them? I've had three:

F57 Justa. Wow, infinite headroom! Fun car despite only being a Justa, lousy for carrying stuff as the top awkwardly eats a lot of storage space. Mini definitely missed a trick by only doing a limited run of F57SEs. I can see people taking a crashed SE and Frankensteining with a blown engine F57.

Girlfriend car

F66 Justa. Meh, just meh. Centre console seems to have a steep learning curve. I was really glad to get my SE back. It's not a bad car for daily use.

First car

U25 S All4. Thought it was a Justa until I got home and saw the red S! It's an ok SUV, but doesn't really deserve the S IMHO. Same centre console hassle as the F66. Big, heavy and it really sounds like it struggles to make headway. Balance isn't bad for an SUV.

Wife car

Not a loaner, but I also drove recently:

X3m50. This was way more fun and chucklable than an SUV ever should be. Better than the Mini loaners to drive. Too frickin big for me to own, though. Maybe the U25JCW is more like this.

Midlife crisis car
 
My MINI dealer always has newest models available as loaners, and I've driven Countryman, Hardtop (3- and 5-door), and even the F54 Clubman. My latest loaners were the new F65 (5-door Hardtop) and U25 (Countryman) but sadly not electric. Service department said they tried having EVs in their loaner fleet but it was too hard to manage. I had the F65 for a few weeks while I had my SE's rewiring redone, and I got to really play with the new infotainment system. I don't think the F56 as nice as my SE (especially the ICE limitations), but a decent successor and I did appreciate these features: radar-based adaptive cruise control, 360º cameras, new MINI navigation system.
 
I read an article about EVs suddenly taking off in a small town somewhere. The town GM dealer had made it a policy to give out EV loaners, but only to people who wouldn't take them home. Basically long test drives. If it's fully charged and will be back the same day, there's shouldn't be too much difficulty, assuming the have a rack of L2s to charge them overnight.
 
I finally had the recall on my SE performed. The dealer gave me a new Countryman as a loaner for a few days. While I greatly appreciated the experience I was happy to get back to the relative simplicity of my SE (also my 2015 Countryman). I found the controls a little overwhelming - simple adjustments such as changing the fan speed on the ventilation system hard to get used to. Given the quick overview of the system by the service rep - I would guess with time and experience one would get more comfortable and used to it.

I know the tendency for all manufacturers to go bigger - I found the added size of the new Countryman took some time to get used to. My 2015 for me is the perfect size - four doors when needed and a little more storage space when my SE is not sufficient but not overwhelming large.

Until I need to replace my SE or old Countryman - I still appreciate the good old fashioned simplicity of a knob when I want to adjust the temperature or the fan speed or adjust the radio. Not taking anything away from the new tech of the Countryman - just not for me yet.
 
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I finally had the recall on my SE performed. The dealer gave me a new Countryman as a loaner for a few days. While I greatly appreciated the experience I was happy to get back to the relative simplicity of my SE (also my 2015 Countryman). I found the controls a little overwhelming - simple adjustments such as changing the fan speed on the ventilation system hard to get used to. Given the quick overview of the system by the service rep - I would guess with time and experience one would get more comfortable and used to it.

I know the tendency for all manufacturers to go bigger - I found the added size of the new Countryman took some time to get used to. My 2015 for me is the perfect size - four doors when needed and a little more storage space when my SE is not sufficient but not overwhelming large.

Until I need to replace my SE or old Countryman - I still appreciate the good old fashioned simplicity of a knob when I want to adjust the temperature or the fan speed or adjust the radio. Not taking anything away from the new tech of the Countryman - just not for me yet.
Yeah, having the same problems with 'my' countryman. It's a little embarrassing how long it took me to find the volume control, which actually is still a knob... Having to dig through a menu for almost everything is not progress. It does so much stuff it's now harder to do anything.
Least impressive of all is that it's costs about 4x as much to run. Well, it would do if I wasn't charging my SE for free at work...
 
My dealer has provided loaners a number of times, and they've been a variety of models. Mostly Minis, both electric and ICE, and the one exception was a BMW (and I did not like it at all).
 
I've been playing with driving assistance. I like the following feature, but lane keeping can be hit or miss. It can see yellow lines, but doesn't use them for lane keeping? Lane change is useful as my vision out of the car is crap, if I'm just using cruise control, it'll shake the wheel if I indicate and a car is close in an adjacent lane.
 
I've only had to get a loaner once. Because my brain lacks Neanderthal genes (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smar...n-why-some-people-are-early-risers-180983438/), I had to settle for a BMW 228, the loaner MINIs all having been obtained by folks who arise earlier. Nice enough car (had to get used to start/stop at lights), but I was bummed when I couldn't plug it in at night.
Had my gas countryman for a week now. Filled it up and was shocked that it cost me the same as the previous 6 weeks of EV driving.
 
I've been playing with driving assistance. I like the following feature, but lane keeping can be hit or miss. It can see yellow lines, but doesn't use them for lane keeping? Lane change is useful as my vision out of the car is crap, if I'm just using cruise control, it'll shake the wheel if I indicate and a car is close in an adjacent lane.
I think that loaner is missing Driving Assistant Professional. With my U25 BEV I can use cruise control hands free but I have to touch the steering wheel every 10 seconds to confirm I am still alive. If I use the turn signal, it will auto lane change for me.

From what I remember there are three levels of Driving Assistant. 5AS Active Driving Assistant, 5AT ACC Stop & Go + Active Driving Assistant, and 5AU Active Driving Assistant Pro. You might have 5AS for the loaner.
 
I think that loaner is missing Driving Assistant Professional. With my U25 BEV I can use cruise control hands free but I have to touch the steering wheel every 10 seconds to confirm I am still alive. If I use the turn signal, it will auto lane change for me.

From what I remember there are three levels of Driving Assistant. 5AS Active Driving Assistant, 5AT ACC Stop & Go + Active Driving Assistant, and 5AU Active Driving Assistant Pro. You might have 5AS for the loaner.
It will sometimes change lanes for me, if I try doing several in rapid succession that's when it tends to get confused and sulk. It does have stop and go. Now my warranty is almost out, I should look to see if 5AT could be retrofitted to mine. I lack enough cameras for 5AU and I don't want to retrofit cameras, though the arial view is good.
 
The F56 is using an older system of 5AR traffic jam assist. You would have to retrofit a LIN touch sensor steering wheel spoofer as North American F56s do not have it equipped and do a VO code to the BKOMBI, BDC, KAFAS2 modules. It's a poor man's autopilot as it follows the vehicle in front.

I kind of sucked at E-Sys and gave up.
 
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