I always see articles saying how the Mini is a good second car due to its range. I strongly disagree. It’s an excellent FIRST car. Any crappy old gas car is a fine second in the off chance you need to go on a road trip. I love my SE!
Primary vehicles must be able to take a driver plus six passengers to the football pitch. The Mini Cooper SE fails to do that and must be relegated to second car status.
The Mini SE is MY primary car. But with a family of four adult-sized people, and periodic trips to relatives more than 90 miles each direction, we fall back on our larger ICE vehicles still due to a lack of reliable charging stations in South Carolina, plus the cramped space for four adults. So...I could go so far as to say the SE is a fantastic 'additional' car in our household. It's not really secondary. It just has different duties than our ICE SUVs.
My SE is good enough for two adults and two 60+ pound dogs, primary car all the way. Although the dogs prefer the somewhat longer Clubman. We actually use our ICE Clubman for 1000-mile trips with the dogs.
Unless your primary usage of vehicle exceeds the Mini’s capabilities it is indeed a good primary car. We have a long range Tesla Model Y and I’ve always thought of it as our primary car due to it being able to be our only car, however in reality the Mini gets used more frequently, because of course most of the time we don’t need to go far. So if we reach for the Mini keys first it is arguable the first car, and the long range car is the secondary car. But if you count the first car as the one you would keep if you could only have one vehicle, then the Mini is indeed a second car…
We fitted 6 in an original mini during my uni days, I'm sure the new one could do it if pushed Seriously though, my family of 4 can fit comfortably, so it is our primary car. I've seated two large 6ft rugby types in the back before - granted the front seats were pushed a bit forwards. So the football pitch part is covered......
Driver plus 6 passengers is 7. Sitting on someone else's lap, having the boot open, or hanging on for dear life on the roof is cheating. Otherwise for every clown that fits then you can -1 for stupidity and +2 for trying.
I love my SE! I was just telling coworker today about it! It is my primary car as long as the weather cooperates. I ended up didn’t get snow tires since I have an suv ICE car. But I get really sad when I have to drive the Honda lol. Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
It’s a good question. Is a truck a primary vehicle because it can drive 700 miles and haul 5 people while towing the mini? I think the opposite too, mini gets all the use, it’s the primary car.
I agree. The SE is an excellent Primary car. It is not a great Only car. But it does what most people primarily use their cars for - commuting and local errands - with flying colors. The football pitch run (sorry, I don’t even know exactly what that is?) is a secondary use, even if it is a personal requirement. Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
Football refers to association football commonly known in the Americas as soccer (asSOCiation). I thought soccer mom vehicles were a thing. Well Bob's your uncle! Edit: There was rugby football (rugger) and association football (assocer which became soccer)
I am aware that most countries call football what Americans call soccer for some reason. I have never heard of a “pitch” though. In America, soccer is played on a field. A pitch is a move in baseball where a player called the “pitcher” throws the ball towards the batter… Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
Another reference I had to look up. Sorry, just another ignorant ‘Merican I guess. Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
