Currently drive a 2009 Mini Cooper, which BTW has been my favorite car to date. Really a blast to drive. Coming up on end of lease in November and have been researching my next car. As I live in S. California and can actually enjoy a convertible year round (not to mention golf), I decided that I need to have one...again. I had a 1985 Mustang 5.0 Conv for a few years. Bought it used in 2003...nice car, but not a great car. Kinda rough around the edges.

Anyway, because I'm focused on a convertible, I narrowed down the field to the XK (2008-2009), Audi S5/A5 (new because you can't find a decently priced used one) and a 650i (2007-2009). Quickly ruled out the BMW because, well, it's kinda fugly...Plus, they are EVERYWHERE around here...and I'm not sure I view myself as a BMW guy (despite Mini being owned by them). The Audi is a gorgeous car and offers some more back seat room than the bunch...but the S5 is pretty darn expensive for what I felt was not as exhilerating of a drive as the XK while the A5 is a little bland to drive. This led me to the XK, which has been my dream car since the 2007s came out. Before that, it was the Aston Martin...yeah, nobody saw that one coming.

Test drove the XK and XKR and actually prefer the XK for my "commuting" purposes as I have a moderate amount of stop and go and I think I would torture myself with not being able to use the power of the XKR. Plus, for me, the XK was a bit smoother to drive in this kind of environment. In fact, I test drove it immediately after the A5 and the phrase that came to mind as I drove it was that it was like sex on wheels...priceless...

Enter the challenge...I have 3 youngish kids and I need to be able to sell my wife on fitting two (uncomfortable is ok - afterall, I have a Mini) in the back for very short hauls. We don't use my car as a "family" car as 95% of my driving is alone...but I do need to be able to fit two kids in it on a daily basis for a 1 mile trip to school (I know, we could always walk to school, but that isn't someting us West Coasters do unless gas hits $5/gallon).

Now my wife has seen the car and loves the looks etc., but we havne't put the kids in back yet, so my strategy is to FIRST have her test drive it (and fall in love with it while I tell her how hot she looks in it, which she will BTW) and then she'll be blind like me and believe we can find a way to fit the starting 5 of an NBA team in the back.

Anyway, thanks for listening to my ramblings. I'll keep you posted on the process (with my wife as well as the car!). This really seems like a great/informative community and I look forward to being a part of it!

Cheers,
Jim

 

Hey Jim ( great name btw ), welcome aboard one of the friendliest sites around Good to have you here with us .......

You are one devious SOB....lol
There are more than a few similar stories around here if you look....lol

Wish you luck and hope the wife falls for it the way you obviously have
There's some great guys / techs here and always plenty going on, great info and usually plenty of banter.



I've manually upgaded you to full forum access so jump right in and enjoy

 

Oh God, another Jim lol Welcome to the forum.

Sounds like a plan to me, if they fit in the mini you should be able to bend them into an XK and when they don't, well buy them a bike.

 

Welcome to the forum Jim,

Sounds like a plan, win over the wife and you're golden.

That $5 gas can't be far away in S Cal so that may help, or you could convince the kids that the 1 mile walk is part of their training?

 

Thx for the upgrade - I'm always up for some good banter, even at my own expense

 

I like your thinking!

 

Gas was just about at $5 when I bought my Mini. Crazy time, a Prius was selling at about $3-$5K OVER MSRP, which makes a lease impossible to justify. Some places were charging $2K over MSRP for a Mini, though I found a deal on mine.

The only problem with the walk is I'd need to walk too - both ways

 

Tut tut, just drive slowly and shout Cadence to them.

 

Nice - works for me!

 

Welcome to the forum!

Oh one other thing you need to put your car details in your signature when you get it. I am speaking of the Year, Make & Model. Without it you may not get the input you are looking for.

Please take a moment and read the information provided to you explaining the rules. Be patient and enjoy the site.