bought an ‘05 mini cooper in late 2004. simply adore the thing. the handling is like that of a go kart, it’s sturdily built and, it can be parallel parked in spaces literally less than 6” longer than the car. a word to the wise though, buy one with a manual gearbox. the mileage tanks with an automatic gearbox but, i get well over 40 mpg with the 5-speed.