The right choice of car?!

[noo123]

Hi everyone,

I hope you can help me out!

I currently own a 2007 Mini Cooper. It's getting on a bit now and in the (long!) year that I've owned it, its catalytic converter has gone, along with its second gear, sunroof and numerous other vital bits of the car. I'm going to sell it on soon, as its reliability is dwindling. 

I've done my research and found the IQ to be rated as one of the most reliable cars, which is a characteristic I'm looking for now! 

I'm just a bit concerned about how it holds itslef on the motorway. I'd be going for a 1.33 IQ3. The only remaining desirable feature of my Mini is its motorway style - it's a 1.6 with around 120 bhp (although I doubt it runs as well as that anymore) - I have no problems overtaking and feel pretty confident getting up to speed and staying at it. It's a heavy car and I feel pretty sturdy in it (my first car was a 1 litre Toyota Yaris mk1, which felt like it would take off at any second, so sturdiness is key!!). I'm quite nippy on the motorway, and (when my gearbox is co operating) feel that my Mini keeps up pretty well. 

My daily commute is only about 7/8 miles luckily, but I do a 220 mile round trip every couple of weeks, which is 90% on the motorway.

I've had a good Google and can't really see any decent owner reviews of how well the IQ does on a motorway - I'm aware it's no supercar, but surely with 98 bhp for such a little thing, it can hold its own?! 

Any help will be much appreciated!! 

[Vscudetto]

 

The car itself can handle motorways no problem. I drive up and down the country in the IQ and it does it with minimal hassle. The reliability was key a for my decision in buying 1 too. Doing g motorway driving I average 45-50mpg depending on what speed I'm sticking to. The biggest problem, and it is a very tiresome problem if you are driving in hilly areas is the gearing. You will travel at 70mph and then a slight Incline on the motorway will mean you need to downshift or you will feel the car slow down and struggle. More of an Incline and you will need to downshift again.

 

Can't comment on CVT as I havnt used one long enough.

 

Good luck with search.

 

 

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[alan333]

2 hours ago, noo123 said:

I currently own a 2007 Mini Cooper. It's getting on a bit now and in the (long!) year that I've owned it, its catalytic converter has gone, along with its second gear, sunroof and numerous other vital bits of the car. I'm going to sell it on soon, as its reliability is dwindling. 

I've done my research and found the IQ to be rated as one of the most reliable cars, which is a characteristic I'm looking for now! 

I'm just a bit concerned about how it holds itslef on the motorway. I'd be going for a 1.33 IQ3. The only remaining desirable feature of my Mini is its motorway style - it's a 1.6 with around 120 bhp (although I doubt it runs as well as that anymore) - I have no problems overtaking and feel pretty confident getting up to speed and staying at it. It's a heavy car and I feel pretty sturdy in it (my first car was a 1 litre Toyota Yaris mk1, which felt like it would take off at any second, so sturdiness is key!!). I'm quite nippy on the motorway, and (when my gearbox is co operating) feel that my Mini keeps up pretty well. 

My daily commute is only about 7/8 miles luckily, but I do a 220 mile round trip every couple of weeks, which is 90% on the motorway.

I've had a good Google and can't really see any decent owner reviews of how well the IQ does on a motorway - I'm aware it's no supercar, but surely with 98 bhp for such a little thing, it can hold its own?! 

Any car towards the age of 10 could need major repairs, including Toyota.  The Japanese do fare quite well generally in the reliability surveys tho, and the Koreans also do quite well.  Fords/Vauxhalls can be good for the fact that they're so mainstream that parts are cheap and anyone can fix one.  Avoid anything French unless it's quite new.

According to Parkers a 2006-2013 1.6 Mini hatchback has a 0-60 time of 8.8-10.1 secs (probably depending on exact year etc, I didn't research much).  I find that anything much over 10 secs feels quite slow in the real world.  The IQ 1.3 petrol is 11.8 secs, which sounds slooooooww to me, and I'd certainly notice that missing couple/few seconds worth of power out on the road.  Most petrol Toyotas need high revs for their power so it might be 'buzzy' on the motorway too.  I haven't driven either car but for sturdyness I'd think the IQ would feel more like your Yaris than your Mini.

Most people buying that size of car will probably use it as a town car hence no decent motorway reviews of it.  Have a test drive in one and see how it feels.  This might sound silly and presumptuous, but since you mention your first car, then mention that you've only had this one for a year...then my guess is you're quite young.  I mean no disrespect my age assumption (and I also apologise if I'm wrong), but if you were my sister in the same boat... my Dad (who was the best person ever at giving advice without sounding condescending) would tell her to keep looking.

[Anthony Poli]

Like Alan said, go and have a test drive. Don't do what my other half does, say to to salesman "I want that 1" and refuse to have a test drive.

It's best to see what your own gut feeling about a car and then ask for opinions. 

Personally I don't see the slower 0-60 time as a deal breaker, but more how picks up when at a junction.

A CVT shouldn't put you off either.

That's my 2 p worth.

 

[alan333]

It's not actually the 0-60 time that matters to me (I'm more of a laid back type driver), but I find it gives a good indication of how hard you'd need to push the car for general acceleration at situations like joining a motorway slip road on an incline etc.  If they published a "35-60 in 4th gear" time... that's be useful lol.

[craggle]

I'll have to try timing the 0-60 time on my car as I'm pretty sure it's faster than 12 seconds. I can keep up with most cars on the road at traffic lights.

Craig.

[alan333]

How does it fare at motorway speeds Craig?  Vscudetto mentions above that one would need to downshift a gear (or two) on motorway inclines (although I don't know whether his has the 1.3 engine or not).  Natalie mentions that her current car gets up to speed and stays there, which I think is one of the main reasons for her thread.

[mickburkesnr]

17 hours ago, alan333 said:

Avoid anything French unless it's quite new.

After owning 3 Peugeots I can tell you that this should read "Avoid anything French unless it's a 107/108". And that's only because Toyota are involved with them.

[FROSTYBALLS]

The Honest John review said the IQ was OK on the motoirway.

At the end of the day, only Natalie will know whether she is happy with how the IQ performs and its size.

Doubtful whether one will be able to test drive any on the motorway, but a test on a dual carriageway with the national speed limit should be perfectly feasible and will provide a better indication for her than relying on the views of others (of whom some may be IQ owners and some not).

So a test drive is the way to go.

[atkiman]

I'm on the m6 and a14 for 40 miles twice a day, nothing puts a 1.33 in the shade keeps up with anything . Handles well in all weather . Dont be put off, by anybody, they're a cracking motor for a commute. 106k on mine now over 7 years . Consistantly 50+ mpg . 

Tony

[alan333]

7 hours ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

The Honest John review said the IQ was OK on the motoirway.

At the end of the day, only Natalie will know whether she is happy with how the IQ performs and its size.

Doubtful whether one will be able to test drive any on the motorway, but a test on a dual carriageway with the national speed limit should be perfectly feasible and will provide a better indication for her than relying on the views of others (of whom some may be IQ owners and some not).

So a test drive is the way to go.

I've had test drives on motorways with various previous cars, including my latest two.  I've simply told the salesperson that I wanted to drive a route which included the type of roads I normally drive, and that it includes motorways.  I even picked a motorway with a strong incline with my previous car since the CVT on my Avensis annoyed me on such occasions. If they aren't prepared to demonstrate a car to me properly then I won't buy it from them.

I couldn't agree more that Natalie should test drive the car and decide if it fulfills her requirements or not, and I also hope the replies to her thread have been helpful :)

[noo123]

Thank-you so much for your replies everyone 

Based on your advice, I'm definitely going to take one for a test drive - luckily the dealers near us are near dual carriageways, so they should let me have a go nipping down it. 

I'm a bit sold on the IQ already haha, so hopefully the test drive goes well!

Thanks again for all your advice!

Natalie

[Anthony Poli]

So they might have to wrestle the car keys back off you after the test drive, if your still taken with it 

[craggle]

Drive my iQ3 regularly on dual carriageways and motorways and haven't yet felt like it needs more power. Okay, it's no sports car and it certainly doesn't match my other car with 400bhp but it's quite enough to hold it's own on the road at most speeds. Mine will cruise happily along at 70-80mph and it has seen the far side of 100mph once. The 6 speed gearbox certainly helps for more relaxed cruising.

I no longer use standard size iQ wheels, 16" on the iQ3 as I have gone for aftermarket 17" wheels with 205/45 17 tyres. This does help the handling and makes it feel more planted on the road but does increase drag a bit putting MPG down a bit.

I think the thing I notice the most is wind if it's a breezy day. You really can get blown around on faster roads and you need to be aware of that but it doesn't happen often.

I test drove both the 1.0 and the 1.3 version and I was impressed with both but in the end I went with the iQ3 as I wanted all the toys and the 6 speed gearbox.

Craig.

[Soeley]

I don't use the motorway a lot (not part of my commute), but the times I have it has felt very comfortable on them and doesn't feel under powered at all. Good luck.

[Solidtop]

I do a similar commute and round trip to noo123.My round trip is on M25 and M3 and I have no issues with my IQ3 in keeping within the speed limits.

Having read through this thread my considerations would be changing up to six speed from 4 speed gearbox involves a bit more work/changes on hilly roads and takes getting used to as gear ratios differ and you can find it wanting or keeping revs high to anticipate the loss.This will have an effect on MPG.

You will find it wanting if you have more than one passenger and two small dogs.

Outside of this its a terrific car 

 

 

 

[Vscudetto]

As I mentioned earlier about needing to downshift, that is for the 1.3 engine. You will understand what I mean when you test drive as the indicator will tell you to down shift, ignore it and try to accelerate to maintain speed and you will feel the car labouring. It's not a big issue tbh. When I went to isle of Wight it was very annoying as it's so hilly.

They are great cars and you will love it if you buy one.

 

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