I am just about to sell my mini cooper in the uk. I love her but she would cost to much to ship over to Perth. I love minis but when i looked at second hand ones in oz they were a bit pricey. Your daughter is a very lucky girl and hope she has lots of fun in her new mini

I feel your pain!

Thank you for your support

I gave up my Mini Cooper when I moved over to Brisbane - entertained the thought of getting a replacement, but decided against it. I loved that car, it was so much fun to drive - but in the UK. Driving in Australia (outside a city) is either long stretches of highway from one city to another (in which case you're better of with a Holden or Jap cruising car) or in the country, where you're best bet is a Ute or 4x4 - something chunky that can take extremes of weather and temperature.

1. They're far too overpriced. A nicely kitted out Cooper ran to about $50k in Brisbane.
2. They're great for little twisty English roads, rubbish for anything outside Brisbane CBD - they're just not built for this country outside of a city.
3. Speed limits are a problem - I regularly used to find myself speeding in the UK with my little Mini, and if I had one here I'd probably have lost my licence - you know how difficult it is to stick to 60kmh most of the time?

I was referring to the fact that 'the girl' in question is only 18 years old!

I can't understand why anyone would spend that sort of money on a car for a new driver - it is going to get trashed!!! You know the Aussie roads as well as I do G, what are the chances of the car living to see it's 2nd birthday in the hands of a new driver out here?

I was implying that the OP might be better off buying a cheaper alternative for a 1st car!

You are making me feel better about leaving her behind. I have a Toyota Echo waiting for me in Perth. It is nothing like the mini but at least I wont lose my licence

Far too sensible mate - you're only here once

If you are talking about driving in general, yes it is crap, there are far too many revenue raising cameras in the wrong places and poor quality roads however your original post was about owning a performance car being pointless. Trust me, I came from the UK and had a cossie over there where I used to enjoy nice high speed runs occasionally in the early hours so I know how different driving is. All I have done is adapt where I drive fast to put it on track now instead of the road plus the wildlife is more abundant and larger!