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New guy; possible to rent a Cooper S for a week?

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    Posted: January/06/16 at 5:45pm
Hey all,
So, I've been kind of bitten by the MINI bug. Over the past few years, I've had passing thoughts of test driving one to see what they're all about.

A quick bit of (vehicle) background. I currently daily drive a 2008 Mustang GT/CS w/ 5 speed. It's a super fun ride, and the first car I bought new by myself. Obviously, an entirely different experience from the MINI's. I do enjoy driving, though I've never taken the Mustang on a track or even did really spirited driving with it. It was my "baby", and I didn't want to end up messing it up :).+.000

I recently gave up a job that was close to home, but not suitable for my career ambitions... and it paid somewhat poorly. I now commute to downtown Bellevue from Renton. It's about a 15 mile commute that takes ~45 mins to get in, and about 50 or so to get home.

The Mustang on this commute gets roughly 17 mpg... thanks to the gridlock that 405 becomes. However, even on the best of  times when I do a lot of open freeway driving, I only get near the mid 20s.

Additionally, having a little more cargo room would be nice. I'm a musician, and can tetris most of my gear into the Mustang... it's just a pain in the butt. I still need to figure out if all of my gear + 1 passenger will fit in a Cooper S (the clubman etc. don't interest me a whole lot).

So, now that I've test driven one and found it was an enjoyable ride (it was a 2010 Mini Cooper S, pretty bare bones options wise), I'd like to see if I could possibly rent one for about a week. This will allow me time to check if all of my gear will fit, how a daily commute will feel in it and so on. I'm not able to find anything easily online where I could rent a Cooper S specifically.

Sorry for the long post / wall'o'text. Thank you for your input :)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote CORNERS Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January/06/16 at 9:15pm
There is a place in Bellevue that rents 2nd Gen MINI Cooper non-S, but I think there is nowhere that rents a Cooper S. You might try "relayrides.com" , a peer to peer car renting service where people rent out their personal vehicles. Someone might have a Cooper S. 

Otherwise, make an appeal to a club member? Someone might be willing to make a few bucks and help out a fellow motoring enthusiast? 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Selta Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January/06/16 at 10:30pm
I think renting even a non-S would be fine - the rental would be more to make sure the car itself will work for me. Parking at home, at work, if my gear will all fit reasonably, and so on. Then, once I know that to be true, I can easily decide if I need an S (which, I'm pretty certain the answer to is yes :P).

Thanks, CORNERS!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote CORNERS Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January/06/16 at 10:31pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Selta Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January/06/16 at 11:18pm
Perfect! Thank you :)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote italianjob Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January/07/16 at 5:43am
Go on the App store e look for TAURO.
There is a nice red Countryman S and the asking price is around $390 per week. 
I'm going to use it when i'll be back in town for a few days at the end of Jan.

TAURO= former RelayRide.
Used multiple times and always had a nice experience.

stefano
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote italianjob Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January/07/16 at 5:45am
..or if Kurt fixes mine you can have it for cheap, but it's a Clubman S. 

;) ;)
(Italian Job) '03 MCS Indie Blue SOLD :'(

(Polpetta) 2008 MClubman S Sitting on Sparco Assetto Gara Wheels

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Selta Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January/07/16 at 6:52pm
Apparently I'm a dunce. I can't find the red Countryman S on there... just a silver Cooper convertible. I'll have to look up what a countryman even is and see how it compares to the S.

I'll also have to look closer at the clubman. The one I looked at (didn't even bother driving it) just seemed really large in comparison to the S sitting right next to it. While that'd be somewhat nice for the gear hauling... my instinct tells me it'd lose a little of the sporty-ness and gas mileage?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Selta Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January/07/16 at 7:06pm
Ok, I found it on the app, but it doesn't show up on the website. Also found a black non-S for $42/day. I might rent it for a few days :)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RedBarnes Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January/20/16 at 10:25pm
In hindsight and after seeing el presidentes, I wish I would have went with a Clubman. That extra few inches can come in handy. 
2011 MCS
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