Mitsubishi Pajero Mini - Part Two

I now have the Mini, safely parked in my own space and I love seeing it there; it is in such good shape that you'd never know it was ten years old.

Some specs: Although it is a kei car (mini car), it's a VR-II model, which is the top end of the 1996 Pajero Mini series - DOHC, intercooler turbo; it has of course four wheel and two wheel drive and is capable of off-roading.

I loved my Civic, but Brian and I agree that the Mini is simply better.

Performance - My Civic was the lowest end model (which I hadn't realized when buying it), and the engine was not very powerful. The Mini also has a small engine, but it is a turbo engine, and there's a lot more torque. I can actually accelerate uphill now!

Funometer - about the same, although the novelty of a mini SUV is pretty exciting. I let Brian dirve when we went to get a new subwoofer installed last night, and he proclaimed it the most fun he's had driving in ages. I went out for my own test drive this morning, up and over some curvy hills to Mishima, and I have to agree - lots of fun. And did I mention I can now accelerat uphill????

Ease of purchase - definitely the Mini wins here. The Mini fits into the "mini" or kei class of car (note the yellow licence plate which indicates the mini-class); these kei cars meet certain specifications for size (body and engine) and are governed by a different set of rules than regular (white plate) cars. For this purchase I only needed one peice of paper - a proof of my inkan (signature stamp), which I got from city hall for 300 yen. I didn't need an official proof of address, I didn't have to have the owner of my building stamp a peice of paper certifying that #306 really was my parking place, I didn't have to pay for police to come and measure the space to make sure the car could fit there - all of which I did have to do for my last two car purchases.

Economy - kei cars are also cheaper to maintain. My insurance went down, my annual tax went down (I'm even expecting a refund, since I had just paid for tax on the Civic!), and best of all, my shakken went down. When I get the inspection done for my Mini, it will only cost about 60,000 yen, as opposed to the 150,000 yen I would have paid for the Civic.


Overall, we proclaim the Pajero Mini a winner!