The Cooper S is a nice car, but I think I too would rather have a ZX2 or ZX3. I started researching those cars when my father purchased one a year ago. Quite a few owners expressed issues with build quality and reliability...something I would not tolerate for a $20k+ price tag on a car the size of a Geo Metro.

It was a pretty fun car to drive though. Handled like a little go-kart and had enough "zip" to keep me interested. My only problem was my big foot would hit the brake pedal when I accelerated off the line. The pedals were placed WAAAAY too close on that car for anyone who has large feet.