Most of the MINI's on the local lots seem to be '03's for some reason. Didn't care for the paint schemes either. Spotted this one in Butler IN on my way to the Auburn IN Home Depot. Liked the color scheme . . . don't like to stick out a whole lot . . . so I decided to stop and check it out. I will be stickin out locally. . . I've seen only 3 other MINI's around Bryan and one is the same color as mine.
It is a 2007 turbocharged 2 door coupe. Has four seats, but to be practical, it is a 2-seater. It is very, very clean. They told me a surgeon owned it . . . at least it wasn't one of those elderly little blue haired ladies who only drove it to church on Sundays.
Me and the salesman took it for a spin. He told me up front he didn't know much about MINI's . . . the sales mgr was the expert. We finally got it started. Starting a MINI is a lot different than what most of us are used to. We use a simple key. This car has a round remote, a bit bigger that a half dollar coin and a key that fits in it. Ya gotta put the remote in a slot in the dash . . . then push a button on the dash to start the engine. Gotta push the same button to shut the engine off.
Then there is the 6 speed manual transmission. The shift pattern is quite a bit different than the 5 speed transmissions I am used to. I find myself shifting into reverse instead of first and forgetting about 6th gear when cruising.
After getting it started, a chime kept going sounding. Our seat belts were fastened and doors were closed. Neither of us knew what was causing it. We decided it was the low fuel warning chime. The fuel gauge is a digital readout. It had 2 marks lit . . . out of 11. . . along with the little gas pump symbol. Again neither of us knew how much gas was in it. The salesman started getting nervous by the time we hit the city limits . . . and Butler is a pretty small town. It reminded me of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer was test driving a car with a little fuel gauge on empty. The salesman wanted to go back but Kramer talked him into going a little further. Finally the saleman agreed and they were both getting excited about going another mile. I think the car ran out of gas in front of the dealership and they were high fiving each other like crazy. I mentioned the episode and the salesman was remembered it but I couldn't talk him into going very far. Next time I drove it, they put a bit more fuel in it and there was no chiming.
I thought about it a couple days and went back with the Cruiser, dickered around a while, and bought it.
The MINI has black leather seats with ivory piping, but no seat warmer or electric seats. Double sunroof on top. The only analog gauge I have is the speedometer, which is in the center of the dash. A digital speedometer is behind the steering wheel. I have 8 toggle switches and 6 little black push buttons. I'm still trying to figger out and remember what they do. One of the black buttons, changes everything to the 'sport' mode. The steering and engine become even more responsive. This car is definitely a little sport car . . . very quick and has lots of power!
The digital readout behind the steering wheel has several modes. Still tryin to figger out what they mean. MINI's are made by BMW in Germany. I've seen some symbols I've never seen before. I finally figgered out and remembered how to change the radio from FM to AM and back again. Haven't had much success programming stations into it yet.
I think my MINI is quicker and handles better than the Eagle Talon I had a few yrs ago. In defense of the Talon, it wasn't turbocharged.
I had a '72 Datsun 240Z in the late '70s for a while. It was nice back then, but it is from another era.
The steering is quick and the turning radius is very small. You can feel the bumps, but it is a sport car and the wheelbase is pretty short. I think & drive completely different when I'm in it. It is quick and I'm pretty concious about my 'size.' I think I'm gonna have a lot of fun with it.
Nice!
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