My new MINI is at the dealership - my MA sent pictures.

Here she is on the lot:



And a shot of the interior (I will be spending much time here.. )



Now I need to arrange to go pick it up -- my dealer is about 300 miles away. Can't do it this weekend, so it may not be until the next, unless I can clear my work calendar for Monday.

 

Congrats on the purchase and glad your MINI has arrived. Enjoy the drive back from the dealership!

 

Welcome hoyme!!

Congratulations on your new MINI!!

 

Welcome to MINI. Your life will never be the same. By the way, you picked a great color.

 

Congrats!!!

I'm jealous. Ordered mine 5/7 and it's still "On Order." According to my MA, it's scheduled to go into production week 24 (week of June 13, if I'm counting correctly). Seems the Nav is the holdup. I'm getting real antsy.

 

Well, I have had my new MINI for a week now, and I have to say I am absolutely loving it!!

Had a 5 hour drive to go and get it, on Monday June 6th. I live in the Twin Cities, and bought it from Appleton, Wisconsin. We drove my old Acura TL on the hope that I would get a decent trade-in offer, but had as back-up, a nice offer from a local Honda dealer. (It ended up, we took the TL home and traded it to the Honda dealer).

The amazing thing was that on the drive home, the trip computer said I was doing between 40-42mpg. I drove it for 3 days around town before filling, and if I assumed every mile on the odometer was on that tank, I hit 39.7mpg! Really nice!!

Here is a photo when we stopped for dinner on the way home - my old TL is in the background:


(Yes - it is Spice Orange - the iPhone camera color doesn't do it justice, as I have been told by a couple of Facebook friends who have seen the car).

Besides the gas mileage, here are some things I love:

• The navigation system for "situation awareness" -- yes, it is really clunky for searching for things, but I commute in a metro area with highly variable traffic. I love driving with the Nav screen up and seeing the coming traffic before I hit it. Oh, the Google "Send to Car" works well - I can avoid the search weirdness by using this function.
• Visibility - the mirrors and glass of the MINI are great - I always know where other traffic is, and can change lanes without ever being surprised with who is there.
• Maneuverability - the MINI is small and quick - in dense traffic, knowing where I am, I can go where I want to be "lickity split"- gaps that I didn't think my TL would fit in - the MINI fits, no problem.
• Nimbleness - I worried that getting a "justa" would make me miss the power of the "S". Heck - for city traffic, this thing is more responsive than my TL! Now, I had an AT in the TL, and am running manual in the MINI. So, for the speed changes I need to manage traffic, the MINI is much quicker. Yes, 0-60 times are less, but I am less about racing off a stop light, and more about managing flow of metro traffic. For the latter, this MINI is much better than the 270hp TL.
• I love the Comfort Access system -- it is cool to just walk up, open her up, and hit the start button. Fun!
• People come up and talk to me about my MINI. It makes everyone smile. When you tell them about the mileage and the performance, it makes the jealous.
• Man, do I have space in the garage -- 4 feet shorter than the TL! With a daughter in between college with apartment items stuffed everywhere, the MINI is a blessing. Can't imagine how it will be when she is back to college and her car and stuff are gone.
• Love the "techyness" of the car - MINI Connected, Sat radio, Nav - lots to listen to and play with. I am an engineer, so "techyness" is a good thing.

Waiting for some "bling" to be delivered by mail order, and planning some graphics - I am looking forward to getting this car "done" and continuing to drive it. Each commute is a joy.

I had worried that the manual would bother me in stop-and-go traffic, but I am loving it compared to my TL. My TL's automatic had some lag, so keeping up was a constant throttle/brake. While the MINI has a clutch, I find that it is easy to use 1st, 2nd or 3rd (depending on traffic speed) and the responsive peppiness of the engine to keep me going. And if I have to change lane, the quick response (steering and throttle) gets me there much quicker. I am happier with the manual MINI as a heavy traffic commuter than my AT Acura TL. I arrive at my destination smiling.

My complaints - they exist, but are small by comparison. Mainly, the user interface on the technology is funky. The nav interface can be strange. Radio information is limited -- my TL (and my wife's Acura RDX) provide a much better sense of what is playing while listening, no matter what you are using the screen for. The MINI hides most of the music data unless you are drilled into the music screens. (The Nav screen just tells you the channel name you are on). My iPhone doesn't sync addressed for the Nav system correctly.

Also, it seems like wiper settings are lost between engine start-ups, even the ones set by **** position.

So, I have to learn the funky interface quirks. Wish they had the UI expertise of Honda/Acura, but the performance fun, and great gas mileage more than make up for that.

Happy MINI driver.....

 

Congrats on the MINI! Great looking car, glad you are enjoying it!

 

Congrats!!

 

Congrats great looking car!! I always like reading people's first impressions after a few days of ownership.

 

Talk about a nice break in ride

 

congrats n welcome... wave to other mini

 

Congratulations!! It looks great!!

 

Congrats and welcome to the MINI world.
You will never leave!

Find a local club and get involved in the runs. You will learn a lot from fellow owners.
Enjoy!