What do people say when you tell them you have a Countryman?

Mine is on order & will hopefully be here in a few wks. It looks like it ships tmrw. Can't wait!

I'm a lifelong vdubber/Audi guy. Most of my friends just happen to also all own euros & a few show winning asian cars.

I wouldnt say that a lot of people 'hate on' MINI, but they are less loved, less mainstream it seems. I think a lot of people like/understand them but for some, its all about the current trends of drop/big turbo/$4k wheels.

I went Mini for the fun factor, differentness, and the Countryman because I wanted AWD & a Manual hatch/wagon.

..anyhow, When I tell people I am getting a Countryman, quite a few dont know what it is, or havent seen many, or Dont really consider it a Mini.
" oh, the big one, thats not a mini " :( why'd you get that?

because its more practical than a Cooper S. I have a heavily modded car already. I wanted AWD, something that was fun, in a manual, that also got good MPG. Something a bit different.



Do you feel you have to explain to others why you got a Countryman? in general or vs the smaller Coopers?
Do you feel you have to explain that although its bigger, it's still a MINI?
...and after all, Its just really not that big anyhow.

 

Most people don't know the name yet. And there are many who dislike it by virtue of its existence. But anyone that's sat in one or driven in one seems to have a very positive experience

 

I'm kind of in the same boat. I have a '00 1.8t New Beetle that I've done quite a bit to, as well as an '07 Audi A3 as my daily (although, I also had 4 SUVs in the past).

The first question I get when I tell people I just ordered a Countryman is, "What's that?". Then they say, "But I thought you love your Audi?"

And while that's true, the A3 has been a great car, my explanation is that the Countryman is basically the size of my A3, with more ground clearance, a bit taller, and allows me to have AWD and a manual transmission. For me, it fills the one thing I was lacking in the Audi, without losing any of the fun.

 

I mainly get, "That's a MINI?" or "Cute car!"
I really wasn't going for cute. :(

 

Don't feel bad. Us New Beetle folk have been dealing with the C word for years.

 

I mostly get "I Love it! It's so--you!"
I'm not really sure what that means
But I like "her" so, there's that.
Most people go from skeptical, because they haven't seen one--to intrigued. Or it is just not their thing. But most people I have met at least seem to like the aesthetics of Mini line.

 

^ I cross shopped the A3. I like TDI, & Quattro & Manual. The A3 is only offered in Quattro Auto. (manual meant FWD). I cant do a FWD Audi.
I have a B5 Quattro Avant(auto) as my daily. Its a great car, about the size of the A3. it was too similar.If the A3 was avail in Quattro Manual I wouldnt be here right now.

I also cross shopped the CC & a Wrx Limited. I like performance & AWD, what can I say. I never really gave the Wrx a chance, maybe figuring my emotions would make me buy it after the boosted test drive :P
It was better not to know lol.
Not a fan (fan boi) of the wrx interior & tinny construction body. Also it was the last yr of the troublesome 2.5 that didnt get the best milage.

In the end, I opted for the CM because it checked pretty much all my 'boxes' (5 dr, manual, turbo, mpg, fun, awd, german, different, practical)

Not everyone understands that. I guess the only compromise was 'performance', but I'll be working on that. (flash, springs, wheels, intake, exhaust, mounts, boost pipe). It will never be a GTI R killer, but it wont look like a $36k Golf either.

 

"Aint nothing Mini about that thing!"

 

"That's not a mini.... it's a MAXI!!!"

I've heard that one twice.

I also get the "it's so you" comment. But mostly people think it's a cute chunky car - which it is.

 

Everyone I show the car to seems to have a very positive reaction

I get stopped a lot from people wanting to know more about the car.

Kyle

 

Mine is black roof/mirrors on white body with anthracite wheels and heavy tint on the windows. My girlfriend and I were coming out of Rite Aid while a tattoed, muscular dude in a cutoff t-shirt was behind us. His 4Runner was parked right next to Hujan (my Mini) so he had to wait for us to finish getting in before he could open his door. While he's standing there, he's looking the car up and down and goes, "That's a cool MINI Cooper, man. Not cute; this thing is bad ***!"' It made my week.

 

"That replaced your Jeep?"

"No it's not all wheel drive. MINI does not make an all wheel drive car."

"Couldn't afford the X3, huh?"

 

Women: Cute. Too bulge-ish.
Men: Nice. Awesome. Don't buy the base model.

 

I've had mine less than a month and tho I love it to death, it's not getting a very good reaction in my neck of the woods by people who see it. But, they haven't driven it and don't really know anything about MINI's except for the Classics, so the Countryman's seem to cause some confusion. The Classic owners have given me some grief, but who cares. Other's who are not familiar with MINI think it's adorable and "beefy" yet fun and sporty and they all love how roomy and comfortable it is inside.

I didn't buy the car to get "reactions" anyway - I've always wanted a MINI and the Countryman was the best suited to our lifestyle. It's a base, too, and we just took it out on mountain roads yesterday. Not one problem, plenty of pep and my husband still has bugs in his teeth from grinning so wide. The "S" button came in handy on steeper terrain, but the base engine responded fantastic to twisty, windy roads. Such a fun car!!! I hope you love yours when it gets here and have no regrets!

 

Today was a perfect example of changing opinions. I've had mine for over a month now and I tell people I have a Mini Countryman. So everyone was thinking, "oh it must be a tiny little car." We went to lunch today and I drove, I managed to change 8 other people's perspective.

Some of the ladies did drop the "cute" word...but overall, they were amazed by the space, engine power, and the interior of the car. "Bigger than expected" is the response when they talk about the car now.

It really does change perspectives of Minis.

One term a few friends threw out Saturday night when there were 3 people in the back, "The SUV of Minis"

 

"what's that?"

 

"Why did you buy another one?"
"Hey look they super sized it!!"
"They still let you ride with the Philly Mini club?"

 

A lot of people that ask me about my Countryman love it! It certainly gets double takes on the road as it is not as common as BMW's and Audi's around here.

 

everyone i hang out with knows what is it but when other people see it most have no idea. Best reaction is from hippies and veterans, always give me a thumbs up, could be the mini or pink floyd on blast

biggest thing i get is that people think i payed over 35k for it (27k new). you really cant beat the r60 for the price when i look at the competition. I was a mini fan from old rally tapes and yes mr.bean

 

They can get quite expensive.... Mine was closer to the mid 40's without mods... Although that is the beauty of these cars, you can option them out or go quite stock and you're still going to enjoy driving it!

Everyone I talk to loves Kowalski, I pulled into a parking lot yesterday and 3 spectate people stopped me to see the car... It was awesome!

Kyle

 

Most people aren't car people so when I tell them they usually say something generic like "nice" or "cool" or "Ive always liked those."

Now when someone SEEs the car for the first time it's a different story. I've had grown men gush over how "cool" they think it is, Senior citizen women raving about "neat" and "fun" it looks, and young guys/girls generally digging it.

Personally I love getting compliments from really old people because they've seen it all, so something new that they like has to be special, and from young hotties because well, who doesn't like to get complimented by some attractive 20-something?

 

Yesterday, my brother-in-law stopped by and I showed him my new car. I didn't expect any reaction from him (he really doesn't care about those things), but he asked to see it.

We get out to the garage and he does a double take when I turn on the lights. His eyes bulged out, then he turned around and stared at my husband in disbelief: "YOU GOT HER A MINI!?! What are ya trying to do - get rid of her?!?"

To my complete surprise, he absolutely loved the car and all the room it had. He looked at everything inside, like a kid in a candy store. I asked "so, you like it, huh?" His only negative comment was that he thought I looked too "hot" to drive around in it alone. Made my day!

 

If I'm just talking to people and the car isn't present, the most two common responses are, "a what?" and "a minivan?"

If the car is present, the most common response is "that's so cute!" which isn't necessarily a complement to me. :D

 

Other than the fact I tend to like cars that stand out, that's one of the reasons why I did the blackout and quad headlights, then renamed it "Butch." It's really just window dressing, but people seem to notice it and I am not getting as many "you replaced the Jeep with that????" reactions.

 

Well if I just tell them that I have a Mini Cooper Countryman - the response is generally - wow you have a Mini Cooper!? Those are sooo cool!.

If the car is there and I can show them - the response is usually - That's a Mini? Its so big!

Then I had this reaction from my brother while riding in the car...Everyone loves these cars. But why didn't you get something bigger like a BMW or a Audi.