That's too easy of a question. The dreaded question is: "Oh, is that YOUR car? I accidently....."

 

Don't even think it!

 

See? The "dreaded" question....

 

I pulled up to a shopping center and parked. When I got out of the MINI a woman ran up to me and said, "How does a big man like you fit into such a little car. I said very well thank you. Then she kept going on and on about she never would have beleived it if she hadn't seen it with her own two eyes.

I am 6'2" and weigh 240. I big guy but damn I'm not freakish woman!!

 

Sounds like a come-on to me. Did you get her phone number?

 

(going off on a small tangent) You know... although I've always loved that grill badge, I also feel it is incomplete. There should be another IT at the end, IMO. As in:

"YES, IT'S FAST NO YOU CAN'T DRIVE IT"

Small detail, true... but the way it looks now, it suggests that the other person can't drive anything (as in: you can't juggle, you can't swim, you can't dance, etc), when we're supposed to be specifically talking about the owner's MINI, dammit!

Nit-picky? Yes... but I just had to get it off my chest (whew I feel better now )

 

I didn't notice that until now, but you are right. Damn!

 

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

lol.

I kinda hate the mpg question, UNLESS its someone in a hummer or the f-350 which I see 50 times a day living in Texas....then im HAPPY to tell them about mpg.

 

I will have to come back to this thread and say, living in the "relative" south, I often get:

Them: Is THAT your itty bitty car? (insert southern drawl)
Me: That is my MINI, yes.
Them: That is just the KYEWWWTEST itty bitty car!
Me: Um...Thanks.

 

I thought about that but she had on a wedding ring. I don't mess with married women. Had she been single I'd of had her....um....number.

 

Dude,

The ring could have been a fake, to ward off the leacherous Honda drivers.

And, she was clearly interested in how to get large things into tight places........

 

 

I DO like Southern girls..............

 

My personal favorite stupid question still makes me laugh when I think about it...

My friend, her roommate and I are driving to Sacramento. We're cruising down the freeway, and there's a lot of traffic moving around us. We pass a PT Cruiser to our right.

Roommate's friend: "So why did you get a mini one?"
Me (confused): "As opposed to what?"
Roommate's friend: "A full-sized one." *points to PT Cruiser* "Like that."

 

Not that weird; it just shows that this person knows a thing or two about MINIs (and the common problems they face).

 

Was talking to my neighbor the other day. My car's a week old, still has the dealer plates (though I did put a bumper sticker for my favorite presidential candidate over it, prompting stupid question #2). Obviously, this is a BRAND NEW CAR.

Neighbor: So, does it have any safety features?
Me: (thinking how could it NOT? it's a NEW car! there are standards!) Of course, 6 airbags, crumple zones, etc.

Stupid Question #2:
Neighbor: Where did you get your *presidential candidate* plates? How did you get those made?
Me: It's a bumper sticker. Just placed over the dealer's paper plate.

 

I figure that more demand for Minis raises my resale value...right?

 

 

Yesterday I was asked:

"Is that the new Austin Mini?"

Well, where do I begin.....

 

a lot of people have asked me qustions like:

"hows the suspension on that thing?"
"what about the steering? is there any over/under steer?"

then ive gotten a few about the acceleration.
ive rarely gotten MPG questions though.
lol

 

"Where did you get it?" We have only one dealership in Louisiana. And actually I've been going to Dallas because the SA in Baton Rouge was kind of a jerk. And oddly, I have children that wave and yell at me. The tots relate to small, I guess.

 

I confess, when a guy driving a $80,000 Mercedes asked me at a stoplight "how much does that car cost?" I too was offended at such a rude question. I mean, I didn't ask him what he paid for his car.

So I told him $45,000. He nodded his head, but was visibly shocked and dismayed. The light turned green and he was on his way.

Who knows, maybe he went to a party that night and when the price of MINIs came up, with authority he said "Those cars cost $50,000 after taxes."

 

I was calling my insurance company to have my 1984 BMW (the love of my life until I found MINI) removed from my policy as I had just purchase my MINI and sold my BMW. The phone agent asked me all sorts of questions about my new MINI. He never asked about the mileage, just about how it handled, whether it was roomy, as he indicated that he was over six feet tall, and other detailed questions. We had a very nice conversation and I must say, I am pretty certain that some Motoring Advisor at a MINI dealership is not going to have to work very hard to make a sale. The only thing I could not do is provide him with a test drive!

He was fully informed about MINIUSA.com and NAM by the time we ended the conversation. My work was done. Welcome aboard AAA guy, you have the fever. His gift to me was satisfaction that we had converted another and a nice insurance refund check!

 

Last week I took a detour to race the wife home and ended up in some of the more interesting neighborhoods around town. A beat up econoline van pulled up next to me at a light with two guys in it - both appeared intoxicated with.. life.

The passenger leans way out his window "Daayyyum.... your car is fast," pointing to the backlit speedo's 150mph capability.
"You ever had it that fast?"
"It may say that, but it won't do it - not even down a hill."
"How fast have you had it?"
I gave an answer, I'm not necessairly proud.
"Dang, thats like false advertis'n."
"Yeah, but it gets great fuel economy," trying to change the subject.
"Do a burn out."
"No, I don't have the power for that." (Its justacooper with a midlands; burnouts result in catastrophic failures.)

They're having a good time and this is all harmless so I run 2nd gear high just to see where the conversation goes at the next light. By this time, two cars pull in behind us, one a Cadillac XLR Roadster with the top down and a chick driving, the other an SUV with really bright blue headlights. These headlights immediately shifted the passenger's thought.

Still hanging out the window;
"Dang those are bright, you see those?" Referencing me to take notice...
"I bet those are Krypton dude, dang." He continues.
"Those are real bright. I bet they can see good." He tells his buddy.

The light changes and I need to merge in behind the van to dodge the parking lane at the next light . The SUV and Caddy aren't waiting and immediately change lanes to pass. So we're at the light and the SUV turns right, letting the Caddy pull up.

"Dang gurl, can you take me home?" pointing out the nice looking ride.
She's obviously REALLY uncomfortable but waiting for traffic to clear.
"I'm real nice."
The caddy turns.
"Come on, you even got an empty seat..."

Past the next light the van turns. I'm cracking up. So lucky to have made this detour and witnessed all this, it was too funny.

 

I recently had what started out as a decent enough conversation with a car salesman at a Porsche dealership.
I spotted a really nice looking blue MINI Cooper S cabrio on their lot and I stopped to find out how much they
were asking since I know of a few people looking for one.
When the salesman finally caught up to us I had already checked out the MINI from top to bottom.
He asked why I was looking at the MINI if I already had one and I said that I am the local representative of
a group called "MINI Rescue" that finds good homes/people for good MINI's.
He was impressed (I was lying) and I asked about the mileage and when he told me that it was 5000 miles
I was kind of surprised because the price was quite low for a MINI with that kind of mileage.
So I then asked him why someone would get rid of their MINI with such low mileage and he responded with "They were looking for a real sportscar".
Now however true his statement might be to some, the number one rule of salesmanship is never insult the customer... If anything kiss their butt.
This clown caused me to do an about-face and leave the lot as he pursued us asking "where are you going?"
and with me responding "Back to the MINI/BMW dealership where they have REAL Sportscars"....