i try to wave....BUT not many wave back.. they think i am CRAZY

 

Or perhaps, as I was thinking this morning, as the R56 PW I was next to for 4 exits on the 405N by Culver City at 615AM and would not turn his head, that many MINI drivers are so focused on the road in front of them, they do not notice anything else. Maybe I am a poor driver who spends to much time looking for other MINI's on the road?

 

I guess Mini is beginning to appeal to the masses and the enthusiasts are only a small percentage of owners. I now look for signs of upgrades to try to discern whether the driver is an "owner" or an "enthusiast", but even that isn't a sure thing.

 

Here is my "unofficial wave stats" from the past month driving aroung the MAD-Town area:

MINIs encountered & waved and/or lights flashed at: 8
MINIs waving back or flashing lights or even smiling?: 0

 

I hope you're sitting down. I waved at 2 MINI's today, each driven by a young lady, and not only did they wave back, they even smiled.

 

and then you woke up.

 

Definitely have noticed a drop in return waves since a few years ago. I still make the effort when I see another car coming the other way.

 

I bought my MINI early March 2008 and during that year when I waved, usually I got waved back from them. But since last year I did not get wave back so I did not try to wave since then. Since there are so many MINIs around here, when I saw MINI it's just an another MINI....

 

Quoted for the truth.

 

I've had my '08 since Dec. had a wave last week and a nod this week, I think thats pretty good for my town Can't give up,it might catch on! again.

 

I subscribe to variants on Kent Keith's paradoxical commandments.

The wave you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do wave anyway.

Give the MINI world the best wave you have and you may get flipped off.
Give the MINI world the best wave you have anyway.

Paradoxical commandments

 

down here in new orleans ive seen about 20 MINIs a few wave, and i always wave back, my buddy thinks its gay, i just tell him he will never understand. i would say there are about 20 -30 MINIs around here

the other day while driving to work i hear a horn honking in the distance from the rear. so looking through my rear view mirror, i see a British racing green MINI S weaving through traffic like a nut, just to pull up next to me and wave and say she thinks my boot is sexy.(my boot is stock)

 

yeah in the bay area here there are just so many minis. i used to wave when i first got the car and only got one wave back. ever. maybe i've become jaded like the rest here...

 

i got a wave and a wink from a gorgeous girl sat at traffic lights yesterday morning, made my day!
she was soooo hot too

 

... I'm w/u on that 1! I don't have any small kids, so when I have my grands w/me, that's what we do!

 

I've seen only three waves the entire 17 months I've owned my car. I admit that I sometimes glance out the corner of my eye and WAIT for the wave. If the owner waves, I'll always wave back. How can you wave when they aren't even looking in your direction? I'd say I spotted over 100 MINIs in the last year and a half. Number of waves? 2. The wave is dead. I give up.

 

The last wave I got was from a girl in a yellow MINI with a white roof. She was VERY cute!

 

I actually do both the wave & the high-beams! Only on separated highways i do the high-beams.

 

I wave as often as I can remember and notice other MINIs. At times I get too tunnel-visioned and don't notice until it's too late. Never have received the salute. If that's what they give you, the other driver just does not understand it's from one MINI owner to another.

You can always inquire with Jeep owners. They do the same thing (i.e. waving).

 

Man, I hit the jackpot at lunch yesterday. A light blue R56, maximini, then actually spoke to a guy from a club, mininuts, chemikill-x, while getting gas, then a brand new red Clubman S on the 101, exiting with me on Las Virgenes, waves from all!

 

The first weekend I had my car, I was turning into a shopping center and an elderly gentleman with a awesomely extravagant mustache in a GP was going the opposite direction and waved. Ever since then I've made a point to wave to every MINI I see.

Return waves: probably about 50% but mostly from 1st gen MINIs

 

The day I first test drove my MINI in Charlotte, NC, I got 3 waves. I asked my MA about it and he just smiled and said, "It's a family. MINI owners always wave when we see another MINI."

On the drive home a bright orange Gen1 passed me on the interstate... Slowed down and checked out my car, then both the passenger and the driver waved and smiled before speeding away.

I always wave now and get returned waves somewhere in the 60 to 80% range. Seems many of these exchanges happen at stop lights and intersections.

 

I don't want to make "waves" here...

Does a wave really make a person an enthusiast? I don't wave in my Mini. I don't wave in my truck. I didn't wave when I had a motorcycle. I will give a bit of a head nod if I notice someone waving at me just to acknowledge them though. I'm not an ***, I just think the wave is silly...

I do work on my own car. Every mod in my signature I did myself. I have it set up to go and help two fellow NAM members modify their cars for free.

I personally just find it silly to go around waving at a bunch of people I don't know, just because they have the same car/motorcycle/truck I do.

I don't think that waving, or the lack of waving, makes a person an enthusiast or not.

 

I see that many Minis in one or two days around here. So it's not surprising that most owners now waive the wave.

But it was fun in the early R53 days when another Mini was truly a rare sighting...


Edit: BTW, there are also at least a billion 911s around here but most of us will still do the secret handshake.

 

If you've ever ridden a motorcycle you understand the importance of the wave! Granted, it's a bit harder to notice a wave inside the MINI, especially if the windows are tinted, but I still wave anyway!

There are very few MINIs in town, but I was in Austin, Texas over the weekend, and I now believe that it is the mecca of MINI!