me too... I give a 'thumbs up' to all the minis I find when I"m on my bike or in my truck, but they just look at me like I'm some dumb Farmer or something. Oh well. i actually got a wave BACK from another Chili Red Mini like mine today!

 

Someone across the street from where I work has a twin Cooper S to mine but our schedules must be different because I've yet to actually see who the owner is and I'd feel weird walking in to the store and asking who owns the MINI. lol

 

I just got my mini on Saturday. This morning just outside of Columbia MO. I noticed another mini behind me, when they pulled into the left lane to pass, they waved like a maniac. I waved back. I think I'm going to really love this car.

 

^yes, you are! Don't see many MINIs in my neck of the woods, but saw a record amount of them today. Of the two that saw me, BOTH waved. Always puts a sile on my face, no matter how bad my day is....it's the little things...

 

i see them all over my area....literally pass about 4-5 (each way) each day as i go to and from work...i have to say...not many wave...which leaves me lookin like a goober. On average I get a wave back 20-25% of the time... Even worse, today i had one pull up next to me (brand new with the temp tags still on it) and I waved twice...they just drove away. You'd think the dealers would be educating and people would be excited?

 

Living so close to a large MINI dealer I see tons of them, very few (if any) waves. 100 miles from home I got a wave.

 

I live five miles from my local MINI dealer and there are so many MINIs in my area you would have a sore arm if you waved to all of them.

My 11 year old son told me that MINIs are the big status symbol in his school - if your parents own a MINI its cool.

 

I think the MINI drivers in my area prefer to wait until after dark to wave.

 

I've only had my MINI for a few weeks now but have yet to get a wave back. Best I got was a long look over at me today. Drove next to a Red Bull MINI for a while today and the two cute little girls driving were too busy playing with their hair to notice anything around them.

 

In my area I seem to get waves from all but one demographic, presumably the "bought it because it's cute" group. These folks are almost always (no offense), what appear to be 50+ women. Everyone else seems to be in-the-know about it.

--Matt

 

Hey, Matt.....50+ here....I wave....I flash my lights...I mutter about bad MINI owners who don't appreciate the fun if the car and the obsession and I feel sorry that they either don't get it or weren't told about the wave. I've had the same no response from a lot of young drivers in my area. I think you are right. Some folks just got the car for "a car" and not because of all the MINI obsession. But....as long those of us who get the community of MNI keep up even though the responses are low' we will continue to be happy when we get a return acknowledgement and know we made the respondent happy too and the wave will live on.

Know the Code..... Save the Wave!

jacquesew
oh....and I'm not offended....;-)

 

I own a Wrangler, Harley and Mini; all the pressure of all that waving is more than one can handle . I will admit I will wave now and then, but I will always return a wave. My Jeep Forum someone started a thread to post pics of jeeps that don’t wave, I went ahead and posted my picture. I am not opposed to the wave.
AMen

 

Most bikers give a two-fingered sideways "how are ya" sorta wave, and I remember most JEEPsters also being rabid/zealous/happy owners and usually wave too... he's right. But not everyone is "fun". Mini-owners are the same then. Take what you can get I guess.

 

The MINI community has become so diluted with people who are not enthusiasts that the wave is decreasing dramatically. I got my first Volvo in 1970. If you could find another Volvo on the road, they always waved. Then the "soccer moms" discovered them and all bets were off. I feel the same thing is happening with MINIs. Now they are mainstream. I always try to wave, or flash my lights. Just trying to be friendly.

 

The MINI community has become so diluted with people who are not enthusiasts that the wave is decreasing dramatically. I got my first Volvo in 1970. If you could find another Volvo on the road, they always waved. Then the "soccer moms" discovered them and all bets were off. I feel the same thing is happening with MINIs. Now they are mainstream. I always try to wave, or flash my lights. Just trying to be friendly.

 

I'm guessing that you are a "Glass Half empty" kind of guy.

In my experience, about 60% of MINIs wave back. Here in Western Washington, we have two MINI clubs and one Mini club, all are very active.

There are always going to be car owners to whom a car is just a car, but MINI seems to attract the more enthusiastic kind of car owner. I don't see the number of enthusiast MINI owners declining at all.

Dave

 

Because i never wave at people i don't know does not mean i am not a mini enthusiast. I love my mini, i just don't wave..

 

I find that we usually flash our lights at one another more than we wave. It does seem that I am more aware of other MINIs on the road and most others in their MINIs are looking straight ahead - I need to be the one to initiate the waving I've found.

 

Diluted? MINI sells 41,000 cars in 2011 of a total of 12,800,000. That comes to 1/3 of 1%. Not too much "diluting". MINI is such a niche brand that they don't even have dealerships in some states. Maybe the whole wave thing has run its course. Remember, men used to tip their hat when they passed a lady on the street, now men don't wear hats. They still look and admire (at least I do) -- they just don't tip their hat.

 

Absolutely agree 100%.. Go to Paris, anywhere in Italy, smaller (older) German towns... You'll quickly see where all the other MINIs are... We just got back from a trip to Europe... if you want to talk dilution... It's readily apparent how utilitarian our European MINI bretheren are (where it seemed 1 in 15-20 cars were MINIs in the big cities) and was clear barely anyone acknowledged each other. However, there are most definitely enthusiasts out there as well (got a kick out of Paris MINIs with Union Jack roofs - the pilots of the modified MINIs were the ones I saw waving). We got back home and the difference is absolutely shocking! We saw ONE MINI on the road... In the central districts of Paris alone (5 mile radius), I stopped counting at 100. Barely any MINIs on the road here! There really are very few of us in the US - Wave your arm off!!

 

The planets must be aligned just right. Got a heathy wave yesterday. Life is good

 

Got a wave from somebody in a white Sebring roadster, i assume that it was a mini driver who forgot they were enjoying the beautiful day in their convertible, I waived back of course.

Honestly i cant help to partially agree with everybody.... where we live the closest mini dealer is about 100 miles away and we have family that lives near it. when we go and visit we pass many minis... not many waive at all. specially when your driving around and you come up to a pepper white mini roadster, where the driver has a pink shirt and white sunglasses to match his "cute" white car. then HE stares at you like an idiot when you waive.

But when you get back to our area, as i said, you get people waiving who are not actually in the mini but own one. ive learned that its just waive of the hand, or a lift of the fingers, very simple. so if i randomly get waived at i try to waive back because i know its makes my day.

I have also learned that other mini drivers either love to see other minis or hate it. ( they love it because they just like to see other enthusiasts or they hate it because you have the same car as them. )

so i tend to do things like you see in the picture(the one on the left is ours the other one is copper S that we seen in the parking lot of the Hershey RV show.)

When we first got the car i would never park next another mini. now i did it joyfully, figureing that the other driver would either get a kick out of it or they would be mad because there was another mini next to them... either way i was happy to do it.

 

So I'm in my first Mini, although I've admired them from afar for many years. My daughter thinks its cool that I wave at the mini owners I see. Some wave back, some don't notice, but it makes me feel good and it gets a grin out of my 15yr old so I plan to keep on waving. Besides, who knows when that mini owner might be needing a nice gesture on a rotten day.

 

I own a Miata along with my MINI. Miata people are also supposed to waive, but most of them don't. I don't see MINI's all that often around here, but I'd say 75% of the ones I see don't waive. Honestly, I'm probably in the 75% at this point, I typically don't either whether I'm driving the MINI or Miata. I still do occassionally and will always respond if someone else does first. Doesn't mean I'm not an enthusiast or don't like my Miata or MINI, I'm just not a "waiver".

 

[ I still do occassionally and will always respond if someone else does first. Doesn't mean I'm not an enthusiast or don't like my Miata or MINI, I'm just not a "waiver".[/QUOTE]
At least you wiil acknowledge. That's half the battle!
Thanks!!