I can relate too. I had two choices: a Saturn Hybrid or the MINI. The Saturn dealers, tragically, were a shadow of their former selves. The salesperson knew almost nothing about the car. The sales people didn't even know that another Saturn I was interested in was sold under the name Opel in Europe. Um, Opel is what GM cars are badged as over there. You figure they'd know what their European brand would be called. They didn't even have a hybrid in the lot. I walked out the door. The MINI dealer was professional and answered every question I threw out. Two weeks later, I was filling out an order form for my Clubman. I'm still mad at GM that they let Saturn go down the drain. It could have been America's answer to the Honda Accord but they just keep blowing their chances. And this coming from the mouth of a person whose family drove Chryslers for over 18 years!

 

"this is the new MINI? they come Supercharged now, right?"

 

Got one yesterday! ...

Pulling out of the plot a guy looks at me an says "cool ... is that the new turbo PT cruiser? Me ... 'Yep just picked it up' ...

What? ... New PT cruiser? .... Didn't they quit making them like 20 years ago ... LOL!

 

I get the same thing all the time.

 

Actually I have had a more stupid one recently...had my hood up at a car meet and a guy said "this isn't an S! Theres no turbo!" I walked over and pointed to it directly in front of him...his response, "oh..." How can you NOT see it or know how a turbo looks like! Hahaha!

 

Don't forget to talk about the function of the hood scoop

 

By the numbers, mine is 147mph, 0-60mph in 6.5sec. which is actually .0000000206 decades...

Not Lamborghini territory, but then again I didn't pay $300,000+

 

Sounds like how they used to market breakfast cereals...

 

(in the best backwoods hillbilly accent possible)
Mom - THAT CAR AINT GOT NO TOP ON IT HUUUUUH
Mom's child - WHY AINT IT GOT NO TOP ON IT.....

this was back when I was driving the miata.... I was laughing so hard that I couldn't say anything so I just drove off.

I've got some crazy stories about what people have said to me while driving the miata. Apparently when you slap some fender flares and a roll bar on a car everyone's logic drops a good bit when they talk to you.

Now while driving the mini, I have got a couple compliments and several old men walking around it and thats about it. Its nice to finally "kind of" blend in with normal cars

 

Co-worker: "Isn't that a girls car?"
Me: "Where?"
Co-worker: (points at my Mini) "your car"
Me: "Do you see a convertible on it?"
Co-worker: "Nice car man. ha"


Old guy at hardware store: "Hey my wife has one of those"
Me: "Not like this one"
(We step around side, he see's my autoX numbers, lowered, wider stance, scratch from track)
Old guy at hardware store: "Oh no I guess not"

I pass a guy in a Ferrari 599 on the outside lane of a two-lane left hand turn in an intersection, we have to immediately stop at the next light.
Ferrari guy: "Nice go cart"
Me: "Thanks."
...then he romps me off the line. we get to the on ramp and I pass him on the outside again.
He waves shaking his head.


Couple of my girl cousins: "CUTE car!!!"
I start it up (75% straight pipe)
Cousins: "ahh now it's mean. I don't like it"
Me: "...good."

 

When I went to MOTD 2010 we decided to take some backroads to get up there. On our way up there in some nowhere mountain we had to stop for someone in our party(there was 5 or 6 MINIs). Well As we are just hanging around we kept getting looks from all the locals as they walked by or drove by. Well me in my infinite smart *** ways made the comment quite loudly too "Hey Martha ther is one of dem new fangled Japanese cars" oh course everyone in our party thought it was hilarious except the locals and well we kinda had to make a rather quick get away.

The other thing is I have a bumper sticker on my back window that say "Your SUV is a POS". Well not everyone gets it which I think is funny. But I have hade some very dirty looks from truck, van, SUV, and some regular car drivers. The funny thing is they try to intimidate me by climbing up the rear end of my MINI and well it normally involves me either downshifting and leaving them in the dust or taking a turn about 20 to 30mph faster then them and leaving them.

 

Thank god he did not ask you how your hood scoop works

 

 

I LOL every time someone writes something on here about the hood scoop being completely non-functional. I dremeled all my holes and my intake & engine temps are significantly lower. Just because it's not feeding directly into the intercooler or intake doesn't make it completely useless.

 

My girlfriend and I stopped for ice cream tonight and we were standing by the MINI when an old man walked up and said, "Can you two both fit in that suitcase?" I just laughed and he got in his big old pickup truck and drove away. Oh well, at least he didn't call it cute!

 

Well mines not about a MINI but it's about my 2012 VW GTI I just picked up. My brother and I pulled up to our schools CC practice, everybody commented on how nice looking it was. After our run I was about to leave when my friend walked up and said it needed another door right where it would be on the four door. Then he got a few more of my friends to chime in with the same remark. Long story short if I wanted four doors I would have bought a four door and not the two door like the original hot hatch.

 

Its a hatchback not a wagon. Wagons are for groceries and families not for going fast.





























Edit: Cadillac CTS-V Wagon is an exception.

 

I hate listening to people that either weren't around in the '60s/'70s, or are looking at the past through rose-colored glasses. To hear them talk about it, every car on the road had a big-block and would do the quarter-mile in 11 seconds.

Look up the factory 0-60 and 1/4-mile times for most of the famous "muscle cars" and appreciate just how good we have it now.

 

The Clubman is a wagon, I haul-*** with groceries in it!

A Harbor Freight bungee net keeps things from flying around!

Dave

 

I have a UJ roof graphic and was once asked if I was trying to make my car look like the General Lee

 

Haha when someone tells you your car is cute, remind them that "Yeah, tiger cubs are cute too, until you try wrestling with one!"

 

YES! YES! YES!

 

mine is partially vented, I can look through on my 2011. I'll take a pic when it is brighter outside [rained all day today] I still keep getting the Supercharged comments too, one of these days, I'm just going to pop the hood, point at the turbo, and say, "yes...it is Centrifugal now"....

 

That's a good one, the tiger cub comeback! I'm going to remember that one

 

So, just the other day I had a guy at the grocery store ask me; "So what all can ya haul in that tiny thing?"

I simply replied, "I can haul ***!!!"