We have met several MINI owners who have no knowledge of this forum! How can this be? If you search for anything Mini on Google-NAM.com comes up! Even at MTTS Boston- we met several who didn't know what I was talking about when I asked if they went to the forums. They said they had signed up for the owner's lounge...
We met an older couple at our hotel in Boston, they had a CR/WR -I asked if they were in town for the MTTS- they had no idea what I was talking about- I asked if they went on the forums- they said "In our area, our dealer doesn't do many events "
It's a real shame that some people just have a car- and don't realize they could be part of a culture. This is a wonderful enrichment to our lives!

 

Theres a lot of people that own mini's and don't even know what they really are. They don't even know that they are "resurected" from the dead!
to some they are just a cute little car, and thats all.
personally, I don't get it, but i'm a total gear head so i never understand how someone (especially men) cannot be a car fanatic.

 

There are seven Minis in my immediate circle of family and friends. Of those seven, I am the only NAM member. Two of the remaining six are also complete gearhead car fanatics (one is a 40+ year SCCA member and the other has been a mechanic for 36 years). For whatever reason, they both choose to get their Mini fix elsewhere.

 

thats surprising. I like NAM best compared to the others. to each there own I guess.
their loss

 

In my 2 years behind the wheel of mine, I've met 1 other person who was a NAM member and he said he spends more time on MU. Again, to each their own.

 

Alot of new MINI now buy it for gas mileage and does not care abt anything else.. it is sad thta there no community and it will get worse as more ppl buy it for gas mileage...

 

After I'd gotten my MINI in April '07 I soon signed up for the owners lounge on MINIUSA and got on the email list for the MINI website as well as the dealership. That was how I found out about Motor-Tober and then MTTS. It wasn't until a year later that I got an email from MINIUSA mentioning other owners sites like NAM. I signed up immediately.

It had never occurred to me to do a Google search for a place like NAM. Probably because this is the first car I've had that commands a community of enthusiasts. I'm so glad MINI steered me to NAM. I only wish it had been earlier.

So now I tell any new owners I meet about NAM. It is definitely a cool crazy place to hang out.

CROC 411

 

I've been a member of the auto enthusiast forums for a long time now such as focaljet.com and I was referred to NAM by members there since several own MCS's when I was looking for information on the MINI Cooper.

But I do agree there are a lot of non enthusiasts out there and most just buy for the great fuel economy now.

 

I discovered NAM at about the time I placed the order for the car.

Sadly, there are those that just aren't Mini enthusiasts. All a Mini is to them, is a good little car that gets them from A to B.

I ran into the same thing when I was younger with my MG club. I couldn't fathom why anyone with an MG would not want to join our club. I'm older (much) and wiser now. I realize that group enthusiasm is just not for everyone. Tis a pity, but it's the way of things.

 

I think our local dealership intentionally chooses to not mention NAM to new owners...I get the feeling they think NAM is too bizarre and anarchistic. Perhaps they are right, but there's no place better hook-up with the community of MINI owners.

 

Actually, when I googled for "MINI forums" or something like that when I started researching cars, NAM was one of the first ones to show up, along with MINI2. I'd loved MINIs since they came back in 2002, and wanted to research issues, etc with them. It was just part of my research, along with checking out Consumer Reports, Edmunds, and, of course, the test drive.

Now that my MINI's being made, I can't even think of what would have compelled me to get any other car. Insanity? Sun spots? I'm nuts about this car, and it's another good month before I can have it!

 

I'm still fairly new to NAM. About a year and a half. I've owned my Mini just over a year. Thank goodness for these Forums, it helped me decide what to get and what not to get on the car. There have been a few autos I've owned that Forums just did not exist or there was not any traffic.

When I went for my 1st test drive I asked my MA what forums he recommended and he did mention NAM and a few others. But then again he owns 7 mini coopers.

 

I found NAM via google, while researching the clubman NAM forums were always in the first half dozen links served up. NAM is a great resource, especially when ordering your first MINI - colors/options/issues/mods/events/history/etc., it is all here.

 

My Dad bought his MINI about a year before me. If I had never rode/drove his I probably would have missed out! That being said, he has never been on or to NAM. He is definatley an enthusiast, just not a forum guy. I myself lurked almost a year before I started paricipating. I have learned a great deal from this site, joined a fantastic club, found good deals, sold my surplus, and am always entertained!

Pop is comming up for MITM this year, I'll try to introduce him to all that is NAM!!

 

Now that I've found NAM, I can't imagine MINI life without it. It's a super support group for similar-minded crazies!

 

I have been a member here on NAM for over 4 years now, it was called MINI Coopers Online (MCO) back then. I have learned a lot of MINI related issues, and how to deal with them. Although it's a great place to learn, it's also a place were you can impart what you know about, or have had happen to your MINI, and it is this sharing of info that makes a community.

I have also made some very good friends here on NAM, some I have met in person, one that I'm now married to, because of this I've moved to a different country, and I have never looked back. Well we are going back to Canada in a couple of weeks for a visit, driving my 03 MC up as the dogs and our stuff won't fit in the Cabrio.

There are many owners of MINIs who have no idea about any of the online boards, some are even club members. Like some others have said, I too feel to each their own.

Mark

 

a lot of the subscribers to MC Squared aren't computer focused, and are true car enthusiasts... There is more to the mini world than NAM...

Matt

 

I have also made some very good friends here on NAM, some I have met in person, one that I'm now married to

e harmony move over!

Nice
Acquantances for
Mini's

 

My friend just took ownership of her mini, and through the whole waiting process i told her to go on NAM. She didnt listen.

Her mini came and i knew more about it than she did. She is deffinately one of "those" ppl that got it for the cute factor.

Its not just a cute car... its a lifestyle

 

I wish I had joined NAM when I got my first MINI back in spring of '02. I could have been a charter member. heh heh. But I was just a dumb highschool student at the time, with other things on my mind. I must admit that back then, it was just a car to me. Of course that has all changed now.

 

Oh, I don't doubt that - I was one! When I owned my '04 MCS, I wish I knew about NAM even if I weren't in the same country, and I was definitely an enthusiast. But if you recommend NAM to someone and they don't followup - and end up missing out on the knowledge, never mind the community - that's what we're lamenting.

 

I've decided I'm going to have a small sticker cut for each side of the rear windows, something like NAM.com:Raiyu

any better suggestions? maybe like NAM ID: Raiyu

 

I'd say make it a static sticker - ya know, one of those tacky (as in slightly sticky, not kitsch) plastic films that you can remove later. I mean, NAM already changed names once, right? If you do a sticker, I'd have something MINI-related on it (the logo? pic of a car?) to spark interest in it from un-NAM-educated MINIsts lurking around your car.

 

You mean something like this from the NAM store?

Mark

 

the pic isn't working for me, can you post it?