There is a writer for Slate Magazine who has what he calls something like "the parking lot Scale of Satisfaction" I might have got that titled messed up.

In any case, its like when you come out to a parking lot, from the mall, from the grocery store, from work, etc. and you see the car your driving home ... the mere fact that you get to drive THAT car home, how does it make you feel on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 the best). If people used that scale when they buy a new car, it might make their decisions a lot easier.

When I see the MINI, I think 10 and 1/2!

You?

 

Ditto sometimes more...

 

My idea of "the parking lot Scale of Satisfaction" is if my car is unmolested and in the same shape I left it. That gives me relief and satisfaction. I always park as far away from anybody as I can so it's always a long walk before I am satisfied. I guess I must like my car a lot. :smile::smile::smile:

Steve

 

For the last two years, there has definitely been a noticeable spring in my step when walking out of work to drive home in my MINI. Especially after driving my 1989 Chevy S-10 pick-up truck for five + years (it had 169,000 on it when I sold it and was a rust bucket) prior to buying my first new car...the MINI! For parking lot satisfaction I give it a 10, and the score only increases once it is out of the parking lot!

 

that's why I always park waaaaay out...I mean the fact that people will drive around for fiffteen minutes when it only takes one to walk accross the whole thing never really made much sence to me..lol

 

Plus the closer in you park the sooner you are going to get dinged. I know how I felt when I got the first "star" in my windshield. I couldn't prevent that, but I can at least take precautions in parking lots. I would be happier if I could just continue driving and never have to park at all. :smile:

Steve

 

Yesterday I had an appointment that left me very disappointed. When I got out to the parking lot, just seeing my MINI brought a smile back to my face. :smile:

It no longer happens every time as it did when I first got her, but my MINI still has that power over me!

 

When I park and exit one of our MINIs we happen to be in, I always catch myself staring back at the car not only once, but two and three times in a row

To me this is pretty much an accurate way to measure "parking lot satisfaction" by determining how many back stares the car receives after the owner has stepped out. The great majority of mainstream cars don't receive this kind of stares

I am also a firm believer in parking as far out as I possibly can. The great majority of parking lot door dings and scrapes take place in spots closer to the entrances (malls, restaurants, etc), so by parking way out in planet Mars, you are doing your car and yourself a favor by preventing dings and second by getting some healthy excercise

If allowed to do so, most people would be willing to drive inside the mall, grocery store, workplace, etc with their cars No wonder we have the highest rates of body fat and obesity in the world! No ones wants to walk!

 

Actually, it was worded the other way around. When you come out of the store and head towards your car ... parked in the north forty, how happy are you to see what your driving home?

10! Yes, I know. But good point too! Looking back fits with Duende!

 

So true

I love that we have drive-thru pick up for fast food. I mean, you don't even have to get out of your car to buy the fattiest food available to you.

You can intake 3000 calories, easy if you grab a Big Mac, Large Fries, Coke and a large milkshake... and you don't even have to get up!

I still the the parking lot buzz. Of course I can't let the car alone. I keep changing it, little by little. That helps.

It's pretty rare that there's a car I'd rather own in any given lot, that I am in. Except when I am at the track....

 

I always try to go somewhere where I know I can park and see my MINI from the store or eating establishment, alway taking extra care to park on an end or picking my neighbors carefully (vans with sliding doors, cars worth 3x what mine is, ect.)

Even after three years I still catch glimces of people circling the MINI in the lot as I look lovingly from afar ! Here is an example of a more recent parking job !

 

Good park job, nobody close. I always check the door edges of the cars next to me for chips in the paint to make sure there aren't any door bashers next to me.

Steve

 

I thought this was gonna be another thread bashing the two-spot parkers

I park at work where I can see my car...and at least 50% of the people who walk by it stop and look inside or at least stare at the outside. So my satisfaction is easily a 10.

 

Oh yeah, I think I'm probably the luckiest guy around driving a MINI. Nobody else probably cares, but my sense of satisfaction is way off the chart. I have to pinch myself sometimes just to remind myself that I am actually driving a real, honest-to-goodness MINI.....every single time I motor, every single day!!!!! Years ago such a thing would be unthinkable or even a dreamlike fantasy, but here we all are, drivin' the "one and only." Good stuff!!

 

Motoring since August, 2002...and I feel exactly the same way, GKR!!! Absolutely the most amazing thing to still look so lovingly at my MINI in the lot!


Clover

 

Def a 10. I love coming out of working and seeing my MINI. Makes all the hours I spent working totally worth it.

 

When I'm at work, during my break time, I'll often go out to the parking lot to check up on my MINI. I'll just stand there and admire and smile!

I've never done that with any other car I've owned!

 

On the fly refueling would be awesome much like airplanes

I give it a 10 as well....parking way out gives you time to check it out, but it also makes it easier to find if its sitting out all by itself

 

We LOVE our MINIs.... Smile Factor = Priceless...

Donna

 

I enjoy my Cooper S, but I can't wait to sell it and get an Evo or an STi. Then I'll have kick-*** handling AND speed.

 

Interesting answer

 

I agree with the "look back at the car" measure . . . I've noticed again and again over the years that I always look back at the beautiful or interesting looking cars I've had - - even some of the not so beautiful if they're well kept and waxed. Its a good measure of whether you're a car person or not. Non-car people think of their cars as expensive appliances. Car people will spend hours washing & polishing, & walk a hundred yards rather than risk a ding. Oh well, as addictions go, its a pretty good one

 

But true, all the same. An Evo or an Sti will show *** to a Mini Cooper any day of the week given equal drivers.

 

especially when parked....still looks ***

just messin with ya....enjoy the car :smile:

 

And how does this relate to the question of how much you smile when you see your MINI in the parking lot?

its non-sequitor