I just read about Hammer's birthday present and it got me thinking... How many people here have experienced random acts of violence on their beloved MINI? I know some cars are magnets for abuse (Did you hear about the M3 that got keyed?) but it never occurred to me that a MINI might be in that category. Now that I have one on order I'm wondering about the morons amongst us...

 

I don't have my MINI yet, hence the sig, but I frequently drive around my town seeing lots of MINIs. If they're in the public parking lots I watch over them for a couple minutes to keep 'em safe. Or I'm just drooling at them. lol

 

my 94 civic (had it long time ago) was a parking lot accident magnet. for some reason it
was cursed to get dents, scratches, etc. etc. etc. in the parking lot.

i got tired of it and sold it within one year.

haven't experienced much violence since...but my wife got her new legacy keyed within
a month of getting it. just bad luck...but preventable if you don't park it at all in
malls and super markets, etc. (like my MCS.)

 

I posted in that other thread that my Cabrio got keyed and I had only owned it for less than two months... The entire drivers side - front to back including the black front molding. Almost $3K later, she was good as new...I'm sure you can imagine how PISSED I was - LOL!! It just URKS me that people feel the need to do crap to other peoples cars....urggggggg.....

Donna

 

keyed- gas cap to headlight drivers side a week before two month anniversary of MINI driving

 

There are plenty of idiots out there who would do such a thing. I worried about it for a while but finally convienced myself to relax and just make sure my insurance stays paid up. Maybe the new Solstice, (SP?), and some of the other new and different cars will be more likely to attract the attention of these jealous morons.

I wonder if anyone ever had a Pontiac Aztec keyed?

 

When I had my 03 Cooper, I came out from the movies one night and there was a chocolate shake spilled all over the car. Some people have no respect. But that could be taken care of with a hose luckily.

 

You beat the guy with a hose!!


Good for you!

 

Reminds me of Transporter 2

 

I've been very lucky with my MINI. There haven't been any acts of violence to it. Now my old GC8 Impreza RS, that thing was a magnet for all sorts of vandalism :(

-Keyed down the passengers side after having it for 4 months
-Broken rear passenger window and removal of stereo after 3 years
-Someone had a master key and stole a laptop and subwoofer out the trunk exactly 1 year later.

Changing to the MINI to avoid vandalism but still driving a fun car is one of the reasons I switched vehicles.

 

Someone backed into SPOON. Looked like they had a hitch or something really low to the ground because they scraped up the bumper and punched in that little covering on the bottom part of the rear bumper. After looking under SPOON I noticed that the heat shield over the muffler was a little bent too.

This all happened at the airport. I didn't notice it until the next day because it was dark when I left the airport. Needless to say I was really pissed. I only had SPOON for a few weeks too. The person that backed up into me didn't even leave a note on the windshield.

 

Knock on wood, no problems so far. In a way, I keep expecting it because it's still something of a unique, stand-out car. Like keying a Camry would be pointless because there's a billion of them on the road, one would never stand out. I could see someone keying a MINI just because they don't like MINI's, though. Jealousy, you know.

But not so far. Mostly I just get compliments from strangers, which has never happened for any previous car I've owned. I also try to engage in standard anti-keying procedures, though, like not being a ****. :-p


Birds, on the other hand, have absolutely no respect for the MINI. Farking birds. *shakes fist*

 

My wife's 3 year old Saturn was keyed at the library. So far no problems or parking lot dings on the Mini. You just never know. Cross your fingers and don't worry about it.

 

Not amongst us, but the idiots looking in...what drives a person to vandalize the property of a stranger? There are several answers: envy, boredom, anger (at what...?), carelessness, on a dare, or just plain stupid...I have yet to have somebody say to me, "Oh, I put that dink in your door because I thought you would need help doing the mods you might be planning..." I have always been told (when I catch the culprit) something brainless like, "I didn't see you...

Once, when I had my Chevy van (bright red) I was hit by a woman making an illegal left hand turn after she ran the stop sign. She travelled the entire length of the van, ripping the chrome trim off from front wheels to the rear bumper. When I caught up with her, she looked at me like she had never seen me before and said, "What van?"

A person who owns a MINI would not vandlaize another MINI...I think MINI owners have a higher degree of respect for other peoples' property and would not deliberately damage another car, MINI or otherwise.

I park in the middle or rear of the parking lots and still somebody will park next to me. There are a hundred empty spaces and they STILL have to park in the spot right next to me.... I dunno, I can't figure it out.

You can't spend your days worrying about other people, get the MINI and enjoy...with my second one, my biggest complaint is the pelicans! Mick

 

I've noticed this too. I kinda want to get the orange triangles that come with the european MINI so I can block off the spaces on either side of me

 

A dump truck, which was driving ahead of me and carrying a load of gravel, maliciously threw a stone at my windshield.

As I saw that stone bounce off my windshield and cause a little star divot, I swear I heard it evil laughing...

ONE DAY I'LL GET YOU BACK, DUMPTRUCK!!!!

 

Lol, I would have if I had seen who did it.

 

I've been fortunate, no vandalism . I still have a suspicion that my faith in the Goodness of Mankind may be misplaced though.

Oh wait, when the DEALER removed the front bumper to replace my knock-sensor (which had been lighting up the SES light on and off for weeks), they re-hung the bumper CROOKED. Does that count?

After a few days of chuckling about the MCS's "Dirty Harry" sneer, and questioning my eyesight (was it REALLY crooked? Had it ALWAYS been like that? etc), I went out on a limb and took some measurements, sure enough gap between bonnet and bumper was wider on the passenger side, and no it hadn't always been like that.

Boring Conclusion:
Took it by the DEALER and showed them the mis-alignment, mentioning the knock-sensor replacement. They straightened everything up right away, and got those wheel-well bumper support/clippy/bracket things to line up properly under the bumper to boot. I felt vindicated in a way - see, I had told them (truthfully) that I hadn't curbed the thing, or run over any large animals, etc etc. I could just tell, they were like "yeah, ummm, sure".

While I was waiting (it was a no appointment 10 minute miracle cure - yay!) I took the liberty of peeking under some of the wheel-wells of cars on the lot, and surprised I was to see SEVERAL with the bracket things sticking out (not tucked properly behind the bumper where they can do what they're designed to do)... Oh well... I shoulda grabbed an SA and bet him I could guess the MINI's that had their front bumpers removed and re-mounted, LOL.

Reformed Wheel-Well Peeping Tom,
Tatt

 

I feel your pain... but I don't think that counts as a Random Act of Violence... incompetence, maybe, but it doesn't seem premeditated. As for your faith in the Goodness of Mankind, I'm trying hard to feel the love, but some days are better than others... if you know what I mean.

Ciao.