So I took my 24 hour old MC to the DMV to pay for her tax and license.

As I'm filling out some paperwork, the woman asks, "Make?"
"MINI," I replied.
"MINI what? Mini Ford?"
"God no! It's a MINI Cooper!" I was appalled.
"What's that? A Chevy??"
"No." I tried to collect myself. "MINI is the name of the car company."
"Well, that's a stupid name for a car company."
I said, "Have you ever seen one? If so, you probably would think it made sense. But anyway, MINI is a car company from Britain."
Harummphh! She typed MINI into her computer.
"MINI doesn't come up as anything," as though I'm making all this up. "What else can I try?"
"Well, BMW owns MINI, so try that, I guess."
She tried BMW and 'BMW Cooper' comes up on her screen. Jackpot.

After all was said and done I encouraged her to step to the office window to see the car. You should have seen her reaction. She squealed so loud, every employee in the place came rushing over. Then, 10 noses were pressed to the glass, the questions coming faster than I could answer them.
I drove away amidst lots of smiles, waves and well wishes.

What a hoot! And on my registration, it says "BMW". So much for trying to stay "MINI."




Needler :smile:

 

No less an authority than the New Jersey Turnpike Authority refuses to believe that there's such a car as a MINI Cooper. When I was switching my E-ZPass over to the MINI, I tried to get their customer service folks to recognize that MINI and/or Cooper was the make. No luck. They didn't even have BMW/Cooper in their database. So, they eventually registered my model as "Blank", but warned me that this may lead to tickets if the system ever has a problem reading my transponder.

I guess the proper response was to get rid of the MINI and instead pick one of the brands listed in their database.

 

Jsun - that is so funny! you should have said Rolls Royce!

 

jsun, you should've definitely played with them a bit more. Say it's a BMW (ughk, even tho we know the story), but say it's a 760Li, or an //M5 - something obviously false and wayyyy more expensive


My insurance company hadn't heard of MINI before either - it was under BMW (narf)

 

I get this one a lot from people on the street:

"What is that?"
"It's a MINI"
"Yeah, I know, but what kind of car is it?"

I can understand it from the average person on the street, but when it comes to things like the DMV or car insurance companies, JEEZ People!! Get current already!!!

 

....and it's not even NEW news, it's last year!!!!!

some people think WWII is still goin' on [sigh]

 

I'm just a regular guy and I assure you that I am familiar with each and every car manufacturer with current and substantial US presence. I'd expect that someone who works intimately in the car industry 8 hours a day would know every model Saleen, Stirling, and Motoguzzi right off the top of their head. Why then, is every DMV and insurance worker so baffled? Don't they work with cars all day. Every day. All day. The whole day? I'd make a derogatory generalization but I think maybe I've said enough. Back to my Beemer.

 

That's great Barbara! Haa!!

R

 

That is classic It's always a frustrating experience :???:

 

You guys should see HollyRN's tag on the back of her MINI. It reads, "IMA MINI". I guess she has run into that question a few times.


Needler, glad to see you get your baby. :smile:

 

When I got my financing, the loan officer said when she told a co-worker that she did financing for three MINI Coopers that day, the co-worker responded "Wow! That's an unusual name - and to have three customers named MINI in one day..."
Now to actually find that person named Minnie Cooper...

 

i just checked my NY state registration and it says "2003 MINI"

_________________

 

I've just started telling people that I built it myself...in my basement...with my bare hands...over the weekend...made the tires too!

 

>>I've just started telling people that I built it myself...in my basement...with my bare hands...over the weekend...made the tires too!

i have a hard time with the tires, so i just send out for them

_________________

 

Despite my pleadings that my MINI be titles and registered as a MINI, the smart independent thinkers at the DMV in Birmingham insisted that my car was a BMW and that it could not be registered as a MINI.

sigh. . . .

 

I do find it pretty odd that DMW and insurance companies haven't updated their systems to show MINI and not BMW. I mean, you don't see FORD on the registration for a Mazda Miata.

R

 

>>Despite my pleadings that my MINI be titles and registered as a MINI, the smart independent thinkers at the DMV in Birmingham insisted that my car was a BMW and that it could not be registered as a MINI.
>>
>>sigh. . . .

The interesting thing about this is that the Certificate of Origin -- which is the precursor to a state RMV title -- for the MINI clearly says "MINI" and has the wing logo and everything on it. I don't recall that there's actually any mention of BMW. Thus, it's strange that an RMV would insist on titling your car as something other than what's on the official paperwork from the manufacturer.

Maybe they think we just got those pieces of official-looking paper at Steak and Shake or something...

 

My insurance agent knew what a Mini Cooper was, but when my ID card was recieved it was listed as BMW Cooper. I just know this is going to be an issue when my insurance card is examined by a "friendly" officer of the law.











dk grey/black MCS

 

>>I'm just a regular guy and I assure you that I am familiar with each and every car manufacturer with current and substantial US presence. I'd expect that someone who works intimately in the car industry 8 hours a day would know every model Saleen, Stirling, and Motoguzzi right off the top of their head. Why then, is every DMV and insurance worker so baffled? Don't they work with cars all day. Every day. All day. The whole day? I'd make a derogatory generalization but I think maybe I've said enough. Back to my Beemer.

No, they work with PAPER all day. Every day. All day.

 

>>My insurance agent knew what a Mini Cooper was, but when my ID card was recieved it was listed as BMW Cooper. I just know this is going to be an issue when my insurance card is examined by a "friendly" officer of the law.

as long as the VIN # on the INS card matchs the REG you shouldn't have a problem

 

>>That's great Barbara! Haa!!
>>
>>R

Actually, it was up here in Vancouver, WA at the Hazel Dell Auto License place. In Washington, they let private people run DMV type things, that's why I went there. Not as busy, people not as bored with their jobs. I've always found them to be a lot nicer. To her defense, I guess I'll have to say that because of the lack of volume of people coming through there, she'd never been exposed to a MINI yet (That's over with now!!). However, even the COMPUTER didn't know.

 

>>I do find it pretty odd that DMW and insurance companies haven't updated their systems to show MINI and not BMW. I mean, you don't see FORD on the registration for a Mazda Miata.
>>
>>R

Although, I just HAVE to admit that I got a little vicarious thrill out of BMW on my registration. I'm not quite in the BMW league, if you know what I mean. However, I would raise holy hell if I registered my Volvo and it popped up as Ford. Now THAT would be a bummer.

I'm so glad BMW bought MINI instead of one of the big American three. Can you imagine? Instead of rattles, we'd be having sh*t falling off the car as we were driving down the road.
. Yes, I know, things are built *better* now.

Needler

 

Great story Needler!! I hope you post some pics of your car!!

How are yo liking the silk green?
_________________
MC Silk Green/White top Premium, sport, cold weather, chrome.

 

Needler.....what do you expect you got a FORD and a Dodge (should of got a GM )

 

>>Actually, it was up here in Vancouver, WA at the Hazel Dell Auto License place. In Washington, they let private people run DMV type things, that's why I went there. Not as busy, people not as bored with their jobs. I've always found them to be a lot nicer. To her defense, I guess I'll have to say that because of the lack of volume of people coming through there, she'd never been exposed to a MINI yet (That's over with now!!). However, even the COMPUTER didn't know.

WOW! Does that mean that if I move to WA state I could open my own DMV office??? Cool...I'm going to get a beehive hairdo, start practicing my blank stare expression, and will be out there a.s.a.p.