Mini Me

Olivia, my new Mini

"Though she be little, she is FIERCE."

~ Billy Shakespeare

The first time I saw a Mini Cooper up close was when Mike bought a BMW in 2003. The dealer sold both, and they had a number of Minis in the used car lot.

"What kind of clown car is that?" I wanted to know.  Brian, the salesman, told me about Mini Coopers. "Hmmmm.  Not my kind o' car."

Over the next two years, I saw Minis all over the Nashville area. They started to grow on me especially when I saw a bright yellow one with black sport stripes on it parked in front of my store one morning.  I talked with the owner who told me how much she loved it.  A few days later, I talked to a guy in the grocery parking lot about his red Mini, and he reassured me that it was such a fun car.   When it came time for me to trade in my 10-year old Explorer, though, I told Mike I wanted a sporty Crossfire. Considering I'm not that much into cars, that was out of character for me, but I thought I'd have some fun with a sports car.

Mike humored me, and we went to the BMW/Mini dealer to test drive the used Crossfires they had. Straddling the sleek, black Crossfire that interested me were a red and a blue Mini. I stared at them.

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"That red car is smiling at me," I said to Mike.  He rolled his eyes and advised me not to tell Brian that I thought the car was smiling at me.  "I want to test drive it," I added, and soon I was driving the Mini down the street.  I also drove the Crossfire, but it didn't stand a chance.  A few days later, the Chili Red Mini was mine.  It has been the best car I've ever owned.

Fast forward ten years, and Röd (Red in Swedish) started having problems. Within the last year or so, we've had to replace brakes, battery, struts, tires.  Sometime last fall, he started moaning when I turned the steering wheel.  Automobile arthritis had struck, and I started looking for another car.  I admit that I went to other dealers—Fiat, Smart, Volkswagen—but I didn't like any of them as much.

The new key fob is bigger than the car

"You need to stick with a Mini," Mike advised.  He knew how safe I feel in it and how much I like how it handles.  "You're not going to like anything else." i didn't.

On Saturday, we went to Carmax to look at a Mini they had there. It had a number of the options I wanted (sun roof, navigation, storage package) but lacked a few others (heated seats, back-up camera, comfort access doors).  It drove okay, but I wasn't sold. I drove a Fiat and a Smart car, too, and we left.  "I'm not ready yet," I told Mike.  "And I'm not looking at anything other than a Mini from now on."

I love the LED lighting in the cockpit.

Back home, I decided to check the Mini dealer again.  I had decided I wasn't going to buy from the dealer, but I thought I'd look.  Darn if they didn't add four "new" used cars to the lot that morning.  Back down to the valley we headed, and I fell for a metallic hot chocolate Mini with 12,400 miles and heated seats and the pepper white Mini with 8700 miles and everything else (but the back-up camera).

"Do you think the white one is smiling at me?" I asked Mike. He rolled his eyes.  I put it out there on Facebook, and everyone agreed that it was.

Very uncharacteristically, then, I decided the pepper white was the right car, and we signed the papers Saturday afternoon.  (You have to know that I usually take forever to make a decision on almost everything. When it's right, though, I guess it's right.)  Giving us a tremendous deal (less than what we paid 11 years ago for the red Mini with 19000 miles) and a lot more than we thought they'd give us for the trade helped in the decision.  "Can't walk away," Mike said.

The door handle lights up

So, I brought the white one home today.  As much as driving her is similar to driving the red one in a lot of ways, there are a number of differences in comfort and ambience.  Both the drive and the ride are smoother, although considering technology is more advanced, I'd expect that.  Then again, I drove a Fiat and a Smart car, so maybe not all auto manufacturers are into improving comfort.

One thing that I really like is that Mini now has ambient LED lighting in the doors and on the cockpit dash.  I set mine to pink surprising, I'm sure, absolutely no one. If I can't have a pink roof yet, I'll have pink light in the car.

By the way, I did name the car, Olivia.  It just happened, and I can't take it back now.  She apparently likes it because she's been smiling wildly since I christened her.