New England Off Topic and Banter as Most Brilliantly Proposed by Cape Cod MINI

[snid]

I had hoped to have some video to share, but my tape ran out before the interesting stuff happened.

So, picture me following Dave T. (LePew) around NHIS. Dave points me by heading into a turn, I go past him, then promptly screw up the very next turn and wind up driving off the track. No damage done, thankfully.

[GadgetGav]

Did Dave then hit you, or wasn't it that "interesting"
How was sunny Hudson..? If I hadn't got a 100 year old house that needed new storm windows fitting, I'd have come up to watch. Come to think of it, if I didn't have a 100 year old house that needed storm windows, I have been there on the track with you guys!

Hope you had fun before the off roading..!

[NoNo]

I'm getting a little tired of you using that house as an excuse! I'm beginning to think you just don't like us

[jwardell]

I forgot to mention I went test driving with my girlfriend on saturday (and mabe nono should pay attention...). Dropped my car off at MOP for Service I. Drove down to ford to test drive a focus. (As you may know I drove one for a while and loved it, and its handling made me progress to a mini) With the rebates it is the cheapest option. We actually had a very nice salesman who must have been at least 65 years old, no pressure, didn't even copy licenses.

She was pretty set on the nissa versa, her friend just got one, so we continued to kelley nissan. My experiance was just as bad as the other times I've been there with other friends. We had not even finished parking the car and the salesman was on us. We ask if we can just look at the car and he says over here, sit down, fill out this long questionaire. 15 mins later he takes us to look at the car. Slicked back hair and attitude. Skip forward almost TWO HOURS before we could get out of his clutches. New sly trick: They take your keys and registration to evaluate your trade-in, and keep "forgetting" to give them back to you. You can't just walk out.

Up to Ira Mazda, which I have dealt with before and was very impressed with their sales staff and a friend recently bought a 3 from them on my recommendation and same experience. Got an old guy this time but he was still good, laid back no pressure. 07s come in next week so they had no automatic sedans to test drive..un heard of. So I test drove the stick sedan and then later we went back out in an auto hatch.

Here's the part for you nono: The Mazda 3 really is the great car that every review paints it to be. It has great handling, even a tiny bit of that MINI feel. Lots of little details and thoughs (a locking glovebox??). The base engine has way more power than any of the other cars we've looked at. It's a very practical car, too. And, it's still relatively cheap.
Though she didn't want to get anything right away, we really considered walking out with one that day, on the spot. Unfortunately they only one they had had too many extras that she didn't want and couldn't get the price low enough.

And so half as a joke or just to capitalize on the opportunity, we returned to MOP -FIVE- hours later, and joel handed us the keys to the CVT MC tester. Not practial to have a second tiny car, though she is always jealous of not being in the drivers seat on mini events, it was never a consideration. About a half mile into the drive, somewhere in the middle of the curve of the offramp from Rt. 1, she was sold.

Now it's not final or anything, and it may take a while to so much as gather up a deposit, but I may just be joining that 2-mini household club in a few months.

Also, it was the first time I had driven any other mini than mine since my test drive in early 04. I had only once driven a MC CVT during a test drive at patrick mini back on 02. So I did take the car for about 3 minutes of our 20-min drive. First, (and again, NoNo), that CVT is a POS; I'm not sure how anyone puts up with that, even with the sport shift improving things 65%. Secondly, the MC was just as fun as my JCW MCS. Even with the CVT, there was plenty of power once you got the revs above about 3k, surpassing most of the other cars I had drive that day. I was worried it would be dog slow and not as fun, but sure enough, you MC owners aren't missing out on the good stuff. Well, maybe as long as you have a stick.

That versa I drove was also a CVT, certainly much more mature in that it was well-behaved and nicely tuned. However, it took about 15 minutes to get up to speed, not exactly a good feature when trying to jump out on rt 1. And of course the car was sure to sap any fun out of everything.

[jwardell]

Wow, that was a long post!

Another big point was dealing with all the other salesmen was a nightmare. Even the nice ones. You feel so pressured, stressed, and defensive that they are going to trick you every chance they get. I've never had to deal with it myself, with my MINI at MOP and my focus bought on x-plan where they just said pick what you want and no negotiation needed. I wouldn't stand for such BS.

You walk into MOP and it's a whole different world. Do whatever you want, sit down with a friend and chat. Even if you're buying a car. It's not rocket science, so why don't other dealerships do it?
(I say mop not mini, I've been on the sales end of HC and they're the same as the others)

[NoNo]

Oh, I'm considering my options (although Ford was never one of them), and the Mazda's come up. All in good time. But I always thought the Cooper was plenty of fun. Sure, not as quick off the line, but I think all of you can attest that I've had no trouble keeping up with the supercharged crowd at runs. The trouble I'm running into is that you start off with reasonably priced cars, and then you want something simple, like a sunroof. But you can't get the sunroof unless you get the upgraded stereo and heated seats. That package is $3000. I do miss the ordering process of the MINI. You want something, you can get just that exact thing, not have a million other things tacked on. Never understood that mentality.

[jwardell]

That's not true. You can get the sunroof alone for $850. MINI has always let you buy things individually, while most brands only let you choose the packages.

Edit: Doh..thought you were talking about the MINI.

Yep, welcome to the rest of the universe. Care to come back?
Maybe something to hold you over till an '07 arrives?

[GadgetGav]

Quote: Originally Posted by NoNo (original)

I'm getting a little tired of you using that house as an excuse! I'm beginning to think you just don't like us

Nah, just you, you soon-to-be-non-MINI-owner..!


OK, joke... don't put me on the nija death list..!
When are you coming up to lay in the hammock, you'll see what a time sink this place is!

[retsej]

Is that offer open to ALL of us?

[NoNo]

You want to lay in the hammock with Gavin?

[Bonnie Blue]

I remember going to a car dealer in RI back in '94 to test drive a used '92 or '93 VW GTI. A nice blue-green color. A salesman very rotund introduced himself and told us to call him "Big Bob" since there was "Little Bob" somewhere on the lot. So he gets the keys and we proceed to get into the VW. All of a sudden a young salesman jumps into the driver's seat and tries to take control. Big Bob ends up arguing with the young man to let me test drive the car. The young salesman had his eyes on the car and wanted to buy it himself after working a month at the dealer. Finally he gets out and lets me get into the driver's seat. Big Bob sits beside me, but being very obese, he barely fits in there.

Out test-driving, I liked the driving and the nimbleness, but I had a hard time getting the gear up to the end because Bib Bob's leg was in the way! I had to squeeze it to the 5th gear. I was not 100% decided on the car, but Jar & I decided to revenge on the young salesman by putting a deposit on the car! After 3 weeks we got it back, enough to teach the young salesguy, hopefully, a lesson!

[GadgetGav]

Quote: Originally Posted by NoNo (original)

You want to lay in the hammock with Gavin?

I put them up and I can tell you they won't take all of us at once..! We could work out a rota I suppose, the one who brings the best calzones gets to spend the most time in the hammock.

[jcsinnh]

Yet another piece of Wardellian logic..."old" guys are rarely decent car salesmen.

[cyclotouriste]

Quote: Originally Posted by jcsinnh (original)

Yet another piece of Wardellian logic..."old" guys are rarely decent car salesmen.

He's probably just had one too many again. Cut him some slack. You were young once too.

[jcsinnh]

Quote: Originally Posted by cyclotouriste (original)

He's probably just had one too many again. Cut him some slack. You were young once too.

That's where you're wrong, faceless one. I was born old and cranky. Josh and his crowd need to pay homage to folks like me and Admiral Whatshername, and Mr. Timex and Mr. Sinclair, and Mel Brooks, and Noah.