My husband has wondered if I would really enjoy driving one, since he got one as a loaner car when he took my MINI to the dealership in May. He got his answer today. This afternoon, I took a test drive of a Countryman S All 4 and all I can say is “Holy Jesus, I want that car.”
The handling was better than I expected for a vehicle of this size. I expected it to really lean in the curves, like my husband’s SUV, but I was pleasantly surprised by how little it leaned. It is heavier than the base model Cooper that is my current daily driver, but it really seems to compensate for that elegantly. The steering is nice and crisp, the wheel turned exactly as I thought a MINI should.
When I got my MINI originally, I didn’t even bother test driving an S. I really felt at the time that I didn’t “need” the extra zip, but it was so nice to put my foot on the gas going uphill on a 20 degree incline and have the car just go. The Countryman did not whine. It did not complain. It just went. I loved that, and now I’m wondering why I ever thought that the S was more car than I needed or wanted. As far as the Countryman is concerned, that line of thinking is dead wrong. It’s exactly what I want. It’s everything I ever wanted a MINI to be.
I think I might have to have one.
So I got up on time this morning.
Daughter overslept.
Son got up on time.
Hubby took daughter to school and I took son to school and up to this point, everything was totally ok.
I get the son to school and I come home to discover that hubby has left me with the oatmeal that I do not eat for breakfast… and no other breakfast supplies. I checked the board where we write down the stuff we’re out of before I left because I pass 2 grocery stores and several breakfast establishments on the way back from taking the son to school. I also checked the pantry, just in case.
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Those of you that are regular readers of this blog, or are personal friends, may remember that I had a really horrible service experience with my MINI dealer this past July during which they left me stranded in a motel 6 next door to a greasy spoon for 24 hours after promising me a loaner car on 3 separate occasions. You will also remember that prior to this service experience, all I did was talk about my car and how much I loved it. I’m sure you’ve noticed how much quieter I have been about my MINI lately.
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Given that it is a five and a half hour drive from my house to my car dealership, I’m sure you can imagine that it takes a bit of planning to get there. While in the planning stages, I made a phone call and scheduled an appointment with the service department. In this first phone call, I asked for the sunroof TSB to be applied to my car, I explained that my power windows rolled themselves down in the middle of a blizzard and that I wanted them to do an oil change and warranty service inspection. This was about a month before I intended to actually go to the dealership. I needed to get a date and time on my calendar because, with a new puppy coming home soon and two teenagers, stuff tends to fill up quickly. At this time, I told the gal on the phone to make sure that it was noted that I would need a loaner car. I explained to her that I was coming from Spokane and I was assured that they would reserve one for me.
Flash forward almost a month. I called on Wednesday to verify that they would have a loaner for me. On the phone I was told that they had only scheduled me to apply the sunroof TSB. I corrected this with the gal on the phone, explaining that my power windows were haunted, that I needed to do my warranty inspection and that my car needed an oil change before the stuff turned into sludge. She said she corrected my file and then I asked her what the status was on my getting a loaner. She hesitated and said, “Do you need one?” I explained that I did, that I had asked for one in the previous phone call. I was told, “Okay. We’ll definitely have something here for you when you arrive on Friday.”
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Viola came with Goodyear Excellence run on flat tires. These tires are great for summer driving, and I liked the traction they got in the rain. I felt pretty confident driving on them until the colder temps hit, and then I felt like I was skating on dry pavement so hubby and I agreed that Viola needed dedicated snow tires.
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Cars | Random Gemini | 
July 8, 2011 8:13 pm | 
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