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.… [Read More]

I Test Drove a Countryman (and I Liked It!)

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.

Whoever took the last package of oatmeal out of the other box… left the empty box sitting on the shelf. So I had no idea that I had to stop to get myself something to eat…

And yeah, I could have eaten the other oatmeal, but my stomach seriously balked at the idea of eating banana flavored oatmeal this morning.… [Read More]

A Morning in the Life of 2 Gemini

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.

It’s because I was depressed. I cannot think about Viola without thinking of that jerk at the service department now. Especially because he refused to do my warranty service inspection and told me that my car would be fine until March because “You don’t drive it that much.” which is.. a complete load of crap.… [Read More]

MINI Almost Killed My Enthusiasm.

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.… [Read More]

Road Trip Hell

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.

He called several shops, only two places here locally had the equipment to remove runflats. Only one routinely did so on MINIs, and knew what the push button start was.

You can guess which one we decided to go with.

So my son and I took Viola in to get her new shoes, and the salesman could tell that this car was my baby. He spent a good ten minutes reassuring me that even though my husband had reserved the tires over the phone, they were a good choice, and I was happy with them.… [Read More]

Viola’s New Shoes