Part one of “Getting it’s tummy fixed” here:

My MINI is back home after a trip to East Bay MINI for it’s warranty repair of the water pump module recall.  While in Pleasanton I also made arrangements for the windshield to be replaced due to a crack on the left drivers side that started to get into my line of vision.

While at  East Bay MINI the following were replaced under factory warranty:

They obviously replaced the module and antifreeze while there all under warranty.

Normally the job only takes two hours to replace, but my windshield replacement meant that the car had to stay overnight.  Then today I received an email back from Jeff Killoran from  East Bay MINI that the car was ready and did I want them to make arrangements for transport back home as soon as possible.  Less than three hours later the car was back home from the dealership all safe and sound, delivered back to my office on a flat bed truck.  The transportation was covered as the car is still under factory warranty.

The gang at the office who watched the MINI being unloaded, joked that there was room for two MINIs on the back of the truck and that next time we should transport both mine and my Sister’s MINI this way.

All in all a very satisfactory experience from MINI and from the folks at  East Bay MINI .

So yes, JD Powers, this is another satisfied MINI owner.

Having a car under factory warranty and living in Fresno means that you have few options when you need service;  drive to your nearest dealer for service or call the Mini Roadside assistance and have it towed there.  So on sunny Monday morning March 12th, my Baby got put on a flat bed and started it’s trip over to East Bay Mini in order to get the Water pump controller changed by the dealer under warranty.

I received the letter from MINI USA which indicated that I needed to immediately contact my dealership to make arrangements for the water pump controller replacement.  Normally I drive my car down to the dealership in Santa Ana for annual checkups, but the fact that this is the time of the year that I can’t take off time from work and the vendor recommended urgency to take care of the matter.  This meant I was looking into what options I had for servicing.

To start the water pump controller recall process I called my original dealership, Crevier MINI (which was not my geographically closest one) and asked for my options.  They indicated that MINI would cover towing the car to the nearest MINI dealership and then returning it back to me using the same towing process.  In the case of Fresno, that’s East Bay Mini in Pleasanton.

I called the dealership in Pleasanton and they were quite pleasant (sorry, couldn’t resist the pun).  When I called, they indicated that the earliest appointment I could get was a few weeks away and the service would take about 2 hours.  I indicated that while there I also wanted to get the windshield changed as I had developed a crack in the windshield and it kept getting a little bit larger and was starting to enter my vision field.  They indicated that the glue on the windshield would take overnight to set.  When the car was complete it would be towed back to Fresno and the dealer would arrange for a “reunite”.  “A reunite?” I asked on the phone, “what’s a reunite?”.  “It’s when we reunite you with your vehicle”, the service specialist said.  Awwwww….leave it to MINI to come up with cute names for the experience.

I called the MINI Roadside assistance phone number (iPhone app available as well) and made arrangements for the car to be towed.  On the appointed day a large flat-bed truck from Blue Sky Towing arrived in front of the house.  As any Mini Cooper owner knows, one cannot just willy nilly tow a Mini due to the front wheel drive, it has to be flat-bed towed.  Up on the truck it went.  While the car was quite excited for this new experience, his owner, however, will be a bit nervous until her baby is back at home safe and sound in the garage.  No wonder they call the process “reuniting”.

Stay tuned for more in “Getting it’s tummy fixed”.

Americans seemingly can’t get enough of the Mini Cooper. The sporty little cars are also selling well throughout Asia. Seems like U.S. and Asian drivers like the European styling, the European handling and the European durability that’s built into the sturdy sportsters built by BMW.  There’s only one area where Minis aren’t selling well: Europe.  BMW blames it on the sovereign debt crisis. But whatever the reason, BMW will be cutting back its dealerships and sales efforts in Europe while it expands throughout the U.S. and Asia, Automotive News reports.  The trade publication quotes BMW chieftain Key Segler as saying last year’s record growth came from increased sales in China, Korea and the United States, while European markets like Spain and Italy were lagging.

Mini sold 285,000 cars last year, a whopping 21.7 percent increase from 2010. And Segler says he expects the sales growth to continue this year in the U.S., Mini’s biggest single market. It sold 57,000 cars here last year and plans to add 15 new dealerships this year to the 110 it already has.

More models

Besides adding dealerships, Mini has been steadily adding models. Besides the base and the S models, which come as both hatchbacks and convertibles, it now makes a sort-of station wagon and even has something that passes for an SUV if you don’t look too closely.

The most recent addition is a Mini coupe – a two-seater that is basically a pocket rocket for those whose greatest desire is to travel at great speeds, comfort be damned.  Of course, there are those who would say the Mini hatchbacks are hardly worth of the sedan title, the back seats being about as cramped as your average Manhattan apartment. The coupe takes that to new extremes; it has just enough room for two, assuming they’re friends.

But never mind that. The little car has lots of fans, mostly younger, and BMW’s thinking is that as those fans age they will need a little more room for such things as strollers and the critters that sit in strollers, booster seats and so forth. Thus the newer models, which are what a soap or soup marketer would call brand extensions.  Mini has currently worked itself up to six models but Segler says it hasn’t maxed out, not by any means. He sees the brand having 10 models in the semi-near future.  What’s not in store, according to Segler, are more plants. He says Mini can produce 400,000 cars a year at its plants in Oxford, England, and Graz, Austria, which should be more than adequate for the next few years.

Why?

Why do so many people like the Mini so much? Good question. For urbanites, the tiny cars are easy to maneuver and park, which is no small consideration. Many owners will tell you that they’re a blast to drive and they welcome being thrown about in hairpin curves just as much as cars costing four or five times as much.

They’re also cute, which has its advantages. Seasoned Mini drivers will tell you that if they miss a turn on a crowded Los Angeles street, they can whip a U just about anywhere and slip back into traffic, often with a smile and a wave from the drivers they’ve just cut off. Try doing this in a Mercedes and see what happens.  Maybe it’s because, while a Porsche or big BMW screams “I’m the 1%,” the Mini tweets, “Hey, we’re all in this together. Thanks for sharing!”  Or something like that.

—

02/22/2012 | Truman Lewis | ConsumerAffairs.com |

The author, who used to have one Porsche, now has two Mini Coopers. Twice the fun, he says.

Everyone is a wee bit Irish on Saint Patrick’s Day and so to get us all in the spirit, here are just a few words of MINI Irish wisdom.

Dance as if no one were watching,
Sing as if no one were listening,
And live every day as if it were your last.

May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hearts that love you.
May your home be bright with cheer,
May your cares all disappear,
May contentment come your way,
And may MINI adventures fill your day.

Wishing you always—
Walls for the wind
And a roof for the rain
And tea beside the fire—
Laughter to cheer you
And MINIs you love near you—
And all the mods that your heart might desire!

May you have warm words
on a cold evening,
A full moon on a dark night,
And a road downhill
when your MINI runs out of gas.

Valentine’s Day is not just for remembering the passion you feel toward another human being, it is also a time for recalling the joy and fond memories you feel toward a best friend, your pet, and of course your car(s).  We have all experienced cars over the years that still hold very special places in our hearts.  The car you learned to drive in, the car your parents bought for you to drive to college and of course the first car you ever bought all on your own.

Initially I hated the first car my Dad bought for me to drive to college.  A poor little 61 VW which had been hit from every possible angle.  He had turquoise wheels and a vinyl roll back top and was painted a horrible orange.  To top it off, he had yellow shag carpeting and an extremely torn up interior.  But with a little elbow grease, new carpeting and paint that little car stole a piece of my heart.  Now  nearly 40 years later, I still have that car (HERRB) and it still has my heart.  We went to college together, went on our first job interviews, had my first car accident together (he obviously was a seasoned veteran before I even met him) and we enjoyed many memorable trips together.

My next car was another little European import, a 79 Triumph Spitfire, my first convertible.  Spittie and I enjoyed 10 years together, 10 years my father still considers controlled by the “car devil”.  Granted Spittie went through clutch master cylinders like they were paper cups; tyres like they were marshmallows and who’s counting, but three engines.  Oh and I nearly forgot about the collapsed gas tank and the Lucas electrical system; but hey all cars have issues.  I still have fond memories of that little British gem and the fun we had on the twisties.  Dad simply remembers the day I finally agreed to trade Spittie in for another car as a very joyous occasion.

With the next car, I was back to a German import, a 1984 BMW 325e.  Beemie and I shared 20 years together and lots of adventures – not to mention a speeding ticket.  He was German and comes from the land of Autobahns, it wasn’t my fault!  To make it worse I was written up in the parking lot of my office with all of my office mates looking on – nice.  He was relatively trouble fee but was getting on in age and was beginning to need some work.  In addition, many of the new safety features simply were not part of Beemie’s generation.

In 2007, I began thinking about finding a replacement for Beemie and was looking at the BMW brand once again and then it happened; I saw the Mark Wallberg, Charlize Theron version of the Italian Job.  To top it off MINIUSA came out with the internet advertising campaign Hammer and Coop, and for me, well it was love at first and second sight.  Who could not relate to the Starsky and Hutch spoof of my teen years; or the music video “In the Heat of the Moment”.  There is something to be said for the MINI marketing team when a person who does not turn cars with any sort of frequency and lives over 350 miles away from the closest MINI dealership is suddenly searching the internet for anything and everything she can find about the MINI brand.

Let it not be said that I make snap judgements since it took me over a year to finally take the plunge and buy my MINI.  A 2007 MINI Cooper S Cabriolet, Pepper White Sidewalk Edition; my dear sweet MINImowse.  She had been a dealer demo and only had 1,700 miles on her, but the minute that I saw her, I knew she was mine.  She has the German engineering that I loved in my BMW and the English styling and heritage of my Spitfire.  She has her own special personality, runs with a great group friends and is as cute as a button.  I adore her more than the day that I bought her and I can tell you without hesitation, she and I will be together forever.

So on Valentine’s Day, while you are remembering others that are special in your life, don’t forget your MINI.  I for one, plan to roll back the top, slip in my “In the Heat of the Moment” CD and take MINI for a sweet ride.  I might even buy her a rose or two and place a Valentine card in her glovebox.  So XOXOXO MINImowse.

Until I Met You 

Before I met you,  I thought I was happy,  and I was,
but I had never known  the rich contentment,  deep satisfaction,
and total fulfillment you brought to me when you came into my life.
Before I met you,  I felt a lot of things, good things,
but I had never experienced the indescribably caring feelings I have for you.
Before I met you, I thought I knew myself, and I did,
but you reached deep inside of me and found fresh new things for us to share.
Before I met you, I thought I appreciated life, but I didn’t,
until I met you.

 You might even enjoy a blog by another MINI lover.  A great little essay of her year in a cult, a MINI cult.  http://myaccidentalmuse.wordpress.com/2011/04/02/my-year-in-a-cult-or-why-i-love-my-mini-cooper/

As many of you probably know there’s an interesting story behind the MINI’s exhaust tip and why it looks like it does.  And while you may have heard the story before, it is still always worth repeating for a good laugh.

Mini designer Frank Stephenson when interviewed back in 2003  explained what a can of Budweiser and the new MINI have in common: “We worked a number of 24-hour days trying to get the full-sized clay model completed for presentation to the board of directors,” said Stephenson. “So when we finished the job with just hours to spare, I thought it appropriate that the team have a beer or two to celebrate. That’s when I spotted the problem.”

That problem was the complete absence of an exhaust tip on the otherwise complete clay model. Thinking quickly, Stephenson stripped the paint from his beer can, punched a hole in the bottom, and fixed it in place on the model.

It wasn’t long before he was called on the carpet by his boss at BMW. “It wasn’t the shape (of the tip),” he says, “everybody liked it because it was unique yet oddly familiar. My boss was concerned that I had wasted a modelers’ time milling the piece when his time could be better spent elsewhere. That was when I felt the need to confess.”

That confession got him stunned silence followed by nearly uncontrollable laughter.

I for one am just thankful that the team was drinking beer rather coffee otherwise our MINIs might have ended up with an exhaust tip the size of a Folgers’ coffee can!

Recently, a friend of  mine, knowing what a MINI/Mini Cooper nut that I am, saved a copy of an article  from the San Francisco Chronicle for me. The story dealt with unique tours of London.   The writer who had visited London on numerous occasions was going once again but this time wanted to do something different to coincide with the 25^th anniversary of his first visit.  He was tired of the normal “first-time” tourist outings and this time he decided he was going to see London from a different perspective.  One tour that he chose that caught the eye of my friend and caused her to clip the article for me was to see the sights of London in a Classic Mini Cooper.  Can it get any better than that?   I have always wanted to visit London and this would be the icing on the cake!

My guide, Alastair Bruton, co-owner of smallcarBigCity, and his  assistant Celestine Stihler were dressed in their best interpretations of  Swinging London fashions, and early ’60s tunes played on the stereo.  I opted for a rollicking drive around London in which Bruton  provided new insight into familiar landmarks, such as the fact that the paws on  the lions at the base of Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square look a little,  well … off because the sculptor used his pet dog as a model.  Fans of the film “The Italian Job” can take a theme tour  re-creating the famous Mini Cooper getaway scene while wearing boiler suits and  tweed flat caps.

So if you are lucky enough to be planning a trip in 2012 that includes London, don’t forget the Mini!  “Yeah Baby”.  Oh and if you need someone to handle your luggage, I’m available!

smallcarBigCity tours: www.smallcarbigcity.com.
Mini Cooper tours range from the 30-minute “Royal London” tour (54  pounds; $87 US) to the three-hour “Great Escape” tour (199 pounds;  $322 US). Prices are per car, which hold up to three passengers.

Christmastime reminds us of the things that really count, the things in life we could not do without, like family, home, and memories, and friends who mean a lot…  for love is what this season’s all about.  May the special joys of Christmas warm your heart today and always. 

May the wonderful feelings of  Christmas  stay with you long after the gifts are unwrapped, the tree is taken down and the ornaments are safely stored away.  May the once-a-year joy of Christmas return to you in memories throughout the year, each time tugging at your heartstrings…  each time bringing a smile.

Christmas seems to touch people in special ways…  It’s a time for reaching out and sharing– for remembering the real meaning of brotherhood.  Wouldn’t it be nice if just this once when Christmas was over nobody noticed and went right on loving each other everyday all year?

I have a list of MINI folks, all written in a book,
and every year when Christmas comes, I go and take a look.
That is when I realize that these names are just a part,
not of the book they are written in, but really of my heart.

For each name stands for someone who has crossed my path sometime,
and in the meeting they’ve become the rhythm in my rhyme.
And while it sounds fantastic for me to make this claim,
I really feel that I’m composed of each remembered name.

And while you may not be aware of any special link,
just meeting you has changed my life a lot more than you may think.
For once I’ve met someone, the years cannot erase,
the memory of a pleasant trip or of a friendly face.

So never think this Christmas rhyme is sent as mere routine,
to names upon my MINI list, forgotten when not seen.
For when I send a Christmas wish that is addressed to you,
it is because you’re on the list that I’m indebted to.

For I am but a total of the MINI folks I’ve met,
and you happen to be one of those that I prefer not to forget.
And whether I have known you for many years or just a few,
in some ways you have become a part in shaping things I do.

And every year when Christmas comes, I realize anew,
the best gifts life can offer, is meeting folks like you.
So may the spirit of Christmas that forever endures,
leave its richest blessing in the hearts of you and yours!

On the night before Christmas all down 101,
The traffic was deadlocked; it wasn’t much fun.
The parties were starting, the hosts in despair;
In hopes that catered food, soon would be there.
The fine salad greens and the aged Chardonnay,
Were stalled on the freeways and there they would stay.

Sales folk at Moss MINI were glancing at clocks,
While last-minute shoppers seized gauges and shocks.
To fill stockings hung in the garages with great care,
In hopes that St. Nickolas soon would get there.
The sky over Vegas was starry and bright,
But the fog on the coast would last all through the night.

As KJEO broadcast the news of the hour,
The picture looked bleak and the outlook was dour.
From far Nevada City the story was flashed;
“St. Nick and the reindeer have possibly crashed –
The fog is so thick even Rudolph can’t lead,
And Santa has said, it’s a problem indeed.”
“My fog lights are powerful, but this is pea soup,
The poor reindeer can’t make their way through this goop.”

Into 10 million homes came this horrible news,
There was wonder in Fresno, shock in Santa Cruz.
“Let’s form an initiative – Proposition C,
Let’s ban fog at Christmas, as it just shouldn’t be.”
MINI owners were up, they couldn’t go to bed,
They were watching TV and they heard what was said.
They thought of the stockings that they’d hung up with care,
Hanging limp and unfilled, with no presents to share.
They thought of the 10 million MINI parts gathering dust,
Piled up at UPS and starting to rust.

Christmas cards can be purchased from the MINIbee store at http://www.tinyurl.com/minibee

And all through the suburbs arose such a clamor;
It rang through the night like a screaming jackhammer.
The governor was called and the mayors alerted,
The need for solutions was loudly asserted.
They called on SoCal, NorCal and the MidCal MINIs;
They called in Sun City and all gathered at Denny’s.
The night hours were passing and Santa was groaning,
He still had to cruse Idaho and Wyoming.

When finally a lawyer in South Contra Costa,
Sprang up from her dinner of angel hair pasta:
“I’ll get a court order; a clean writ of habeas;
We’ll outlaw this fog; send it off to Las Vegas.”
The forces were mustered, the deed quickly done,
And Santa completed his rounds on the run.

But the story is not done, cuz Santa wants his own fun;
So he headed to Nello and ordered a green one.

A Countryman 4 wheel, complete with sunroofs,
And headroom galore for the guys with 4 hoofs.
As they merged onto the freeway in the early morning dawn,
They were heard to exclaim –

Motor On good buddy, Motor On.

MINI Cards all from the MINIbee store