I just ordered a NEW car!

Yep, you read it right.

I just ordered a new MINI Cooper!!! WOW!!!

About a year and a half ago, Dick walked into the room and proclaimed, "I know what your next car is going to be." He showed me a little brochure that was in the New Yorker Magazine for the new MINI Coopers. I was fairly familiar with the car - not that I had seen any in person yet, but I recognized it from our Xbox game "Project Gotham". Of course, Dick was right. The more I looked at the MINIs, and learned more about them, I realized that it would be the perfect choice for me: they're small (perfect for parking in the city), good gas mileage, economical, sporty, and most of all, they're CUTE!

In all honesty, the whole "cute" factor worried me a bit. I was afraid that I was completely enamored with the car based scrictly on the cute factor, and that I was overlooking all other practical matters. We test drove one earlier last year (yes, almost 1 1/2 years ago - I'm not an impulse buyer). I LOVED everything about it except that it didn't handle hills terribly well. Here's the problem: I live in San Francisco. There are lots of hills. I prefer to drive an automatic in the city, so I don't have to worry about the hills/parking. MINI only makes an automatic option on the base model, not the Cooper S model that has a larger engine.

Last weekend, I thought I'd better check the rest of my options. I looked online, and decided to check out the Acuras and Hondas. I liked the Acura RSX a lot - it's the replacement for the Integras, and we all know how much I love my Integra (see posting below). I liked it, it's a good car, it is in the same price range as the MINI,..... but I didn't LOVE it. I also didn't find anything that I liked at Honda.

So then, I did my homework on the MINI Coopers again. I had only been to the San Francisco dealership so far, and didn't have any great experiences to speak of. They were always busy, and quite frankly, weren't very helpful at all. Even when we test drove through them, they really didn't take the time to go over any features/specifications. not impressed. When I expressed my concern about the automatic/small engine to one of the sales guys, he had the gaul to tell me, "Then you should learn how to drive a stick." Grrrrr. It turns out that most MINI dealerships charge a dealer mark-up fee of $1,000 for the base model, and $2,500 for the Cooper S.... because they can! I realize they're popular cars, but that's a lot of $$! I found out that East Bay MINI in Pleasanton is the only MINI dealership in this area that does not charge any mark up at all. (good to know)

Dick and I had such a great experience at East Bay MINI today! Our sales guy, Matt, couldn't have been better. He told us more information in the first 5 minutes than any of the sales people in San Francisco had told me in the dozen or more times I've been in the last 1 1/2 years. Matt was full of information, and gave great suggestions. Dick and I were able to test drive both models: the Cooper, and the Cooper S. That was great fun! I seriously considered the Cooper S for a while, figuring I could deal with the stick thing in the City with time. However, Matt suggested that the automatic would be better for city driving - something about how the Cooper S engine wouldn't be able to reach it's full potential in city driving, and the clutch would burn out quicker. PLUS, the order time for a base model Cooper is 4 to 5 months, whereas the order time for the Cooper S is 12-15 months!!!! Granted, I'm not really in a rush, but I think I'd like my car within a year! :)

I gave them a $1,000 (fully-refundable) deposit, and ordered my new car today!!! Here's the scoop:
MINI Cooper: chili red with white roof and mirrors, Combo #1 (premium) (includes Automatic AC, Dual-Pane Sunroof, Leather Cruise/Multi wheel, on-board computer) CVT (automatic transmission), Sports Seats in Panther Black Leather :), auxillary Input (for MP3 players, etc.,) and an outdoor cover. Phew!

My MINI will be ready in 4-5 months. What's that - sometime around January?