Today my MINI got a new companion: My girlfriend Sam picked up her new Space Blue/Grey MINI Cooper!
She wanted to replace her aging Golf with something fun and practical, but there were no intentions of getting a MINI, nor was I encouraging it as something different would be more practical. Of course she loves minis and was always jealous of the fun I had driving in the many mini events she’s been a passenger on. We test drove a number of cars she liked including the Versa and the Mazda 3, and were really just planning to take a MINI drive for kicks. She didn’t know stick to drive mine so we stopped by MINI of Peabody to drive a Cooper with CVT. I’m sure I don’t have to explain to you what happened next; within half a mile she was in love!
The MINI was several thousand above the price range of the other cars Sam was looking at, but thanks to its top residual value the lease rates were actually LESS than the other cars! So she placed an order at the end of August for a base SB/G MINI with no option but a MFSW. Through September we went out once a week to practice driving stick. Within a month, her mini was here!
She has a few days to get a lot more practice driving so she can participate in this Sunday’s MOP driving event and BBQ. Huge thanks go out to Joel, Vinny, and Elise at MINI of Peabody for making such a quick order and delivery, and for dealing with some nightmarish registration issues with the Mass RMV–even taking some of their own time after hours to get things straightened out! As usual, MOP went above and beyond.