We drove in the Woodward dream  cruise this August and kids jumped up and down and screamed 'There's a Mini, a Mini!' as we drove by.  It really has a 'cool' factor.  We didn't realize when we bought it that we had joined a cult.  Check it out, there's a Michigan Mini site.

 Living in the 'Motor City' and working in the automotive industry, we had always owned a Chrysler, GM or Ford product.  After being let go from DaimlerChrysler, we wanted something with a 'cool' factor and great gas mileage to replace the lease cars, the white charger and red crossfire roadster.  It didn't take much thought, my mother has been considering replacing her 10+ year old Honda with a Mini. She has a traveling jones that gets stronger every year that I think I inherited.  It gets great gas mileage, 27 in the city and 40 on the highway, but that wasn't the deciding factor. The real reason was the 'cool factor' and it looks great in red. Red is the only color for a Cathy car, and I love the white bonnet stripes and top.  Besides being classic red with the white bonnet stripes, it has the sport seats, matching inside door trim, double sun roof, Mirrored side mirrors and interior lighting that shifts from blue to red. Standard super cool features include sport mode shifting (it shifts at higher RPM for more torque), manual shift with shifting paddles on the steering wheel, cruise control. My husband and I both drive it and were really surprised to find that it remembered our music preferences.  When he drives, the 'sports in your face' station is on.  When I drive, it's the Stones or 89X.  It took us a while to figure that out.  Then there's the  ignition and key.  The key is a round disc that you insert in a tray.  Then you have to push the start button. To stop the car you push the button and push the key in before pulling it out.  You can remove the key and stop and start the car.  We had to make sure you can't start it without a key once you've gotten out. I forgot to mention it has heated seats that warm your back as well s your butt. Very nice now that it's getting cold. It's been a fun driving experience, the buying experience was entirely different too.

 First, there's only one dealership in the Detroit metro area, there's a second dealership in Michigan up north, the next nearest is in Cleveland...Ohio. Second, there are no incentives, the price is the price.  This is actually a good thing because it means the car holds its value. Usually we lease vehicles because a vehicle is not an investment and it's usually not worth what the manufacturer said it would be by the end of the lease.  We looked at some used prices and a 2003 goes for $16,000.00.  For the first time in years,  we bought a car instead of leasing.  We tell my oldest son to be good to the car because he'll probably own it some day.  Our youngest will have to own the second Mini.

  We've noticed a lot more Minis in the neighborhood since we bought ours in August.  Maybe it's the cost of gas or the cool factor of driving a well built BMW product that isn't discounted or overproduced and holds it value. The cult was a pleasant surprise and it's fun to wave to other Mini drivers. Gas prices are expected to go up, the Mini is a fun solution to keeping those costs down. Life is good!

Cathy