The MINI and Me and Not Mini-Me
The MINI and Me and Not Mini-Me
I finally drove the MINI home on Thursday afternoon after Alex the Saleswoman gave me a quick run through of the more important features of the MINI like how to start it and operate the convertible top.
This is Alex trying to show me how to operate the MINI.
Very useful stuff.
That small gauge to the left of the tachometer is the Openometer. It records how long the convertible top has been open.
Alex was able to synchronize my cell phone with the MINI so now I can receive phone calls while I and driving, assuming for the moment that I would pick the call up. I can now also call out from the car in a mostly hands free mode.
No more Borg like ear piece that rarely seemed to work for me.
I suppose some of you may be wondering why I only took the car home on Thursday when I signed the purchase order last Saturday. Good question. I had planned to pick the MINI up on Tuesday because Doug would be around and would be able to drive me to the dealership and take some appropriate photos of the event.
Alex, and I do not know what Alex is short for, discovered what she thought was a minor problem on Monday. The passenger’s side window did not go all of the way up. In the Summer, this would only be a minor inconvenience since we don’t get much in the way or rain in Southern California, the Winter would be a different matter.
Alex thought the problem could be corrected by the time we came to pick up the MINI on Tuesday. Regrettably, this was not the case.
Alex told us the car was still in the shop and the mechanics were not having much success in finding the cause of the trouble. She told us that would be Doug and me that the mechanics had reprogrammed the car’s computer and changed two modules and had been unable to resolve the window problem.
Obviously, I was disappointed as I had planned to drive the MINI to class on Tuesday night.
Alex almost squealed with delight when I gave her a modest thank you gift for her effort and for finding the defect in the MINI before I took it home.
Alex likes chocolate brownies. Doesn’t everyone?
I described the small Fairy Tale Brownie calorie cluster bomb; it only contained 12 assorted brownies. I could almost see the calories running up Alex’s slender fingers and onward to parts of the body that no one wants to see calories cluster. I warned Alex about the dangers of uncontrolled consumption of the 400 calorie brownies and the consequences for which I would not be responsible. I also discovered that neither one of us likes nuts in our brownies.
I’m uncertain if Alex was paying attention to me or not. I think she was focused on the brownies.
Alex said she would call me on Wednesday when the car was finished. I thanked her for her efforts of my behalf.
Doug and I left the dealership to have lunch at Jerry’s Deli. It was noontime and I wasn’t going to be driving my new car anytime soon. We had a very good lunch; I had a corned beef sandwich and Doug had turkey pastrami sandwich.
I received Alex’s message when I got home from school around 10:40 PM. Alex had called earlier that night to let me know the mechanics had been unsuccessful and that the shop foreman was now working on the MINI. Alex said she would call me on Wednesday and let me know how the repairs were progressing.
Alex called me on Wednesday to say that the problem was still being worked on and that it appeared to be a wiring problem. I thanked her for the new information and expressed my hope that the problem would soon be resolved.
Thursday proved to be a much better day for me and the MINI.
Alex called to let me know the problem had been fixed. It was a wiring problem that came from the factory. The factory did not put a lock nut on a wiring junction so that resulted in an intermittent connection; sometimes the widow would work and sometimes it would not.
Alex then asked how I wanted to take delivery of the MINI. She was prepared to drive the MINI to my flat and show me everything here. I said that might not be necessary because Doug was going to stay overnight at the flat. I would call him to see if he could arrive earlier and take me to the dealership.
Doug arrived early and drove me to the dealership where I picked up the MINI.
I am still getting used to the car. I do like the way it handles and performs. I didn’t pay attention to Alex’s explanation of the radio and CD player very well. Alex made a CD for me, complete with a Hello Kitty sticker. I will be reading the almost 200 page owner’s manual this weekend.
I can operate the convertible top.
Perfectomundo.
As I look back on this interesting series of twists and turns, I feel confident that Alex did all that she could to insure my satisfaction. Obviously, it would be totally wrong to assign any blame or fault to Alex. The dealership did everything it could to make things right with me.
While I don’t have much experience in buying cars, this was the first one in almost 22 years for me, I consider Alex to be a highly competent, professional saleswoman. Alex exceeded my expectations.
I’m not certain if Alex can walk on water successfully or not. In my mind, if Alex tried to walk on water, she would only get her toes wet and possibly her ankles on occasion.
I can highly recommend both Alex and South Bay MINI for those of you who are locals and in the market for a new vehicle.
Be well and stay happy.
I finally drove the MINI home on Thursday afternoon after Alex the Saleswoman gave me a quick run through of the more important features of the MINI like how to start it and operate the convertible top.
This is Alex trying to show me how to operate the MINI.
Very useful stuff.
That small gauge to the left of the tachometer is the Openometer. It records how long the convertible top has been open.
Alex was able to synchronize my cell phone with the MINI so now I can receive phone calls while I and driving, assuming for the moment that I would pick the call up. I can now also call out from the car in a mostly hands free mode.
No more Borg like ear piece that rarely seemed to work for me.
I suppose some of you may be wondering why I only took the car home on Thursday when I signed the purchase order last Saturday. Good question. I had planned to pick the MINI up on Tuesday because Doug would be around and would be able to drive me to the dealership and take some appropriate photos of the event.
Alex, and I do not know what Alex is short for, discovered what she thought was a minor problem on Monday. The passenger’s side window did not go all of the way up. In the Summer, this would only be a minor inconvenience since we don’t get much in the way or rain in Southern California, the Winter would be a different matter.
Alex thought the problem could be corrected by the time we came to pick up the MINI on Tuesday. Regrettably, this was not the case.
Alex told us the car was still in the shop and the mechanics were not having much success in finding the cause of the trouble. She told us that would be Doug and me that the mechanics had reprogrammed the car’s computer and changed two modules and had been unable to resolve the window problem.
Obviously, I was disappointed as I had planned to drive the MINI to class on Tuesday night.
Alex almost squealed with delight when I gave her a modest thank you gift for her effort and for finding the defect in the MINI before I took it home.
Alex likes chocolate brownies. Doesn’t everyone?
I described the small Fairy Tale Brownie calorie cluster bomb; it only contained 12 assorted brownies. I could almost see the calories running up Alex’s slender fingers and onward to parts of the body that no one wants to see calories cluster. I warned Alex about the dangers of uncontrolled consumption of the 400 calorie brownies and the consequences for which I would not be responsible. I also discovered that neither one of us likes nuts in our brownies.
I’m uncertain if Alex was paying attention to me or not. I think she was focused on the brownies.
Alex said she would call me on Wednesday when the car was finished. I thanked her for her efforts of my behalf.
Doug and I left the dealership to have lunch at Jerry’s Deli. It was noontime and I wasn’t going to be driving my new car anytime soon. We had a very good lunch; I had a corned beef sandwich and Doug had turkey pastrami sandwich.
I received Alex’s message when I got home from school around 10:40 PM. Alex had called earlier that night to let me know the mechanics had been unsuccessful and that the shop foreman was now working on the MINI. Alex said she would call me on Wednesday and let me know how the repairs were progressing.
Alex called me on Wednesday to say that the problem was still being worked on and that it appeared to be a wiring problem. I thanked her for the new information and expressed my hope that the problem would soon be resolved.
Thursday proved to be a much better day for me and the MINI.
Alex called to let me know the problem had been fixed. It was a wiring problem that came from the factory. The factory did not put a lock nut on a wiring junction so that resulted in an intermittent connection; sometimes the widow would work and sometimes it would not.
Alex then asked how I wanted to take delivery of the MINI. She was prepared to drive the MINI to my flat and show me everything here. I said that might not be necessary because Doug was going to stay overnight at the flat. I would call him to see if he could arrive earlier and take me to the dealership.
Doug arrived early and drove me to the dealership where I picked up the MINI.
I am still getting used to the car. I do like the way it handles and performs. I didn’t pay attention to Alex’s explanation of the radio and CD player very well. Alex made a CD for me, complete with a Hello Kitty sticker. I will be reading the almost 200 page owner’s manual this weekend.
I can operate the convertible top.
Perfectomundo.
As I look back on this interesting series of twists and turns, I feel confident that Alex did all that she could to insure my satisfaction. Obviously, it would be totally wrong to assign any blame or fault to Alex. The dealership did everything it could to make things right with me.
While I don’t have much experience in buying cars, this was the first one in almost 22 years for me, I consider Alex to be a highly competent, professional saleswoman. Alex exceeded my expectations.
I’m not certain if Alex can walk on water successfully or not. In my mind, if Alex tried to walk on water, she would only get her toes wet and possibly her ankles on occasion.
I can highly recommend both Alex and South Bay MINI for those of you who are locals and in the market for a new vehicle.
Be well and stay happy.
posted by Chuck Reinhardt at 5:55 PM
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