I picked her up yesterday: my new 2009 Mini Cooper S. She only had 6 miles on the odometer. Brand new.
I was actually not too optimistic about the whole process, but the folks at Mini of South Atlanta, including my sales guy Terry Huddleston, were able to work it out. I wasn’t worried about the tag price of the Mini nor trade-in value of the CR-V; I was just concerned with keeping the monthly payment at about where it already was. After a bit of negotiating, we pulled it off. I went in with this attitude: if they can’t get the price I want, then I have a great Honda that I’ll drive for another year and try again. This allowed me to stick to my guns, so to speak.
My new Cooper is red with a black top. It has the sports package, including Bluetooth and an iPod connector. It’s a six-speed manual (an automatic was not an option — sorry, A) and includes ride-flat tires, a bad-ass computer, cool cabin lights, and a ton of other features that were obviously designed by folks who understand that the details are important. I can’t say this was true about the Honda.
For example: the CR-V had an audio-in jack right below the stereo. It was a standard headphone plug, so a double-male cable would allow me to plug my iPod in and listen to it. Cool, but not really. Yes, I could listen to the iPod, but I had an ugly looking cable strung down my console and I actually had to control the iPod by picking it up. Not only that, I had to have a separate cable for power. Inelegant and inconvenient. The Mini’s is a USB plug that’s hidden at the bottom of the console, behind the shifter. Everything goes through the cable to the computer — playlists, artists, albums, track info — everything. I can actually use the Mini’s stereo to control the iPod without ever even touching the iPod. Awesome.
OK, the best part: it is a fuel-efficient sports car. So. Much. Fun. Need I say more?
You can check out my Mini gallery on Flickr.
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