Those people who know I am a MINI owner (and fanatic) had to make sure that I knew all about the recall dealing with the turbo charger for 2007-2011 Models.  Yes, I have heard about it, no I am not concerned.  When we get our letter Sue will drop Poppy (her MINI) off at service to get it fixed.  We have been told the letter should reach us in couple of weeks.  I know this because Sue dropped Penfold (My MINI) off to have some things looked at last Tuesday.

I received a phone call and an email with the results of what they discovered. Understand that Penfold is 7 years old closing in on 100,000 miles, my three or four items I figured might be pricey, but I do trust the dealership to do good work (I give them gummi bears) and since we have been customers for seven years and we are on our third MINI purchased from them I know they will be honest with me.  It isn’t often you have someone from the dealership say “that part is really expensive, if it were me I wait on that.”

While new MINI models are coming out – most recently the Roadster, Coupe, and a year ago the Countryman, I have been considering getting a new MINI.  I have gone back and forth between hunting down a 2006 John Cooper Works GP, or waiting for the “Rocketman” concept to get into production.  When Sue picked up her new MINI (a year ago) we talked about a Roadster in the future.  “One-half of knowing what you want is knowing what you must give up before you get it.” Sidney Howard’s quote is one of my favorites and right now I don’t know whether it is time to give up anything for a new MINI.  I was planning on a new computer to do this comic strip with, but I might need to wait another year or so for that, at least (as of right now) I do have a job, so I do have an income, it’s just how is the money going to be pushed around.  Fewer trips to Gramboli’s Pizza? Fewer comic books? Not buying as much stuff for my classroom? Do we get Penfold repaired or is the more economical decision to get a new MINI? All this worrying and fretting about a car… not really just a car.

If you are not a MINI owner then you probably have no idea about the cult of MINI (like the cult of Mac).  When I ordered my MINI (you had to order them in 2005 since there weren’t any on the lot) I was given a production number, the production week and the ability to track the production of my MINI through the factory and on the ship. Sue’s parents event clipped the port notice from the Charleston paper when the ship docked.  You are encouraged to name your MINI and chronicle your adventures.  You become part of a community.  Nowadays this doesn’t happen as much since people just pick them up and think of them as cars… those earlier years you didn’t buy a car, you added a member to the family.  Penfold has always been there, through thick and thin and I have expected him to be there always.  Now I’m not so sure.  This is one of those arcs that I don’t know how it is going to turn out, so I might end up running a bit late as decisions are made I hope you can be patient.

A Little MINI News…
Posted on January 23, 2012 by Bruce
Those people who know I am a MINI owner (and fanatic) had to make sure that I knew all about the recall dealing with the turbo charger for 2007-2011 Models.  Yes, I have heard about it, no I am not concerned.  When we get our letter Sue will drop Poppy (her MINI) off at service to get it fixed.  We have been told the letter should reach us in couple of weeks.  I know this because Sue dropped Penfold (My MINI) off to have some things looked at last Tuesday. I received a phone call and an email with the results of what they discovered. Understand that Penfold is 7 years old closing in on 100,000 miles, my three or four items I figured might be pricey, but I do trust the dealership to do good work (I give them gummi bears) and since we have been customers for seven years and we are on our third MINI purchased from them I know they will be honest with me.  It isn't often you have someone from the dealership say "that part is really expensive, if it were me I wait on that." While new MINI models are coming out - most recently the Roadster, Coupe, and a year ago the Countryman, I have been considering getting a new MINI.  I have gone back and forth between hunting down a 2006 John Cooper Works GP, or waiting for the "Rocketman" concept to get into production.  When Sue picked up her new MINI (a year ago) we talked about a Roadster in the future.  "One-half of knowing what you want is knowing what you must give up before you get it." Sidney Howard's quote is one of my favorites and right now I don't know whether it is time to give up anything for a new MINI.  I was planning on a new computer to do this comic strip with, but I might need to wait another year or so for that, at least (as of right now) I do have a job, so I do have an income, it's just how is the money going to be pushed around.  Fewer trips to Gramboli's Pizza? Fewer comic books? Not buying as much stuff for my classroom? Do we get Penfold repaired or is the more economical decision to get a new MINI? All this worrying and fretting about a car... not really just a car. If you are not a MINI owner then you probably have no idea about the cult of MINI (like the cult of Mac).  When I ordered my MINI (you had to order them in 2005 since there weren't any on the lot) I was given a production number, the production week and the ability to track the production of my MINI through the factory and on the ship. Sue's parents event clipped the port notice from the Charleston paper when the ship docked.  You are encouraged to name your MINI and chronicle your adventures.  You become part of a community.  Nowadays this doesn't happen as much since people just pick them up and think of them as cars... those earlier years you didn't buy a car, you added a member to the family.  Penfold has always been there, through thick and thin and I have expected him to be there always.  Now I'm not so sure.  This is one of those arcs that I don't know how it is going to turn out, so I might end up running a bit late as decisions are made I hope you can be patient.

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