Hello,

I am a first time MINI owner. My wife and I picked up this sweet 2013 R56 S 6-speed in Ice Blue. We've really enjoyed it in the two months we've owned it. We bought it because of our dog! Yes, we love bringing him on fun rides. Unfortunately, that was not too comfortable for him or my wife in our 2003 986 Boxster two-seat roadster. Of course, we could have just put him in the back of her CRV or my old Civic - but where's the fun in that? I started looking at MINI's and came upon this little beauty with only 20,000 miles. It was the first one we looked at and the first time I'd even driven one, but we were smitten. Then my wife asked me if we could get a similar car in an automatic. My heart sank, but I said we could keep looking - you know, happy wife = happy life. We left the dealership and went to have lunch. There, she said "I know you want the stick, let's just go get it." Yippee! I choose my spouse wisely. She did agree to taking some manual lessons, and has had a few so far. Of course, being a MINI, we had to put our personal touch to it and liked the checkerboard theme. We can't wait to meet up with some other local other MINI owners, and continue to enjoy the car.