Seems like there are more and more MINIs on the roads recently. On the average, more than half of them wave back to me.

I have 2 other drivers in my household. I have told them that they will not be allowed to drive the MINI* unless they first vow an oath that they will wave to all other MINI drivers they see. The oath is strickly enforced.

*that is with me as the co-pilot. Nobody gets to drive the MINI unless I am also in it. Nobody.

 

Yesterday morning I got a wave while driving around Harvard Sq. Of course I was trying to turn left, and the waver (PW/PW - long haired cutie driving) was maybe the 4th or 5th car going by from the right, with another 3 or 4 cars behind her. Hello? I mean really, thanks for the wave and all but letting me in would have been a lot friendlier. Especially since you're just hitting a red light anyway.

 

Not everybody waves around here, but most do. I live in a pretty friendly place.

 

We ALWAYS wave, and usually get a wave back. The other day, a gal passing me in a MINI actually waved at me first! It made my day!

 

waving around here isnt dead (central MD) i wave and get waved back about 90% of the time i see another MINI

 

I always wave at others with my middle finger.



I live in NY after all!

 

If there's anything that is more ubiquitous is all the motorcycles that are around and yet those guys wave at each other all the time. It's a state of mind for them and the way I see it, owning/driving a Mini is a state of mind as well. It's time to bring back the wave people and show everyone were better than all the old folks driving PT Cruisers out there.

fritznw

 

I got my first wave while driving my car home from the dealership! My nearest dealership's an hour away...Mini's are not very common around where I live...but low and behold we (my wife was following) got back to our home town and I'm sitting at a red light waiting to turn right and another Mini drives by and the girl driving waves at me! It really made my day even more special. I have yet to see another Mini to return the favor but I certainly intend to!

 

Me and another MINI driver exchanged waves this morning. Granted, we often see each other during the morning commute, but that only adds to the effect. Otherwise, not much return waving happens these days.

 

I also received my first wave while on my way home from the dealership when I took delivery of my car back in Feb. At that moment I knew for sure that I had made the right choice!

Around here, I actually get a really good return on waves, there have even been a few times when the other MINI driver waved first.

The lack of returned waves on MTTS did dissapoint me a little..but don't worry...it takes a lot more than that to get me to stop waving!!!

Jason

 

The following seems to be fairly determinative of whether I wil get a wave back:

If two people are in the car talking to each other - forget about it;
If one person is in the car talking on the cell phone - forget about it;
Just one person in the car - probably a 50%+ chance of getting a wave.

If I am out in the Corvette, the same rules apply, but single driver chance of return wave goes up to about 75%+.

There are some exceptions to the above, however. There was one time when I was stopped at a light when a MINI (with two people in it) pulled up in the other direction. They immediately noticed my MINI and were pointing and talking to themselves. I waved at them and got a wave back.

 

In DC it just depends on who's driving the other MINI. There is such a large enthusiast presence as evident by DCMM. But on the otherhand there are a lot of people that just own one because its a trendy city car. On Saturday I had just returned home after checking out some of the MTTS festivities in Dupont Circle and I saw a MINI that looked pretty decked out. I was sure I was going to get a wave in response but the guy just looked at me like, "WTF are you waving at me for?"

But on our MTTS drive our convoy of about 50 MINIs passed a few random MINIs and we got responses from all of them. I guess they didn't get the memo...

 

I would have waved but I had to work. Where in the Hamptons did you go?

 

Around here, all of us pretty much know each other. Of course, there are not a lot of us here in Alabama. . . .

We still wave, smile, and sometimes pull each other over to chat

 

There was a theory I developed in my MG Club days. In these kinds of cars, you essentially have two kinds of buyers. The enthusiast who will wave, and the fashionista/cute car buyer who doesn't give a rat's a** about anything past the end of their nose.

 

I have found that any visible mod on a MINI increases the chance of a wave-back. And a motoring ID increases the chances even more.

The enthusiast factor is still pretty strong with the MINI...I don't think it is just the rarity of the car. I've driven cars even less common than the MINI, and never got a wave from a fellow driver (in my old RX-8 for example, although I did get lots of angry looks from Nissan Z owners!). So, keep waving...we'll get these others into the cult eventually.

PS Octane guy: great story, but you know they'll find their way to NAM or another forum when they have a problem or want to replace/mod something. I can just hear it now..."honey, look at this DIY page...isn't this guy with his exhaust system propped up with shoe boxes the one from that cruise we were on?!"

 

I feel the same way. I wave all the time but when know one waves back I feel belittled. Plus my friends in the car always wonder why I am the only MINI driver that waves...

 

I had normally had good success waving. But some lady in one today totally snubbed me and gave me this "Who the heck are you?" look today when I made a fool of myself waving out the window at her. :(

 

around us they call it racial profiling

 

I have to be honest, I am the only one that seems to waive around here. I pass serval MINIs on my way to work and no one waves... No it is 7:30 am and maybe they're not awake. I'll keep waving and doing my part... even if I'm the only one around here that does it!

 

I must admit, I'm a "wait till I get a wave, waver" I never initiate the wave. But I do look and watch to see if I get one... and there are some that don't even do that... So I don't feel so bad. At least I'm looking for it and do wave when I get one. ..so keep it up! I do wave back

 

Amen to that.

I'm glad I'm part of the enthusiast group.

 

If you drive around in Tampa, I'll wave at ya. I'm a MINIholic.

 

Well at least you are waving.

Not many folks here in Hooterville or the surrounding hamlets seem to wave. I wave at em anyway. Kill em with kindness.

 

I try and wave at all the other MINIs I see.....a lot of them don't wave back. It's the same way with my Jeep Wrangler. Hey if you can't wave at a same type of car who can you wave at?!?!