Hi,

I was sadly disappointed in our recent trip to Canada.
My fiancee and I were doing our first road trip (breaking her in) to Toronto and thought we could get a lot of waves in.

On our five day excursion we did not get a single wave from the many Canadian Mini Motorists . We were in the heart of Toronto and saw over a dozen Mini's on the road and tons parked all over the city.

A purple haze from Oakville parked next to us in the parking lot each day of our trip. The one bright spot was seeing that our Mini had a friend to be with each day!

 

That's because you're on the wrong end of the country (just joking).

I've got to agree with you though. In the Vancouver area, there are so many MINIs on the road now that only a few are real enthusiasts and wave back while most are just grumpy regular drivers. Probably came from the Honda tuner crowd (oh oh...I'm going to get flamed for this).

But last night, I was surprised to see a Chili Red white MINI with white bonnet stripe not too far from my house. I gave a wave and the driver's face lit up with a big smile and she gave me a big wave back.

I think I'm at about 20% return waves.

 

Next time come out to the West Coast.

 

Well, did you wave in both English and French?

 

not to stereotype all of canada (or america for that matter) but this surprises me a bit as on all of my trips to canada i have found the locals in general to be very friendly - much more so than i expect in america.

 

I like Toronto. there are very nice people from the groups and
stores ive been to. must like my neighbors here in the chicago burbs.

maybe it's because I always have a big smile when meeting people.

 

Take off! It's hard to wave and not spill your beer, eh?

 

KooRooKooKooKooKooRooKoo, KooRooKooKooRooKooKooKoo....

("Go, you Hoser. "No, YOU go hosehead...")

Uhhh, Welcome to the Great White North, eh? today's topic: Beer, MINIs, waving, and Geddy Lee. Beauty!

Gawd I love Bob and Doug....

 

I live in Toronto and have noticed the same thing. No one waves back. Actually, not completely true - if you wave to someone with mods (or at the very least, a stripe) they'll wave back.

The reason is that there are so many minis here. We don't mind small cars as much as our US cousins, and so the mini isn't really a cult car here.

C

 

Actually someone did wave to me as I was driving, it was a Honda Accord driver, before he cut me off

 

I have no numbers to back this up, but I would say per capita, Toronto has more MINIs than any U.S. city, save perhaps Los Angeles. We have at least three dealerships in the city with a few more in close proximity (within an hour's drive).

We've really gotten used to them and I would even say that the majority of MINI drivers DON'T see it as more than a car. Quite a lot of the MINIs in Toronto are Coopers with younger women driving them and it seems to me that relatively few are Cooper S (although if they are, you can almost guarantee they've been modified, either with rims or bodykits).

 

Yeah, I totally agree with everything said above... there's like 10 Coopers for every Cooper S that I see...

 

lol lol

Seriously, I lived in Montreal for a very long time, and waving is commun there too! You just came across some very bad MINI drivers lol

 

Here in Ottawa not too many people wave, with the exception of vehicles that have some kind of customization.

We only have the one dealership so MINI's are still a bit of a rarity. People do certainly make comments (positive) when you park or are stopped at a red light.

 

In Winnipeg, I have run into 3 other Mini's and they all waved. "Friendly Manitoba" our plates say.

 

I agree. Whenever I go to big ol' T.O. I see tons o' MINIs and nobody waves. However, here in small-town Windsor, everybody waves and smiles, flashes their lights, follows you for a few blocks, waving and smiling, etc. etc. etc.

 

Next time come out to Port Hope, you'll get a wave from my wife and I and probably everyone else. I think there are only 1 or 2 MINI's in town so numbers are low but unlike T.O., we are not 'city folk' and know how to be friendly.ha. Unfortunately we do not have a MINI ourselves but if you get cut off by a Civic or Vibe that's just us being friendly.

 

Maybe they were all hosed from playing too much beer hunter and drinking Elsinore! But really, its surprising, I have a lot of Canadian friends and I've never met anyone from Canadia that I didn't like especially Doug and Bob (and yes, I meant to spell it Canadia...)

 

ill say this... if you didnt get any waves, other drivers might be busy.... keep that in mind

ive stopped waving in toronto... because no one ever waves back, and the odd one its usually in the local mini club... most of our members are further out in the suburbs than in the core... ill only wave when i get waved

i guess you werent lucky enough to see one of us in SOMC!

 

I find that some MINI owners wave, and some don't, no matter what side of the border I'm on.

Mark

 

Not a lot of wavers here, and it's not due to the roads being saturated with MINIs, as our dealership just opened this spring. (I bought my Cooper in '04 from the Calgary dealer 3 hours South)
Plenty of times I see a MINI and if the traffic permits I'll try to make eye contact for a wave or nod, but quite often there is no recognition, and this for a highly visible CR/W.
I will keep looking and there is the odd time where a wave will come from what seems like a lost cause, just to keep the hopes up.
Oh, and around here the ratio is skewed in favour of MCS's, although since our local dealer opened there are more Coopers showing up. (the base Cooper??... just a Cooper?? )

 

A Cooper is neither base, or just a Cooper.

Around here eye contact does not seem to be the issue, some folks just never wave, period. I wave at the local septic trucks, mounties, and farmers on combines, all wave back.

I just think that some folks buy a MINI to own a small car. The rest of us share our lives with our MINIs and enjoy waving at anyone

Mark

 

I used to live in Vancouver, and I rarely got waves back from anyone either. :(

Not to be presumptuous, but I've noticed that its a lot of asian drivers who dont do it. (Im asian myself ).

Scouser, I'm in Ottawa too! Pure silver, black top, gunmetal rotas, and aerokit

 

I am dying to wave at another mini owner but wouldn't you know it, I've had my mini a month and haven't passed another mini!! Before I got one saw them all the time. When I do finally see one I plan to wave!! Maybe people don't wave because they're busy driving and not noticing what's around them? I used to be this way until my mini, now I look around because I want to see who is noticing my cute mini!!! HA HA!!

 

They do wave I was just there last month,
A cool blue was behind me and he gave a huge wave, I don't think the Lambo's up there like MINIs, I put one in the dust for a short time.
You just have to have Lablat Blue on Hand Ahe..