ROFLMAO- I love it!

I've got family up there- spent a lot of my life on the Mid Coast- and while not native, I claim to be in exile!

*btw- the not native thing is my parent's fault!

 

Hello, HC Club President: I am applying for my official number. I got my Clubman on 3/31. My gallery needs some updating, but it has the essentials.
My HC Clubman gets all the right kind of attention here in northern lower Michigan.

 

Where are you in Maine?

I grew up in Fayette (20 miles west of Augusta), on David's Pond. My folks have a nice sized penisula on the lake with canoes, kayaks, hiking trails, a gorgeous outdoor fireplace on The Point with at least five loons this summer.

My family unit lives in Pittsburgh, PA but we get up North a couple times a year. Ayuh!

 

Sounds nice. I'm in Southern Maine. Biddeford/Portland area.

 

Also, my husband drives a 2004 Pepper White Mini Cooper S - looks like we have similar taste in colors.

 

That's cool. My wife drives the 04. She picked out the color of the Clubman, but she doesn't drive it because it's a manual.

 

I'm also from Southern Maine. Tim, I also work in SoPo; live in Portland.
I can't officially join as I have not ordered yet. Hopefully within the next couple weeks or as soon as I can get to Peabody to actually see/touch/drive one!
I'm still a little on the fence between the Clubman and the hardtop, but need the extra room of the Clubman for the dog!

 

You'd better get to driving one soon because orders take some time.

 

Watching the news tonight, I'm not sure if there'll be car loans these days.
Last week my credit was excellent.

 

Hello Club President,

I just took delivery on my 2009 HC Mini Clubman on September 27 and would like to join, get a number and badge. See my gallery for pics I took my first day, plus one about a week before when it was delivered to the dealer.

 

Hello all,

I´m currently in vacation cruising the New-England-states with a shabby and slow Chevy SSR because I can´t bring my HC over from Europe .
On September 29th in the evening at least I saw a HC in Lake Placid. Anyone out of our club?
At the moment I´m hanging out on Cape Cod. Does anybody know a Mini-dealer nearby? I´m looking for my HC for some nice Side-scuttles to improve this black-plastic-look a little bit. Currently I´m not shure about JCW or checkered flag. In fact I was looking for something completely in chrome to complement my chromemirrors, but there´s nothing from Mini on the market beside the S.

 

Just wanted to say hi to Mr Ray, Formula Fun, TNMiniMama, and Micro as well Moxie ( like that name as it has a little ryme in my family.) Thanks to everyone who listened and gave their .02 worth more than that and advice over my incorrect arrival of Little Bean. I will go look at it with the wife, probably make them correct it, then see what kind of compensation i can get for having to drive back 130 miles round trip later on to have it corrected and then with the loner another 130 miles to pick up my car. Maybe some driving lights, or stripes.
thanks again for everything.
Little Bean

 

Little Bean,

Good luck with dealer. Take a look at the "Build your mini" site again to see what the dealer installed options are again. Not sure exactly what you ordered, but "dealer installed" options will be the ones he can "give" you easiest. They range from dealer installed integral ipod (about $500) to invisishield protection (about $600 for a full front install) to mats and other accessories, in addtion to stripes and roof racks. A lot of choices; just need to figure out which ones appeal most to you and what you think you can bargain for.

Good luck and don't forget to post pics when you do get it.

 

Hello All,

currently travelling all over New England in a hired, slow and very soft Chevy HHR I have to say that I really miss my Mini waiting for me in Germany.

At least I saw a HC in Lake Placid on Monday evening reminding me what driving could mean. Anyone of our club?

Still enjoying the beaches and - a little bit - changing leaves on Cape Cod

 

Hey Wannab,
Have you seen me around town (MINI-XL)? You can't beat the Clubman when it comes to dogs. We have one of each, and our dog Sydney prefers the Clubman over the regular MC.

 

I haven't seen you. In fact I've only seen one ever. On 295 on my way home one night last week. CR/B, I think. I wanted to stalk the guy and follow him home to get a better look, but that would probably have been creepy!

Do you mind a few questions?
Did you buy through Peabody? if so, would you do it again? Salesperson recommendations?

How is it on the snow? You probably haven't gone thru a winter, but what about your other MC? Snow tires? What about ground clearance with snow?

How do you handle service, being so far away? What if you need to leave the car? Have you had to make multiple trips for the same issue?

Do all these questions make you crazy???

 

MINI Clubman owners are used to being followed. That's how it is being a celebrity.

Yes, I got mine in Peabody, and yes, I'd buy from them again. Hrach is my MA. He's a riot.

I got mine at the end of the winter, so I didn't have it in a snow storm, but everyone says MINIs do well as long as you have snow tires. We don't have snow tires on our 04, and it's pretty bad in the snow. I may buy some for the Clubman or I may just keep using my truck. I expect it to be better than our 04 because it's slightly higher off the ground, it has DSC, and it has better tires.

I've only made one trip to Peabody for service so far. It was a minor issue, so I scheduled service four weeks in advance on a Saturday morning because I was headed to Boston for a concert. If it was urgent, I would have brought it in sooner. If the car needed to be towed in, I would have used AAA.

We've had our 04 for three and a half years, and we've put 72,000 miles on it since we've owned it. We haven't had a tough time getting it serviced. We brought it down for an oil change the same day I brought my Clubman in, but I would have considered bringing it up to Autowerks in Freeport. I would never bring a MINI anywhere else for an oil change. I had a very bad experience when I took it to Maine Mall Motors once (ended up driving home in rented Buick that night) and I'll never go to a non-MINI expert again.

No, the questions don't make me crazy. Glad to be of assistance.

 

Thanks Tim! I may come up with a few more questions over the next couple/few weeks! I appreciate your time.
I am really eager to get to the dealer to see what they'll offer for a trade on my Subaru. That will likely be the determining factor.
I have to admit, I am a bit anxious over buying a car now with all that's going on economically. I'd only be borrowing a small portion of it, though, which helps.

 

You're better off selling your Subaru outright than trying to trade it. Do you owe on it? As far as the economy goes, you should probably base your decision to buy the car your job security/personal situation and ingore what you hear on the news about everyone else who's having trouble getting credit. Our local banks and credit unions aren't having the same issues as those giant lending houses.

 

I owe a few thousand on it, but it's an LL Bean Ed. Outback and is worth quite a bit.
My problem with selling it myself is that I wouldn't be comfortable ordering the MINI until I had it sold (I've no idea how the used car market is around here, but it's a "Maine car" so it should sell), and then I'd be without a car for the next 6 -8 weeks.
We're a 2 car family, but that would put a strain on us having only one car for that period of time. Might be do-able, albeit a PITA.
So much to ponder.

 

Well winter is coming, and Outbacks are real popular around here in the winter time. We're a two car and a truck family, but that's only because my wife refused to drive the Clubman. Otherwise, we'd just have one car and a truck that is used for trips to Home Depot only. We carpool and I bike.

 

Well, hello & Hola Sr. Frijolitos! I do so hope you get Mr. Bean corrected and everything works out well-
Can't wait to see pictures
Best-

 

Hi Gentlemen, I hope you don't mind if I jump in here... I have a couple of quick questions for Tim... Is Autowerks the used foreign car place on Rte 1 near Royal River Natural Foods & the Vodka place? Or is it a true foreign car service shop? I ask as we stopped in the used car dealership with my Mom, who was looking at an Audi Sw they had there. We talked her out of it due to the condition of the vehicle and the price they wanted... salesman was super pushy... the other reason I ask is b/c I may be bringing a 1982 MB 300 TD up to leave and would love to have a good mechanic!
My Mom's a snowbird, from SoPo... and I have family & friends in Freeport/Brunswick/Bath/etc. I come up every summer (can't handle the southern summers!) and actually am heading up next weekend- so if some woman in a rental starts honking & waving madly at you, it's probably me!
Thanks- Vivi

 

Hi Vivi!
I went to a used Mini dealer in Freeport on Rt 1 that said they also did service, but I don't think it was the same name Tim mentioned. Foreign Motor Cars or something like that. I have the guy's business card in my car. That was the first and only time I drove a Mini, but their prices for '05's and 06's are higher than you'd pay for a brand new one.

Hey, Tim, Is yours HC with silver? Do you have the agriculture plates/customized? Do you work at the same place I do??? I saw someone driving through my work parking lot as I was pulling out to go to lunch a little while ago. I figure there can't be too many HC Clubmans around here yet!

P.S. Oh, I'm not a "gentleman", I'm a girl!

 

LOL... yes, that was me, but you would know me if I worked at the same place as you. I was just cutting through your lot. I'm in a class at VTec this week and I was going to Home Depot on my lunch break. I work in that really big, tall building around the corner.

The repair shop I was talking about is different from the used car dealer.