spent most of yesterday afternoon making the round of the local car dealerships, and while driving past one of the nicer used-car lots in the area, i noticed a mini....and then another one next to it...and then a third!!! we pulled a quick u-turn and headed back for a closer look - the only one i've seen up close was at petit lemans last fall at the bmw corral, and i've only seen one on the road since they've gone on sale.
anyway - they had one yellow one w/ the crappy-looking bullet-hole-style wheels and a black roof - looked like a bumblebee. not the most attractive color combo, but it did have a dual sunroof option. pretty cool.
next to it was a red cooper S - i didn't know those were even available yet! but, it was the real deal - center-outlet dual-tip exhaust, little spoiler at the top of the hatch, hood inlet for the s/c, 6-speed trans.....17's....oh, it was gorgeous. had a white top.
the third mini was a black one w/ white top and white wheels....
wes (the CEG'er i was riding around w/) will be stopping by the dealership this morning on his way back to new orleans to see about pricing and perhaps a test drive....i doubt they'll turn over the keys to anyone that hasn't already written a down-payment check, and i'm sure they're asking well over sticker....since, from what i was told, there will not be a mini dealer here in alabama at all.
will update if i get more info, but i was just surprised to see *three* mini's - especially the cooper S - at a used-car dealer here in town so quickly. i mean, i saw plenty of "used" PT cruisers, thunderbirds, and other high-demand cars at used car lots, all w/ healthy markups, but never more than one per lot.
other sightings of the day:
-- not a single SVT focus at either of two SVT dealers (though one did have an unlocked yellow zx5 w/ the keys in it on the lot - too bad the gates were locked.
)
-- same dealer had 5 lightnings (one white, one black, one red, two blue), all with $5k dealer markups :rolleyes:
-- the local jag dealer had an s-type 3.0 w/ a 5 spd and a couple of x-types w/ 5-spds - very surprising. nobody around here has 5 spds. in anything!
-- the honda dealer had one black Si hatch...what a homely little car. the i-vtec sticker on the side takes up half the car, and it looks like someone stuck a mazda mpv in the dryer and let it shrink to 50% of its original size. and i thought my RSX-S was kinda plain-jane from the outside.....
-- had a t-red E0 SVT behind me coming in to work this morning. man, what a gorgeous car....made me miss mine - a LOT!!!
anyway....guess i've rambled enough for one morning....
