ALLGBMINI – Page 415 – M&I / GBMINI

Coast To Coast

Posted on June 21, 2005February 11, 2017 by Ian C.

Today Robert (known as “RB” with his regular comments here and on MotoringFile) flew in from Southern California to pick up a MINI at MINI Peabody – I happily collected him from the airport & took him to the dealership (we also enjoyed dinner at Legal Seafoods).
Robert & Joel (Sales Advisor for Robert and previously for me) sat down to check out the paperwork on the (pre-owned) MINI Robert was picking up (for his daughter).

Then outside the MINI was checked over one final time … after some last minute “hiccups” were sorted, Robert took the keys and prepared for his long drive back to the other coast:

Minolta DSC

I have “chatted” with Robert by email multiple times – it was great to enjoy some real chat time with him. I Hope his “coast to coast” journey is easy and uneventful …

UPDATE: Here’s the MINI, along with Robert’s own, in California:

5000 miles

Posted on June 21, 2005February 12, 2017 by Ian C.

Broke through 5000 miles on the way to work this morning …

Minolta DSC

Basically problem-free, and perfectly happy with the Automatic transmission.
GBMINI#3 has thrown spurious SES lights a couple of times (a known issue for which there might be a resolution), and early on I had exterior lights problems due to a loose grounding block.
The “normal” cold start issue showed for a while as winter ended (and presumably the gas formulation changed) but seems now to resolve itself over time – thankfully!

Next stop, 10000 …

Would this Counterfeit MINI fool you?

Posted on June 20, 2005February 10, 2017 by Ian C.

On my return from MINIsOnTop, look what I saw at MINI Peabody – shocking! An amazingly detailed countefeit too – look at these features it has to fool people into buying it as a real MINI: Real MINI wheels, badge and bonnet stripes, checkered roof, even a MINI “beer can” exhaust tip, and the interior offers a MINI tach over the steering wheel, as well as toggle switches:

Minolta DSC

To be honest … this counterfeit was created by the fabulous techs at MINI Peabody – and what an amazing job they did! Major kudos to Tom as well, for bravely driving it all the way up to MINIsOnTop, and back again.

The counterfeit MINI in fact was delivering the donated prize from MINI Peabody, which was the roof rack & storage box on top of the vehicle; moreover, we discovered that the storage box was crammed full of MINI goodies: