Hello everyone, longtime NAM meber here(since '06)just stopping by and checking out the new gathering place. Some of you may remember my name from NAM but if not, here's a bit of info about me. I'm a shop foreman at a MINI dealership and I have worked for the brand since 2005. Through it all I have seen the ups/downs of the cars, owners and the brand itself. At the begining I was quite surprised with the relationship we technicians had with the owners, it was a comraderie. Having come from the HOnda world, it was nice to see other owners care for their cars as much as Honda owners did. Some of you guys knew a lot more than me and it pushed me to get better, study, learn and grow as a tech. Towards the second gen arrival, it was clear that MINI was no longer the only "cute little car" on the market. By that time the Yaris, Fit, FIAT, Mazda 2 etc. were all out and competing for a piece of the pie. This brought a different type of owner wave and althoug maybe not as "hardcore", they were still an awesome group. Towards the LCI release, it was a bit different. Owners were extremely upset with the brand due to the timing chain, water pump, sunroof and cltuch issues, and it felt like we were are in a warzone. It was though getting up in the morning and going to work each day, knowing that there would be a line of upset customers waiting at the door. As those issues were slowly resolved, a new wave of owners came in and it has been a drastic change than that from where we all started. It's been over 10 years for me and it seems like my time with the brand is coming to an end. The product has morphed itself into "just another" car and the relationship between owner/dealer has seen better days. Rarely do we get groups of owners setting up meets, rides or special evets. The dealer itself has moved away from hosting any enthusiast-specific dates and other than a "sales pitch", it's all just clock in-out. I'm not sure what happened. I'm not sure if the brand grew too quickly and watered itself down. I'm not sure if the issues were just too much to overcome and left a horrid taste on owners' mouth. It just seems like time has run its course... I'm not sure why I'm writing this but after spending the last hour on NAM and just seeing ad, after ad, after ad, it just takes the fun away. I'm here now (not sure for how long ) and I will help with technical info anyway possible, so don't hesitate to ask. For all the happy, loyal and enthusiastic owners MOTOR ON!!!
LMAO--"motor on" has an altogether different meaning here, switch the "on" to an "off", use your imagination on what to replace the "motor" with, but you get the picture. Very interesting post, coming from the service side of things--kind of reenforces what many of us believe. Stick around though, I think many of us will be interested in your thoughts/ observations.
Thanks for the headsup, needless to say Savvy pm'd me regarding the "Motor On" reference. Sorry I had no idea :crazy::blush2::blush2: And before anyone gets upset with my comments, you need to remember that I've been doing this everyday for the last 10+ years and I have seen the changes within the cars, owners, dealer and the brand. Some things are much, much better, but others not so much. This is not a personal attack on anyone, just my simple observations. :wink:
Welcome, thanks for joining Motoring Alliance, the FUN and Friendly MINI Community. Those that have been round for some have seen the thinning of the enthusiast herd.
Welcome to the party! As for the "why" of what's changed, I think it's pretty simple: The novelty of MINIs has worn off since the early days, and MINI's No. 1 goal today is to sell more cars.
Welcome to the new home of MINI forums. A ton of us (By volume, not specifically weight) are like you, we've been here for a LONG time, we see the changes, and we dont like it! The active groups are out there (for some areas now more than ever) you just have to know where to look. Just go to the Dragon, you'll see just how active we are. Youll fit in here, just watch who you tell to "M.O."...
Thanks!!! Yes, the 1320 is the foot equivalent of te quarter mile. This has been my handle since my early days of forums and back then I was into going to the local tracks and racing. I built a few fun cars and it was great to be out with my brothers and friends on the weekends, all enjoying the racing :wink: Now that I'm a little bit older, I'm more into cruising and building fun, but more importantly reliable cars (I'm rebuilding a 2000 Honda Civic SI). I have also shifted towards my childhood passion of late 80's/early 90's bmx/freestyle bikes and my new hobby motorbicycles.
I said Motor On at the end of a post about two years ago. There was a collective grown from everyone. After several post about it I had to ask and it was explained to me. So that year Nathan made some MA shirts with Motor On on the back. Several of us wore them to the Dragon. I still have several Motor on stickers.
I still have one of the stickers, never got the shirt though. Rebuilding an EK Civic Si huh... Care to share?
Welcome Joey! I do remember you from that other place. It does seem like there have been a lot of changes since the early days. Back then, most MINI owners were enthusiasts to some degree. We waved, we talked, we met at the dealership for workshops. There are still some of us around!
Welcome!! Yup... Rather than grow organicly at a reasonable rate, BMW choose to super size MINI (in more ways than one).... With growth, came changes...rather than a niche brand, BMW wanted MINI to be more of a "full line" car brand....and many "unique" mini items and even the attitude has been "watered down" to make it more mainstream.... I know what the op is saying... And me, I could not drive a 10 year old car forever, especially once MINI stopped stocking basic parts for them....need a rear brake caliper, that will be 3-4 day's (my local MINI folks, Greasysgarage had one)?! Sure these cars are getting older, not stocking basic service level parts on cars folks still drive begins to reduce these cars usefulness and make them "hobby cars" or 3rd cars, rather than primary cars.... The newer cars....might be better in every way, but still inferior in so many ways, as they are so "mainstream" and then add BMW/MINI's seeming contempt for older owners.....10 years of issues for a searairbad recall? Nearly as long for PS pump warrenty?! Try to get a steering wheel u-joint? It's like mini says, how dare you own a car older than 5 years old....buy a new one, or better yet lease one, get a warrenty....