Saturday, April 20, 2013

Hot Minis

My 84-year old mom has been looking at Mini Coopers for the last year. She would notice if one was anywhere in the vicinity. As a very frugal person, she just could not justify a new car as her 1997 Mercury Tracer only has 80,000 miles on it. Finally, she wanted to test drive one yesterday.

The Mini dealerships are either in the city to the north or Santa Clara deep in the Silicon Valley to the south. We chose the south, met Larry and told him we would not be buying a car but just wanted a test drive.

That plan did not work. We looked at the used cars after driving a Mini, mom looked at me and said, "I want it." It was just a matter of paperwork. They told her it would be more expensive to maintain and it needed premium gas but she replied, "I don't care." So, so unlike my mom. She told me later that she is going to look at the car as her only luxury.

She is now the proud owner of a dark gray Mini Cooper. It is the first car she has ever bought by herself. We are going back this afternoon with a check and proof of insurance and a long drive home.

Just a comment about my breathing: During the test drive, it was warm. Too warm. When I got out of the car, I was red-faced, sweaty and not feeling great. Standing in the lot afterwards and looking at all the cars, the sun was just beating down on us. Heat just destroys my breathing. During the test drive of the car she bought, I stayed inside the air conditioned dealership and was fine after about 20 minutes. I am so grateful to live on the coastside near the cool ocean. I don't know how others throughout the world who have an ILD live in altitude or suffer through the heat of summer.

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