Mini Issues

I called AAA to get my Mini Cooper towed to the mechanic’s, and at the end of the call she said, “Thank you for your 27-year membership with AAA” and I’m thinking, 27 years? How can I be that old? I haven’t been a 27-year member of anything except maybe the human race. Oh, and motherhood.

Plus, I’ve have two or three different last names in 27 years, so I couldn’t possibly be a recognized consistent member of anything that long. Back before the internet got so scary (back when Amazon didn’t know more about you than you even know yourself) a last name change was pretty much a restart in life. So there’s no way I’ve been a known member of AAA for 27 years. I guess John must have joined 27 years ago, and I must be on his membership. So it’s John who’s old 😉

I suppose you’re all still thinking about the fact that I just said, “towed to the mechanic”. Yes, this car has been a bit of a problem lately. I still have high hopes for it. It’s not my car’s fault that the dealership was incompetent, and I took it there several times before finally deciding they were worse than nothing. I only just recently found a good mechanic, and it’s going to probably take a few rounds of visits before all the various things are dealt with.

And it’s not my car’s fault that when the engine warning light went on a week or so before Christmas, instead of driving it straight to my mechanic, I waited until the weekend so John could use his code reader to diagnose the issue. And then he ordered the required part, but we hadn’t yet managed to get it installed when I got a much more serious engine light, and it quit working altogether and I had to tow it.

Here’s the warning light when I had to tow it. This one doesn’t need a code reader to figure out. Although I briefly imagined it was the snowflake symbol, which has been coming on way too frequently recently (more about snowflakes in an upcoming post). But unfortunately, that’s not a snowflake symbol.

Luckily, my new mechanic got it all fixed up! For less much money than I imagined it would cost. It did not need a new transmission, yay, whew! Among other things, he said there was rodent damage (Grrrrr. I’m never parking it in Placitas again.)

But then a couple of days later, it did the craziest thing I’ve ever heard of. The oil pressurized somehow and unseated the dipstick and spewed oil all over the engine compartment. The dipstick was hanging half out of its slot with oil everywhere. Like how did that even happen?

So John took it to jiffy lube and had them do a complete flush, and he replaced the O-ring on the dipstick so it seated better. So far, so good. All I’ve been doing is driving to work and back; no big freeway trips yet. Because the Mini isn’t going to Placitas anymore!

The only current annoyance is it does need warmed up in the cold weather, or it will stall. There was a time when I’d just shrug and say, “Well, it’s an old car.” But it’s not that old. And my truck, which is older and has more miles on it, does not need warmed up in the morning.

John thinks we should replace it (My dear, precious Mini Cooper!) but we just got him a new 4Runner and I’m fond of my Mini. We’ve had some bad luck with it, but I’m optimistic that my new mechanic can keep it running smoothly for a lot less money than another new car would cost!

Here’s pictures of me and my Mini bonding 10 years ago. Yes, it’s been 10 years. The Mini was 2 years old at the time, and I was, well, never mind. Something-else-2.

I’m not taking any photos of me and my Mini right now. It’s 16 degrees out and neither of us are feeling our best today. So here’s some photos from younger, warmer, times.

Someday we’ll replace it with an electric car, but until then, here’s to another bunch of good years.