Now I’m posting the big reveal, it feels a lot less a disclosure and a lot more like a post about nothing of import and of little interest to very few. That being said, it is nonetheless incumbent on me to record the sad loss of a reliable and trustworthy friend of just over ten years – despite the years of loyal service, it was decided we had to update to a newer model or drive our current ally into the ground and hope he lasted longer than we will..
Therefore, it was goodbye to our beloved Mini Cooper after a blemish free ten years and an upgrade to something more befitting of an automobile built for the 2020s. So we traded in our lovely hatch and hope it finds a loving home after one careful owner and years of devoted service. After weeks of research and a couple of test drives, it was slightly disconcerting to find that the new acquaintance (for too early for friendship) was slightly bigger and a five door model, was an automatic and was a hybrid to boot.
It also had a larger boot than the Mini and quite an intuitive infotainment system, including the ubiquitous Android Auto, and a much higher driving position thanks to what I believe the marketing people like to call its small SUV credentials. All of which I thought would be of benefit to Mrs. No Name as she advances slightly in years, so it was disconcerting to find that I was operating solely for the benefit of the non driver of the household. She has kindly conceded to see how she adapts to its new fangled ways over the next few weeks, which is perhaps just as well as we somehow managed to get suckered into the top spec model in the showroom, adding pesky little extras like an upgraded interior, heated front seats, upgraded speaker array and front and rear window heaters and the like.
So here’s hoping that the mourning for the Mini will slowly evaporate and the benefits of the SUV will slowly reveal themselves.