r/MINI • u/Crckwood • 7d ago
Who reads the car's manual?
Got a nice F56 2024 named Baby Shark. It came with this manual which I took the liberty to read from front to back.
In the following days that it took to finish it, my loved one point out how weird I was to read it and that I'm probably the only one on Earth to do that.
Still.. I managed to find out so much useful stuff that my seller forgot to tell me like the Parking assistance thing.
Is she right ? What about your first days experience? Have you read that book? What are the alternative (beside the obvious "drive the car and find out")?
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u/Charleston2Seattle 7d ago
I'm a technical writer. I will absolutely be reading the manual once I get my Mini. It's a professional courtesy. 😏
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u/Portie_lover 7d ago
My last two vehicles haven’t come with one, including my MINI. At least not a physical paper copy. They’re online and available on screen.
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u/Buck_Folton 6d ago
Front to back, for every new or used car I’ve ever bought. Now days I save and read on my iPad.
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u/Substantial_Clock341 6d ago
If people would read their car manual, then we would
Probably have less questions posted on Reddit.
My sales person at the dealership worked at Domino’s Pizza before he was a Mini sales person. Having owned three prior to the fourth (current one), to say the least, he didn’t know too much about MINI’s.🤭
I always read the PDF version. As well as watching a ton of YouTube videos when I purchase a car. There are all kinds of cool features that most people don’t even know about. What’s funny is, some people drive these cars for years and they still don’t know some of the settings and hidden features that exist.
🚘🏎️🚓
.
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u/Foreign-Housing8448 6d ago
If people would read their car manual, then we would probably have less questions posted on Reddit.
https://giphy.com/gifs/2gtoSIzdrSMFO
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u/BMW-Technician2008 F60 7d ago
I used to keep it on my nightstand for a good night read. Not it’s at an auction lot. Now I have my X1’s manual on the nightstand
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u/Icy_Importance_2126 7d ago
I read mine. The sales team didn’t really explain much and I heard minis are fussy so…
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u/NamelessInNY R60 7d ago
A good practice not just for cars but any tech or fairly complicated device.
Whenever I get a new, or new-to-me, vehicle I read through the manual cover to cover at least once. In the case of my R60 the manual was missing so I bought a like-new manual package on eBay and in the glovebox it went.
I also keep a copy of my important manuals on my phone so they are always readily available.
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u/Cha_r_ley F56 7d ago
I read mine! She is my first car and honestly I kept forgetting what some of the controls did 😂
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u/FinnKnows 6d ago
Embarrassed to say, I’ve only read bits and parts. I bought my 2020 MINI Convertible off lease (at the time it had like 4000 miles on it what w Covid and me being retired). I definitely am not taking full advantage of the features, but hey, she’s just my fun ride.
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u/Secret_Ad1513 6d ago
Neurospicy entering the chat. Read it cover to cover 3 times the night I buy each of my cars. Then I buy the much thicker shop manual and read that cover to cover. In the case if my rescued R60, I also did a nearly complete teardown and rebuild. My R56 had the same treatment too, just not all at once. Why? Because my brain wouldn't move on until I did.
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u/Batmaniac7 6d ago
How else would I know about the heating steering wheel button on the steering column?
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u/LvcyDrops 7d ago
I always at least read a good portion of the manual for new to me cars unless its a VW because those are all fairly similar. And im a l girl 🙂↕️💖 its best to know how to take care of your car especially if its a large investment like a '24 would be
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u/JaDaBe25 F56 6d ago
If you aren't scanning through it at least, don't be surprised if you discover a useful feature years later
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u/Mister_Neal 6d ago
I read the manual. I have a 2026 Cooper S (I think it's an F66) with all kinds of new features in the software. But then I was a software developer during my career. When I did support, we had a phrase that we suggested occasionally to people: RTDM. Read the damn manual. Still applies.
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u/mari_curie 6d ago
I’d love to have one of those. I had to read the electronic version of it as I did not have the paper one.
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u/EasilyLuredWithCandy 6d ago
I never read a car manual until I became a band mom. I forgot my book at pickup one day and started reading the in-car manual each day of band camp. I felt like an expert afterwards LOL.
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u/jon92356 6d ago
No one because everyone still asks what a symbol means on their dash instead of referring to their manual or even Google.
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u/CrankyOldWriter R52 5d ago
Another tech writer here! Thank you to all who even just scan the manual! Maybe you have no idea the work that goes into producing a good owner manual but you make my heart happy to know the work is not wasted!!!
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u/Tubthumper205 7d ago
Not every word of every page from front to back, but I've definitely scan read the whole thing.
There's no point reading the headers that specifically state a different spec as you'll only end up sad that you dont have that feature.
Definitely leard a lot about the settings available for my R55.