Indeed you do Congratulations!

 

Congrats J! In a foreign country with a MINI to drive, that's my dream! I want to trip through the gorges of southern France in a MINI.

 

I guess the Topeka must be swimming up stream since it left the Panama Canal. Its arrival date for Port Hueneme, CA has been pushed back another day to 4/8.

 

OH, I am just vacationing in Irak. Would not think of ever driving MY vehicle here. HMMWVs are one thing, my car is another. It will be in the States with me. I might jog up to Canada one day, it is like a foreign country!

 

Nah it's not that different up here, unless you go to Quebec (seriously though the old part of Quebec City looks more like Europe than Canada)

 

I think he was refering to me, i guess it doesnt matter, but im in spain

 

Congrats J_'09s! It might have been a lot of hoops to jump through, but it seems like you made all of 'em!

The Sport button is a huge throttle difference. Steering too. A mod in the near future for me is the "Auto On" for the Sport button. I think there are two people offering them up, both in one of the Mod sub-forums. The Comfort Access system is great, the fact that I then still have to push the Sport button is less great

 

I had more time this afternoon to take some photos in daylight. They are located on my gallery.

J_'09s - Congratulations on yet another of our group getting his MINI !

Question for any that know about this offer - My MA did not mention this but i saw a looseleaf with photos on one of their desks about an 8mil clear film that they get a place to put on the front end of the MINI. It's to protect against road grit so that the paint does not get chipped. When I asked about it, my MA showed me a MINI that had it and it is definitely a film that protects the finish. What you guys think about it ? Aware of this ? It's probably good for those on the highway a lot. It cost something like $300, $800, $1200 depending on whether you get the headlights and bumber covered, that and part of the hood or to iclude the entire hood. It's not like those sealants they generally try to sell you - this is a film. I was wondering if it ever gets a dull finish on that film ? Any experience with this stuff ?

 

OLarryR, that's the "Clear Bra" option. I can definitely see the appeal, though my gut tells me that I would be bothered by the edge where the film ends. As I understand it, they work. Usually the dealers contract that work out to a local company, so both the quality of the install and the quality of the film are somewhat variable.

The films can age and yellow, so if it's something you want then I'd suggest finding a good company to do the work with a well reviewed product rather than just going with the dealer option ([edit] or find out who the dealer uses and what they use, and decide from there). I'm not sure of the overall lifetime of the film, nor what problems (if any) there are if you want/need to replace it.

One plus of the dealer install is that it should then be warrantied by the dealer (though probably not under the overall car warranty).

 

I have had the "Clear Bra" on another car. It will protect the front end from rock chips. The quality products don't yellow (3M comes to mind but I'm sure there are others). My dealer does the install for the Clear Bra, but there are after market installers too. Check around and you may be able to find a better price. Try to get a reference from someone in your area who has had one installed.

 

I had the 3M clear bra on the front of my last car. I held up great and didn't yellow at all. Even better, after 2.5 years of driving around, you can definitely see where the bra has been hit by gravel and sand and the paint below it is ok. Then, you just get the film changed and its like new again. You can see where the film ends, but its SO worth it in my opinion. I wouldn't get it done at the dealership, local places around here are charging around $280 CAD to do the hood, front bumper, and mirrors. I'll be taking my car in to do it along with tint.

 

If you go for the mucho cost option for the "Clear Bra", then it appears that no film edge is apparent since it covers the whole front end. But for the cost they want for it, if the paint was really chipped...and I mean really, then you could probably get it repainted for the cost of the full treatment. But it is tempting to get it and if one was to get it, the time is during this early period of ownership before any paint dings start showing up. Perihelion indicates that the film can be removed later on in years if it does get dinged up. That was one thing I was curious about - If it could be removed at a later date.

I am still considering it. I forget the place my MA indicated they have the work done. But I seem to recall it was close by the dealership. I may look into this a bit more. Thanks for the input.

So...getting back to the deliveries.....what is the latest story with the Topeka ? Still just north of the Panama Canal ? What are they doing ? Conserving fuel and relying on the tradewinds to get to port ?

 

We're not waiting for anyone to get on any ships now, right? Beyond MotorMouth getting on a boat for Hawaii after CA

Anyone have any new pickup dates? Seems like you should be pretty close now Steveski!

 

You'd think but things seemed to have slowed for me. As of this morning it still looked like it was on the train. It should have been off loaded late yesterday afternoon. My MA said they need it by Thursday to be able to make a Saturday delivery.

I already got my bank draft and insurance taken care of. We're dropping of the trade in on Saturday(while hoping to pick up the Mini that day)

I got a $100 bet in with my wife that I won't get the car this weekend. This is one bet I'd like to lose though. Time is starting to get too tight.

Oh well this part of the wait is the worst b/c I know '"roughly" where the car is(probably less than 60-70km away) and there's nothing I can do to speed it up. It took less time to cross the Atlantic than to find it's way to Oakville from Halifax, lol.

 

Update to my above post. An email I just got from my MA:


Hi Steve,

No worriesJ. Already on top of it. My Inventory Manager was given the eta of Friday. If we get it before noon, we can have it ready for Saturday for you. If not, it may be a Monday delivery. I’ll do my best to have it ready for Saturday though.

Cheers,

Rich



Now everybody please cross your fingers and toes for me and for Perihelion as well, he's waited just way too long since ordering.

 

Since my MINI showed up at the dealer a day early and I was able to take delivery a day early, I'm passing the EARLY MINI torch to you Steveski!

I also had good luck getting onto the TOPEKA and thru the VDC pretty quick, so I'm sending those quick vibes to Perihelion as well!

Anyone else left that needs quickness vibes sent out let me know!

 

I've been relgated to the cone of silence. No email back from the VDC to my MA means no expected delivery date at this time...dang. Lack of info just as the itch is getting strong cause she's so close...

 

I already had a Civic type S try to race me. This car is an attention *****. I didnt buy it for that, oh well.

 

So that is what happened to the 2 days that the Topeka is delayed getting into Port Hueneme, CA.

 

Much appreciated.

 

Well, found out today that my car just got on a train in Halifax TODAY! Not sure what the hold up is but its on its way now. Sucks to be me.

 

Man, I dunno what exactly happened but NAM didn't bother to let me know there were any new posts until getting Perihelion's last!

I'll join Atomic in passing along whatever "unexpected good news" vibe I've got left Especially for you Perihelion, can't believe it took that long to get out of Halifax!

 

Okay...anyone have a terrain chart and a train tracker ? We need to get this puppy to it's home.

 

J_'09s - car looks amazing! Lots of Laser Blue here, but there's good reason for that

OLarryR - I can't remember if I said this already, but congrats!! How does the Horizon Blue look in person? It looks really sharp in the pics. Another color that would have tempted me if I had a chance to see it in person first.

Perihelion - Sorry to hear the bad news. We've all got our fingers crossed for you...I can't believe you've had to wait this long and you're still getting delays :( I'm sure nothing I can say will make you feel better or less frustrated, so just know that we're all here and it WILL be worth the wait!

 

But at least you now know that it's on the way! Hopefully you're less than a couple weeks away from delivery.