minimartin,

I practically have the same dates as you and I ordered in Dallas. Difference though was I ordered 1 July and had to wait 2wks for prod #. I too have no luck with VIN and WW. Must be K-line. I'd be interested to know what you find out from your MA, mine is not so helpful...

BTW--I am driving my wife crazy as well.

 

Just found out my new Mini started production today!

 

Thanks for your timeline. I've read all the sticky FAQs (which are GREAT) but knowing what other soon to be owners are experiencing helps the wait.

 

Ugh, no update on the "Toscana" today either. What's it doing? Get the move on yo.

 

OKCdancer maybe that means mine is going to start soon too. My Vert needs to hurry and be "born"

Just checked OL and still says "On Order"

 

Hi Bubble and Squeak. Better to call 866-ASK-MINI. They have more updated info. At least that's what I found. Just have your production order number or VIN handy.

 

Walked in dealer on aug 7th morristown mini NJ
Ordered pepper white S ,with white top ,auto JCW kit ,Tunning package,2 gauge kit,Jcw wheell,Upgraded to black 17 wheels,adaptive headlights,sunrroof cold weather package.sunroof,blue tooth,piano black accents,harmon karmon.
started production on the 17th
completed on 24th
shipped on the Elektra on 8-29-2001 arival on 08-09-2011 to newyork.

 

I just ordered my very first MINI - ice blue 2012 hardtop. I've always dreamed of having one, so I'm ecstatic that it will become a reality very soon! I will need plenty of support to make to October.

 

I heard on the short wave that a cargo ship with the call sign of 2CQX6 was lost at sea on August 31st. They may be trying to salvage the cargo off of the English Channel.

I hope your Mini Cooper wasn't on board!

P.S. "Sorry, just pulling your leg. I can't be that mean"

 

@b&WCM Man, you scared me there for a minute.

I guess the ships don't call in every day with their location. They should. So people like me know what's going on. Ha.

 

I don't think they call in. I think they are tracked with GPS by the coastal authorities and ports. So when they get out of range they are no longer reported.

I am not sure but you might not get any more updates until the Toscana nears another port.

 

Well, I e-mailed my MA and asked if he knew the ship's name. Joked that I wanted to make sure it didn't get caught up in Katia. He responded that the Regional Manager was keeping an eye on it and he was sure my MINI was fine. Didn't give the ship's name.

 

OKC,

I think I have it figured out based on what I know. The Owners Lounge is always a few days off from actual steps. Your vehicle is probably on the Elekta which left Southhampton on 29/8/2011. It is due in NY on Sept 8th not sure where it is going after this but I have pasted the links that you need. To verify your vin go into OL and just verify your VIN. I did it several times as I was on pins and needles as my CM sat at the port for over a week.

Section 4 – Transport and Delivery

At this junction in the process, ASK-MINI will be unable to give you any information beyond confirming the Final QA has been completed. Your own detective work and maybe some helpful hints from your MA are all you have to rely on at this point. Typically it takes about 36 hours for your MINI to arrive at the Southampton docks once you’ve passed Final QA. This is of course entirely dependent upon the freight train schedules which are out of anyone’s control.

Both BMWs and MINIs are carried over together to the US on “Roll-On, Roll-Off” shipping carriers. This means that your baby has been built and is healthy enough to get itself onto the ship. MINIs are shipped through two different carriers, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WW) and K-Line America of KLTL Total Logistics (K-Line). American Roll-On Roll-Off Carrier (ARC) has a shipping partnership with WW so some of their ships may in fact be used for transport. WW integrates ARC ships into their system, so I will treat them as one entity during the rest of this discussion. While both carriers service a variety of ports in the United States, they typically stop at the same routine ports of call. Where you live will determine to which port your MINI is shipped.

It is now time to go back to Section 1 where we referenced your “Port Loc.” on your Vehicle Inquiry Report. This information will tell you which port your MINI will be shipped to before it is placed on a truck and delivered to your dealer. The Ports of Call for MINI deliveries and their shipping companies are:
-Halifax, Nova Scotia (Port Loc = ?) : WW, ~6 days for transport
-New York City, NY (Port Loc = NYCPOA) : WW, ~8 days for transport (truly based in Jersey City, NJ)
-Charleston, SC (Port Loc = CHSPOA) : WW and K-Line, ~15 days on WW, ~13 days on K-Line
-Brunswick, GA (Port Loc = SSIPOA) : WW, ~17 days for transport (thanks to Bandit for the Loc Code!)
-Manzanillo, a.k.a. Panama Canal (Point of reference only) : WW, ~13 days
-Port Hueneme, CA (Port Loc = PHMPOA): WW, ~21 days for transport (thanks krim)
-Baltimore, MD (Port Loc = ?) : ~12 days on WW

The process for tracking your MINI as it cruises over to the US differs between WW and K-Line. WW provides a healthy amount of information about the vehicles booked aboard its ships and their scheduled departure/arrivals. Unfortunately, tracking your MINI through K-Line is next to impossible without your MAs help. Once your MINI is loaded onto a ship, your MA should have the ability to tell you what the ship’s name is and when it will get into port. Whether or not your MA can actually provide you with this information varies greatly among MAs.

WW provides a great website for you to check to see whether your MINI is booked aboard WW (or ARC) ships. You will need to start at the WW Cargo Tracking website: https://att.2wglobal.com/gstattweb/. The page will allow you to enter your VIN (which you can obtain from the OL) in the Cargo ID field. If your MINI has been booked aboard a ship, your VIN will bring up a “Cargo Status History” and present you with a wide set of information related to your MINI’s cruise. You will find the status of your MINI as it progressed through the four stages of shipment – Booking, Reception at Terminal, Loaded on Vessel, and Discharged – at the bottom of the page. It is IMPORTANT to remember that WW is a European company, so dates on the WW site are listed in the European format of DD/MM/YYYY. Another incredibly helpful section is the schedule page which is accessible by clicking on your Voyage ID information. This will tell you the expected arrival and departure information for the various ports of your voyage.

For those of you who are not yet booked on a ship or are on the informationless K-Line boats, you still have some hope. You can pull up the shipping schedules for both WW and K-Line off of their websites to determine the next boats leaving Southampton and try to guess which boat you’ll be on. Again, for K-Line customers, your MA is the only one who will be able to confirm you are on one of these vessels. The links to the schedules are as follows:
-WW Cargo: (Give it a minute to generate…) http://schedule.2wglobal.com/AppSche...pe=generatePDF
-K-Line Cargo: This is a pretty complicated schedule, your main focus is the North American Shuttle Service at the top of the schedule. http://www.kline.com/KAMCarCarrier/S...g_Schedule.pdf

Once you have determined what ship you are going to be loaded onto, you can use the AIS Live site (http://www.ais-live.co.uk/AIS%20Live...uthampton.html) to track your ship as it comes and goes from the Southampton Port! After you are loaded onto a ship, you are at the mercy of the sea while you await your MINI delivery. You can however follow your ship through the Atlantic (until Halifax, NS or the Panama Canal whichever is first) using a very helpful website SAILWX (http://www.sailwx.info/). On SAILWX select “Ship Tracker” at the top of the page and then “Find specific ship by name or callsign”. The last entry on the page will allow you to enter the name of your ship. Once you find your ship, you will be shown the latest information for your ship’s position at sea and any other ships in the area. See the Links section for tracking information for ships at NYC, Charleston and other US ports.

When your MINI has been discharged from the ship, it will be taken to a BMW Vehicle Distribution Center (VDC) and run through a final quality check. At this point only your MA will be able to provide you with timetable information for delivery. MAs should receive delivery information once your MINI arrives at port, but as with all MA activities, the availability of this information varies greatly. The activities at the VDC can take as little as 48 hours to over a week if your poor MINI was damaged in some way during transport. Once it has been released from the VDC, your MINI is loaded on a truck with its BMW brethren and sent to your dealer. The time required for trucking will clearly depend on your distance from the port.
At this point the process, you’re probably dying to have your MINI, call your MA and work with them to make the final arrangements. Congratulations on your order and don’t forget to wave once you are driving down the road with a perpetual grin!

Have fun!!!!!

 

Oh, I see . That's good to know. Thanks b&WCM. Would have been cool to be able to track it across the Atlantic.

 

Yeah, I ran into that as well. Once my ship (the Elektra) got too far from Southampton, I couldn't get any more data. Now I have to wait until it gets near Halifax, the next port of call before NY. More thumb twiddling...

 

according to the 866 number my Mini has finished production and is awaiting a ship! Can't wait

 

Picked her up today! Crappy cell phone pic but it's all for now. Immediately took her to the college to practice. The clutch is so different from the car I was learning on so it's like new again but I will get there! Came sooner than planned so I only had 4 days of practice. So far so good!

 

Woo hoo! Congratulations, withflyingcolors! You'll be used to it in no time--Have fun!

 

Not that I'm desperately searching for info or anything, but I found some great information on ship tracking for the West Coast.

Here's the web page that I looked at:
http://mbworld.org/forums/sl-class-r...an-vessel.html

Here's a webcast of the Panama Canal:
http://www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/camera-java.html

Here's the link to the Port Hueneme web page:
http://www.portofhueneme.org/the_por..._the_autos.php

Here's the link to the PH schedule for this month:
http://www.portofhueneme.org/documen...l_schedule.pdf

The Toscana is due on the 21st. The Virgo Leader is due on the 16th. (as of 9/1/11) I think the Virgo Leader will be carrying 168 minis.

Apparently, NYK ships (like the Virgo Leader) are not easily trackable, as they do not report in. However, you can watch them go through the Panama canal on the internet, if you can figure out the right time.

Rachael

 

The web sites like MarineTraffic and SailWX use a system called AIS (Automated Information System) that uses land based radio receivers to pick up location signals from all the ships, whether they be cargo, tugs, luxury liners etc. Once the ship gets beyond any of the land based receivers, the web sites no longer report a position. My 2012 CM is on the Toscana and I have been tracking it since it left port in Bremerhaven on 8/27. The last report was on 8/31 once it got past Ireland. Hope to see another report as it gets close to Puerto Rico.

 

...and for those of you waiting on the Elektra, she is currently off the coast of Newfoundland, headed for Halifax, NS, ETA Tuesday, 9/6/11, 5:00am. Then on to New York, and distribution!

 

Thanks!!

 

I'm so excited for you!! Wow! Awesome! Please post more photos of your baby when you can. Is she fun to drive? Silly question, I know, but I'm digging for more details! Tell us more!!!!!!

 

You can post your experience on their dealership page and also look to see if the dealership has a Facebook or Twitter account and you can also post to the Mini Area clubs and this site, of course. I, too, was having problems getting the attention of a sales person. I finally gave up at one dealership and was down to my last request at another when the salesman finally responded!

 

I on the other hand have had an excellent experience with my MA. He has been everything that I have asked for and then some. Advising us along the way and it took us 4 months to finally place our order he was there all along the way and is still working with us now. All I can say is what an experience.