ETAs? No one has yet to answer this one and if you did I may have missed it.
Where are the few of you that have ETAs getting these dates from?
You MA, Mini 800 or the lounge?

If my MA gave me an ETA I think he would say Xmas 2013 just to be safe.

Thank You

 

So...
How often is too often to call 1 800 Ask MINI?

 

Nicely done Deli!!!
Just hink about how much we are going to love our cars once we FINALLY get them.

Since I am renting a car since I rodered my Mini, because my car was due in on 2/6. Mini is giving me a car to drive on 2/6 and it's mine until my car is delivered. We went in and were very upset at them not being upfront with us about all the issues Mini was having. And the fact that the didn't have any production slots left when they sold me the vehicle but told me they did. I'll be glad to drive a MINI again come 2/6 but the anticipation of MY Mini arriving is painful!

 

Jake, I just can't wait to see the pix of yours. I'm trying to take my dates in stride so I have decided to be super excited for your delivery like it's something for me too!!! The pix --- can't wait for the pix Obsessively crazy awaiting my baby!

 

How often is too often to call 1 800 Ask MINI? [/QUOTE]

If you've called them more than twice, you've called them more than I have.
Have they ever actually been helpful? I've yet to find a real use for them other than listening to someone really politely tell me they know less than I do about everything.

Maybe you are on to something...if I call them relentlessly maybe they will actual tell me something useful or interesting but beyond that I am usually informing them and they simply plead dumb about all information and tell me to call my Dealer.

What have I asked them?
What are the Oxford Factory Xmas holidays?
Is the factory really closed until Jan 21st?

Why is my Mini showing the wrong info for the build? This they did respond with it usually just populates with tons of information that has nothing to do with your mini and eventually it should update with you information.

 

I guess my car is awaiting a trailer for transport to the dealer when I called the MINI number, I checked the owners lounge and it states "estimated delivery 1/17/2013".

 

Open road is my dealer. Didnt know they were gonna do that but I can always take it off. I'm ok with it.

 

You know it makes no sense. Don't worry about, every other day my options changed to options for a Cooper S hardtop. Literally every other day. One day it had my build the next it had 16" wheels. They've been doing the online tracking for 11 years. How can it still have the same glitches it did back then????

 

Did you call your dealer? Once the car leaves the factory I was told the ASK MINI line has no more info. When it says waiting for transport it's still talking about getting to the port of exit in England or Germany.

Mine was at the VPC FRIDAY 1/11 and it said Thursday 1/17 as estimated delivery. It was at my dealer first thing Monday morning 1/14 and I picked it up at 3pm that day. Your dealer must have it already.

 

Gilmoregirls, Thanks for your kind words, I will dedicate the first pix to you in your honor!
It's been almost 10 weeks and it sure seems a lot longer - I know everyone here is going as nuts as I am so it's nice to be able to share this obsession! About 2 1/2 weeks to go, I think, but who's counting

Congratulations to all the recent graduates and thanks for the photos! It sure makes passing the time a little easier!

 

After a short wait, compared to some, my Bridgette arrived at the dealer today!!!! Hoping to pick her up tomorrow, but couldn't resist taking a sneak peak today!


Here she is still on the delivery truck!

Ordered 12/7/12, started production 12/12/12, finished production 12/21/12, at port 12/22/12, Left on the Turandot, 12/31/12, Arrival at Port 1/11/13, Arrival at dealer 1/16/13.

 

Has anyone who ordered after Christmas received a production date from ASK-MINI or the Owners Lounge yet?

 

In reality I've called twice, but part of me is repeatedly thinking, "What if the status just changed? May be they know something now ."

 

Thanks Jake!! Yes, it's nice to know that I am not the only overly obsessed Mini parent "in-waiting". Goodness Graciousness, I was more patient waiting for my actual children than I am waiting for my perfectly designed MINI.

 

Gilmoregirls, do you think you'll be on the Topeka ship?

 

Hi Kleiner,
I don't have a clue what boat I will be on. I was actually wondering how so many people already knew the boat the were going to be on. Who knows, maybe we will be shipmates

 

BTW, Ask Mini has been absolutely no help when I have called. They just have a way of politely telling me they don't know anything. When I was trying to find out if the Oxford plant was really closed until the 21st, they kept telling me they had no clue and that according to their records the plant was open and producing Mini's. Only to later find out that plant was closed.

Bought my first Mini right off the lot in 2006. I'll admit, I am so excited to have a build exactly they way I want it but the ordering process has been painful and nothing like I anticipated (or was told) it would be like.

I suppose all of this waiting will just help me to love my Mini even more. Positivity, positivity!!!!!

 

I did call but my MA said its not there yet, I'm thinking it will be today. Or hoping at least so I can get it by Saturday.

 

I took my estimated build date and factored in two days after that it would most likely be at the port. I then used the " how to track your mini " thread to see based on my location in the US and with what port my dealer said the cars they order come into went on the WW site and searched the boats that were going to leave Southampton and go to my port. That gave me an estimate of what boat I may be on. I didn't make the first boat, it filled up so I made the second one. Hopefully your car will travel on the WW ships. There site makes finding info out relatively easy.

 

Almost missed your reply. Thanks for the info- I don't want any dealer nonsense on my car so I'll be sure to send them a note before they go mucking with her

I'm not a bumper sticker kind of gal and definitely don't want the dealer advertising on my MINI! Haha.

(Yours isn't bad as it isn't completely obvious it's a dealer tag, but still...)

 

Hey Kleiner,
So I was finally able to navigate the site to see which boats my Mini could possible make.

I'm super hopefully it is the Topeka but I'm very much doubting this will be the boat she makes.

More likely than not she's going to make the Tombarra which SUCKS seeing as I won't receive her until probably Mid May. That will make my wait time from order to delivery nearly 17 weeks. 4 months. I really am beside myslef with disappointment. I LOVE the vehicle but the lack of care, concern and real, honest updates is leaving a very sour taste in my mouth. Trying so hard to focus on the positive!!!!! I'm going to held out hope that she makes the Topeka!!!!:impatient ::conf used:

 

M'Cooper thanks for the info, very helpful and I was able to come up with some guestimations Disappointed in my findings but holding out hope that my disappointment is wrong and that I will be pleasantly surprised.

 

Hahahahahahahaha Weaf! Sorry, I just saw this post. My eta is from my Sales rep. Call and they have the info pratically at their fingertips. Might not be what you want to hear but the dealership has the info.

Good luck!

 

Just wanted to share an email I sent to the owner of the dealership I ordered from. Not sure what it will do but it made me feel better to write it.

Good Morning Pete,
Since Kirk is out of the area, do you think you might be able to get me an update? I've been looking at the shipping schedules and am hoping my Mini starts production sooner than 1/29/13, so that it could make the Topeka ship. Otherwise it looks as if I will not receive her until Mid March on the Tombarra ship. That will make nearly 17 weeks from the day I ordered. Incredibly hard to believe this process, that once was to take 11 weeks, is taking nearly 4.25 months (1/3 of a year - wow) to get the vehicle.

My first Mini purchase, at Crevier Santa Ana, could not have gone smoother. I purchased her directly off the lot, everything went beautifully and customer service seemed to be of the utmost importance to my sales person and the Crevier team. Pete, this is the reason I came back to Crevier Santa Ana instead of purchasing from the Mini dealer in my backyard, Irvine Mini. And let me tell you, they tried very hard to steal my business but I have a sense of loyalty and wanted to stay with Crevier because of my past experience.

This purchase, I was very excited to get the exact vehicle I wanted, and felt I would receive the same stellar customer service as I received in 2006. I must say though, this experience with Customer service is nothing like my last. I feel as if I was promised a production slot that really was not for me. If my car had gone into production on 12/17 as first told, my car would be on a vessel headed to port right now, as other Mini S Convertibles (with similar builds) are expected to hit port on the 25th. These Mini's had production dates of 12/17/12 & 12/18/12. The reason I was given then for my Mini not making the production slot seems like an excuse now, knowing other convertibles where in fact able to be produced in that time frame. Thus the feeling that the production slot I was told was mine (one borrowed/traded from another dealership) was in fact misinformation.

I feel as if the I have been kept in the dark about the major delays I was going to experience. Even when I emailed about issues, production status not appearing on the OL, plant closures, etc I was given the runaround and even given a new production number to help keep me quiet (In fact, I was never told to go back to using the old production number, I figured that one out on my own). The communication, I feel, has been so one-sided and information has been difficult to ascertain. You know, at some point, you just want to hear the cold hard truth so that you're not in a constant state of disappointment.

Per my emails below to Kirk, you can see that other people, waiting to receive their new 2013 Mini Convertible, are receiving updates from their dealership. I would appreciate any more information/updates you can share with me and anything else you can do to make this experience better than it has been so far.

So extraordinarily disappointed, yet staying hopeful that things will get better.

Thank you very much,
Jamie

 

Wow! That was excellently written and more than fair. Irvine Mini is the one that I got the news article from that showed the Oxford factory being closed until Jan 21st.

You were direct, to the point and gave examples which makes it hard for them to lie or sugar coat anything. Plus you are giving them a chance to try to do better with the last part of the letter.

I couldn't agree with you more I feel like dealers would rather not tell us things then just being honest and saying this is what we can do and why. We may not understand everything not being in the business nor like what we hear but I have always respected people who have been honest with me. I get along with my MA but I do feel like he doesn't tell me anything he feels I might not fully understand like allocations and should have educated me a little more on the entire ordering process. Had he spent more time educating me on the ordering and features I can almost guarantee I probably would have spent another 2k to 4k on additional items on the car. Figuring his commission is a % of the purchase and / or profit it would have only benefited him ($) and me (more toys and satisfaction with the purchase). My Finance guy I simply do NOT trust at ALL as he was very nice, gave lots of bad advice (he meant well, I think) and when I confronted him on a few issues he went into instant liar mode (3 lies back to back and couldn't look me in the face to save his life) which only made me angry. The Sales Manager was very down to earth, pleasant to deal with and followed through on his promises.

If I sold Mini Coopers (I use to be in sales) I would show customers every option (maximize the sale and allow the customer to make educated choices) and if they decided to order instead of buy it off the lot I would go over the process and common delays that occur. Then each week I would send them at least 1 email letting them know the status even if the entire company was closed for more than a month as this would show that I care and would let them know when something did change. This would show I cared as I would as it is part of the process and the paycheck. Plus word of mouth is the absolute best advertising anyone can have in most businesses.