Wait time - what can I expect?
#1
Wait time - what can I expect?
Hi! I ordered my Spice Orange MINI Roadster S on 12/14/2013. How long can I reasonably expect to wait for it to arrive? My "motoring advisor" at the dealership still doesn't have a production number and I would have thought that'd be availabe by now. Perhaps the holidays have caused a reasonable delay. In any event, I'm excited to get this car. I've always wanted a two seater convertible but most are too low to the ground to make it comfortable to get in/out of. A Roadster Coupe passed my husband and I on the road in early December and we had to go take a look. We were hooked and ordered one immediately. The MA said 6-8 weeks but I'm curious what others have experienced so I can gauge a reasonable wait time. Thanks!!!
#3
#4
Hi goldngemgirl.
There's no way to know for sure, but theres some pretty good threads on how to follow the production of your mini. Your profile says you are on the east coast so you have an advantage over people who get to wait for the ships carrying their car to drive through the Panama Canal.
If you look through the first 2-4 pages of this forum, there are a couple of "Those waiting for a 2013 (and 2014) Support Group threads where people like me were anxiously waiting on the delivery of their cars.
It's horrible. lol
But so much fun when they finally arrive.
FWIW, I ordered my 2014 Roadster on 9/16/2013 and took delivery on 10/31.
There's a great sticky up top that has a ton of step by step directions on how to track your mini from the time it's ordered till the time you get it.
Lyf
There's no way to know for sure, but theres some pretty good threads on how to follow the production of your mini. Your profile says you are on the east coast so you have an advantage over people who get to wait for the ships carrying their car to drive through the Panama Canal.
If you look through the first 2-4 pages of this forum, there are a couple of "Those waiting for a 2013 (and 2014) Support Group threads where people like me were anxiously waiting on the delivery of their cars.
It's horrible. lol
But so much fun when they finally arrive.
FWIW, I ordered my 2014 Roadster on 9/16/2013 and took delivery on 10/31.
There's a great sticky up top that has a ton of step by step directions on how to track your mini from the time it's ordered till the time you get it.
Lyf
#5
The wait until production is the thing you can't predict. Your MA should know roughly when its due for production. He's always told us of the expected week of production, even when it was several months in the future.
Once its in production, its about a week to make, then there may be a delay finding a ship, but they go every week or so to the East coast, it took us 3 weeks for Shawn. I'm not sure how long the ship takes to the East coast, its about 4 weeks to this side of the country. Its taken anything up to a week to get the MINI once it lands in the US.
Once its in production, its about a week to make, then there may be a delay finding a ship, but they go every week or so to the East coast, it took us 3 weeks for Shawn. I'm not sure how long the ship takes to the East coast, its about 4 weeks to this side of the country. Its taken anything up to a week to get the MINI once it lands in the US.
#6
The production slot is usually the holdup, a dealer does not get an unlimited number of slots to order any car they want...they may have used up several months of their Roadster allocation when you placed your order. If all of those cars are pre-sold orders like yours, you'll have to wait for the next production slot to open.
When I ordered my Clubby, they had an unsold order in the color I wanted already in the que, all they had to do was add the things I wanted and delete the things I didn't from the order, and bang my car was built. Six weeks from the day I put down my deposit till I was driving it.....but some folks have had to wait several months to get their car.
If they have an unsold car in the mix, they may change the order to your car instead and that would speed things along a bit, but remember, your car is being built in England, that's not just across the street!
Oh, and the wait will be worth it in the end, trust me.
When I ordered my Clubby, they had an unsold order in the color I wanted already in the que, all they had to do was add the things I wanted and delete the things I didn't from the order, and bang my car was built. Six weeks from the day I put down my deposit till I was driving it.....but some folks have had to wait several months to get their car.
If they have an unsold car in the mix, they may change the order to your car instead and that would speed things along a bit, but remember, your car is being built in England, that's not just across the street!
Oh, and the wait will be worth it in the end, trust me.
#7
I ordered my Clubbie 11/20 and it's on the Topeka due in NY on 1/8. Mine went into production within a week and it's looking like a 7 or 8 week total wait for me from order date, East Coast also.
I've been poking around the forums in the mean time and it sounds like the timeframe can really vary depending on getting into production, getting on a ship and final destination.
I've been poking around the forums in the mean time and it sounds like the timeframe can really vary depending on getting into production, getting on a ship and final destination.
Last edited by breichard; 01-03-2014 at 07:32 AM.
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#8
Follow the thread tracking your car. Also call the number that is available on the MINI website. Sometimes they have information that has not been updated on-line. How long depends on when they are making your style of car.
On my cars they tend to run a bunch of JCW's all at one time. I happened to hit it just right. Took a week or so to get my build number but it just flew along. I hit everything about perfect including the boat timing. 6 weeks total from time of order until delivery! Amazing.
The coolest part was tracking the ships progress on GPS. Was very cool and really gets you excited to get your Mini. It will be here soon. Enjoy
On my cars they tend to run a bunch of JCW's all at one time. I happened to hit it just right. Took a week or so to get my build number but it just flew along. I hit everything about perfect including the boat timing. 6 weeks total from time of order until delivery! Amazing.
The coolest part was tracking the ships progress on GPS. Was very cool and really gets you excited to get your Mini. It will be here soon. Enjoy
#9
#10
I ordered my Countryman the Saturday before Thanksgiving and I was lucky enough that the dealer had an immediate production slot available and the car was finished on Thanksgiving day. My car made it to the port the day a ship was leaving for California and I thought I might set a new record. But then I checked the next day and saw the car missed the boat and would have to sit in port for 2 weeks. It just made it to Port Hueneme today and should be in Denver within 2 weeks.
Can't complain though, when I bought my 04 MCS I ordered it in August and didn't get it until November.
Can't complain though, when I bought my 04 MCS I ordered it in August and didn't get it until November.
#11
#12
We custom ordered right after labor day, the MA gave me one of his slots and had a production number even before I paid my deposit. From that point on, it was about 7 weeks. I'm in CA. If you are in MD, I would subtract 2 weeks, so about 5 weeks from the day you get a production number. I would pressure your dealer to give you a production number asap (or go to another dealer who is willing to).
#13
TurboFun - I have a glass Ganesha statuette on the dash of my 2014 MCS convertible!
We custom ordered right after labor day, the MA gave me one of his slots and had a production number even before I paid my deposit. From that point on, it was about 7 weeks. I'm in CA. If you are in MD, I would subtract 2 weeks, so about 5 weeks from the day you get a production number. I would pressure your dealer to give you a production number asap (or go to another dealer who is willing to).
We custom ordered right after labor day, the MA gave me one of his slots and had a production number even before I paid my deposit. From that point on, it was about 7 weeks. I'm in CA. If you are in MD, I would subtract 2 weeks, so about 5 weeks from the day you get a production number. I would pressure your dealer to give you a production number asap (or go to another dealer who is willing to).
#14
High class gray is beautiful. As is reef blue - we might have ordered it if my other car wasn't blue as well . Got BRG II. Good luck with your order - the mcsc is a lot of fun!
#15
Thank you. I tried to order Reef Blue but it is out of production. After some initial dissappointment I am now looking foward to the purple-ish HCG. BRG II is beautiful and quintessentially MINI. After selling my 2010 MCSC, I really missed that car. Grateful to be getting back into another.
Last edited by turbofun; 01-08-2014 at 05:46 PM.
#16
I ordered Mid November. Finally got here late Monday and I picked it up yesterday.
8 weeks was pretty spot on excluding it being holidays and such. It could have been closer to six but had to wait for a boat.
I dare say, getting the exact Countryman I wanted was well worth it. And your wait will end. But boy during the time watching the progress creep along was painful. Next time I think I may ask to be put in a coma and woken when it arrives
I did personally find calling the automated 800 number more than once a day did not make updates happen any faster.
Since you don't have a production slot yet you should take some time to research options you were on the fence about. You have some time to make changes and it's your Mini so you should enjoy it.
8 weeks was pretty spot on excluding it being holidays and such. It could have been closer to six but had to wait for a boat.
I dare say, getting the exact Countryman I wanted was well worth it. And your wait will end. But boy during the time watching the progress creep along was painful. Next time I think I may ask to be put in a coma and woken when it arrives
I did personally find calling the automated 800 number more than once a day did not make updates happen any faster.
Since you don't have a production slot yet you should take some time to research options you were on the fence about. You have some time to make changes and it's your Mini so you should enjoy it.
#17
Listen to hatreg. At first I thought I was going to lease my car so I didn't get all the options I wanted or knew about. So this is your chance to add any items you tried to save a few bucks on.
Example
Rear fog lights. I would probably never use them, but didn't like the empty switch in the control console and it can be a beast to find someone or to reprogram it to work.
Auto windshield and headlights. I didn't carefully read the discription to this option. I thought it was auto rain sensor only and assumed auto headlights was just standard to the car.
Maybe I would have got the jcw aero package.
Example
Rear fog lights. I would probably never use them, but didn't like the empty switch in the control console and it can be a beast to find someone or to reprogram it to work.
Auto windshield and headlights. I didn't carefully read the discription to this option. I thought it was auto rain sensor only and assumed auto headlights was just standard to the car.
Maybe I would have got the jcw aero package.
#18
Listen to hatreg. At first I thought I was going to lease my car so I didn't get all the options I wanted or knew about. So this is your chance to add any items you tried to save a few bucks on.
Example
Rear fog lights. I would probably never use them, but didn't like the empty switch in the control console and it can be a beast to find someone or to reprogram it to work.
Auto windshield and headlights. I didn't carefully read the discription to this option. I thought it was auto rain sensor only and assumed auto headlights was just standard to the car.
Maybe I would have got the jcw aero package.
Example
Rear fog lights. I would probably never use them, but didn't like the empty switch in the control console and it can be a beast to find someone or to reprogram it to work.
Auto windshield and headlights. I didn't carefully read the discription to this option. I thought it was auto rain sensor only and assumed auto headlights was just standard to the car.
Maybe I would have got the jcw aero package.
#19
#22
I ordered my Countryman the Saturday before Thanksgiving and I was lucky enough that the dealer had an immediate production slot available and the car was finished on Thanksgiving day. My car made it to the port the day a ship was leaving for California and I thought I might set a new record. But then I checked the next day and saw the car missed the boat and would have to sit in port for 2 weeks. It just made it to Port Hueneme today and should be in Denver within 2 weeks.
Can't complain though, when I bought my 04 MCS I ordered it in August and didn't get it until November.
Can't complain though, when I bought my 04 MCS I ordered it in August and didn't get it until November.
Mine was ordered on 11/12 and was on the same boat. Final destination is a dealer in the San Francisco area. Send me a PM when you get your or at least when it gets to your dealer. I'm curious if the delivery time differs by more than a day. I'm still tracking the boat's progress for no reason other than to see where in the world these boats go. I sure hope it doesn't make it to Japan before the car makes it to me.
#23
Congrats on the Production number! If you thought the excitement of waiting was bad before now you get to have it so close you can almost taste it, but updates aren't coming fast enough.
This week I learned that even though I thought the programmable garage door mirror was a silly option since I already have a remote it might have been nice to have as the clips don't fit on the main visors.
Keep us up to date with your progress and hope you catch your first boat.
This week I learned that even though I thought the programmable garage door mirror was a silly option since I already have a remote it might have been nice to have as the clips don't fit on the main visors.
Keep us up to date with your progress and hope you catch your first boat.
#24
goldngemgirl, I just received the VIN number for my Roadster S. If this helps your wait perspective, I ordered VIRGIL on 12/6/13 and was told due to the slow down of HOLIDAY's (vacations due to plant shut down) it would arrive the end of February. I am located in the St. Louis area.
Last edited by KSVENOM; 01-14-2014 at 03:22 PM.
#25