Hi folks!

Just a quick hello from the UK.

You soon-to-be-Clubbies have a treat in store but it's a shame you won't be getting the diesel at launch as it's the pick of the bunch to my mind.

There are some pics of my BRG Clubman D on the link in my profile if you're interested but none of you will like it as much as I do!

David

 

NICE looking Clubman! That interior is classy and perfect with the BRG!
Congrats!

 

Hi David.
Welcome. Love the UK and the Mini site there. I've seen your photos there as I go and look everyday. I almost got BRG, but thought the huge SUVs and trucks in Arizona would never see me if it was so dark.

Love your car. I've waited 25 months for my Clubby and he is arriving in California the 10th. Longest I've ever had a deposit on anything.

Hope you continue to post here.

Holly

 

Thanks for the welcomes.

I thought 3 months was a long wait so I'm very impressed by 25!

 

Yes,it has been a long two years. Considering we had no idea what the final design would look like. I envy your dealerships as they appear much friendlier with their customer handling. I was assured that all of us are treated alike with no extras no matter the price as they are not "luxury cars." Next time I'll probably order from back East and pay the delivery fee. I'm not a hardballer, but I consider over $32K as up there. My last car from the BMW dealer below the MINI place was $55K, they threw in tinting, mats. Guess that qualified.
Disappointed, but my Clubman will be worth it.

 

Your Clubman is beautiful! Welcome to NAM - from Southern California..

Donna

 

I'm not sure the grass is always greener over here: it's a much smaller country so all dealers have to compete with others you'd think were just round the corner. For example I live in a rural part of North Nottinghamshire but even I have three MINI dealers within 35 miles so it was easy to ask all of them to offer deals on trade-ins, delivery and so on and to pitch for my order.

And of those, one has still not provided the D demo that I booked back in October and so destroyed any chance they would otherwise have had through the best allowance they offered, one offered the next best deal backed by delivery and collection from my home and a free loaner whenever required and the other is more difficult to reach.

The only failing from the obvious choice was a delay from the quoted early December delivery to the end of January because Oxford diverted "my" car and thousands more to Southampton Docks for the US launch!

The concept of paying over the odds for a car seems very strange to us Brits as it is unheard of here for new mainstream cars and only happens for limited production things like obscure Ferraris, when some investors manage to get an allocation and promptly re-sell at a profit with delivery mileage only.

 

It would be nice to have a choice of dealers. Mine is 130 miles away and my one worry is that if it has a problem and can't drive that far how will that be resolved. Maybe they would pay to transport it there on the warranty. Not sure. But having only one dealership in the state allows them to never offer any incentives.
We are considering moving to New Mexico and the only dealer there is in Albuquerque, which would be 3 hours away. Frustrating to think that a service would really require you to stay overnight. Oh well. I'm hoping they might open a MINI dealership in Tucson. That would be ideal as we would be closer to it once we move.

Is Nottinghamshire also Nottingham? On my mom's side we had a lieutenant in Cromwell's army and he was from Nottingham. He left England after Cromwell's head was on a pike (wise decision). My dad's side came from Scotland (MacLean) and left after the Battle of Culloden to Prince Edward Island.
Love the UK and when I visited Scotland I was overwhelmed with the feeling of finally being home again.

 

So far BMW has no plans to expand their dealership base in the West outside of CA which is a shame. Maybe folks would get the better deals those back east get on their cars, added to the fact they have more choices for service as well. 4 dealerships in one huge timezone (mountain) is simply unfair.

 

We don't have a per county limit as the population density wouldn't normally allow that - and our dealers will happily compete across county boundaries if they see a possibility of profit.

The one who rejected themselves through incompetence are marginally the closest to me, in Chesterfield, Derbyshire and my chosen supplier is in Lincoln, one of at least 3 I know of in the much larger county of Lincolnshire, who shaded the one in the City of Nottingham, which is the largest place in and the administrative centre of the County of Nottinghamshire.

(I think our counties are similar in geographic size to yours but with higher populations - but obviously we have no equivalent of your States, either in terms of size or legislative power.)

A 3-hour drive to a MINI dealer would be like me having none nearer than Edinburgh!

(I know bits of Scotland fairly well as my son lives in Edinburgh at the moment but I can't claim your heritage.)