Oh I got a wonderful call today from my MA who said "guess what? your car is here and will be ready for pick up today" . I am soooooo excited and can't wait to post up pics of my baby.

 

vudugrl.. That's great! I hope everything goes smoothly at the dealer. Can't wait to see the pics.

 

Congrats!!! vudugrl, that's good news. yeah I'd like to see the pics.

 

Hey guys, what APR's are you guys getting approved for from Mini Financial ??? Just asking before I go in. Thanks

 

vudugrl, i don't have experience with mini financial but the rate will probably vary depending on your credit rating

 

Hey, FYI - there is a whole thread on that in the Clubman forum - I seem to think the best bet is through a local credit union.

 

Yeah I saw that thread and a lot of people were going with there credit unions. Well in any case I could pick up my car, use mini financial services and just refinance with someone who has a lower rate. I know I'll be hassling with a lot of paperwork but I just wanted to know what this month's current rates are with Mini Financial. Thanks guys

 

HAVE FUN! With your new Chili Red, Vudugrl! Post pictures when you can, ok?...

 

vudugrl, I checked with MINI finance when I picked my MINI up, if your credit score over 740, then you could get 5.x% rate as of last Sunday.

 

I have a 740+ credit rating and they offered the following: 15,000 miles/yr
36 month traditional lease 6.96%, residual at 63%
35 month prepay lease 4.8%, residual at 64%
Can't remember the loan rate--I think it was in the mid 6's though.

I was going to buy the car outright, but decided on the prepaid lease as I'll only have it the 3 years then I'll want a new one or something else. For loans, it looks like credit unions are the best.

 

Vudugrl,

I got 4.94% from Long Beach Mini. I originally had same rate through Costco. After signing up for extended maintenance, they offered me the same rate. The financing process only took like 30 minutes. It was a very pleasant transaction. By the way, I saw your car last night when I went to pick up the floor mats. The truck was parked next to the LB Mini and had a glimpse of a red mini sitting pretty on the truck. Congrats!!!

 

Stripe guy wasn't there to install today so I'll be going back in a few days, but whatever, finally got to drive it home. Some crappy "for now" shots:




For those that haven't seen them in person, flash makes the gray cloth on the leatherette brighter than it really is (no flash shot for comparison).

Other observations and some questions:
- I think I scraped the bottom air deflector things in the dealer parking lot on a shallow dip. Not exactly sure how I did it considering I was going really slowly, and it wasn't much of a dip to begin with.
- It appears they installed the JCW door sills along with the aero kit.
- It also appears they messed up on the rear fog lights along with the aero kit, they don't turn on...it might have to do with that thing that's hanging down below and to the left of the steering wheel.
- Are the wheels directional? The left side is tread pattern is going one way...the right side the other way. They also left on the blue covering plastic on the right front and left rear wheel caps.
- On the topic of wheels, where is the jack?

 

By the way, if anyone thinking about purchasing seat belt holders, don't even waste your time and money. I picked up the holder at the dealer yesterday, and I installed it in the parking lot. All set and ready to go, put on my seat belt and there it went...."Crack". The moving plastic part of the seat belt holder just broke off (came off). I reinstalled it and same thing. I got frustrated and returned it right back to the dealer. I ended up exchanging it with a few bottles of wheel cleaners, wax, and soap. I am much happier now.

 

Drum roll plz........ introducing Weevil I'll try and post some more pics on my gallery this weekend. Thanks for all your support guys, you are the best bunch. Turandot thread rules!!!

 

vudugrl.. looks great!! Now the fun starts.. In the four days since I got mine, I've been playing around with the difference in how it feels with the sport button on or off, and getting the CD/MP3 to display albums and song titles properly.. and of course just enjoying zipping around. Congrats and good luck!

 

playtowin, wow the driving is awesome. I use to own a 4runner and the grip feels almost the same, the difference of course is that I can make turns a lot smoother without having to worry about tipping over. I need to really play with the sport button and see the difference with that. So far so good

 

Went back to the dealer for stripes today (their stripe guy is Backstreet Graphics from Orange County if anyone else wants vinyl stuff) then got back home and barely fit the car into the empty space in our garage. It's a 4 car garage, but we were using that last spot for junk basically.




And in aero kit news, I only scraped once or twice today! I should probably see if I'm missing one of those air deflectors already...

 

Oh! These minis look v e r r r y nice! They just look so perfect! Like little Christmas ornaments or something. Hope you are having some fun!

 

HappyHearMom, Our fun will start Saturday. Just wish the weather was going to be better on the weekend.

 

Japtor

I noticed your sport stripes go all the way down over your "bumpers" on the front and back. Did you request that? My sport stripes, like the ones shown on miniusa.com, the configurator and the mini brochure, stop at the bottom of the bonnet and the bottom of the boot, not covering the bumpers.

Just curious if they gave you the option and you chose to stripe it that way -

 

If I wasn't attending an important event in downtown Portland Saturday, I would race to catch the sun and wouldn't stop until I found it.

 

Yeah I requested it, and even then there was still some confusion when it came time to put the stripes on...apparently no one told the guy the stripes were supposed to go all the way down. The regular kit is just for what it looks like, hood + bonnet, no hood scoop, no latch, with just a little excess that gets cut off. He ended up having to use a roof kit for the rest, but he would've bought his own (more flexible) vinyl if he knew he had to do the rest beforehand.

 

Well Juniperbear...tomorrow morning! Hope my son wakes up nice-boy so we can leave early. About 2 hour drive from Eugene. Every 15 years, whether I need it or not, I get a new car...

 

About a 2 hour, 45 minute drive for us. My two kids are excited about the car and I also am hoping for a nice-girl and nice-boy for our morning drive.

We might see you there - our appointment is for 11:30am.

 

Well, my son is 15 and stays up all night practically on his X-Box. He talks and plays with people all over the US and even other countries. He likes to sleep late in the morning when he has a chance.
Our appt. is for 10, but not sure when exactly we will get there. He might want pastries from Grand Central Bakery on Weidler first. And I might need a stiff espresso before I hand over the check...