I just called ASKMINI and the person who helped me was very cool. He gave me a completion date of 8/4 and my VIN #! Does anyone know the boats that we might get on?

 

Still no Vin#. They said they may start production on 8/4. So i gotta call back next Monday.... Mother MINI does not want to pop my baby out yet...

 

Crazy, crazy! Talked to MINI this afternoon and my car is IN the paint shop right now and starts down the line tomorrow. Looks like it may be done a few days before they estimated (originally). I hope they can get that baby on a ship and get it moving this way in another 2 weeks. That would be awesome!

 

Crickets here as well with no VIN's posted either. At least I won't have to wait for that long trek across the Atlantic...just a short trek across the channel and a bit of the European Continent. They say 10 days or so after rolling off the line. We'll see how it goes...I'm ready!

 

Maybe because I'm a '09 JCW I have to wait. Scheduled for production, but no confirmed date yet. All I know is sometime August 4-10.

 

We have to get to the dock first!

Ours is a JCW too, keep calling ASKMINI. We were also originally scheduled for the 4th to 10th time period, but they moved us up. It happens, and I have watched it happen in previous weeks. Hang in there and call.

 

Huh. I just called and the rep said that she could see that it was a JCW but she wouldn't be able to provide any status updates until after production was complete.

 

Some of the people at ask mini are just really bad. Called the first time and one told me that I am in production... Called again just for fun and another told me I am on order and no status update. But I have been told everytime after that I am In production . So i guess some of them are just a little lazy and dont really want to do the difficult job of looking into a computer and repeating what they see . I have found that the women tend to be much nicer but I got a really nice gentleman today who was joking around with me cause he remembered me from a previous call about 4 hours earlier.... Oh and BTW I asked him and they can see how many times you have called and who you have spoken to so I kinda feel bad calling so often Im going to have to limit myself to just 1 or 2 calls a day till they begin shipping it

 

I just got a similar answer... Kinda stinks. He said that I would get a production date once production started. Say what???

 

Been calling about once a day, and I'm embarassed.

 

I agree. Some of them are too lazy to give you the scoop. I talked to a guy yesterday who told me my production wouldn't even start until August 4, but it was in conflict with what I had heard at the end of last week. So I called back today and the guy was really nice and said (after taking the time to look it up) that my car was in the paint shop and was getting ready to move on down the line. I told him what the guy had told me yesterday and he said that made absolutely no sense. How crazy is that?

 

I've read in previous threads the same complaint - if you get a non response call again later, that seems to have been the advice from the past. Of course they can tell you what phase of production your car is in after it starts production. Maybe on the first day or two before it goes into the paint shop there maybe nothing to tell. After the production is done and the car has left on the ship ASKMINI will not be able to tell us much. So for the next week and a half, call and don't worry, others have done the same. One or two phone calls in a day are not excessive.

 

Called this afternoon and found that he recording has been updated to in production with a completion date of 8/5. Yay!

Checked the website; its been updated to sheduled for production (the second line down). Even have a VIN. Yay!!

Life is good!

So, figure a week waiting for a ship, then probably three weeks to West Coast, and a truck ride north, early to mid-September delivery looks likely.

Yay!!!

 

Good for you. Perhaps today is the day that Week 32 get's their VIN numbers.

 

The MINI's come wrapped up in a cocoon with some kind of wax stuff all over when shipping. There used to be a thread with a link to a tour of one of the state-side processing places. So the first wash and clean up at vdc and dealer is probably necessary. The purist will request that they not drill the front bumper to put on the license plate and they will get a special holder.

"Swirls happen" (bumper sticker anyone) I usually ask them not to wash when I bring her in for service.

Something you might consider is the clear bra. Lot and lots of discussions on here about the pros and cons. I did not get one because about the time I was going to do that we had problems and I didn't want to sink another chunk of change on her if we didn't get to keep her. Lots of options on the coverage and prepping the paint b4 application.

I have a number of stone chips now and will either patch it myself or wait for the inevitable initiation from the varmints on the road and get the repaint.

denstep57 - note my timing for delivery to Portland. Bluebell made it to the dock in time for a ship - showed as loaded - and then got kicked off for the next one that was about 10 days later Even with that an 8/7 birth got me an appearance on 9/24. So you should be about right...

 

I've already asked for them not install the front plate. I want the no holes front plate holder.

The clear bra is an option, I have already asked for among other little items.

Yes, early to mid September, most likely mid September, which will be fine by me.

Will using a clay bar get rid of swirls or at least keep them under control?

 

Claybar is used to release contaminants that have bonded to the paint surface and can't be removed otherwise (like with with washing). I claybar the entire car surface (including glass) every spring.

Claybar does nothing for swirls. That is corrected by using fillers (temporary) and/or polishing. The best way to get rid of swirls is to use a random-orbital polisher correctly.

 

How soon is everyone going to get into detailing their new cars. I have a bunch of zaino products left over from my previous cars and I was thinking about stripping all of the dealer wax and doing the complete zaino total protection kit. I remember some one saying that you should wait about 1 month to let the paint set in before waxing it yourself but since it will basically take a month for production and the arrival of the car I figured I would get started within the first 2 weeks or so of having it?

 

I'm getting my car around mid-September. Then I'm taking it on a week-long road trip from St. Louis to Brasleton, GA in early October. When I get back from GA, I plan to do the full Dawn wash, claybar, polish (where needed), and Zaino treatment.

 

So if I understand correctly, we will get a wash at VDC, but we could and should opt out of the wash at the dealer? Or are some dealers better at prep work prior to releasing the MINI? I would like not to get on the wrong footing with the dealer. I have a whole list of options they need to still install before I pickup the MINI.

 

I just let the dealer wash and wax the car as they usually do. Since I'm going to strip, claybar, polish, and Zaino later, it doesn't really matter. It's nice to have it clean and shiny while I'm driving around the first few days, since I defer my own detailing for a couple weeks.

 

Im going to go the same route than... Ill probablly only wait about a week though to get on it and dawn off all that cheap wax ... Im going to reorder a couple products in the mean time. I ordered the leatherette seats though and I have no idea how to maintain those. Any idea of what is good for these?

Oh yeah and i called ASKMINI earlier and they said the server is down and they couldnt get any info on where my vehicle is in production ... Any one else get this?

 

Okay, you just took one worry out of my mind. I'll just let them get the MINI nice and do what you recommended as soon as I can. I think I'll start off working by hand on the MINI, but I have an older car which I would like to practice on with a buffer, any recommendations on buffers and pads?

 

I agree that you might as well let them do the first one. I think our dealer still had some of the birthing mucus (some yellow waxy stuff) to get off.

When you later take it back for service and you have your car all detailed out you don't want their lot lizards adding swirls to your nice finish

 

Porter Cable 7424. I get my pads from Autopia. I really like the 3.5" minipads in addition to the standard 6" pads.