And I guess that answers my question about a planned break-in road trip

How far do you have to go?

 

Topeka is scheduled to be at New York on Monday (3/23)

 

And Sierra Nevada Highway in Charleston on Thursday the 26th
The Yellow Beast Approacheth

 

Its 300km away which translates to about 3 hours of driving after you account for traffic in city at both ends. My parents live there. The thing is, I want to vary RPM for the break in period so I'm planning to pull into every small town on the way home...might take all day but its one more excuse to drive it!

 

I had the opposite road trip after picking up first MINI nearly 5 years ago. Live in Edmonton, picked up the car at Crowfoot in Calgary and drove it North to home. Not the best route - 110 km/hr highway driving - you might want to consider Hwy. #22 on the way back to Calgary. It's not as direct obviously, but you'll get more opportunity to vary throttle/rpm's. And it's way more scenic.

 

Good call, might have to do that. I also have a friend that lives in Innisfail so maybe I'll swing over there and drop in on him too. My better half wants to go check out the World Famous Gopher Hole Museum in Torrington...what a place...

 

Wow, looking at this thread:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-warm-out.html

I'm glad that my MINI will be one of very few in the country without a sunroof. Last summer it got to +32 C several times and up by Golden, BC it gets to +40 on a regular basis. I'm out there quite a bit and the last thing I need is a greenhouse at the top of my car and no way to open the sunroof.

 

Hopefully we all got a good batch of MINIs that don't have any issues like that.

So, Torrens NYC folks, anyone end up making it to the VDC Friday? Looks like with the weekend, Topeka NYC-ers will end up just being a day or two behind you in the VDC.

My MA thinks there's a good chance I will have mine by the end of the month...it's going to be a photo finish!

 

Not sure anyone from Torrens made it into the VDC, sadly. From the track that Torrens left on the marinetraffic.com website, she stopped at two locations and the second was the delivery of Minis.

And the WW site has customs and liner release for my whole "Bill of Lading" group, but no discharge which - I think - means that it's still in WW's hands. I'm guessing Monday they'll be shifted into the VDC's possession.

The NYC VDC only works 6am-2pm, M-F so I think we missed their shift. At least it's in the country

Bogs, like you my MA is hoping for before the end of the month. He figured maybe 3/27 but I can't see that scheduling happening. Maybe 3/28 as the earliest. I just hope that there aren't any delays at the VDC.

 

Cameroon,

With the Topeka coming in on Monday, I may have gained a day or two but you probably will get your MINI to our dealership a couple of days before my MINI makes it there. Anyway, things are starting to wind down. We are now going to switch from talking weeks to what day it is coming in. That's progress !!

In regards to the sunroof issues, I recall the demo that I road tested had no issues. But then agian, they probably ensure that car has everything working for marketing reasons. I certainly hope none of us have these sunroof issues.
The fact is that on my '98 Prelude, I use the sunroof often but do not operate it often - How can that be ? Well, I found that I like keeping the sunroof cracked open to it's max up position but before the mechanism slides it back. In this position, I still have sun protection, rain does not come in and it offers good ventilation. I also like keeping my fan switch always in the first slowest speed position and rarely if ever turn it off. (Years ago, on a '87 Integra, I wore out the first slow fan speed switch position (fan would not operate unless a faster speed switch position was chosen) and so I find that since I usually keep the fan on the slowest speed setting anyway - I just leave it in the first position so I do not overwork the switch.) The windup is that everything on '98 Prelude with 162K miles on it works ! Kind of sad that I decided it was time to get another car.....
Anyway, I hope the sunroof in the raised but still closed position on the MINI will keep rain out since this issue with the sunroof intermittent operation can be minimized if is not fixed altogether by the dealer.

 

OLarryR - I do like progress!

My take on the sunroof, cold start, etc. issues is that there are some gremlins that can show up (especially for something like a sunroof, which is always going to be a prime candidate for problems), but it certainly isn't every car out there. Those with problems will always be the most vocal, so I try to weigh the reported problems and go from that. Hopefully I weighed correctly, as I don't want to deal with most of those potential issues

I do plan to get some window tinting done and the sunroof in particular, to tone down any extra heating. Solar Solutions in Laurel, MD, for those in the DC area - Carlos has a great reputation.

 

While we are still passing time awaiting our MINIs...here are some newbie MINI owner questions that some of you may know the answer on already:

1) I like having the shop repair manual for the car. Anyone know what is considered the best source for this, do they have it out yet for the 2009s (Coopers, Clubmans) and how do you order it ?

2) The key fobs: Anyone even considering the key fob replacement warranty ? I kid you not...they offer it because the key fobs are very expensive - pushing $200 +/-. How many key fobs do they give you ? 1 or 2 ?

By the way, any sailors/boaters out there, the boat stores sell a small $6 key Buoy which is just a small disc that when it sinks, it opens up into a 14" X 1" diameter buoy that brings your key(s) back to the surface. I bought one because...I did lose my car keys off the dock one day. But I am not sure how well this thing would work with these key fobs.

3) Are these key fobs effected by rain/water submergence ?

 

I have been tracking the Independence II because it is a couple days ahead of my boat, the K-Lines Sierra Nevada Highway. Last night it was near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Now I can't find it.

The Independence II is a day ahead of schedule. So does that means she has to drop anchor and wait her turn to enter the harbor? Do they "turn on" AIS tracking only when inside the channel, heading toward the port?

 

Hmmm... a fob warranty. Might be cheaper to buy a new fob if/when, even at $200. How much do they want for the warranty?

My 2007 MCSm came with 2 fobs. I don't think they would do well in the water, but I have no experience with that.

The key buoy is kind of a cool idea. Not a water guy (except when there's a MINI on the water), so I had never heard of it.

 

With the Topeka coming in on Monday and my dealer being in upstate NY there's a good chance I may be picking up on the 27th or 28th....can't wait!

 

I'm interested in this too. I have looked around a bit, but have not found anything current. Anyone found anything yet for 2008 or 2009?

 

I heard it was only worth it if you have Comfort Access, because then the cost of the coverage is less than the cost of a replacement fob (they are more expensive than the regular fobs). I think for a non-comfort access key, you would have to lose it twice in the coverage period (5 years?) to get your money's worth (coverage is slightly more expensive than the cost of one non-comfort fob).

They give you 2 fobs initially.

Same here - dealer's only a few hours from the NJ VDC. I'm not counting on next weekend, but I can't believe how close we're getting!!!

Everyone's required to post pictures when they get theirs, by the way

 

Faust is right on schedule, half way there now!

 

It's awesome you can track the Faust! What a journey those MINIs get to take. I'm kind of jealous!

 

Hey all,

I'm not too worried on the issues(sunroof, cold start etc). As said before the net seems to make troubles bigger than they really are. My new Mini is replacing a Ford Focus. Now you want to see a troublesome car....this is the reason I will never ever buy a Ford again. It's not just the problems I had but also the way Ford(the parent company, my dealer was actually great) treated the issues I was having. So no matter the problems I get with the Mini(and I will have some as I keep telling myself that no car is perfect) they will pale in comparison to my Ford.

I never really cared about the sunroof but the only way to get the heated seats on a MCS in Canada is to get the bundle with sunroof. I hate packages like this, everything should be available a la carte IMO.

And finally, to honour the Faust passing the halfway point I dropped by my dealer to take out a demo MCS for a quick cruise. I was out for about an hour. I though doing that would cure my itch for some motoring but all it did was remind me just how fun these cars are. Now the next few weeks might feel even longer. I've never been so eager to part with my money.

 

wow i didn't know canada had those restrictions. In the US you can get everything ala carte.

 

Take a look at the configurator on www.mini.ca and you'll see we have very few options compared to our southern neighbours. I wonder why

 

Do the Canada MINIs come with defrosting wires in the windshield? That seems a lot better snow/ice solution than the heated washer jets that we get in the US.

 

Yes they have the wires. That's part of our 'Convience Package' which lumps together - Electric Front Window Defroster(this is the wires in the windsheild), Rain Sensor with Auto Headlamps, Media Connect (Bluetooth wireless and USB audio integration). I think that's sort of an odd grouping of options. But I wanted the front electric defrosters so I had to get that package. Is the electric front defroster not available in the US?

The S (maybe others too I haven't checked) also come with the heated washer jets and mirrors as standard features here.

 

SWEET. Thanks for the tracking info. I found my car, loaded on the boat, awaiting the ship to leave port! It is the 17 Mar boat, expected ETA to US port is 31 Mar, with delivery to my dealer in Oklahoma City 3 April. I get home on midtour leave 8 April. Talk about a nice little present to myself!