OL has said that for me for a couple days but the phone system says "call your mini dealer to schedule a pickup day"

 

They loaded my Clubman S today at 16:41 and sailed at 19:39. This tracking stuff is addictive.
I see all you west coasters who are together on the same ship.
Is there any one else on the east coast waiting, or on the Don Pasquale?
Now there is an interesting name for a Swedish ship.
Mine is supposed to be in New York on the 22nd, and I suppose it will be three or four days before it gets to Virginia.
No pirates in these civilized eastern waters.

 

Only in DC.

 

Okay, how many people in this thread are first-time MINI owners? And how did you decide to get a MINI?

I'll go first.

I will soon be a first-time owner. I've liked the car since it came out but it always seemed too small for me. I have two kids and there's no way that our whole family would fit in a Cooper, and I already have a two-seater.

When the Clubman was announced I was intrigued, but having never even sat in a Cooper I wasn't sure if all 6'4" of me would fit in the thing.

Last fall I went to the LA Car Show with some friends. My primary goal was to see if I fit in the Clubman. After gawking at pretty much everything else we finally got to the MINI booth, which was waaaaay in the back of the convention center. Much to my amazement, I found it very comfortable. I made my three friends pile into the thing to see what it was like fully loaded and was pleased to see that four adults fit into it pretty well. I wouldn't want to drive across country like that, but it was fine for across town.

You know, the funny thing is, I don't even have any pictures of the car from the show. Lots of other stuff, but the only picture from the MINI booth is my son playing the Clubman pinball machine:

That was the beginning of the end.

I hadn't planned on buying a new car until next year, but some things fell into place and my wife and I moved the timeline up. We started talking about it and I mentioned the Clubman as a good second car for us. We don't need two big cars, and if the family is going any distance we'll take her Odyssey (required equipment in Valencia, ask SteelersFan) - the Clubman has enough room for the four of us for short trips, has a little more cargo space, and is "just practical enough."

My wife said that she figured I'd get an Accord or Camry or something like that. I did not argue with her but got her to agree to a test-drive at the MINI dealer.

We went in and took out a brand-new JCW Clubman. I was having all kinds of trouble with the clutch and the brakes, basically spazzing my way around the neighborhood, and the salesman asked my wife if she wanted to drive it. I though, uh-oh, this is the end.

She gets behind the wheel and TAKES OFF. Not super-fast, but fast enough, quickly working through the gears, just pretty as you please. As we pulled back into the lot, she turned to me and said "I know what I'm running errands with on the weekends!" She was sold.

And so I found myself specifying, and tweaking, and trolling North American Motoring, and tweaking some more, and running the numbers, and finally placing an order on April 13th.

You all know the next part of the story - the really good part, though, will come next month when I pick up the car!

Brad

 

Well lets see how my story goes....

Long time ago my father took a trip to Europe (without me ) but when he came back he said if they ever make those again ill buy you one.....

I became fascinated by them and finally saw one in person in 2002, by then i had read alot about them and then i went to the Seattle auto show down here and sat in one

It was great!! I love the fact EVERYTHING is so close to you but any who so then I wanted one and saved and saved and now my "LILCHAP" (hopefully my license plate) is due to land in Cali on the 29th and be shipped up here for me.

 

I first wanted a MINI when I was in the Army in Germany in 1964. A desire for space prevailed, and I bought a Peugeot.
I got a 998 MINI with a sunroof, bright orange, in about 1980. My wife really liked it, but I wanted a Cooper, so I found a really rough 1071 Cooper. I was going to marry the two of them. 20 years later, I had only gotten the body shell painted. I sold the project. Always a good way to get rid of work.
I tried on a 1st generation BMW MINI a few years ago, but it felt too tight for my 6'3" long waisted body.
The next time I was thinking about cars, I heard about the redesign, and I had seen a Clubman when I was on a trip, so I drove one. It is a little tight in the back for me and my boys, but they no longer live at home and my wife likes it, so we ordered one. Looks like I might even get to drive it this month.

 

When did you go? We may have been there at the same time. That would be wierd!
Yeah, I used to own an F-150 Supercrew. Now we're going to be a 2-MINI family. I can't tell you how many people drive huge SUVs in this town!!! Too many!!!

 

I never had an SUV, before this I was using a 95 Mustang GT

 

We were there Saturday morning first thing until about noon. My son had the time of his life - he got into every car he could and tried the headlights, turn signals, and horn to see if they worked. Ah, to be 9 again!

He liked the MINIs but was really smitten with the supercars. The Spyker was definitely a favorite.

I myself drive a not-huge SUV - a Mitsubishi Montero Sport - at least until Morning Concert gets that Clubman over here!

Brad

 

My husband (see Jiminni posts) has an '03 Cooper S and loves it. I did not care for the 6 speed around town and it was always "his" car. I had a '03 Z4, which was my baby. We also have an Odyssey--love that thang!! Anyway, we also have two kids and really the Z4 was just an expensive grocery getter, so we decided that I would get a 330CIC. Since buying it last year, it has been in the shop 13 times. Tough to like a car that you rarely get to drive. Went on a Mini run with my husband with MidCal Minis and got to see a new one. Some of the issues that I did not like with the older version were fixed on the new one (the seats, for one--I hate the seat handle on the older version). Decided to join the gang and get one for myself. The back seat of the Mini has the same amount of room as a BMW 3 Series Convertible, so the boys are used to it. We just use the Van for long trips.

 

I lived in England when I was in Middle School.... LOVED the Minis then and always planned on buying one as an adult and shipping it over. In 2002 I saw a new one on the road and FREAKED out. I have been bugging and begging my husband ever since for one. About two years ago he thought it would be a fun date night to go test drive. Well that through me over the edge and I have been stalking Cincinnati Mini ever since. We have saved, saved, saved and saved and finally got to order April 8th. I cried I Can't wait to see her!!!!! He is hooked now too and we are looking for a classic to match mine.... he wants to name it Speck

 

lol that's a good looking mini whats the "specs" on it?

 

I think we were there at the same time. My 12 year old son did the same thing especially the convertables. His favs were probably the Lambos. And we definitely spent the most time at the MINI booth.

 

Soooooo this wait is killing me I just went to a couple dealers and test drove some MINIs lol

 

I thought about doing that but figured the longer I wait the sweeter it will be.

I have also considered taking a tour of Port Hueneme. More info here:

http://www.portofhueneme.org/connect...onal_tours.php

Seriously. Anyone else interested? I was thinking, oh I don't know, May 29th.

 

MINI and NAM and their members give you a chance for so much information that you get really involved in what is happening to your car. The result is that it feeds impatience. My port is further than I want to travel, so I won't be taking a tour, and I know I can't do anything to hurry it up, but I certainly am counting the days.

 

Just checked and my ship docked in Charleston this morning at 1:25am. It says they started unloading at 8:00am, 17 minutes ago!!!!

 

I might have gotten to excited the one I tested was an older model MCS with some alta stuff under the bonnet so its was a quick little car thats for sure where i only got a MC

 

Woohoo!!! It won't be long now unless you have any VDC or dealer installed options. We will definitely want pics ASAP.

 

I think that I may be in the Week 19 group. My Mini was booked on the Don Pasquale on May 7th. That means that it probably started production on the 29th or 30th, right? So I'm assuming that I will get to take delivery of it the first week of June! Yay!!!

So my reason for getting a Mini: I thought that the car was awesome when it debuted here in the US, but it wasn't until 4 years ago, when my dad bought his Mini Cooper S, that I truly started to fall in love with the Mini. Once I started to get the hang of driving the manual, I absolutely loved it! Then this past January, I narrowed down my search to the Mini Cooper, the Honda Civic, the Toyota Prius, and the Nissan Altima. I test drove the Mini first and immediately fell 100% in love with it. I forced my self to test drive the Civic and the Prius, plus the Saturn Vue Hybrid, but the Mini was it for me. So that's my story. What is y'all's?

 

The key to knowing what week you're in is when the car is completed, I think. If you call 866-ASK-MINI they could probably give you more info about the production of your car.

I was told by my MA that I was week 19 and mine completed 5/1. It had been booked on a ship since early April and got loaded 5/9. Anyway, no matter, welcome to week 19, aka the insane asylum. Most of us are on the west coast and will be waiting two more weeks before the Morning Concert hits Port Hueneme.

Did the Don P set sail yet? Which VDC will it be coming in through? Sounds like we'll take delivery around the same time. Where are you located?

I'm going on my second MINI (see sig) and can't wait. My wife has already taken ownership of MINI #1 and she is loving it.

 

My Clubman is on the Don Pasquale. It is supposed to get to the New York port on the 22nd. You can look up when it gets to your nearest port on the schedule for Wallenius. When I read other posts, it seems to me that the car can be stuck at the port for a while, so it may not come to your dealer as quickly as you hope. My MA has essentially said that, even with delivery in NY on the 22nd, early June is what to expect. He may just be damping down my car lust.

 

So the "Morning Concert" is 6 days into it's 10 day cruise across the pond until it enters the Panama Canal. When do you guys think it will show back up on the tracker?

 

The Don Pasquale dropped off the Southampton tracker in less than a day. If the schedule lists when the Morning Concert goes through the canal, you could start looking a day early. If not, probably about the same as an Atlantic crossing, so start looking in 6 or 7 days. My guess.

 

The tracker lost the Don Pasquale in less that a day from Southampton, so I would guess that it would pick up the Morning Concert about a day before it gets to the port. It may not list Panama, but you might pick it up going by another port.