My cubbie is finally at sea. Hitched a ride on the Curitiba heading to Brunswick. Should be in port on the 14th and hope to be through VDC quickly.

 

Hey guys, been away for a bit, and am just catching up;

squonk, glad you're enjoying the car-400 miles, wow!

chakram105, gr8ful, nxtmini, good luck with swift ocean crossings- I remember that, but didn't get the joy of tracking my ship across the ocean (it was offloaded and was then untraceable)

I will be picking up the Mini tomorrow!! After the impatient wait, finally!
Have a great weekend everyone, I know I intend to!

Cheers

 

I want to see pics, mine is Laser Blue too

 

I see the Curitiba is due in on the 17th. I hope I can get the car before 2011.
What a long 2 months.

 

Hey Sauron!

Congrats on getting your MCS today! WAHOO!!! Enjoy your car and we'll catch you online when you take a break from driving it.

Another update on mine - I clicked over 750 miles today. I am longing for some revs!

And I just realized this week that the summer tires (Yokohama S.Drives) on the wheels from my Civic that I need to sell are 215/45/17's. Hmmm/DUH! I need to swap them onto the MINI and then sell the wheels and the runflats separately - which should be easier than selling the set! Now I still need to pick up some "winter" wheels and put some all season tires on them.

 

So Carter and 190 other MINI's have missed their boat ride yesterday and were "Returned to Shipper". My guess the boat was overbooked and now waiting for his second ride. Most likely won't get carter by the end of the year now

 

I figured I'd find you here posting about this. lol
I've heard from a second source that they were possibly held up due to something with drug smuggling... confirming what we heard on Twitter last night. Of course, rumors like that tend to spread quickly, but I'll do some investigating today.

I hope Carter and Minja get to hang out while waiting at the port. Haha

 

Yup I'm here lol
Thanks for looking in to it
Minja and Carter would have a fantastic time... hope they don't go to the bar and miss the next boat ride...
They could be on Courage on the 15th or Independence II on the 19th. Whatever the case may be, most likely Carter won't be home in Jan. and I'm ok with that.

 

Okay, I talked to my top-secret insider MINI friends... and they haven't yet received details, but if Carter's transport status was "returned to shipper" it means the car was actually on the boat, on it's way, then got sent back to the port. It actually may still be docked on the vessel. The most common cause of such things? Drug smuggling. My friend blamed the "secret glovebox" in the MINIs. lol However, there has been no official word on any delays and all other shipments are currently proceeding as normal for now.

Minja is currently at the port waiting for his ship and should be in Jersey City next week! So you might still get Carter before month end. Fingers crossed!

 

Thanks for looking in to it! I did notice that the ship (Taiko) did leave on time, so does that mean that Carter might still on the ship? if that's the case, that would be awesome!

 

That's exactly what it means. If he was on board and on his way, all that happened (most likely) is that the ship got turned around and sent back to port for examination. Carter is probably still on board enjoying some drinks at the bar!

 

ouch! I'm hoping that you get a quick turnaround!

 

yeah I hope so too, can't wait to start driving with carter

 

OK, got an update this morning and seems that Carter has been booked to go on Courage now, to depart tomorrow from Southampton and arrive in Baltimore on 12/26. From this I gather that I won't get carter till 2011

MissMoxie: Check the status of Minja, as he can be on the same boat as Carter

 

Your MINI is going to Baltimore then to Michigan? Seems NYC VDC is closer.

 

Yeah, I checked the stickers on MINI's at my MINI dealer and all of them said POE: Baltimore.

 

Hey Sauron, Let us know how you like the new adaptive headlights. I have them coming on my new JCW . Was out in the rain last night in my 2010 MCS and I can say the standard headlights suck. Hope there are 1/2 as good as my 2005 SLK.

 

Oh ok. Hope Carter makes the boat! Im excited about Anders.

 

Hey guys! Finally back after picking the mini up, driving around a little- rain and traffic were not too great last weekend, and it was hard to keep the little car and my right foot in check! I have a big big grin all over my face

Today, new shoes! Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus 205/55/16, and the runflat ride gone forever! Definitely felt the difference immediately.

Chakram, you will not regret Laser Blue (there are couple of hastily-taken pics in my gallery)

Island maser - I love the adaptive xenons (almost didn't get the adaptive function due to MA error, but it was caught by NAM members- the details are somewhere in the forum) - if you had halogens earlier, there is no going back.

This is our first -ever car (parental or car-free and renting before), and I'm loving every little thing about it-Mrs. Sauron says I'm like a kid at Christmas. Special mention to the turbo, the engine note, the turn-circle and for options, the auto-dim side mirrors. I'm sure I could go on and on...

 

Your MINI looks amazing! Love Laser Blue. Did you name yours?

 

This is me needing support hehe. I ordered a 2011 Eclipse Gray MCS and since its so close to Christmas/New Years I have to wait until January till it starts being made .... then since I am stationed in Hawaii it wont get here until March-April.... but at least it gives me time to think of a name!

 

Oh Torri
We feel your pain!

 

chakram, thanks! The car has no name, at the moment it's just "the mini".

Torri, we do feel the pain!

 

well... i just spoke to the askmini representative today that my mini is now transferred to the carrier in Germany today. does anyone know what does that mean?

 

If you hard ordered a Countryman which is built in Austria and then transported to a port in Germany, I could explain. But you ordered a hardtop which is built in Oxford and then transported to Southampton. So maybe the ASK-MINI rep got confused?

In either case, released to carrier means that your vehicle has completed production and is at the factory waiting to be loaded on a transport (usually rail) to the port. My Countryman sat for more than 10 days before a carrier actually took possession of the vehicle. Hopefully you will not wait so long.

Production Complete
Released to Carrier
En Route to Port of Exit
At Port of Exit awaiting Vessel
Loaded on Vessel - In transit to port of entry
From there to VDC and then to your dealer and then to you!