Woohoo, not long now. Everything is coming together just in time.. car loan is approved, just have to sort out the details with my credit union. Have some people coming to look at the old Mini tonight too. Hopefully everything will be set by the time the car clears the VDC.
So excited, and I've done this once before, AND have been driving a Mini for a year already!

 

I opened the door to get my mail and at the door was a package. Seems the mail man leaves the stuff that will not fit in the mail box at my door. (We live in an appartment) Large Manila envelope from D&R MINI. A nice little card from my MA, Richard. "It won't be long now - I thought I'd better send his in case thaere are any other items you want to get for MIB. Inside is the MINI Motoring Accessories 2006 "You-Ification Handbook"

Isn't it nice that the car isn't even there yet, but is known at the dealer as MINI In Black!

 

MIB... I saw an Astro Black MINI again today and I must say it looks pretty cool. 1 thing though... You might want to change your name to MIBB (MINI in Bluish Black)!!!

 

Glad to hear that you like the Astro Black. I haven't seen the AB in person yet so i'm going in a little blind. 10:30 AM tomorrow - it feels like christmas eve night...maybe if i go to sleep early it will come earlier.

 

The OL now shows MIB at the VDC. So that probably means that MIB is on a truck on its way to Indy.

 

15 3/4 hrs to go! I'm gonna have a hell of a time falling asleep... but a much much worse time tomorrow since I have to work from 7-3! I can only imagine how much pacing and finger tapping will be involved. no idea why they want me to come in on a saturday considering I won't be able to focus AT ALL!

ahh well, when I wake up at 6 it will be single digits! :D

 

Good luck TRW! The worst part is when the sales guy gives you the whole spiel and shows you the features and stuff... I wanted to say "I'll call u if i have questions... LET ME DRIVE IT"!

 

Well we aren't really "sales guys", that's old school! We're Motoring Advisors, and in my case, a MINI owner of 3 years. When we deliver your car, it's "an event" and MINIUSA cares a whole bunch how we do it. Bottom line, we're paid on customer satisfaction with less emphasis on commission.

That customer survey that MINI does by phone after you get your car has a 97% pass rate. A passing grade at our dealership is half of our pay! So we can't survive on half pay, we need to deliver!

Please don't be in too much of a rush when we are trying to fully complete a MINI transaction. We need you to be able to fully complete the customer satisfaction survey and award us points if deserved.

Respectfully,

 

Just curious - what accessories do you consider ' essential' for M.I.B.? I'm trying to work up a budget for the car and other items.

 

Don't get me wrong... my MA was fantastic and when he gave me the run-down on the car he did a great job! I was just commenting how exciting it was to take delivery and how anxious I was to get behind the wheel! I'll be giving him the highest scores when I get my satisfaction survey

 

I think MIB (or any other black mini) would look very cool with some R99 anthracite wheels!

 

Thank you for sharing your Mini delivery stories and I hope that you will be able to post more pics of your cars very soon. They are looking great. Thanks,
vincesf

 

Has anyone taken delivery on a factory JCW pacakge car yet, as I was curious on a few items:
Is the JCW package incorporated on the factory sticker?
Did you receive a certificate as do the dealer installed JCW's?
Most importantly, what do you think of your JCW Mini?
Thanks,
vincesf

 

I added 2 more pics to my gallery...

 

I agree if they weren't so darn heavy. I want to pick up a set of used V-Spokes or X-lites for track tires. Or maybe even a set of 7 holies. I know friends who can powder coat them.

 

Very nice!
Thanks,
Vincesf

 

Paperwork is now taken care of. Poor Richard had to watch KidDiff1 & KidDiff2 while we did the paperwork.
Now all we have to do is wait for the truck to show up and D&R to install the alarm. Then go in, do the walk around,
take the new owners quiz, install the kid seats, and follow MrsDifff home with me in our MINIvan.

They actually had an Astro Black MCS on the lot. It was pre-sold. I finally got to see the silvery bluish tinge that everyone spoke of.
MrsDiff was a little surprized, maybe dissapointed. I am happy I like the color change that Astro Black gives.
Almost "Chromalusion" like color change. MresDiff says that if I change MIB's she will divorce me!

Got a new decal today, D&R had IN decals and GB decals. Picked up a IN decal. Can you ever have enough decals for your MINI?
KidDiff1 saw a MINIrobot in blue. He has a new item for his Christmas/birthday wish list.
My Christmas and Birthday and Father's day gifts are now taken care of for the next few years.

 

No car today. OL changed from 12/8 to 12/3 this morning. I called the dealership just after 10 AM, they were expecting the car today and said they could prep if it got there by noon. My wife wanted to go Christmas shopping today anyway, so we went to Greenville, SC where the dealer is. We were hoping the car would get there, but it didn't. They said it was at the VPC, 30 minutes away and would probably be there Monday if not later today.

 

Dawg... My car was unloaded from the ship on the 26th in the afternoon and the dealer had it by the 30th at night. Basically it took 3-4 days to go through the VPC

 

Again... I was WORTH the wait. The car has not let me down 1 bit. Another 1st today... I let someone else drive my Mini, my cousin.

 

Huzzah!! I guess all of the other 45ers that picked up today are still out motoring. It was too cold for me to take many more pictures (and i forgot batteries for my camera at the dealer <<read moron). The color is definately bluer than i expected at least in the sun but i really do like it - the name actually fits it quite well as i would describe it 'black light the night sky'



first impressions: it rocks! lincoln drive was a blast. Shifting is very smooth handling is precise and smooth...just a blast to drive. now the accessorizing begins...well even more so.

only dissapointment - no freebies from my MA. don't get me wrong he was great and helpful and everything but floor mats or a mug or a key chain or something would have been nice.

off to starbucks or coldstone or wherever just for an excuse to go out.

 

Right on ja ME s!!!! Nice ride! Congrats! The dealer didn't give u mats? Mine gave me mats

 

I'm trying to decide what part of this process feels the longest. At this point, I think it is this part... The part where I know the car is here in the USA, on the way to the dealer, and that even after it gets to the dealership, I'll have to wait a couple more days.

In the last couple of days I found that my dealer doesn't accept money from eLoan.com, so I've been scrambling to find alternate financing. Now, I have too much financing; the dealership found me alternative financing at a really great rate, and my local bank is also offering to pony up some money at a pretty good rate.

I have to travel 250 miles to pick up my new Mini, so I'm sure that'll be a long trip as well. Fingers crossed that I can get it next weekend. If I have to way until the 15th or later, I think it'll kill me.

It great that people are posting great pictures. Skeffers in particular posted a real nice one that is of course Royal Grey like mine.

 

one additional note...i'm a little afraid my MINI is a bird poo magnet. They got my driver side window before i even got off the lot!! and then the passenger door before we got home with it.

 

Michelle at Otto's was fantastic... she knew how much knowledge I had about the mini and just ran over the really important stuff... kind of like a checklist where I would stop her if I had a question. Also I got to meet most everyone in phillymini while I was there since they were having their 'deck the minis' event. it was a lot of fun and nice to meet some people... but after about 30 minutes I couldn't take it any more and had to take my car out and drive home... making a 45 minute drive take 3 hours

here are some pics from today. I have realized that my dad is not a good photographer... a total of 10 pictures!?! only one of the car by itself and it's not even in focus! don't worry, I'll get more, better pictures tomorrow! hopefully these will tide some of you over and help ease the wait!