An Important Message from MiniUSA to the Owner of Red Erik:

Dear Sir:
We regret having to inform you that your 2006 Mini fell off the back of the transport truck. Once repairs have been completed we will again try to deliver it safely to your dealership in South Dakota. Best of luck in the future.

The Folks at MiniUSA

 

You have a sick sense of humor, Herby!

 

He should have told him what happend to Ed's 1st MINI, went down with the ship!!

Earl

 

Ah, Herby! Luckily, I thought ahead (see...worrying does pay off) and ordered this special delivery package from NASA for just such an event!!

http://grin.hq.nasa.gov/IMAGES/SMALL...000-000484.jpg

The only problem is trying to figure out the ulimate BIT (bound induced trajectory) pathway from the IPOD (initial point of drop).

 

I don't want to be the cause of sleepless nights, Erik, but I must confess my worst nightmare occurred last week. But from the otherside of the equation, as I am an MA.
To set the scenario;
I had a customer, wonderful fellow, who needed to order a car as a surprise birthday present for his wife. We went through all the options and he managed to get her in for a test drive without giving the game away; he got her favourite colour and the other 'needs' - auto, sunroof, heated seats, etc,etc. So far, so good, she still hasn't sussed us. We put the order in, car arrives a couple of weeks before the birthday; we hang on to it at the dealership. Client comes in and gives the car the once over and we arrange that I will drive the car over to the house on the 23rd. Everything is groovy.
I get to the house and tell the birthday girl that she left something behind at the dealership while handing her a bag with a MINI shirt in it. Her husband is grinning hugely and she doesn't know what to think. I tell her that the rest of it is outside and he tells her to follow me - needless to say she was practically jumping up and down when she saw the car. So we get in and I start going over the features and immediate 'must-knows'.
'Put the clutch in and fire it up' says I. 'What?' says she.
'Put the clutch in' I repeat.
'But I can't drive stick' she says. Ha,ha, very funny, I think. She is having a bit of payback. 'No, I really can't drive a standard' At this point there was a very pronounced 'thunk', as my jaw hit the floor .....I don't think I have ever felt so bad in my life...I call over her husband, who jokingly asks if she doesn't like the colour, and I point out the stick shift. Definately it was my screw up, but luckily they were such a wonderful couple I didn't get skinned and roasted, and the replacement should be here in 7 weeks. But I definately won't be doing that again..felt positively sick for three days...

 

Nice, Erik!

 

Whoa! That would be a weird feeling, Tobias! One would think that the husband would think of manual vs. auto, but in the heat and excitement of trying to plan out every other detail these sort of things happen. I'll bet your stomach was doing flips! One has to ask, however, what happened to the other car...were you able to sell it? My guess would be that perhaps it moved off the lot fairly quickly? Thanks for sharing a story from the other side of the fence!!

 

unfortunately my worst fear has come true too! someone pulled out in front of me after i had my mini for about 4 months and now its been in the shop for 4 months!

perhaps i wont know how to drive standard anymore because its been so long..

 

Why on earth has your car been in the shop for 4 months? What kind of damage was done to it? Yikes!

 

No Erik, it is still here - January is a quiet month, and B.E.P is....a specialised taste..but it'll go

 

Purple was my original color choice, but after seeing one in real time, I decided that the purple was a bit too dark for my taste. Something a bit more electric and louder, with a black roof, would have been cool! Subsequently, I joined the great and powerful CR/B consortium.

 

yep... having driven my mini for 2 years, and recently getting 5-6 close calls... im getting very very scared to drive the mini, i fear that the next close call could have my mini at the scrapeyard....

 

My friends in the office taunted me with this story all the time my MINI was traveling West.... I was very happy to read that my MINI finally rolled off the Elektra last Sunday. Ok, one source of paranoia behind me, probably dozens to go....

 

Front end collision, broken axle, airbag deployed and stuff...
It was about $6000 worth of damage, but I dont think it should take this long...

The good thing is, I got them to install and paint an aero kit for free with my repairs!!

 

I can see why you wouldn't want to ruffle any feathers.....a free aerokit sounds nice, but getting some concrete reasons for what's holding things up is very much in order. Or, if it can't be fixed it should be totalled.

 

I had a sort of similar experience (but no aero kit!). My MINI was with them 6 months, and they did a lot of damage. You HAVE to keep on the repairshop, or they'll just let it slide. Demand to see your car. Be a pain to them, and they'll do what they need to in order to get you out the door.

Is your car being repaired by a BMW/Mini dealer?

Ken

 

Become1...it sounds as though either there are serious repair issues (potential, as pointed out by Herby, for the car being totalled) or the repair shop is not placing your repair as a priority! That is frustrating, existing in limbo like that!

Jersy....your friends apparently did not see the subsequent news reports of the plucky Minis as they emerge triumphant from the bowels of the floundering ship!