My MA said my MCS could not have gone through the system more perfectly, just handed off from one step to another without delays. A bit of luck to complete just in time for two ships sailing out of England the same day.

Order April 1
Complete April 20
Loaded On Ship April 21
Arrive At Port May 3
Depart VDC May 8
Arrive Dealer May 10
Delivery May 11

Will take some photos this weekend and post them.

 

Wow, your about on the same schedule as us (ordered April 3rd). There's one difference, I'm on the west coast for delivery.

Same schedule but I've got to add on two weeks. Not expected to be to my dealer until the week before Memorial day. I hope so because that weekend we'll probly be driving if for three days straight (three day weekend).

 

WooHoo, everyone's aboard ship , that is great news!

MiniTX, we are all channeling thru you until our cars come in

I learned form my MA today that the dealers get printouts every morning about the status of your car from the time it enters production to the time it clears VDC and is on a truck to the dealer. They just don't like to tell you that they know

My almost nervous breakdown this week: I spoke to my MA early this week and she said that my ship was not due into PH on the 13th as scheduled but is now not due until the end of May and to call back on Friday. So, I called back today and she is busy so another MA says he can look it up and asks for my last name, then he says end of May/beginning of June. I said wait, how could my car leave on 20 April and take 1 1/2 months to get to PH. He says for prod number XXXX, it says end of May/beginning June. I said WAIT my prod number is ZZZZZ, he says wait a sec...lot of paper shuffling sounds...then he says opps, there are 2 others people with your last name with cars coming in that time and that they typically only look up last names, not prod numbers. Yours is due in on 16 May and will be ready for pick up early the following week, so get you financing ready. PHEW! Prod numbers...a good thing!

 

well, my luck's run out, or at least taking a break. after not missing a beat from factory to ship to VDC, mine (due in to the dealer thursday) is still somewhere between here and there. no call from the dealer tonite, so probably not going to Cinci tomorrow to pick it up.



congrats to all who are already motoring

 

`

 

As I've said before, my dealer is the same way.... long response times. Especially when I'm asking a question about the car such as what boat is it on. Questions like how much to install something come in faster I've noticed.

 

I hear ya PrplPplEtr; no call from my MA either. Looks like I'll picking it up next weekend instead of today Who is your MA? Mine is Jay.

 

When dealing with my dealer, I had to keep on them learning to dial the switchboard and have him paged vs direct dial or getting info out of the marketing girl.

The car arrived, I called first thing and the girl said it was there so I said that I will be there at 1pm and will be sitting waiting for it.

When I got in, the took me back to the finance guy and they said Citibank can finance it for .25% less then the rate I had, said ok.... they listed out all the doo haaa programs, took the maintance pack for 4 years / 50,000 miles and 15 minutes later I was done.

Car was headed back for the cleaning and putting the ipod integration in so they gave me a Mini loaner to bum around in. The loaner was a yellow convertiable cooper with an automatic which I drove around for an hour and came back preferring to wait at the dealer - did I say I am glad I got an MCS hard top with a six speed.

I finally got out of the dealer at 7:40pm, got home, pulled the factory rims and tires off and had my Centerlines and Goodyear Eagles on by 10pm.

Have put 250 miles on it over the past 2 days,,, it is a hoot to drive. Will take pictures Sunday AM.

 

Sorry to hear about eveyones problems with their MAs. I have a great experience so far with my MA. She sends me email updates and then calls to make sure that I got her emails. She sent me an email last week saying that my MINI has been shipped. I got a followup call on Friday and she told me that my MINI was on the NYK Centaurus Leader.

Minitee and M1, I found this link about our ship with some pics. http://www.carcarrier.de/html/centaurus_leader.html

 

Thanks sfgrunge! I wasn't sure which ship we were on, hopefully we're on the same one. The Centaurus Leader looks like a nice ship, built in 2004.

I tried looking up the ship tracking info on http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shi...html?call=HOOB (the Centaurus Leader's call sign) but nothing came up.

The site for PH scheduled arrivals ( http://www.sdmis.org/schedule/ ) shows that Centaurus Leader is estimated to arrive on May 28th.
This meshes with the earlier post by sfodoug. I'll have to keep an eye on the week 18 thread more, since some of them are on the Centaurus Leader.

 

hazel: small world, Jay's my MA too.

and it turns out it was in the trucker's driveway from thursday afternoon till saturday morning... he had a few days off. lol

i could have done the chinese fire drill and got to CINCI saturday afternoon, and they were ready to finish prep on it, but i decided to take it easy, not rush anything or anyone, and take off a little early from work monday and cruise over there to pick it up.

can't wait till monday evening now...

 

Okay, which one of us is obsessed/crazy enough to keep their eye on the panama canal cams on May 20th and save screenshots of the Centaurus Leader as it goes through? I saw somewhere its going to happen at 6am-ish and it won't be me.

 

PrplPplEtr, say hello to my Mini while you're picking yours up and congrats

 

Here is my new Mini with Centerlines and Goodyear Eagle F1's.

 

Wow TX! Looks great! I'm jealous... how is everything so far?

 

I had posted earlier on in this thread and was waiting patiently for the arrival of my MINI. It's here. Picked it up yesterday. What a blast to drive - always looking for an excuse to go somewhere. The only place to buy in Atlantic Canada is Halifax. It arrived a week earlier - so needless to say, we picked it up as soon as we could. (We live in New Brunswick) It's the first "Checkmate" they ordered in Halifax and I'm happy to say we have it. Just love the colour (Space Blue) - a little darker than I had originally wanted, but I can live with it. Sure turns alot of heads and the kids get a kick out of it. With the assistance of this website, I was able to track it with the VIN. Thanks for the help - got to go motoring....

 

Sweeet! Very nice

Have you stopped for food yet or are you still driving around with a big grin

 

that's a damn fine looking car! congrats, love the color

 

The Purple Haze looks much better in person then in a photo,,, in the sun, it is very purple, but as the light dims, it changes to more of a blue.

My MCS is back at the dealer this morning, right after I took the photo and uploaded it, I drove the street and realized the AC was not working, turned around and came back home and it appears that AC condensor had a small leak and was dumping refrigerant out once it was put under the AC requirements of Texas... Mini Roadside assistance came and picked up the little pooter. Hopefully, they can get it fixed today.

 

What do you think of the F1s?

 

F1's are working great,, definite change in ride. With the run flats, I felt like I was driving with tires that had 100 PSI in them,,, the F1 Eagles are much more comfortable, but you still have a firm ride.

I have to say, the car is a blast to drive. As much as you try to get a feel for a car in a test drive, there is no comparison when you get the one you want and can drive it all over the place.

Biggest question I get from people is "isnt it small?" Actually, I dont feel small in it,,, the car is comfortable on the inside and I dont feel cramped (5'11" and 220 lbs). I do notice you cant see any hood when you are driving.

 

Hey to the rest of us boat people, what's the scoop on your coop?

This waiting has got to end, I am spending a fortune on accessories for a car I don't even have yet. I would hate to see how bad it gets once I get it

 

I don't know what boat you folks are on, but I see that an NYK ship -- the Cassiopeia Leader -- was in San Diego yesterday. This would jive with some of the earlier emails about a boat leaving around the 20th of April. Perhaps? Perchance?

http://www.sdmis.org/schedule/

Cheers,
--Doug

 

don't have time yet for more, but wow it's fun!

know what you mean about taking the pictures, i SWEAR it's purple

now to make more time for driving...

 

Just got an email from my MA. She says that my mini should arrive in California on May 20th. That's about 29 days after being built.
I originally thought the 15th.
Does anyone know what boat will be arriving in California on that day? WW site says nothing when my vin# is entered.