You are right, sir! Good idea...however...what about the clear bra? Hmmmm...I'm complicating things...AGAIN. Since it's not at the dealership yet...I could cancel the clear bra...hmmmm...oh man.

But, I'm taking a road trip right after I pick it up...hmmm...ummm...errrr....:impatient

 

Yeah, my camera is being stupid and not uploading pics onto my computer. I have been trying to fix it for the last 2 hours with no luck, so I will try it at work tomorrow or try again tomorrow night. I think the pics probably turned out great though. I did a sunset shoot against a blue window'd building. We shall see.

Drew

 

Have them take the stripes off first.

 

So early (waaay too early) tomorrow morning I'm flying off to Utah for a conference this week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my Mini sails through the VDC and makes it out there by Friday... but I'm not too optimistic. I tried to call my MA on Friday, and discovered that she has "retired" from Mini of Murray to spend more time with her family. I finally managed to get ahold of the fellow who has taken over her accounts - and he wasn't too encouraging about the likelihood it'll get there this week. And what really bites is that back when it looked like the mini'd be in SLC this week I had arranged to have my folks fly out from the East coast to watch my 3 little monsters so my wife could join me for the drive back next weekend... aargh!

anyway...
Have a good week y'all. Keep the shiny side up!

 

Thats pretty dissapointing tethernaut. Do what I did though, and get in touch with the sales manager or even the manager of the store, just so that they know the urgency of your pick-up. I was lucky enough that mine arrived early, but they had already promised me that even if the truck came in on Thursday night, I would be motoring on Friday morning early. Considering the situation you are in (MA leaving, new MA may not fully understand the urgency, and living a great distance away) they will probably do all that they can to help you. Did you order any accessories that would need to be installed at the VDC or dealership?

Drew

 

Personally, I like the stripeless look. Then again, I don't like drawing attention from the local gendarmes, and prefer subtle......

 

In an attempt to stir up some conversation in here while we all wait for the West Coast deliveries....

Lets hear some MINI motoring stories!!! Here are a couple from my recent drives....

I've gotten to a point where I don't even realize how quickly I take certain turns. The reason I say this is because I took a friend out for a drive the other day, and as we approached a turn I take on a daily basis she grabbed the door pull bar and yelped "OH S#!T!!!" I had the windows down, so everyone sitting at the light heard her as we made the turn. I got a couple of laughs out of them as they saw me grinning and heard her screaming. She started giggling after we made it through the turn though, and quickly asked if I could take the next one a little faster.

One of my car buddies decided he wanted to see what all the fuss has been about, so I took him out for a "DSC-OFF" ride through a nice section of road. He quickly (and I really mean quickly) learned how amazing the handling of these little cars is, and also found out why I wear these funny looking shoes (heel & toe) as well as the real reason for a $500 Limited Slip Differential. I think the best part was when we approached a turn, he read "30MPH" on the sign, and found out my favorite reason to keep the Speedo in the center... His response: "Ok, so I was about to s#!t myself when I saw your speed approaching the turn, but you gained another 10MPH through it!!!" I think he'll be placing his order sometime soon.

Ok, now those are just 2 of my many stories so far, but hopefully some of the others will have some too, and maybe this will bring back the excitement after the long wait the west coast guys and gals have been dealing with.

Drew

 

Hey t,

Wish I had some more info...esp. about the VDC processing time. My MA is out but my old MA is the Sales Mgr. Am going to contact her today for updated info. As of Friday (when I emailed to confirm my 8/16 delivery...she said "...can't promise that...have to see how quickly your MINI goes through VDC..."

Seems to me Jake would have to be on a truck today sometime to make a Wednesday evening delivery.

Will post as soon as I hear. Will cross my fingers, your baby is waiting in Utah for you...or catches up to you!

 

Strikes me as the same lack of basic respect and consideration as with all the craiglist people flaking out. Your old MA could have at least had the decency to contact her clients (or at least those nearing delivery) and give them a head's up. Failing that, someone at the dealership should have.

 

My MA warned me not to get to attached to any ETA's, because any Mini can miss a truck, and be bumped to the next truck. Sometime's a days delay.

 

Just emailed my "sub" MA. My guess is my delivery isn't going to happen this Wednesday. Seems way too fast. I'd rather expect later and get it sooner. I'm surprised my MA kept our appt (which seemed early to me) esp. after the 2-day delay.

Well, I'm going to expect that it will be this weekend (which is fine). I had 8/20 as a "goal" in my mind. Seems more appropriate/doable than the 16th.

We'll see. Will let you all know what the "boss" says at my dealership.

 

Just called ASK MINI on the remote chance they may have info. Nada. However, the rep asked me for my ADDRESS. I said "Well, now you can mail me the secret black box." He said that new owners will get them but not until they/we take delivery. So, don't be checking your mailbox for that!

 

Checking in I will finally be out of break-in on the way home from work today....18 days after pickup. So far, no problems...only things I've added are the AUX and my grille badge holder should be here today. Just need some badges now *L*

 

My MA said they would likely be in on the 17th or 18th. I'm getting the JCW Soundkit put on so mine may not be ready by this weekend. Hope you can get yours while you're down there and say Hi to my PW MC while you're there.

 

Just talked with one of the sales assistants at MINI of Scottsdale. She said that my MINI isn't even unloaded yet.

Needless to say, I won't be taking delivery on Wednesday. I wasn't thinking I would really. Don't know why my MA kept that delivery date.

The ***'t also said that vehicles can be at the VDC 3 days to 2 WEEKS. ARRRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

I give!!!!!!!! I resign myself to driving a gas-sucking gigantic SUV for who knows how long.

WHATEVER!!!!!!!!!!

EDIT 8:25 PM - Wow. I can sure throw a tantrum. Sorry folks.

 

Hey, I sympathise. At another dealership I went to, they said I'd have my MINI in 5 weeks if I ordered it, no problem! We all know that is unrealistic.

I went to a different dealership and I was pleased with my MA who under promised and over delivered. When he originally told me 8 weeks, I asked if that was realistic or optimistic, and that I'd rather know the truth and have a REALISTIC expectation of how long I would have to wait than have smoke blown up my @$$. He said it was realistic. He told me 8 weeks, and Buddha arrived in 7.

 

It's kind of weird. My original MA was really careful about what she promised. My new MA, even though he's MUCH more responsive that the first and talked about how they NEVER want to over promise/under deliver, really set himself up. Even when I told him the ship was running late at the Panama, etc. he STILL kept the delivery date. Plus, I didn't ASK for a delivery date/scheduled he pretty much pushed the issue. I said how about the weekend (meaning 8/19-20) and he suggested the 16th!

Krikey. Oh well, this gives me time to think about the clear bra/custom striping issue. As of now, I'm putting the clear bra install on hold. I'm going to chat with Mike of Aestheticreations and find out if clear bra BEFORE or after matters that much.

When I chatted with him once before, he said he can put stripes OVER the clear bra no problem. And he was VERY pro clear bra. He didn't get his on one of his MINIs straight away and wished he would have.

So, I have a project to work on/keep me busy while I WAIT some more.

 

I'll be having my clear bra re-installed tomorrow, and I hope they don't have a problem removing the old one, since it's over my silver stripe and it better not cause any damage. The clear bra does look great other than my minor problems (dirt under it, and some stretches in the plastic), you can barely see it and I was able to wax over it. Unfortunately the freshly waxed MINI just made the bra mistakes even more glaring....hopefully tomorrow all will be fixed.

 

Could be at the VDC for OVER two weeks! Spoke with my MA yesterday and he's getting his boss to call the SC VDC and ask what the deal is. I was hoping to have mine by Labor Day weekend for the Hill Country Rendezvous, but that's looking slimmer and slimmer.

I did get the price tag yesterday. $33K with ttl.

 

YEEEEHAAWW! Just got a call from Wade, our MA. Gromit is scheduled to be at the dealer tomorrow! Allowing for the possibility of getting bumped to a second truck, we'll probably have him for the weekend and the start of my vacation!

 

Wow Gromit, after seeing Red Ss post I was worried about mine and Teth's getting to SLC by the weekend. Maybe there is a chance ours are on the same trucks that continue on to SLC.

 

Just wanted to give a shout to my PW27SG peeps from Quantico, VA, home of the FBI! I'm here at the FBI academy this week for some training related to my job, and thought it would be cool to check in quickly and say hey. I hope all you west coasters are able to get your MINIs soon!! Nitro is patiently sitting in my driveway, awaiting his appointment with the "plastic surgeon" on Monday. Thankfully, being here this week has taken my mind off of not being able to motor. I just hope I can get back to it soon!

 

There's four Mini dealers in northern CA, and I think if there's more than one stop for the truck Gromit is on, it will be to one of those. SLC Mini's are probably on trucks that will stop in Vegas, etc.

Hope it's soon for you!

 

The manager of my dealership has called TWICE to the SC VDC today with no results. The VDC did confirm that the JCW brakes made it on Mary, but after that, they have no clue. They're "checking into it."

.....grumble...grumble...grumble.....

On the upside, I did manage to get my Mosquito back today. It kind of feels like I'm shifting thru caramel right now, but I guess I'll used to it. Maybe it will loosen up as the new tranny gets broken in.

 

I knew you were with the FBI.