Don't count it out...yet! It takes the ship and the WW site from 4 to 6+ hours from departure for the manifests to appear. Mine didn't appear until the Glorious Leader was in the North Sea's shipping lanes!

BTW - Check out the swinging bridge to the southeast of the where the Courage was docked. Note that when the satellite photo was taken, the bridge was pivoting! It seems like the pivot point is on the east bank to allow the bridge to swing out of the entire channel area! I think the bridge under which the Courage sailed must be a drawbridge.



Good thoughts going toward everyone!

 

Thanks Koopah...

I am still hoping to see it show on the manifest today, I know my car has been on the dock 4-5 days don't see how it could have missed the Courage.

 

Ironic morning. Here I am monitoring the marine traffic hoping my All4 makes it on the Mignon while also monitong the CalTrans chain control site waiting for chain requirement to be lifted so I can get on the road. I currently have 3 cars, none of which can be chained.

 

Fredo -- do you have to have chains if you have an AWD? Just noticed this in the Countryman manual:

 

@ Koopah - CalTrans has several levels of chain control, but in reality one of 3 levels is in effect at any given time:
- No restrictions (meaning clear sailing)
- R2 which stands for restricted access level 2. The official rule is 2WD vehicles with chains OR 4WD / AWD with snow tires are allowed.
- C - Road closed

When R2 is enforced they block the road and check for chains or 4WD. They don't check tires so the snow tire requirement is on paper only. If you have 4WD you hold up 4 fingers as you crawl by the check point. I have actually used the 4 finger trick with the R53 which was a big stretch but it worked. I once put chains on it but there was not enough clearance between the struts and tires as I have 215's on it - not doing that again. I do the drive between SF Bay Area and Reno at least 2 to 3 times a month which is why I need a 4WD vehicle for the winter.

So right now I wait for R2 status to go away and wait for the CM to get on the ship. I'll be disapointed if it does not get on the Mignon today.

 

so far I've been checking the OL and no update.
I've been checking the shipping site and entering the last 7 letters/numbers of my vin: https://att.2wglobal.com/gstattweb/

note: this site on my Mac will only work in Firefox, not in Safari or Chrome

so far "no record found" :(

 

Interesting. In some parts of New England there are no requirements for snow tires or chains. On the other hand, there are plenty of places where there are no guard rails either:

White Mountains of New Hampshire (in summer!):

(Photo: Copyright 2007 Josh Wardell)


(Photo: Copyright 2008 Josh Wardell)

The net effect is to capitalize on the theory of "natural selection" as a way to move the population toward a more rational approach to winter driving. In the White Mountains (especially Mt. Washington) a car running off the road and plummeting to the valley floor is know as an "unauthorized descent".

 

Well, looks like" I'm ship out of luck"...

Hopefully the 23rd now, that ship only gets in 2 days later than the Courage

 

Fantastic pictures Koopah and great sites for driving fun!

I'd go for natural selection as well but the truth is it would probably create more delays getting the Siennas and Yukons out of the ditch.

 

I missed the boat as well, but hopefully will get on the next one, Figaro, tomorrow - it arrives in Baltimore 2 days earlier than the Courage!!!

 

Anyone heading to NY know if they made it on the Topeka (leaving 11-23) yet? I'm still showing no records, but according to Ask MINI I'm at the port...

 

Per "Ask Mini," mine has been at port waiting a vessel for 7 days now. My build week was 43. I am in Pittsburgh and hopefully will get a boat soon. Keep getting no record found on shipping site. This wait is unbearable!

White with Black roof, ALL4, Lounge Leather, Black wheels, no bench seat and all the goodies

 

The Topeka just left Spain, it won't dock in Bremerhaven until the 22nd.

You won't see any record until your car is actually on board.

 

I just came back from the dealership and according to them my car is still in Bremerhaven. It did not get there until the 18th so it did not make the Mignon. That means I get to wait at least an extra 16 days for the next ship going to Port Hueneme and I can kiss my $750 MotorTober rebate goodbye.

On top of that they have a gorgeous 05 X5 with only 50k miles on the lot. That model with the 6 cylinder was exactly what I was looking for. The only thing keeping me from getting too excited about it is that it's a V8. They also have a really nice CPO 08 X3 with M sport package and only 13k miles! Both of these were on top of my shopping list but I could not find the right ones at the time. Now that I'm more or less locked into the CM and getting frustrated with the wait they're coming out of the woodworks.

I'm a little conflicted as to whether I should keep waiting or go for that X3.

 

crap, I guess that means mine didn't make the boat either.
I guess Mini doesn't want to book that sale in 2011. oh well.

My friend has an X3 in Tahoe that I've ridden in several times, already had
to replace an interior door panel for some reason I can't remember,
and his heated site are burning through the seats. Seats are pretty hard and rigid. OVerall feels like a stiff ride. Not a huge fan. Get the Countryman.

 

i would pursue the 750, since i dont think something out of your control should be held against you. speak with the MA, SM, GM...dont give up

 

Damn... if that's the case, I'm probably in the same boat (or not in the same boat).... if I look it up on the WW site, it should come back if it's loaded right?

 

I'm finally AT the port of exit. I think Mini should sell a Fast-Pass that would let you cut in line. At this point, I'd gladly fork over an extra $250 to ensure I get my car by Christmas and beat the MotorTober deadline.

 

Yep, we're probably both in the same situation. The one difference is that you are much closer to the VDC so you might still get it before the $750 rebate turns into a pumpkin.

With the next ship arriving Port Hueneme on Dec 28th, I just don't see how mine will make it to Reno by Jan 3rd when you factor in the holiday and potential for highway 80 closures due to snow.

 

OL still says: awaiting transport ( I believe this updated the 18th for me, my local time)

866-ASK-Mini says: Awaiting transport (at port) on the 19th (must be local time at the port). They also say they will have no more info as far as when it's on the boat, or what boat, but to ask the MA. Going by the OL, the next possible status is "En Route", which is when the vehicle is being trucked from the receiving port.

Seems like 866-Ask -Mini is reading the same script as the OL.

My MA is MIA, lol.

I wasn't expecting to take delivery in December anyways, and at this point, just one less thing to deal with as the holidays approach. There's no snow in Tahoe anyways :(

 

My OL and the automated voice on Ask Mini say "awaiting transport," but while automated Ask Mini says "awaiting transport to the port of exit," when I talked to a live person at Ask Mini (on the 16th), she swore up and down that my car was actually at the port already. Since my car was finished on the 14th and only released to carrier on the 15th, I'm not sure that she was correct about my car actually being at the port already. So I'm a bit confused, too. I should probably email my MA, but I feel guilty about sending him too many emails. I might call Ask Mini again today and talk to a real person again.

I'm just PRAYING my car gets on the Topeka on the 23rd-- it has to be if I'm going to have any chance of getting my car before Christmas! We're going out of town over Christmas, and I'd hate to have to wait an extra 10 days to pick it up! Plus we're going to be road tripping it, and I'd really like to be able to take Barnaby!

 

Those of you in CA etc may not have a full 16 day wait for a boat. BMW/MINI has been contracting with other carriers to fill in the gaps. Much harder to track, but you can at least get an idea of boats from the ship schedule at Port Hueneme. It is only 4 weeks, so you may have to wait a bit to see the next ship. Good luck.

 

For me, the OL still says "awaiting transport", but the ASK-MINI auto look-up says she is at the port. Missed another boat yesterday (Figaro), so now hoping I get on the ship to Baltimore on Dec 3rd (Taiko). At this rate, it should be well ahead of the original estimate of January or February, but may be cutting the Mototober deadline really close. I contemplated making an offer on the ALL4 now on the lot (very close to my order), but would much rather get exactly what I wanted, the allusive bench-seated model.

 

well, I heard from my MA and she did say that there's no update on the system that my car has gotten on a boat. However, she did say that it isn't unlikely that it's part of a smaller shipment of cars that might not get updated until a few days at sea....like a previous post stated, there's a big push for Mini to get all the cars that they have stateside to get it booked as sold before the end of the year... really don't know what that means but here's hoping.....

 

My car (still on a truck to Denver) was on a non-WW boat that only had CM and no other MINIs. OL said it was waiting for a ship up to the time it checked in at the VDC. Ask Mini updated 3 days after the boat left Bremerhaven. My MA got an update one week after the boat left. The info sent to my MA had the expected arrival date at Port Hueneme, but not the ship name. So there really is hope that yours is on a boat, or will be soon.