I agree, waiting is agonizing!

 

Joe, did you order yours at Mini of Monmouth?

 

Yes I did, why?

 

Me too. I wonder why you had to wait a week for a Production Number, whereas my MA said he would have it the minute he put the order in the system, and said he was eager to get it in. I finalized my order late Friday afternoon via email, and I'm really not sure when he entered the order into the system. I had heard nothing back, so I emailed him this morning to confirm that they had actually ordered the car, and he emailed me back right away with the Production Number, so I'm guessing he ordered the car Friday night or Saturday.

 

I looked back at everyone's wait times over the last 3 months, and the wait seems to be shortening somewhat I think. Maybe they have added daily capacity in Graz, or maybe worldwide demand is off? That might explain the low interest incentive and the Test Drive Takedown. Each of the dealers I visited before ordering seemed to have plenty of stock given that the CM is a rather low volume model, and each of them (except for one) were ready to make major price concessions. So perhaps that's good news in terms of wait time for people just about to order now?

 

Every step so far for me has been a nightmare. I had been into the dealer several times in the weeks leading up to my ordering, and my MA was very helpful. I took a half day off of work to go place my order on March 30. When I sat down, he told me that it was their new policy, as of that wek, that you had to put down a 10% deposit if you were ordering a car. I wasn't prepared for this, but texted my wife and she said to go ahead and put it on the credit card. In hindsight, I should have walked out and taken my business elsewhere. But the dealer is 5 minutes from my office and I had already taken the time off from work and I would have had to take another day off to go somewhere else, because I needed to get home to watch the kids because my wife was working that night. After ordering, he told me that since it was the end of the month, I wouldn't have to wait for my order to be put in, and that he would email me the production number on Monday. Late Monday I emailed him asking about the production number. He emailed back saying he'd have it by Thursday at the latest. Thursday came and went, and I emailed him on Friday, he replied a few hours later saying he got it, and that he'd email it to me later. He did email it a couple hours later, but my status hasn't changed from "on order" in the week and a half since then. I'm not happy at all with my experience so far, and if anyone asks me if I'd recommend MINI of Monmouth, I'd have to say no at this point. And I still can't get an answer about what "daily packing production" means, from anyone!

 

Just an fyi....my build was super fast - ordered 3/23 and finished 4/4. This past weekend I watched a Wallenius & a K-Line vessel on AIS load at Southampton and I am still waiting for news the car has shipped. That seems to be the big bottleneck!

 

I assume you are referring to your wife's MCS, and not the CM? CM's leave Europe from Germany after assembly in Austria.

 

I've never heard anyone else here mention "daily packing production" either. Cannot imagine what that might mean. Monmouth made me put down $2500 on my credit card, which I did not object to since I ordered a rather unusual option combination, but I did everything over the phone as I'm an hour away...I've never even been to the dealer in person. What I really did like is that they agreed to more than $2000 off MSRP with minimal haggling. As you probably know they are a Ray Catena dealership, and I bought a Mercedes from them a few years ago. My experience was that they are not perfect, but better than most.

 

The CM - I just used Southampton as a point of last departure from Europe.

 

Hi Steve, I was not aware that the boats from Bremmerhaven stop at Southhampton on their way here. But it does make sense as they are probably also delivering Benz's and Bimmers (and Countrymen!) to England. Thanks again for your help on the certificate.

 

Holy Toledo!!
I got a message saying my CM is on the water. As I cannot track her on Wallenius Lines, I can only assume I am on the K-Line Bishu Highway that is heading directly Brunswick, GA., eta 4/25. I need to call my dealer in the morning as we are also discussing stripes.

Confirmed on the Bishu Highway....arrives Brunswick, GA 4/25, expected 7 days at VDC to install driving lights and two days transit to dealer eta at the dealer is May 4.

 

Wow, that would be less than 5 weeks from order to port arrival! Glad I added a provision to my Sales Order that I can delay delivery until the dealer has their TDTD event.

 

Hey shark, any idea when Monmouth's TDTD event is? They'll honor the $750 discount as long as you attend, correct?

 

May 18th. You need to sign up in advance on Mini's website, and technically you need to have the certificate in hand by the time the car is delivered, although there is a procedure on the Dealer Bulletin for TDTD that tells them they can give you the $750 if your delivery is the same day as the event. If your car has been delivered before the event you attend, you don't qualify. But you can attend the event at another dealer who is holding their event earlier, although you may have to travel some distance to accomplish this. In that case it sounds like you need to allow a few days after the event for Mini to email you the certificate. The earliest I saw in this part of the country was a dealer in Latham NY (by Albany) that is May 5th. The schedule is on Mini's website. Unless you really need the car sooner than later, maybe you should be wishing your car does not arrive too soon! Sounds like Mini is being adament that the dealers follow the rules regarding timing, as the dealer bulletin specifically states that the program is not meant for customers who already had cars on order prior to the event. On the other hand, the bulletin also says that if a customer shows up to take delivery and has a valid certificate in hand, they will honor it.

 

I just signed up for the May 18th event. At the rate things are going for me, I highly doubt my car will be in before then!

 

See you there

 

I finally heard from my MA today, and he said that I'm scheduled for production the first week of May. Hopefully your timeline is better than mine.

 

Joe, that does seem like a long time from production number to build date. What options did you order? I wonder if something you ordered is in short supply so they delayed your build date? Look at it this way...at least you should have no complications getting the $750. Not surprisingly I've heard nothing about a build a date for mine as I ordered it just a few days ago.

 

I doubt that it is due to the options I ordered, because I got very few options. I ordered true blue base model with white roof and white bonnet stripes, rear spoiler, white tunnel spoke wheels, all weather tires, anthracite headliner, piano black cockpit surface, chrome line interior, sport seats, HK radio, Bluetooth/iPhone cable, center arm rest. None of the packages, nothing out of the ordinary. I just attribute it to my rotten luck.

 

Oh, and I forgot, the rear bench seat.

 

Recently ordered a CMS and here are my dates so far:

Ordered: 4/9/12
Production Number: 4/10/12
Vin Assigned: ???
Production Started: 4/11/12
In Body Shop: ???
In Paint Shop: 4/19/12
In Assembly: 4/20/12
Completed: TBD
At the Port: TBD
Arrived U.S.: TBD
Arrived at Dealer: TBD

 

WTH???? How is it possible that your car is being built 2 days after ordering, and mine is still not being built 3 weeks later, and now I'm told I'm scheduled to start the first week of May, OVER A MONTH AFTER I ORDERED?????? Is my dealer that low on the totem pole or something? I SOOOOOOOO regret not walking out when they sprung on me that they needed a 10% deposit to order a car. Probably why they institued the 10% policy in the first place, because people were canceling their orders once they realized they would have to wait so long! CAN YOU TELL I'M NOT HAPPY??????? Happy for you that your timeline is so good though!

 

I feel your pain - I would be frustrated too. Maybe your dealer's production allocations are just all spoken for already. But I'm not expert in this - that's merely a guess.

I don't know why mine happened so fast. I do have a lease expiring soon, and maybe they took a production slot so that my new Mini would be to the dealer about the time that my current Mini needs to be turned in.

Good luck to you...

 

From what I know after talking with my MA, each dealership is allowed a certain number of production spots. If your car wasn't one of the spots it can take an extra 2-4 weeks. So sorry MCJoe that's a long time to wait! I'm ordering Tuesday (at TDTD) and hoping that it will be here before the July 2 deadline.