Ordered in late May with fully loaded and asked for July build due to Apple CarPlay and revised features. Added Active Driving Assist and Chrome Stylish Interior two weeks before production date

 

Thank you! Hopefully there won't be a long delay with my order. Salesman said I should have it by Fall here on the East Coast. I wanted to wait for the Apple CarPlay as well so I did not pre-order early. Wanted to test drive it and see it in person first before selecting options.
Now just anxious to get a VIN and production date.

 

It took almost one month to work with the dealer to get a build slot for Hybrid and another week to get a VIN

 

I believe it. This issue came up well into the closing of the deal, while they were trying to submit the order. They had zero reason to disallow this. It's apparently a new issue. I'm sure I won't be the only one.

 

My salesman said they are only allocated one build slot for the SE and one for JCW at the time I ordered mine. The built slot was already taken for an early preorder on the SE so I have to wait for another slot to open up. I'm first on the list but not sure how long of a wait it will be for a slot to open. Don't mind waiting for one as long as it's not going to be a 5 or 6 month wait because of the Drive Assist option! Hoping that will not cause a problem as some others have posted.

 

Going to call my dealer today and see if he's aware of this delay.

 

Just spoke with 1-866-ASKMINI customer rep and she said that they have not heard of any production delays when choosing the Active Drive Assistant. She said they would be flooded with calls if this were true. She did say that each dealership is different and depending how many allocation production slots they are given may increase a wait time on ordering and that "actual sold" customer orders are given a Priority #1 as opposed to regular "stock" orders that the dealership may order to have on hand. Currently, I'm am awaiting a slot opening and that may take additional weeks before I get a production date.

 

At least two dealers told me the earliest slot they can get is in August

 

That sounds about right to me. I expected I wouldn't get a production date until next month. Don't mind waiting until the Fall for delivery. As long as there isn't an extended delay in production with the Active Driving Assistant!

 

Choose the dealer they can give you the earliest build slot and you can trust. Normally the dealership with better sales may get more slots easily and quickly. That is why I chose one and pushed them to get one slot quickly

 

Only have one dealership near me when I initially test drove it. Locked into this one but I'm not in a great hurry as long as I will have delivery before the snow flies here in New England.
I originally was going to order the Countryman S ALL4. They had just gotten the hybrid in and decided to test drive that one as well. SE better suited my needs. Sales are strong at this dealership for the Countryman so I don't think there will be too long a wait before I receive a production date. Would have go to out-of-state to check out other dealerships and that wasn't appealing to me. This will be my 2nd Mini. Currently still own 2004 Cooper S R53 and she is still going strong;-)

 

What region are you in?

 

My dealers next Countryman SE slot is 2019 Model year. He only got two for the year. The stock one they shipped everybody and the one I ordered for 2018.

 

Washington DC area

 

Wow! That's not going to help sales

 

As mentioned above, the 2018 JCWs are also rationed. I understand my dealership had to horse-trade to get an open JCW slot. They claim they were able to get one for me because they are the largest MINI dealer on the East coast and because I'm a returning customer. I don't really care how, I'm just glad they found a slot for me.

According to ASK MINI, my JCW is scheduled for production, with no confirmed date. The wait continues.

These extremely small quotas on the SE and JCWs seem very counter productive. My understanding was that MINI had too many Countryman on the dock and at dealers, therefore they are scaling back production. Okay, cut back on dealer stock orders but ramp up on buyer orders (Priority 1 vehicles). That way, buyers can get their cars sooner and the glut of stock cars slowly reduces as people buy off the lot. Later they can ramp up stock order production again.

 

Based on the site http://bimmer.work/ and my VIN, it seems that about 5 SEs are built at the Neth. plant everyday

 

Here's the JCW we stumbled across at the dealer. Now safe and sound at home!

 

Looks great

 

Okay, I'm officially jealous. The JCW looks great! I can only take comfort in the fact that in two months or so when I finally get my car, your car will probably have hundreds of thousands of miles on it and the wheels will be falling off. Then I'll have a brand new car in MY garage!

 

LOL! Yes, but in a year it will probably only have 3000 miles. My wife's commute is 3 miles per day. In the summer she drives her Miata.

 

I agree that buyers orders should be priority #1. At my dealership the Countryman inventory is sold down but they have a lot of Clubman's on the lot which they are currently giving discount incentives. Plus, with so many lease incentive promotion more and more people are opting to lease out rather than buy outright. When did you order your JCW?

 

Gorgeous!!! I'm drooling here

 

I'm exactly the same way. I drive my Mazda RX8 on Mondays and Fridays when the DC traffic is sometimes reasonable. It has a stick so all that stop/go traffic is tiresome. It only has 35000 mi after 14 years. I currently use my Clubman on all other days (to be replaced by the Countryman.) It only has 23000 after 5 years. Both look showroom new.

 

July 5, so only a little over 2 weeks ago. According to ASK MINI it is "Scheduled for Production" but with no confirmed date.