We ordered an '06 MCS from MINI of Sterling on 27 June and gave them our deposit. Our salesman has yet to give us a production number although he says that our car has been ordered. He says that the reason is that the Regional Manager has not gotten back to his Sales Manager to let him know if our car will clear an allotment that will be produced in July before the factory closes for the August holiday. If not it is looking like late-September or early October.

Has anyone else experienced this uncertainity when ordering their MINI? Is this common? How long before I should expect to receive a production number?

 

From all my experience, the production number *IS* the order - if there's no production number, there isn't an order yet

 

And the Mini factory is going through an overhaul, and is going to start putting out 07's around Septemberish... You may not be able to order an 06, though there would normally be a formal announcement if that were true.

 

I ran into this last year - I was going to have to get an '06 model, but the found an allocation in one of the last weeks of '05 production for me. In my case, this was important because I wanted Jet Black and they were discontinuing the color.

So, I'd agree - you don't have an actual order with the factory, just an agreement with the local dealer that he/she is trying to find you a "slot" that matches your need.