I help with the PDI process in Service, so I'll probably be one of the first ones to know.

 

Hi there, new member here!

I ordered an F55 on 6/26 and production was completed on 7/10. At that point I was thinking I could get my car ahead of the 6-8 weeks estimate.

I saw there was a WW ship scheduled for 7/14 and was crossing my fingers my car would make it to Southampton on time. Unfortunately even though the car was at the terminal at 07:48 am it did not make that ship.

Then the car sat for 6 days until the next ship arrived and loaded which was 7/20. However it did not make that ship either and was "RETURNED TO SHIPPER" once more.

Any insights as to what's going on here? Is it just that there a large backlog of cars to be shipped to the west coast?

Thanks!

 

Welcome HBB! Not sure why your car would be returned to shipper unless maybe no room on the vessel. That stinks!

 

Yes, it has actually been returned to shipper twice since it was originally booked for the 7/14 ship. Now I'm hoping it makes it on the 7/30 ship. I'm thinking I might go personally to Southampton and slip $20 to the person loading the cars...

 

The "returned to shipper" thing happened for several hundred MINI's due to a labor strike, according to MINIUSA via emails sent to my dealership. My JCW was also one of them caught up in the mess, so I know the frustration.

 

I have to laugh. When the 2015's were finally released after that long hold on them, we got 34 new cars in one day. Pretty much chaos that day. Even the 5 truck drivers were shocked. There's wasn't enough room for the trucks.

 

Interesting, so that's something you've known about? Can you expand on anything that I missed?

Thanks

 

Remember about a year ago when the VDC/DOT kept all the incoming 2015 Minis in jail over the MPG sticker supposedly being inaccurate? They were there for a couple months, and then all released at the same time to go to the dealers evidently.

 

Oh, I see. Jaque_Mate was talking about back then, not the thing right now.

 

Yes - let's hope that doesn't happen with the 2016's this year!!

 

I know someone who's 2016 MINI has been sitting at the VDC now for 2 weeks and has not been released yet... Yikes... Not good news...

 

Just got a message from my dealer this morning, informing me that 2016's are being held at the vpc and they do not have a release date yet :(

The only info they have is "holds: engineering data, release" - whatever that means...

 

Thanks for the update. Now I don't feel so bad about my car sitting in Southampton.

 

We were told to expect 15 PDI's soon. Maybe one will be a 2016.

 

Mine made it onto a vessel today!! Travelling on the Torino with arrival to Halifax Aug 3. Hopefully minimal delays after that.

I ordered at the end of May, car built July 10.

 

 

Me too! Mine is on the same ship, so excited apparently it needs to get inspected before it goes to the dealer. does anyone know how long that typically takes?

 

That's not good, means the gubment is holding it up. Last year they sat around for a couple of months as I recall.

 

I should have know to come to you all first. Have been trying to find out the ship my car was on. It is on the Eurasian Highway and will be in GA today. We are new to Florida and the MINI dealer we are using and for some reason I could not get the ships name out of him. But reading your site and calling ASK MINI is found out my info. Thanks again. Can't wait to get my 4th Mrs. Peel in the next few weeks.

 

What part of Florida are you from? I am in Florida too and my 2016 is on the Eurasian Highway as well . Sunshine MINIs is a great MINI club in the state - hope to see you at a meet soon!

 

Don't think so this time around... Got confirmation that a MINI dealership up north received their first 2016's this past weekend. The hold apparently is for cars at the Brunswick VPC :(

 

We moved to Viera, Florida. We are right off Interstate 95. There are more and more MINI's around this area. That is great too see.

 

Nice!! West Palm area here. Which dealer did you use for your 2016?

 

Do you happen to know the specific name of the dealership that received the 2016's? I'm curious to see if I can spot their new 2016's in their online inventory to see what the result of the fog light delete for 2016's looks like. When I ordered my mini (currently on the Asian Vision which is due into CA on August 4th incidentally) I didn't realize the Justa's no longer come with fog lights by default (grrrrr). I've looked and looked but can't find any owner photos for 2016's yet. Also, it'd be nice to confirm without a doubt that there is no EPA hold up.

 

Orlando MINI was the nearest. About an hour away. Wish there was one closer. The Melbourne BMW dealer said he would sell MINI's but doesn't have the room. My husband drives a BMW so we will keep working on him.