I learned something today that may be of interest to those of you who are tracking the delivery of your MINI closely.

I've been very frustrated at my dealer 'cause my car arrived last week, but as of today still can't be delivered due to the absence of something called the the "MCO" (which stands for Manufacturer's Certificate of Origin). The MCO is required in order to title/register the car. Without an MCO, the dealer cannot actually sell the car to you.

I'd been wondering why my dealer has been waiting for nearly a week for this piece of paper...and my dealer has been wondering why it isn't showing up via FedEx as is the standard procedure with the MCOs for the BMWs they also sell. Well, after getting conflicting and ultimately useless info from both the dealer and ASK MINI...today I finally spoke to BMW Customer Relations (the equivalent of ASK MINI...they apparently sit in the same room), and the very helpful guy there did some research for me. It turns out that it's standard procedure for MINI to SNAILMAIL : the MCOs. Apparently MINI operations are "too new" to have established the FedEx-ing procedures. So, the MCO for my car (and presumably all MINIs presently at dealers waiting for these docs) is floating around the good-old US Postal Service.

Seems that procedure is that MCOs get snailmailed from NJ (US MINI HQ) once the dealer verifies that the car has been taken off the delivery truck. The average time (some are shorter and some are longer) is 3 to 5 business days to get the MCO to the dealer.

So....if you're one of those folks (like me) who tracked their car from the factory to the boat to the dock to the VDC to the truck to the dealer...know that you need to add 3 to 5 days from unloading from the truck until the earliest that your dealer can put keys in your hands. Futhermore, the flood of MINIs that arrived in late August has taxed the system so that we're definitely looking at the longer end (if not even a bit longer) of the spectrum for MCO delivery.

Isn't it funny to know that in the end, our wait is determinant upon the post office??? I hope that MINI makes enough money out of us early adopters that they can start using FedEx (or even USPO express mail!) soon

 

3 to 5 business days between getting unloaded from the truck at the dealership?
This is not necessarily true...my Mini was received at Mini of Towson in the afternoon of Thursday, August 1st...I know because I live right near there and I saw the truck come in.....I picked up my Mini in the morning on Saturday, August 3rd. Not once was anything mentioned about an MCO. This is the first I have ever heard of it!



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Oh it's true... As JSun already knows, I'm going through the same rigamarole. Granted it will probably only take a few days, but to get this far and then have to wait even longer is excrutiating.

 

this is the first I've heard of it too. I talked with my dealer this week and she said the day they get the car should be the day I can come buy it. She said they just have to clean it and go through it. I wonder if they made up this so called MCO. hmmm.

 

The thought definitely crossed my mind...

Maybe they do this to keep more MINIs on their lot and in the showroom.

 

Regardless if it exists or not....it sucks that you guys have to go through that....
I didn't have to deal with any of it. I wonder why?

 

Yea I picked up my S the same day it arrived at the dealer, they just cleaned it up and I came and got it, no MCO ever mentioned? But then again I waited from March until June to get the little guy!

 

Hi, I"ve been reading the forums for a while now and decided to join as my MINI should be here any day...but I think I'll cry if I have to wait an extra 3-5 days for a MCO...I know for most of you it won't seem like a long time but tomorrow is 9 weeks...my dealer originally told me that we needed to order her but after the order was placed...it turns out I could have bought one right off the lot (they have about 15 available) Patience is a virtue and all but once its here...I want to bring her home!! :smile:

 

Well, I CAN say that a certificate of origin is a genuine thing and is required at the purchase of any new vehicle. I've seen them for all of the new cars I've ever bought (usually because I've not been fortunate enough to have the dealer handle all of my registration paperwork...I've usually done it myself). What I didn't know before now was how the certificate got from the maunfacturer to the dealer.

My suspicion is that when MINIs were (relatively) trickling into dealers, MINI HQ could keep up with the flow and the MCOs got to the dealers in a timely manner. Now that the spigot has been opened wide (at least for the end of the 2002 year), they got jammed up.

The good news for me is that my car's MCO arrived in today's mail...and I can pick up my car on Saturday!

 

I don't know if this is how it is everywhere but when I spoke to my salesperson today(my MINI should be in tomorrow) she told me that if I was going to put new plates on my MINI then I would have to wait 3-5 days for the MCOs to arrive before it could be registered...but if I was transferring plates that I could get it right away.
Sue

 

The MCO (also called MSO domestically for Manufacturer's Statement of Origin) is recquired in every state (except Michigan) for the issuance of a state title document. This protects people from buying stolen, salvage, rebuilt etc. vehicles and being misled into thinking they are new.
In some states, like Florida, the dealer can deliver the car to the customer without physically having the MCO as long as it is delivered to the state for title issuance within 30 days. In other states this is not the case...the dealer must have the MCO to make delivery. I hope this helps.

 

>>The MCO (also called MSO domestically for Manufacturer's Statement of Origin) is recquired in every state (except Michigan) for the issuance of a state title document. This protects people from buying stolen, salvage, rebuilt etc. vehicles and being misled into thinking they are new.
>>In some states, like Florida, the dealer can deliver the car to the customer without physically having the MCO as long as it is delivered to the state for title issuance within 30 days. In other states this is not the case...the dealer must have the MCO to make delivery. I hope this helps.

Thanks, that does help!

I've always wondered about those states with 30-day rules...it seems to me that if I was going to sell a stolen car, 30 days would be plenty of time for me to disappear before the buyer figured it out. It's nice to know that FL gives criminals a break