...Ask-Mini just informed me that my car is in the paint shop and scheduled for completion on Monday (11/1). What should be my realistic expectation for my car to arrive at the dealer? I'm on the East coast, Atlanta to be specific. I've been told at the dealer to expect 4 weeks once the car is produced, so I've always been looking at the week after Thanksgiving (the original production date was week 45, next week). What do you think?

 

My car was completed on 10/13. It shipped out on 10/16 from Southampton and arrived 9 days later in the port of NY. Once at the port it will spend some time at the VPC (could be a few days, or even weeks if they have to do repairs to damage caused in transit etc.). My car landed in NY on 10/25 and was actually due to reach my dealer in Buffalo (~450 miles away) on 10/28....much sooner than my MA anticipated when we originally placed the order.

 

Mine reached Buffalo 4 weeks after production. Was slow leaving Southhampton but delivered to me 6 days after arriving in the states.

 

I got my MINI in Atlanta, too (Hank Aaron). Production started on 5/4. Production was scheduled to be completed on 5/14. When I spoke to the nice people at ASK-MINI on 5/14, Pig was "riding the rails" to the dock.

I'm pretty sure he set sail around the 18th or 21st. He arrived at the VPC around 6/4 (I think) and I picked him up at Hank Aaron on 6/12.

So, to make a long explanation short , it was about one month from the paint shop to pickup for me.

If you're working with Hank Aaron, don't expect them to know anything about the delivery process. I got the impression that they know NOTHING about the timeline of the car until it arrives at their dealership.

Hang in there. The waiting is the worst, but it is sooooo worth it .

 

Sounds about right. Both my deliveries were almost exactly one month after production completion, and those 4 weeks seem pretty average for a MINI that doesn't get hung up at the VPC (Vehicle Prison Center) Expect your car to show up at your dealership after Thanksgiving. :smile:

 

Thanks for all the replies - it sounds like the consensus is a month to go. That's just fine, it gives me time to save a few more pennies for the down payment. Really looking forward to ending the wait, and motoring in December!

 

I received my MINI 5 weeks after placing my order, but I understand that it is unusual to get it that quickly. Some of it depends on the date your MINI reaches Southhampton versus the date that the ship sails. I was lucky in that mine arrived at the port, was loaded, and sailed for the US all on the same day. It also went through the inspection at the VPC very quickly.

The 4-week after production estimate sounds reasonable, but there are many factors that can effect your actual delivery time.

 

Looks like we'll both be on the same boat! Mine's complete tomorrow and also heading to Global like yours. Mine was also to start building on week 45 but they slipped it in two weeks early. Now if I could just sell my current ride I'd be happier. Anybody want to buy a slightly used Passat?

 

Have you been to Wallenius Wilhelmsen's site? There are about 328 MINIs sitting on the docks at Southampton, waiting to be loaded on the Liberty. Then on to Charleston, SC, with a scheduled arrival on 11/15.

(Great info on tracking your order at MINI2 forum here)

Several of the MINIs arrived at the docks on 11/1; a few even have today's date (11/2).

The ship is due to sail on 11/5. Maybe ours will be crossing the pond together!

 

Got the latest status from Ask-MINI tonight, and the car is being "transported to port of exit".

Lombard, did you need the VIN (instead of the production number) to get the info in your post? All I have is the production number, but I'm sure I could get the VIN from the dealer if it would help. That 11/5 sailing date sounds feasible, but I've read enough stories of disappointment to not get too excited.

Hey Vedub, hope we both see our cars at Global soon!

I'm happy the car is completed and on its way to the port. Of course, now I'm getting greedy and want it to make the ship date this Friday. Nothing to do but wait and see what happens ( and grind my teeth just a little).

 

go to ol.miniusa.com and u can see ur vin there under vehicle options

 

2 MINIs & I took delivery on both exactly 4 weeks after production was finished. Thinking about a 3rd next year

Lois

 

Yeah, you need your VIN to get the info at Wallenius Wilhelmsen. If you don't have it yet, you can register at the MINI Owner's Lounge (they'll ask for your production number) and then click on "Track Your MINI." Then after the little circular animation does its thing, click on "View Order Details." (I'm doing this from memory, but it should be close.) Otherwise, you could probably get your VIN by calling 1-866-ASK-MINI and talk to a human. (Haven't tried this, but I assume it would work.) Or your dealer.

If your status is "transported to port of exit" - that's what mine is! There's a whole bunch of cars "received at terminal" on 11/2 and 11/3. We may be shipmates! And Vedub, too! (Hmmm. Not sure how Tillie will feel about sailing with someone named Vedub, though. Or 62Lincoln, for that matter!)

Ahoy, matey! Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!

 

Oh, yeah - I was so excited about finally finding someone who will be on the same ship, I forgot to add:

My MA (Julie at Classic MINI in Cleveland) said they figure the car will be ready to pick 30 days after your production date. I'm not sure how "dealer-specific" that is (ie, how long it takes to get to Cleveland vs. some other city), but my production date was 10/24 and she said to plan on 11/24 arrival. (Great - the day before Thanksgiving!) So we're planning on picking up the car the following weekend - 12/4 or thereabouts. We figure that will give us a little cushion, too, in case there's a snag along the way. Don't want to be sitting around Cleveland with nothing to do!

 

LOL!! Don't worry, I'm sure myself and 62Lincoln will behave on the boat.

Here's the link for anybody that's curious: http://schedule.2wglobal.com/AppTracking/cargoTrack.do

Sadly I don't think mine made it in time for this boat. This is what I got when I tracked it just now:

No tracking information is available for the Cargo ID you entered .

 

Are you sure you entired your whole VIN number? (The part that begins with "WMWR...")

 

Yep. Upon further checking I was told it was on it's way to the port from the factory. How far is that?

 

Mapquest UK says it's 38.4 miles from Oxford to Southampton.

 

Vedub, thank you for the quick link! I used Lombard's instructions to find my VIN at the Owner's Lounge, and using your link I now know that my car is "received at terminal". I don't know if that means it will make the shipment for sure, but the voyage reference number indicates it will be the Liberty voyage that arrives in Brunswick Georgia on 11/14 and Charleston on 11/15. Looks like I'm on! Woo Hoo!

Lombard, be nice about '62Lincoln', he comes from the end of a genteel era (the car, not me!), and is easily offended.

 

The asterisks after the VIN numbers mean the car is on a "wait list" - not exactly sure how significant that is. I guess they aren't sure how much cargo will be unloaded, etc.? Of the 500+ MINIs booked on that voyage, only 122 don't have asterisks. FWIW, my prod. date was 10/24 and I've got an asterisk!


Maybe so -- but I'll bet he never gets tagged with "chick car"!

 

Crap...mine had a production start date of 10/22.

Out of curiosity how did you find out how many Mini's were on there?

 

Lombard, where are the asterisks to which you are referring? I don't see any asterisks, but I do have voyage number which is hot linked to specific voyage info. Am I missing something?

Edit: Found the asterisks by tracking by booking number, and low and behold, I don't have an asterisk. I hope that's a good omen. Hope you guys have good luck as well. We're all in this together now!

 

I don't think the asterisk, wait-list thing is necessarily bad. (Or at least, I hope it isn't!)

How long does it take to build a MINI? I'm pretty sure the production date I got from my MA (10/24) was the date of completion. Yours was started on 10/22?

Anyway, back to shipping. After you enter your VIN number, look at the page that tells you your status. Copy the "Booking Number." (Mine is GBSOU275680 - that's the Liberty sailing on 11/5 (yikes! that's tomorrow!)) Then, over on the right of the page, click on "Track by: Booking Number." Paste in your booking number and hit "Track." You get a list of some of the VINs booked on that voyage. Down near the bottom it says, "From 1 to 10 of 512."

If you click on "Printer Friendly Version" (something like that), you'll see a list of all 512 of them on one page. You can do a "find" to search for your VIN.

Here's hopin' we both get on board!

 

just a bit of info on delivery times. mine left southampton 10/19 and was unloaded in charleston 11/1. my ma called yesterday 11/4 and said the car was at the dealer (hank aaron-atl area). i'm picking it up sat 11/6! the stay at the vdc was very brief. so have hope---things will go faster than you may expect :smile:

 

Great - congratulations! How are you going to contain yourself until tomorrow? My dealer's estimate is my car will be ready to pick up in 20 more days and I'm having trouble sleeping now. I'm going to be a wreck by the time I actually get my car!

Wallenius Wilhelmsen's web site says Tillie is "LOADED ON VESSEL" as of this morning (woo-hoo!) - she's supposed to sail today!

It sounds like most of the steps in the ordering/delivery process come with slightly conservative time estimates. I hear lots of stories about cars getting built ahead of schedule, ocean crossings that take a couple of days less than expected, cars showing up at dealers ahead of time. But I also keep hearing about all the things that can go wrong. (I'm spending w-a-y too much time reading NAM and mini2!) Vehicles being loaded on their ships, only to be unloaded. Storms at sea. Vehicles being hung up in the VDC for days while shipping damage is repaired. Car transporters breaking down on the highway.

Part of me isn't going to believe this is all really happening until I've got my butt planted in a Space Grey Sports Seat and I'm pulling away from my dealer!