What is the lead time for ordering a Clubman, and does anyone know if they are viewable at the dealers yet? I am interested in seeing one and am near Mini North Scottsdale.

Thanks.

 

Those are a couple of excellent questions for your MA. As far as I know, there are none available at dealers.

 

NW MINI has had my $500 deposit on a clubman since 1 October. I have no idea when I'll see anything, but I looking forward to hearing. I did business with the parts manager and he introduced me to the Mini. I have him to blame for my desire to have a loaded one.

 

MINI of Peabody said they are doing a Clubman intro on February 15th - I expect all dealers will have vehicles around that time (same timeline as the R56 introduction at the start of this year).

A few Clubmans were at the LA auto show, currently locally here at the Boston show - presumably will be visiting other car shows around the country.

 

I ordered my 2003 Mini in late January of 2003, assembly was finished on May 7th and I took delivery just after Memorial Day.

I am not sure what the current lead times are, but I would assume they're similar. I am counting on a good 3-4 months.

 

I'm No. 1 on the list for Mini North Scottsdale. I put a deposit down in January 2006. My MA took my configuration and will let me know when the first slot opens up. The December builds are the preconfigured demos coming in. They aren't planning on selling those right away as I understand or they won't have any to show and drive. The unveiling at the dealerships is Feb. 16th I was told.
We are hoping that mine arrives late February or early March. I already put birth announcements for it in my Christmas cards.

My MA is Drew Besenfelder. Nice guy and very helpful. Although I have been told to not expect any extras like I got on my BMW 330 convertible. As he said, they are not charging extra on the MSRP so don't expect anything. I was hoping for window tint, as that was thrown in on the BMW,but he reminded me that was a higher value car. Oh well, so much for waiting nearly 2 years. I was a fan even before we really knew what it would look like. I never knew as much about any of my cars as this one.

I forgot to mention that the BMW was special ordered and it took 8 weeks from order to build and delivery. I believe the delivery on the Clubbies should be about the same. We'll see. I've waited this long, what's another couple of months? I'm up in Prescott, so I don'w want to drive it in bad weather anyway. The BMW only got wet once in 5 years in a sudden monsoon. I tend to spoil her( Buffy) as she only has 5600 miles in 5 years.

 

The sales mgr at Inskip in RI told me that getting mine delivered "exactly" as I spec'd it would take until late march. Said he had one coming that was "close" in feb. Happy to wait and get it just the way I want it.

 

[QUOTE=bcshred;1899888]The sales mgr at Inskip in RI told me that getting mine delivered "exactly" as I spec'd it would take until late march. Said he had one coming that was "close" in feb. Happy to wait and get it just the way I want it.[/QUOTE'
It will be worth the wait. I figure I've waited 23 months so far, what's another few months. That's what makes the MINIs unique. Love to see the different choices people make. I still look at all the color possibilities. Just wish they had included the Mellow Yellow in the Clubman S.

 

My MA told me today that, if you order a Clubman this month, you can expect delivery by May 2008.

 

My MA said each dealership was assigned a specific allocation of MCC. That dealership is getting two MCCs and two MCCSs...I'm first on the list for the MCCS, but mine will be delivered exactly as I spec'd/special ordered...the cutoff for feb/march delivery is orders in by december 15.

To my understanding, the April/May delivery dates are for people who get in on the SECOND deadline of pre-orders. I.e. if you don't get one of the "first allocation" spots, your order is held until 60 days before the subsequent allocation with April/May delivery.

I sure hope my dealer is right, because I'm chomping at the steering wheel for this hunk of metal...

 

Does that allocation include the pre-specs or is that the number allowed aside from the pre-specs?
Do you mind telling us the area you are in?

 

The last part first: I live in Los Angeles, but buying in Nashville...because I became extremely annoyed with the attitude of the LA MINI dealers I spoke with after:

(1) they wouldn't even answer my basic questions about the Clubman until I answered their questions about ny income, employment, and so forth; at which point they told me that (2) they plan to sell the Clubman at anywhere from $3K-$10K over MSRP after TWO markups: a dealer markup, and also a "desirability" markup...and that it could go higher if there was "lots of demand."

My parents live in Nashville, and my in-laws live in Charleston, so I called the Nashville and Charleston MINI dealers, and settled with the Nashville dealer because he immediately faxed me a written and signed contract saying (a) I get my $1K deposit back if the delivery isn't identical to my pre-spec, and (b) that the sales price would not exceed MSRP, and (c) there would be no dealer fees whatsoever.

And now the first part: All four dealers I spoke with indicated that in the initial allocation, each dealer was receiving a limited, pre-ordained number for the February 15 delivery, all of which had to be ordered by December 15 (my dealer is receiving 2 MCCs (not sure about how many non-Ss). If nobody else makes pre-orders, then the dealer will just spec out the remainder of the allocation himself, and sell them on the lot.

They also said there will be a second allocation made for the April/May deliveries, and a third allocation made for the August/September deliveries...but that nobody knows how many will be in those allocations. Both LA dealers were disinclined to put me on the February list unless I put down a sizable chunk of money.

Whew. I just hope it all goes as well as my control-freak nature has come to demand (nicely demand, but...).

 

Thanks for all the info. Very interesting and it prompted my faxing this to my MA. It looks like my order should go in for the first group arriving Feb.-March. Keeping my fingers and toes crossed.
I have to compliment North Scottsdale for not adding onto the MSRP. They haven't ever done that to my knowledge and I thank Mr. Penske for running that kind of dealership. Just visiting North Scottsdale is amazing as he has the best dealerships with the nicest cars. Makes me wish I was wealthy and could have one of each. Maybe in the next life

 

I had ordered a fully-specced Clubman diesel which arrived last Thursday, albeit with a petrol engine due to an error on the part of the leasing company who placed the dealer order.

An amazing deal has resulted in me now taking the petrol version - and just as well. Demand for the Clubman has gone crazy with S versions being quoted a May '08 and diesels now beginning of November '08. It looks as though premiums over MSRP will be the order of the day for anyone wanting a car sooner rather than later.

 

My MA told me that they wouldn't have any new Clubmans until the middle of February 08, and will started taking orders the beginning of December.

 

the last day to place a pre-order is december 15, but that doesn't mean those pre-order spots will be left open. i personally believe that shortly after that -- and particularly once february rolls aroung -- it's going to be a tough (and expensive) day in the ring for anybody who wants one before early 2009.

Don't know where you folks are, but the feeding frenzy in Cali over the Prius launch was like watching barricuda at a very pricey chum party.

 

I just configured mine at the dealer for a March delivery date. Sticker price.

 

I am not the sales person mentioned in this post. However, I do want to make a small correction. Although we do not mark up over sticker, we do have a $299.50 processing fee. I have paid it on all three MINIs that I have purchased from my dealership. It is printed on our buyers orders.

 

Same as Skye2, I just configured one at the dealership for late March delivery. Sticker price.

Sidenote: The dealer told me that they were getting 9 Clubmans (Clubmen?) at launch. He did not know off hand how many were pre-ordered to spec and how many were launch cars alloted to them though.

----------------------------------------------

Just got off the phone with the salesman. He is telling me that the car I am ordering cannot be modified from one of the 9 that he is getting at launch. He still says that delivery will probably be late March / early April, but cannot give me a build number for a while yet. Is this right? Am I being yanked around here? How does this whole build number thing work? I am getting a little leary here.

 

299.50 processing fee! sounds like a mark up, in cali dealers charge 50 dollars for paperwork, no more no lesss. Mark up dealers are a different story. They are rude and make you believe that the market dictates the markup.

 

Well, to each her own, I suppose, as car buying entails a great deal of personal preferences with financing and business styles. Personally, I have enjoyed working with my dealership in Nashville, and am fine with the numbers agreed upon. I talked to a great many dealers in about six states where either live part-time or have family members - about 5 in California - and even with the $299 fee it was the best deal I found.

 

Nothing to be leary about. Dealers cannot build a car until they are given the ability to by MINIUSA. Once it's built they'll have your production number for you to track its build.

 

Thanks for the reassurance Fireman. Update on the post above:

I contacted the sales manager at the dealership to ask what the deal was since I was told one thing when I was there and then another when I called a few days later. He wrote me back with a production number and an apology for the confusion. Of course I checked in immediately in the owner's lounge and have been "on order" now for a week. Due date is the end of February / beginning of March. Now all I have to do is hold the dealer off to the end of March when my current lease expires....

Oh the web we weave....

 

I ordered my clubman 2 days ago (dec20) and was told to expect my car in 60 days!!!!

 

We are #1 in the Clubman waiting list at our local dealer. Placed an order for a new Clubman S auto 3 weeks ago and were given the first production allocation. The car should be here by mid-February. I already have a production number but the status in the Owner's Lounge hasn't changed, yet. Probably ours is going to be a week 1 build or thereabouts.