the Dealer when you pick up your Mini Clubman?

Howdy all. Well, first post to the NAM. Excited owner (well, awaiting delivery) of an '08 Clubman S. I'm an entirely new owner, so I'm not well versed in the nuances of the MINI. So..if you've already picked up your MINI and you had it to do it over again what would you do differently? Any particular questions or requests? (i.e. owner programmable options, such as the auto door lock feature).

Been a long time away from a sports car. Use to own British iron in my younger days. An Austin Healey 100-6 and a Triumph Spitfire. I do currently have a basket case Austin Healey 100-4 sitting in the garage, but that's a whole 'nother story.

Thanks for the tips and suggestions...

Daniel

 

Welcome! Glad you've seen the light - I drove several AHs and Triumphs in my youth but a Morgan Plus 4 with a TR3 engine was my toy.

In my experience - so far! - MINIs work pretty well straight out of the box, given decent dealer preparation so my tip would simply be to make friends there as good customer relations works two ways.

 

In the past there has been the auto opening of the windows option - can't remember what it's called...but when it's really hot out, there is a way to use the key fob to open the windows just a bit before you actually get to your car. That is a handy programmable option for the summer.

Also - if you have dogs or any sort of animal that you would like to be able to leave in the car for a bit (with windows suitably opened up), there is a way to lock the car and disable the alarm so that the animal's movement won't set off the motion detector. I have no idea if it's the same for the Clubman alarm...and would have to refresh myself to remember how it's done - but it is a handy thing to know before you need it!

 

My suggestion is to pick it up on a sunny weekday morning, if possible. The dealer's usually not that busy, and you'll have plenty of time to give your new baby a complete inspection prior to delivery. Make sure the car is outside so you can check it out with a careful walk-around. This should happen before you complete all of the paperwork, not after, so call ahead to make sure the car's been prepped and is ready for inspection.
You'll also have more time to go over all of the features with the sales rep. Besides, shouldn't you treat yourself to a day off when your new car comes in?

 

Welcome! A Clubman S is a great way to start. I, too, have a Triumph in my history. There's something about British cars that gets in your blood.

 

I see that there are other crazies out there. I own one of the last MG-TDs built. Unffortunately it is many piece and has been that whay for over 25 years. Do I rebuild or leave it to a younger less sane person?

 

These two are easy - you don't even need any special programming from the dealer. For #1 - opening the windows and moonroof just press the remote unlock button, press it again and continue to hold it down. Give it about a 1/2 second and the windows will come down and keep holding and the moonroof will open too. For #2 (first, I wouldn't understand why you'd have an animal in your car anyway but that's another story) you simply close the door, press the lock button on the remote twice which will disable the interior motion sensor. Hope that helps someone. I'm not sure whether there are any special programmable features that you would need to have the dealer do for you anymore - most are available to the user now in the idrive functions.

 

Hey! I drove one of the first in my college days when a friend swapped his TC for a TD. A beautiful car but no great performance as I remember it, at least not compared with my Morgan!

And my cousin had a Twin-Cam MGA a bit later.

Rebuilding the TD won't be a cheap exercise but you owe it to the car!

 

Should probably start a thread on the other British cars in we used to have (or still do). I've also had a Spitfire, plus a few other British sports cars....it's addictive Still have the first car I ever owned, a 1967 MGBGT, plus a few MGs that I picked up over the years. Need to find a new home for my 1970 Lotus Elan to make garage space for a Clubman S (not yet on order), but having a hard tmie parting with it mentally... it's one of the best drives, but it's so congested around me now, that I can't enjoy driving it except on weekend mornings....I wish the snow would go away and get warm enough to do that right now.

 

Thanks, TomW! The why I'd have an animal in my car is that I have a dog and sometimes he comes along for the ride - can't leave him in an unlocked car, even for just a few minutes. Unfortunately, there are people who are more interested in stealing dogs than cars.

 

Just took delivery of our '08 Clubman S yesterday. YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE IT! In the second generation MINI, most features can now be programmed on the car (Via radio interface) as where as in the R53, these features could only be accessed by dealer service personnel hooking up the GT1 computer. Your MA should give you a lowdown on the features that can be customized to your taste. For example, the electronic turn signals can be customized for one "light touch" for lane passing (The blinkers go 3 times and shut off automatically), the door locks can activate themselves when the car reaches 10 MPH, the "follow me home lights"can be customized to turn off automatically at certain intervals, you can also specify having the daytime lights turn on, etc, etc.

 

Now this info is very helpful - I had noticed that the blinkers on the car I test drove were a tad annoying (to me) and like that "light touch" option. Thank you for giving us a taste of what's in store.

 

Yes the blinkers and the stereo are 2 things you will have to get used to. A little annoying to say the least.

 

Yeah. I understood that there are a number of user programmable options. My dealer is about 150 miles away, so I can't just go in and ask questions. When I pick it up I would like to know what to ask about (but I'm sure I'll be reading the manual. Though I haven't heard anyone mention if the manual is just fluff or has some really good instructions).

miniclubman - Good idea regrading the pickup day/time. My wife has Friday's off, so perhaps we can arrange for a Friday morning pickup.

ClubmanS - good suggestions. Just what I was looking for!!!

Daniel

PS - Is there only a paper owners manual, or does someone have a digital one. I requested an owners manual from my dealer, but they haven't responded as to the availability.

 

I believe Motoringfile.com has a PDF version of the 2007 R56 MINI onwer's manual for free download. They have manuals for all years, dating back to 2002.

 

Glad to hear you have you Clubman

Mark

 

Thanks Lotsie! It is a sweeeeeet car. I took it for a 15 min spin last night! Not until the weekend I will get to drive it some more.

 

I asked the MiniUsa.com and they emailed me a copy. (i chose the version without NAV) I would be glad to email a copy in pdf format to anyone who wants it or if there is a place to put it so you can download I will do that too.
My New Chilli Red w/Silver top Conv pkg, Prem pkg, Tinted Windows, Alarm is at the VDC now. It was Unloaded in Charleston Mar 1.
Really gettin hard waiting.....

 

I'll make space in my garage for your Lotus. After all, we've got a Clubman now awaiting transport that'll be my wife's daily driver, so how could she complain?
It'd have good British company in the garage, too, with my 1966 MGB, a 1973 MGB GT, a 1959 MG Magnette (for sale) and the Magnette's replacement, a 1966 Jaguar sedan.

You may see her 2003 Chili Red Cooper in N.J. It's been a great car for us and we've passed it along to our daughter, who lives in Jersey City. Look for her plates. She was able to get the same ones we have up here in New Hampshire, HER LBC. (The B has HIS LBC plates and the GT is SUPER GT for the supercharger I added so it could run with the '03 Cooper.)

 

I noticed you said "most features can now be programmed on the car". Do you know what features require dealer programming?

 

There have been some good threads on what to look for when you take delivery. One thing to ask the dealer is whether there was any damage in transit that was repaired at the VDC. If it is over a certain amount they are required to inform the dealer.

Here is a post with a good list: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...&postcount=136

Here is a thread on the subject: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=116779

Those are for R56 Coupes, but many issues would apply to the Clubman.

You should definitely go through your options list and make sure everything is there and functioning properly, if possible. I was there on a weekday and my MA spent a lot of time with me going over the NAV and other features. We discovered that the voice recognition wasn't working. It had to go in for a software update after MINI had debugged the issue.

Also, look over the outside and inside of the care as carefully as you can in the excitement. Look for problems with the paint (the color of my scoop didn't exactly match the color of the bonnet). Cars often have parts repainted because of damage in shipment. Getting the color just right isn't easy with metalics and some other colors, such as Mellow Yellow. Make sure all the body panels fit properly with no odd gaps, dents, scratches, etc. Once you leave the dealership it may be difficult to convince them that you didn't cause the scratch or dent. Same goes for the interior. There have been a few reports of scratches on interior panels at delivery.

It is really difficult to do all this in the excitement, and dealing with the financial arrangements. Take a friend or two to help look things over. While you are signing your life away for dealer add-ons, they can be going over the car.

Be prepared for the dealer sales pitch for things like LoJack, windshield coating/insurance, extended maintenance, paint coating/insurance, etc. Find out what your dealer offers and research them ahead of time.

The paint thing is often a wax job for an outrageous amount of $$. My dealer offered PermaPlate windshield coating/insurance. I don't know whether it is a great product, or a scam, but I got talked into it. I'd just been reading multiple accounts of people getting rock hits on the windshield in their new MINIs. So, I gave in. Since then I've taken several rock hits. One at freeway speeds was amazingly loud -- ringing in the ears loud. Later I looked for damage and never found any.

Anyway, it would be better to make the decisions before hand, rather in the five seconds you get while signing the papers for the car.

 

Never heard about that windshield coating. If it really works and holds up for many miles it will be money well spent.

Thanks for the links - even though this is my third coming up, it's good to review.

P.S. I must add that I've never experienced a single problem and here's hoping that I never do!

 

I would definitely go for some sort of windshield protection. This is something that we regret not getting on my wife's R56. She has already had to have her windshield replace once due to nasty rock chips cratering the windshield.

 

We've replaced our windshield once, and we've had it repaired once. I didn't even know there was anything out there to protect windshields.

 

I'd be sure to find out who is liable for that windshield if you do go with something like this - having never heard of it, and never having my MINI dealership even mention it (as opposed to the Armour Glove, etc., for the body protection), I'd be wary.

For years, MINI owners have had complaints about pitting windshields and stone chips and never once have I heard about windshield protection.

After doing some searching I came up with this link: http://www.caaaf.net/Press/business-press.html which does not bode well for Perma Plate.