I drove down to Portland, OR this weekend and placed my order with Jarid at Rasmussen Mini. I cannot say enough about the service and ease. Jarid took my girlfriend and I through their entire inventory (cars that people were waiting to pick up) and show us as many options that I wanted to add to my car and some that I had questions about. I highly recommend anyone in the Pacific Northwest to head down there when considering a Mini purchase.

Here it goes:

2008 MCS
DS/W (Red Mirror Caps, Jarid said they could get it done!)
White Turn Signals
Rear Fog Lamps
Sport Package (17" Web Spoke Wheels)
Premium Package
Xenons
LSD
Center Arm Rest
Anthracite Headliner
MFSW
Rooster Red Color Line
Bluetooth/IPOD (Only thing I was on the fence about, but WA State just passed the "No Cell Phone" Law so this option is worth it)
JCW Aero Kit (Arches NOT painted, and they gave me a great installation price!)
Sport Stripes (All the way down front/back)

Again, many thanks to Jarid and Rasmussen Mini, I now wait for my order number and the sleepless nights.

Thank you to all who post here, I felt incredibly comfortable about the questions I needed to ask and the options that people gave their opinion on. All of you guys are great!

I already planned out my first drive to Central Oregon (Bend/Sisters) in September when I pick it up. If anyone has any suggestions on that, I would appreciate it!

Thanks again!!!!! I can't wait!!!!

 

CONGRATULATIONS!! My dealer is waiting for their allotment, then my order will officially be placed.

 

Congrats the wait will be the worst part

 

Congratulations! I am also on Week 2 of waiting for my MINI.... that wait only gets worse, I'm sorry to say!

Just get into production already! Jeez!

 

As am I, y're right in line with me. We will get Ralph Schomp's first 2009 models. Expect a price increase, but prob not much, a few percent since there's no major tweaking or refreshes.

Woo hoo 1500 posts. I feel so old...

 

Thanks everyone, I am already starting a list of questions to ask my MA Jarid and everyone here. I am also scouring the internet trying to find a few small mod purchases (stubby antenna, shift ****). I can't wait for this car, it is my first new car purchase and I have been wanting a MINI since 2003!!

I finally did it!

 

So what's the wait time in Portland? Is it shorter or the same as Seattle up there in the dealer-starved Pac NW? When I bought my 2005 R53 back in 2004, some guy in Eugene offered me $1,000 more than what I paid because wait times were still around 18 months to 2 years.

Congrats! Sounds like a nice car!

 

Sequence, I may or may not get a July build my MA seems to think that it's too late. So with the August build I will get it around mid September. This is around what the wait time is in Seattle but the dealer in Seattle really pissed me off with their no negotiable $695 "Dealer Prep" charge without an explanation of what it was for. Rasmussen has a $295 "Dealer Prep" charge but I receive a:
Full Tank of Premium Gas
Rubber Floor Mats for the front / back / boot
Car Detail and Wax
Wheel Locks

Ramussen was way nicer and they took the time to really explain the car to me. The MA I spoke to in Seattle didn't even know about the Mini Configuator when I went to show him my car at his computer. His quote was, "Wow this is really neat, I have never done this before". That is when Northwest Mini lost my business.

 

Unless U have a production number, you are too late. The last 2008 R56 orders were placed at the end of June, for production in week 32 (early Aug). I know this because my MA had one slot left on 6/30, and when he told me it was a week 32 build 2008 I said "no way" because that is the week my unlovable rattley problematic little lemon Rodney came to be in 04.

After week 32, Oxford will slow way down for 3 weeks to retool for 2009 (esp for the cabrios) and do their annual mtce before Sept production gets rolling, plus give a chance for employee vacations. That is the English way.

Im pretty sure you will get one of the first 2009s if, like me, you just placed the order and did NOT get a production #.

 

The production number was the one thing that I was a little confused about. My MA Jarid said that I would be getting a letter in the mail that would let me know my production number so that I could start tracking my car. Should I put it off a little to ensure that I am going to get my MINI built after the factory turnover for 2009?

 

If you notice a MCS with black stripes and the chrome package, it was mine. They have had it for 10 days. They will use your car when in comes in to show new customers. 11 days to "prepare a car", is a joke.

 

when Rasmussen gets their allotment by month's end, (like Ralph Schomp here in Denver), and you have a build slot, your MA will call you to confirm the order--go over it again with him to ensure it is correct--and then he should be able to give you a production number and week right then and there.

And then that production week you should get yr VIN #, all this will be on the notoriously slow to update tracker.

And grasshopper be patient. because we are in BMW's wild west division, it takes an extra 2.5 weeks to get the cars to VDC Oxnard CA thru the canal. When Rodney was shipped over in Sept 2004, he was further delayed by Hurricane Ivan when the transport had to take a 500 mile detour.

 

Krampits..I am sorry you are having problems. One thing that Jarid told me when my order was placed was that they would probably have the car around 10 days or so to install the Sport Stripes and the JCW Aero Kit. Since you are having things installed I wouldn't worry about it too much (I know it's hard I would want my car right away too!)

One thing that I noticed was that there were A LOT of Mini AND BMW being prepared to be picked up. The dealership was FULL of cars NOT for sale but sold and waiting for the final touches to administered.

I DID see your car, it was one of the first cars we looked at when I wanted to see the Anthracite headliner! The car looked GREAT!

 

That is not right. That's why dealers have demos. I would raise a huge stink if they took that long, esp. to show it off to potential customers! F**ing eh!

Oh yeah, anthracite headliner = pure class!

 

Sequence, I don't think that they are holding the car to show it off, again there were a lot of cars being prepped for delivery. Again, my MA Jarid told me about the wait I might have at their dealership while prepping my car to deliver it too me. In a way, I am glad that they are going to install everything and shine it up so that it looks perfect when I finally see the finished product.

 

Nothing installed by the dealer. Just the standard Prep. Thanks for the heads up on the looks. I was going to go down and look at it, but it would just irritate me more that I would still have to wait until Monday. It is just that every other mini that came on the Rigaletto seems to have been picked up by their owners a week ago or earlier (Denver too).

 

Krampits, I was told that the Stripes are installed by the dealer, maybe this is the wait? Anyway, your car did look great, it was in the shop upstairs, NOT outside, so maybe they just got done with the work?

 

the wait to get them dealer-installed accessories on isnt what torks me, a few years ago there were many reported instances of some dealers, mostly back east, allowing MAs to demo customer-ordered cars. MINI USA got word of this from some pissed-off customers who saw others demo'ing their custom-ordered cars, and the fallout was NOT pretty.

And Krampits, Denver is like literally the last outpost for western div delivery-- the transports, which are also carrying Rolls-Royces and BMWs, does Phoenix, Vegas, SLC, then YUP Denver. The last week is always the worst. Hang in there.

 

Sequence, my Purchase Order has "12 Miles" under the mileage category. If there is more than that I will be pissed off. I understand them driving it off the boat and going to fill up the tank, but I better be the one that "DRIVES" it for the first time.

 

My 2005 had 11 miles on it when it was delivered, this is about right. sometimes it will be a little higher if VDC has to road test a problem they had to fix, or do the random QC, but it should be no higher than around 20.

 

*****, this is going to take forever.....I can't wait until the day I pick it up!

 

That just about sums it up! I too went out of state and got a great deal without an arrogant sales pitch. The money I saved is funding my plane ticket to my pickup location, plus a few freebies thrown in from the dealership AND I will have a great drive home through many twisty mountain roads! I couldnt be happier! Congrats to you!

 

Congratulations! The wait is the WORST! My baby's due to be finished today or tomorrow and then it's the loooonnng wait while it crosses the Atlantic and goes through the Panama Canal. You East Coasters have it so easy, just a week of shipping time vs. 3!

 

MakoBimmer...I couldn't agree with you more. Very surprised by the customer service in Tacoma. I am a Buyer for a specialty food store in the Pike Place Market, and their attitude was the exact opposite of what I expect from our employees.

 

I talked to a MA at Rasmussen on Friday who told me an MCS order would arrive in mid-Oct. Interesting.