I know this is not the best solution, but why not rent a convertible for your vacation, cancel the current order that is stuck at the VDC, and just place another order at the alternate dealership. This way you'll have a convertible (albeit not a Mini) for your vacation, but when you return, your Mini may be in transit to you on the boat.

Just a thought.

 

It seems that for certain owners who really want to take delivery, MINI could work around this.

In your case, you ordered Bridgespokes. I imagine in most cases there's a new car on the dealer lot that they could snag a set of Bridgespokes from. When the configurator would let us order white wheels as part of the Sport Package, the dealer said that if they couldn't order it that way that they would just order another car with white wheels and switch them.

There are a couple other options, too.

Does the dealer have an extra set of wheels around that someone could use, even if just for the time being?

How about just giving them a temporary spare when they take delivery until they get the right wheels in?

I mean, it's money and more work for MINI, but this seems like a problem that could be resolved more quickly than it is.

 

I essentially agree.....but.......if what has been reported is true and the cars are not equipped with legally-required features, then I can see exactly why MINI is forced to keep them at the VDC. They simply cannot be legally released for motoring on U.S. roads. If I recall, this has happened with other new MINI models arriving in the U.S....perhaops regarding EPA standards??

Understandable as this may be, it still seems it could be handled better, at least where there is special need.

 

You're right... it *might* be illegal for them to even be released from the VDC w/o being "street legal".

However, if that's the case, they should be overnighting wheels from all over to resolve it... Dealerships in the U.S., air freight from Europe, etc. There's NO WAY it should take more than a few days to get the process rolling.

 

I just spoke to the manager at my dealer. The VDC would not release the car to him and let him replace the wheels / tires. The VDC simply can not release the cars.

Now the VDC is saying early next week. Funny, that's what they said this week.

 

Like I said before, if the VDC *cannot* release the cars with the existing wheels, then they should acquiring the right ones as quickly as possible.

The conversation between the VDC and Dealer should have gone like this:

Dealer: Hey, I've got RF's I can put on it. Just send it over.
VDC: Sorry, we can't release it without the wheels... So send the wheels to US.

 

My guess is for liability reasons the VDC is not allowed to release a car that doesn't have all its parts (including wheels and tires) new from the factory and the car checked out as such. If I were in charge of BMW, I wouldn't accept wheels from a dealer and release the car either.

What I don't understand is why they haven't sent the required wheels and tires over yet. I mean there are boats coming over 2 to 3 a week from Europe with Minis. Off load some Minis and get the wheels here, geez. You've got dealer inventory backing up all across the USA and you can't sell the ones spoken for because of lack of wheels?? What's wrong with priorities here???

 

Well, even if they have a problem scrounging up wheels from dealers and such, there are plenty of other options.

How about asking the dealers which cars are CUSTOMER cars and which are just going to be LOT cars and taking wheels off the cars that people aren't WAITING for.

How about putting some on an air freight from Europe. We do that ALL THE TIME and it takes just a couple days to ship stuff from there by air. I'm sure you could fit a LOT of wheels in a cargo plane.

Exactly HOW they should go about it is up in the air, but any way you slice it, they've dropped the ball and not solved this problem as quickly as they should have.

 

No ticky, no laundry. No RF, no delivery.

 

Have you called ASK MINI yet? Because if not, its long overdue. Get MINI USA involved and start raising hell with them. It is long over due for MINI USA to solve this problem since Prestige will not.

And for what it is worth, as much as I hate to see a missed MINI opportunity, I think your decisions and timelines as stated this morning are perfectly justified and a solid plan.

 

... I wasn't aware that any S came from the factory with 15" wheels.

Could that have been the problem to begin with, someone put 15" wheels on a S whose standard equipment is 16"? Seems like that would've been caught on the line...

What a mess.

I feel for you guys I had a week long hold up on mine just because the train carrying the MINIs to the VDC in Spartanburg couldn't fit mine on, so it had to wait til the next trek, which meant they had to wait for the next boat load. But that's nothing compared to this. So sorry

 

Wait... I thought the 15" wheels didn't even FIT on the "S" ???

 

Well, ASK-MINI can't do anything, because once it leaves the ship and gets to the VCD, it's "owned by the dealer" (her words).

Thanks. We gave it quite a bit of thought. Always good to have a plan B. FWIW, if I was a betting man, I'd put money on them calling me on Thursday, because I'll be on my way to CA for a long weekend!

 

Nice try, but I don't buy it. Someone here is wrong, and it sure isn't you. Prestige says they can't get the car to you because the VDC won't give it to them. The VDC says they can't give it to Prestige because MINI won't let them ship the car with the wrong wheels. MINI USA says they can't do anything because its not their car anymore. If the car doesn't belong to Prestige, the VDC, or MINI USA, then the only entity left is YOU!

Clearly, you don't have the car. So someone else just doesn't want to deal with the hassle. And I'd start with MINI USA. They may not be the dealership, but they run the show (and the VDC) so I reject their comments. They also don't need all this negative publicity about their delivery process. There may be a recession going on right now such that their dealer network has plenty of cars, but forum threads aren't easily forgotten by search engines during financial booms.

 

Wow, sorry to hear about the delays.

There are probably legal reasons for not shipping it out of port and also they can not say.

We have had the first shipment of Ferrari 599's at the port sitting for well over a month due to a lack of a required air valve to pass US EPA.

Think of it, these people waited over 4 years for a car. Knew it was in the US just to sit around until the parts came in.

There has to be a good reason, all auto dealers want to get you the car out as soon as possible.

Good luck.

 

Mine did not come with 15" wheels, it has 16". It's just that the VDC isn't releasing partial shipments of cars and apparently mine is stuck with a group of non-S's and is just waiting. Although...my MA says: "Yours will be on the truck Saturday" (today) and be at the dealership early next week. So just maybe others will be shipped soon too.

 

That sounds about right....which is super!!!!!!!

 

Yeah, any day now. Gee, I've been hearing that for 3 weeks now.
I, too, heard early next week. Of course, I heard that about last week too.

 

Because all that means is that in another 3 months, I'll most likely be in the same place I'm in now, only half of the convertible season will be over.

 

That is BS, don't accept the answer. The dealer doesn't own it until it is delivered to the dealer. The VDC is a BMW owned facility.

 

In my case, I guess I have an honest MA and dealer, Jay at Cincinnati Mini. He had told me mine was delayed due to the "wheel problem" and would be shipped Saturday (yesterday, the 25th). He called at 3:30 Saturday afternoon and said they had just unloaded my Mini from the truck and he was looking at it. Because of other commitments we can't get it Monday, so will be picking it up Tuesday morning.

Whoopee!

 

Given the way similar circimstances have gone, this really isn't too bad.

 

Which VDC does that go through? NYC or another one?

 

Port of Carolina is all I know.

 

Well, I just got the call from my dealer a little while ago. Lizzie is there! I plan in picking her up tomorrow afternoon / evening!!!

So Psyched!