Updated: 8/21/2015 - En Route status reached
Updated: 9/2/2015 - At Vehicle Distribution Center status reached
Updated: 9/8/2015 - At Your MINI Dealer status reached
After a lot of shopping we’ve decided to get a new car. We’re replacing our 2010 Honda Insight with a 2016 MINI Cooper S. To say that I am excited by this is an understatement. Ever since the “new” MINI was released in 2000 I’ve been a huge fan, and, after test driving one last November, I haven’t been able to stop dreaming about one.
I’ll write more about the MINI itself after it gets here, right now I’m having fun with the MINI Owner’s Lounge website, which allows you to track your car’s progress through the building and delivery process. Currently our MINI is “awaiting transport”. Here are all the statuses, in order.
##On Order - July 23, 2015 Welcome to the MINI clan. The order for your new MINI is in and waiting to be scheduled for production While you await the day that you will be united with your MINI, you can come back here to check on how it’s doing and what stage of the process it has reached.
##Scheduled for Production - July 29, 2015 Your MINI has been scheduled for production and will begin to move through the “birth canal” at our Oxford plant, one of the most modern and advanced production plants in all of Europe. With out extremely rigorous quality control standards in place, you should rest well knowing that your baby is in the best of hands.
##Awaiting Transport - August 11, 2015 Congratulations! Your healthy and handsome new MINI has been built. A wee bit heavy for any stork, your MINI will now be loaded onto a ship to make its way across the pond. At night, we’re sure it’ll be dreaming of tearing through twisty turns with aplomb and glee.
##En Route to Vehicle Distribution Center - August 21, 2015 Though still adjusting a bit to its sea-wheels, your new MINI wants you to know that so far the cruise has acutally been a blast - great buffets and lots of partying with its brothers. But still, your MINI can’t wait to dock, hit the road, and chew up solid ground again.
##At Vehicle Distribution Center - September 2, 2015 Your MINI has arrived on U.S. shores and is going through one of its final stages of training and qaulity control at a MINI Vehicle Distribution Center. The center servers as yet another chance for a comprehensive, bumper-to-bumper inspection. It’s also where your MINI will be taught not to make fun of Americans who call the “bonnet” a “hood” or the “boot” a “trunk”.
##At Your MINI Dealer - September 8, 2015 Your MINI is now being transported to your MINI Dealer. We know it’s hard, but please be patient just a bit longer. Once it arrives, your dealer wil give it one last shine and a clean bill of health. Then they will call you and set up a time for you to stop by and happily head home in your new MINI.
Last weekend we visited the MINI dealer and learned that our MINI was nearly through the construction process, so I was pleased to get the “awaiting transport” status last night. The dealer said that the usual trans-Atlantic trip is three weeks. I’m hoping that time includes the “awaiting” and “vehicle distribution center” portions of the process. She thought we’d get the car in early September.
Is it September yet?