New to the Mini Club of WNY

TOWNEMINI · Towne MINI - Official

RE: New to the Mini Club of WNY

MJB MINI · Motorist

I understand. The reason why I was supposed to get a call back today is because we live over an hour away and the only day we can come in to have it replaced would be on a Saturday.

MJB MINI · Motorist

I have only seen two minis so far where I live and some of my co workers don't know what they even are, but it is amazing when I drop my son off at school some of the teachers have been telling me how much they love my car. I passed my mother in law and father in law the other day and they don't notice things like vehicles but apparently they noticed mine. I told them they need to come over so they can see the inside. My insurance rep after she saw my MINI said that she needs to buy one I told her to go to Towne.

yettanother48 · Newbie (Taking the short-cut)

Hi! I'm a new MINI owner, also. I received my MINI two weeks ago. It's a yellow convertible. I love it and I'm out whenever I can...with the top down, of course! I'm looking forward to meeting other MINI owners. aww

SPDinNY · Motorer

welcome to the club!

yellowmininy · Obsessed (Taking the long-cut)

Welcome! We can never have too many yellow Minis!

MJB MINI · Motorist

We had an awesome ride on Friday. We went to dinner in Coudersport nice road to drive a mini on, and on the way home we spotted a momma bear and her two baby cubs. They just sat there and watched so we stopped and watched. It is so funny where I work all my co workers that pass me are waving. They never used to wave before I bought the mini.

indygirl · Member

I am so envious. I can't wait for mine to come in. We haven't decided where our first trip will be. We're recent transplants to the area. Do you recommend north or south?

SPDinNY · Motorer

where abouts do you live indy? Rochester? Buffalo?

indygirl · Member

Buffalo area. We have spent winter Sundays at Holiday Valley for skiing so we know that area fairly well. Family has come to visit so we have done the obligatory Falls tourist thing. We also love Niagara on the Lake. I have put my hubby in charge of making the play list for tunes and the map of where we go. I just want to drive. aww

MJB MINI · Motorist

indygirl wrote:

Buffalo area. We have spent winter Sundays at Holiday Valley for skiing so we know that area fairly well. Family has come to visit so we have done the obligatory Falls tourist thing. We also love Niagara on the Lake. I have put my hubby in charge of making the play list for tunes and the map of where we go. I just want to drive.

My husband and son had season passes to Holiday Valley. We live about 45 minutes from Ellicottville in a small town called Olean. We have been traveling all over, we have close to 900 miles on my mini already.

When are you supposed to get yours?

indygirl · Member

I ordered on 4.21.08. When I talked to Greg on 5.3, he said it would be 1-2 more weeks before it would go to production. I figured I'd wait until next Tuesday before I call to ask again. I have been checking online daily (okay, sometimes more than once a day). I was told it would be in around the end of June. I usually consider myself a patient person, but I find myself feeling like a kid before Christmas.
We are thinking on taking the MINI to Myrtle Beach this summer. We only have one child, so she should be okay in the back. We aren't taking the golf clubs so we won't need our bigger car. We golf every week during the summer, so we won't have to on vacation!
We skied all but 4 Sundays this winter, even the day Eville got 10 inches of snow and it was 6 degrees. When we moved here, everyone said to embrace the winter or we would not like it. We found we start wishing for snow at the beginning of November. I am familiar with Olean...isn't it about 1-2 hours from Buffalo?

Pamlico · Motorer

indygirl wrote:

..... I have been checking online daily (okay, sometimes more than once a day)......

I believe the online info system can lag quite a bit behind the actual status of your car. We were told that the car was still at the preparation center when in fact it was sitting in our garage. The automated system at 1-800-ASK-MINI (I think that's the number) is more up-to-date. You enter the last few digits of the VIN and then get status info.

MJB MINI · Motorist

indygirl wrote:

I ordered on 4.21.08. When I talked to Greg on 5.3, he said it would be 1-2 more weeks before it would go to production. I figured I'd wait until next Tuesday before I call to ask again. I have been checking online daily (okay, sometimes more than once a day). I was told it would be in around the end of June. I usually consider myself a patient person, but I find myself feeling like a kid before Christmas.
We are thinking on taking the MINI to Myrtle Beach this summer. We only have one child, so she should be okay in the back. We aren't taking the golf clubs so we won't need our bigger car. We golf every week during the summer, so we won't have to on vacation!
We skied all but 4 Sundays this winter, even the day Eville got 10 inches of snow and it was 6 degrees. When we moved here, everyone said to embrace the winter or we would not like it. We found we start wishing for snow at the beginning of November. I am familiar with Olean...isn't it about 1-2 hours from Buffalo?

I know exactly how you feel when we ordered on March 15 of this year I never thought it was going to end. We waited close to a year before we ordered a mini. We kept going back and forth to see Greg at Towne. He is an awesome guy. It was like after we ordered I wanted my mini and I wanted it now, all my patience went out the window. We picked up my mini on April 25 and I totally love it.

We only have one child also he is 12 how old is your daughter? My son is close to my height which is 5'7" and he fits comfortably in the back.

My husband likes to golf and he has a bigger suv plus we have a boat that we haul in the summer to the lake.

Olean is about 1 1/2 hours from Buffalo

MJB MINI · Motorist

Indygirl

What color did you order? I have a chili red with a checkerboard roof, mirrors, rear view mirror and dash with a rooster red colorline.

indygirl · Member

We ordered a Chili red with black roof and bonnet stripes, checkered mirrors, and regular moonroof. Towne had some manual transmissions on the lot, but I wanted an automatic...don't really want to learn to drive stick shift. This car is mainly to drive myself and daughter around town. (She is 12 as well). We have a 4 door Charger that will handle all the bigger things once we trade in the SUV. She didn't go with us the first time we test drove the car, but I sat in the back since I am close to her height. I was fine. We once bought a car without sitting in the back and found out only when with others how uncomfortable it really was.
I found the 1800 number on the website, but I still don't have a VIN number since it is still considered "on order". In the meantime, I will just have to look longingly at the few MINIs I pass on the road. We see about 3-4 a week (same ones). I keep a picture of mine from the web site on my bulletin board at work. I keep getting asked when the "due date" is on my baby. I will have to send out announcements when I find out. We are pretty sure it is a girl. Hubby's car is a boy and so is our truck, so we thought a girl would be nice. We are considering the name "Weebit", short for "Wee bit of a car".

Pamlico · Motorer

indygirl wrote:
..... but I still don't have a VIN number since it is still considered "on order". .....

BMW / MINI assigns a VIN soon before your vehicle is built. If you truly don't have a VIN then I'd think you are more than a couple of weeks from delivery. But, if Towne is telling you that you are only a couple of weeks out then you almost certainly have a VIN - Towne should know. I'd suggest calling them and asking what it is and you can then track it via the toll-free number. How are you tracking it on the web site without a VIN?

indygirl · Member

They gave me a production number. That allowed me to create an account on the MINIUSA site. Greg said it would most likely be the end of June for delivery.

Pamlico · Motorer

Have you called the toll-free number? You may be able to use the production number for tracking. I've tracked 2 MINIs but it's been a few years since the last one and I don't remember what can and cannot be used. You should / will get a VIN at some point though as one will be assigned prior to production.

Look on mini2.com and you'll find a FAQ that provides all the details concerning order tracking, including possibly being able to track the ship used to transport the car across the Atlantic.

Good luck.

indygirl · Member

Thanks! I broke down and called Towne. I am scheduled for production the week of 5.25 and delivery should be 3-4 weeks after that. I am guessing MINI has gotten slammed with orders given current gas situations. That is one of the reasons we are switching to a smaller car. I don't work during the summers, so the car will get here just as my summer begins. I will enjoy the gas savings in September. I will just have to make excuses to go out and drive!

MJB MINI · Motorist

We bought an Automatic also. I can't drive a stick shift either. I have summers off also. I am a Teacher's Aide at my son's school.

MJB MINI · Motorist

indygirl

If you have any questions on tracking go to the North America Motoring website they have all the answers on how to track your MINI

I passed a chili red today on the way out of Olean (we live closer to Portville) and they gave me a thumbs up I passed a UPS driver today and he was waving at me so I of course waved back. My husband said I am in the in crowd now, even though I am the only MINI in the school parking lot

-- Edited by MJB MINI at 19:23, 2008-05-14

indygirl · Member

Thanks for the info. Now that I have the date she goes to production, I feel a little better. It will be 5 weeks since I ordered her.
This will sound like a silly question....does the gas tank have a release inside the car? We have been hearing reports of cars parked in lots having their tanks siphoned!

MJB MINI · Motorist

indygirl wrote:

Thanks for the info. Now that I have the date she goes to production, I feel a little better. It will be 5 weeks since I ordered her.
This will sound like a silly question....does the gas tank have a release inside the car? We have been hearing reports of cars parked in lots having their tanks siphoned!

When you lock the car the gas tank automatically locks

I remember waiting and it was so hard for me after we ordered but now that I have my MINI it really wasn't that long, before you know it you will have yours also. My husband wanted to take a ride tonight, he needed a MINI fix so we went for a short one. We now have 1,005 miles on my MINI

Pamlico · Motorer

Not that it's a major issue but while the gas cap cover locks along with the doors / hatch when locking things up for parking, it remains unlocked while driving.

indygirl · Member

Thanks for the info. All the little things that I didn't think about after the test drive.

MJB MINI · Motorist

I checked online to see if I could order my personalized plates and it went through in about 4 weeks I will have MY1MINI on my plates. I think that fits me because I only have 1 mini

Venno · Motorer

MJB MINI wrote:

I checked online to see if I could order my personalized plates and it went through in about 4 weeks I will have MY1MINI on my plates. I think that fits me because I only have 1 mini

...one MINI for now!

he he

TrixieinNY · Motorer

Venno wrote:

MJB MINI wrote:

I checked online to see if I could order my personalized plates and it went through in about 4 weeks I will have MY1MINI on my plates. I think that fits me because I only have 1 mini

...one MINI for now!
he he

They are even better in numbers!

MJB MINI · Motorist

I agree with you Nicole and Venno I would love to have more than one mini. If only my husband didn't need a larger vehicle to tow his boat. Someone stopped me the other day at work and they had a large truck and she said I think we can fit your car in my truck I had to agree with her.