How to Track your MINI SE Build and Shipping

Discussion in 'Cooper SE' started by MichaelC, Dec 19, 2020.

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  1. MichaelC

    MichaelC Well-Known Member

    As of this writing, most MINI SE sales have been driven through a pre-order process. Since the MINI brand supports custom orders as a differentiating feature, they provide ways for you to track the progress of your MINI's build. There are many guides on how to do this around the internet (many of which are a bit old and outdated). This post intends to provide a somewhat current summary of the process.

    Vehicle Inquiry Report
    When you complete the pre-order process at your dealership, they should give you a piece of paper titled “Vehicle Inquiry Report”. This piece of paper provides all the details of your MINI SE, including all standard and optional features it will have. It also includes 2 key pieces of information at the top:
    • Prod. No: This is your Production Number! If this is blank, your Motoring Advisor (MINI-speak for salesperson) should supply this to you within a couple days after placing your order. Some Motoring Advisors will be proactive and contact you, but not all will. If you don't have your MINI's Production Number a week after placing your order, call your dealership and politely ask for it.
    • Port Loc.: This is your Port Location, identifying the destination port your MINI is going to be shipped to and then placed on a truck for delivery to your dealer. We’ll reference this later.
    Tracking the Production Status
    Once you know your Production Number, the quest to track your MINI can begin.

    Mini Cooper SE Build and Delivery Tracking Spreadsheet

    The Delivery Spreadsheet - Let's Track These Inbound SEs thread in this forum has a link to this Google Docs spreadsheet. This spreadsheet is a great community resource which captures how long each production and shipping stage took your predecessors. Please add your information to this spreadsheet as your track your MINI SE's status to help those who follow.

    That thread is also a great place to commiserate with your fellow MINI SE order trackers, where you can support each other through the frustrations of waiting for that status bubble to change, to the further frustrations of wondering why your SE is still sitting at the port while others have come and gone, to celebrating when another delivery is made.

    MINI My Garage

    Register at and log in to MINI My Garage: https://securelogin.miniusa.com/. Here, you can enter your MINI SE's Production Number to get a visual status, showing all the stages and which stage yours is in.

    1-866-ASK-MINI (1-866-275-6464)
    ASK-MINI is a live support center setup by MINIUSA to handle all of your calls and inquiries related to your MINI order. This system is divided into two main interfaces:
    • Automated: The automated system is okay for getting which step of the production status your SE is on, using the same steps as shown in MINI My Garage. Note that you may sometimes get a different answer between ASK-MINI and My Garage.
    • Customer Relations: Real live people, available 9am to 9pm EST. If you supply them with your Production Number, they’ll be able to tell you your MINI SE's current status and anything they might know about next steps. Not all ASK-MINI Customer Relations reps are created equal; sometimes you will get one who does not know the system entirely or is unfamiliar with the process, sometimes you will get incredibly personable and highly informative reps. If a particular representative wasn't helpful, try calling back to see if another one is better.
    Tracking the Shipping Status
    When your MINI SE's status changes from AT THE PORT to IN TRANSIT, your MINI SE has been loaded onto a ship. In fact, the status change probably updated a day or two after the ship left Southampton port.

    At this point, you can call 1-866-ASK-MINI or your Motoring Advisor to ask for the name of the ship transporting your SE from Southampton to the destination Port Location identified on your Vehicle Inquiry Report. Once you have the ship's name, you can track its slow progress across the ocean using a web site, like one of these:
    Just enter the vessel name in the search bar at the top of the page. The tracking information depends on the ship being within range of AIS receivers, which means the site won't be able to track the ship once it is out to sea. (I think there are some premium/pay sites that can track via satellite, if you're really interested.)

    The Port Location code is rather cryptic. Here are the translations that I know of:
    • BALPOA = Baltimore, MD
    • CHSPOA = Charleston, SC
    • GLSPOA = Galveston, TX
    • NYCPOA = New York City, NY
    • PHMPOA = Port Hueneme, CA
    • SSIPOA = Brunswick, GA
    When your MINI SE arrives at the destination Port Location, the progress status will move from IN TRANSIT back to AT THE PORT. Don't panic--this is just another quirky MINI design choice.

    Your MINI SE will eventually be processed and loaded onto a truck for the final leg of the journey to your dealership. At this point, its status will move (again) from AT THE PORT to IN TRANSIT. If your dealership hasn't contacted you by now to schedule the appointment for you to take delivery, you can call them to ask for an estimate of when they expect your MINI SE to arrive.

    Once you have finally taken delivery of your awesome MINI SE, don't forget to update your information in the build and delivery tracking spreadsheet and then post about it in the Delivery Stories thread. Congratulations!
     
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  3. MichaelC

    MichaelC Well-Known Member

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  4. Lainey

    Lainey Well-Known Member

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  5. GvilleGuy

    GvilleGuy Well-Known Member

    This is EXCELLENT! Thank you, @MichaelC.
     
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  6. Lainey

    Lainey Well-Known Member

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  8. bldxyz

    bldxyz Well-Known Member

    I'm so stuck between the excitement of having placed my order and acceptance it won't arrive for months! I keep coming back here for no good reason, but then I re-read something and I have a dumb question.

    I don't have a Production Number and it's been almost four weeks. I asked after a week, politely, and was told: "Your order has been submitted, but you don’t have a production number yet. You’ll have one once the car gets pulled for production".

    I got a phone call from my dealer a couple of weeks ago, saying that it wouldn't get pulled for production until March (and would likely be a 2022). He was setting my expectations, which it appropriate.

    I guess my question is: should I have a Production Number, as the top-post suggests, or is what my dealer saying about not getting a Production Number until it is pulled for production true?
     
  9. Lainey

    Lainey Well-Known Member

    The production number is available before actual production. You get the VIN as it prepares for assembly - about 2 weeks before actual assembly line production. I would call back and press again. Suggest asking the manager for the number. It really should only take a few weeks but they have to go in and look for it.
     
  10. MichaelC

    MichaelC Well-Known Member

    This is actually a very good question, not a dumb one! My answer, unfortunately, is "I don't know".

    When I placed my order, I was told it would take about 3 months for my car to be delivered. About 2 months into my wait, I started reading other "how to track your order" guides, and they indicated that the Production Number is typically allocated within a couple days of the order being accepted. When I followed up with my dealership to ask about my production number, their response was along the lines of "Oops, we should have already sent it to you, here's your number, and your car just entered production". :confused:

    Keep in mind, all those other "how to track your MINI" guides were written well before COVID-19 disrupted everything. There may be many new/different factors delaying production schedules, so it's quite possible that the turn-around time for getting a production number assigned is much slower now. Looking at the Mini Cooper SE Build and Delivery Tracking spreadsheet, it looks like the wait for a production number can vary quite a bit--and the production number is given between a couple days and a couple weeks before the production begins.

    I agree with @Lainey's advice to wait until a couple weeks before production is expected to begin (so, mid-February?) and call back then. If they still don't have it by then, politely let them know you are eager to get it as soon as it has been assigned.
     
  11. Lainey

    Lainey Well-Known Member

    I actually would start pushing now. My car got its VIN earlier than I thought which let me know, no more changes. You can make changes to your car up to that point. The production number should be there weeks before a VIN is assigned.
     
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  13. BigDave23

    BigDave23 New Member

    When I picked up my car (this past Saturday) my dealer said 2021 orders were closed and the system hadn’t started taking 2022 orders. This seems to match up with what your dealer is telling you - I’m no expert but I doubt you’ll get a production number system opens for 2022 orders...


    Sent from my iPad using Inside EVs
     
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  14. GvilleGuy

    GvilleGuy Well-Known Member

    That lines up with what I was told, as well. I deposited on Jan 6th and my sales guy says my order is not yet showing up.
     
  15. Puppethead

    Puppethead Well-Known Member

    I wonder if that's an indication that MINI is so backlogged on builds that they just put all new orders on hold. Perhaps because of the massive automotive computer chip shortage? Or the SE is more popular than MINI expected?

    Holding new orders until 2022 production begins just might be a calendar management issue to ease production pressure and explains why people are being told that's the model even though the 2022 frontend change hasn't been unveiled yet.
     
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  16. bldxyz

    bldxyz Well-Known Member

    This fits what my dealer was telling me and makes me less eager to press them for anything. I considered the phone call I got on Jan 5 (or so) to be a solid, proactive move (we had largely communicated by email). Pushing them to give me information because "I found a source on the internet forum that says you should be able to look it up" may not enhance my relationship with the dealer.

    And I'm okay to wait. If I get the car in May, I'm happy, and that's what I last heard from my dealer. (April or May).
     
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  17. Puppethead

    Puppethead Well-Known Member

    Ran across an article on semiconductor shortage impact on auto manufacturers, and found this detail about the MINI Oxford plant:

    Other UK factories have not yet been directly affected by the semiconductor shortages, although Toyota, BMW and JLR said they were closely monitoring the situation.

    BMW has not yet restarted production at its Mini plant in Oxford after an extended Christmas shutdown to install new painting equipment.

    Maybe BMW plans to do the 2022 model switchover early because the plant is already shuttered for an extended period?
     
  18. Lainey

    Lainey Well-Known Member

    I totally forgot to add to the rumor mill from my dealership. Something about a change needing to happen to the countryman is causing Mini to switch all earlier than usual. I believe a battery change that caused a stoppage for them was made as a change to 2022 and Mini decided to do all changes at the same time. Take that with a grain of salt. But dealer was shocked too that the switch was so early.
     
  19. Thank you, sir! Had seen a timeline of 63 days on a shipping vessel from UK to LA and was about to flip out. Got in touch with James at the number you posted and it's down to 30 days on the Capricornus Leader, NYK shipping lines.

    Hope to see it by Mid-March. Today is day 104 since ordering. Probably be 140 days from order to driveway. Updated spreadsheet. Thanks for creating a place for us to contribute!
     
  20. Interesting. My SE went into prod, according to dealership, 1/26. Status moved to awaiting xport 1/27. On ship 1/30.
     
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  21. bldxyz

    bldxyz Well-Known Member

    Despite my email and conversation with my dealer last week (about cancelling my 2021 order and waiting to order a 2022), the mygarage.miniusa.com site lists my car as being in production as of today. I'm looking forward to hearing back from my dealer on what they plan to do now.
     
  22. GvilleGuy

    GvilleGuy Well-Known Member

    Uh oh. If that is not a mistake on the web site, then I hope they will move your $500 deposit to a new order on a 2022.
     
  23. Lainey

    Lainey Well-Known Member

    Well boo on that, but I would say it's not a big deal. They'll be able to sell the 2021 SE no problem and just move you over to the 2022 - at least my guess in dealing with my dealership.
     

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