Delivery Stories

Discussion in 'Cooper SE' started by insightman, Feb 27, 2020.

To remove this ad click here.

  1. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    I started this new thread to collect stories of people waiting for, and hopefully receiving, their MINI Cooper SE cars. @T.C. made his original post in the MINI Cooper SE road tests thread. Perhaps someone will learn the secrets of MINI's distribution priorities and explain them here.

    Are you in the US or the UK? When I wrote the rest of this post, I was assuming you, like me, are waiting in the US.

    So you were able to secure one of the 200 random 2020 MINI Cooper SEs that the company supposedly put on the boat for March delivery? And now you're being told that even though one of those random cars matched the color combination you wanted, it won't be available until April?

    I wonder if there was more than one boat-load of random 2020 SEs (meaning manufactured in 2019) sent across the pond?

    Last month I, too, was able to submit a $500 deposit to secure an order on the MINI website. However, two days later my dealer called to tell me I'd have to accept a color combo other than what I wanted to get one of those cars. I decided to pass on one of the 2020s. Instead, I will get the model and colors I want (gray Iconic w/black top) manufactured this year (making it a 2021 model).

    My dealer hasn't received any confirmation of a delivery date, but my saleslady is speculating May. With all the SEs @DucRider is saying are promised to customers in Oregon (see his post in the MINI Cooper SE road tests thread), I have to wonder how many more than that are reserved for California, the obvious hot-spot for this car. I hope my fly-over, non-ZEV state won't be forgotten.

    I wish I could reserve the personalized license plate I've picked out (which, of course, I cannot divulge on this public forum until I can post a photo of it mounted on my SE--I'm not one of those people afraid to show off my plate AFTER I get it).

    As I often tell people, waiting for a new car is one of the few ways we can slow the passage of time. Time is creeping.
     
    Last edited: Feb 27, 2020
    Cindy B likes this.
  2. To remove this ad click here.

  3. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    The First Delivery

    BMW has revealed the winner of the free MINI Cooper SE that Amazon awarded in their Twelve Days of Deals holiday sweepstakes. I forced all my friends to enter and made them promise to give me the MINI Cooper SE if they won. Unfortunately, I didn't get to Columbus-area chiropractor, Adam Solomon in time to become his close, personal friend. I'm not really surprised I didn't win because the press release says there were "more than 250,000 sweepstakes entries."

    upload_2020-3-10_0-5-46.png
    Sweepstakes winner Adam Solomon gloats as he receives the first US MINI Cooper SE

    Unfortunately, BMW's press release reveals that my chance of acquiring my MSRP MINI Cooper SE any time soon is also subject to slim odds:

    > After overwhelming interest in the new MINI Electric
    > over the past few months, including down payment
    > reservations on more than half of the units allocated
    > for the U.S. market

    BMW has said that they plan to import only 2,000 MINI Cooper SEs to the US in 2020, so that means that there are already more than 1,000 paid orders. Deliveries are beginning in March, so 2,000 cars in 10 months means only 200 cars are coming out of containers on these shores every month.

    I wonder how many other people submitted their down payment for MINI a Cooper SE in October, when I did? How many also placed a deposit on the MINI Cooper SE ordering website in January when I did? Actually, I know this answer: 200.

    Are west-coast orders prioritized because there are many more requests from those states? Did I ruin my chances for an early delivery by writing too many letters to Germany complaining about the hood scoop added to this electric car? (OK, I know they have absolutely no idea who I am and they don't acknowledge that anyone hates the hood scoop.)

    /whining

    Has anyone received confirmation from their dealer that MINI is delivering the Cooper SE they ordered? If so, when did you order it, when is it coming, and where is your dealer? Thanks.
     
    Last edited: Mar 10, 2020
    Cindy B and SmartElectric like this.
  4. Matt Shumaker

    Matt Shumaker Active Member

    We ordered our Mini SE and were told June delivery. However, we received a call from our dealer 3 days ago asking us if we wanted one that just arrived in harbor. We said "Yes". The dealer then told us we can expect our car by the end of the month!
     
  5. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    Congratulations! Where is your dealer? How different was the available MINI Cooper SE from the colors and trim level you ordered?

    I wasn't aware MINI was shipping additional "spec" MINI Cooper SEs to the US after the initial allocation of 200. I assumed that all of the cars in the initial allocation of 200 were claimed on the day MINI opened their ordering website in January. I was not lucky enough to find a car in the colors I wanted in that initial batch.

    I can imagine 4 scenarios explaining the availability of your MINI Cooper SE:
    1. Someone who paid to reserve one of the initial delivery of 200 cars changed their mind and dropped out
    2. The demand for this car is so small that MINI didn't find customers for all of the initial delivery of 200 cars
    3. MINI shipped a second batch of "spec" cars before allowing dealers to place orders for specific configurations
    4. Someone who ordered a specific configuration for a car in the second batch changed their mind and dropped out
    Because your dealer told you "just arrived in harbor," scenario 3 seems the most likely. My dealer told me the initial allocation of 200 cars were built in 2019, making them 2020 model-year cars. Can your dealer tell you your VIN to determine if your March-delivery car is a 2020 or a 2021 (manufactured in 2020)?

    Even though I placed my first down payment in October and a second down payment when MINI opened their ordering website, I have no idea when I'll see my SE. Here's the faintly encouraging message my dealer sent 4 days ago:

    > I just talked to MINI Operations Specialist and your order should be getting pulled soon. :)
     
    Last edited: Mar 14, 2020
    SmartElectric likes this.
  6. Matt Shumaker

    Matt Shumaker Active Member

    The spec we ordered is the same other than color.

    Our dealer is in Naperville Illinois. I have other details other than that.

    Im not sure about US demand. UK reviewers mentioned that there are 100,000 preorders.

    I am hoping I am the first Youtuber with one.
     
    SmartElectric and insightman like this.
  7. To remove this ad click here.

  8. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    Unless the Ohio chiropractor who won the Amazon MINI Cooper SE gets on YouTube, you've got a good chance to be the 1st. Be sure to link us InsideEVs forum members to your videos and stay in touch. All the people on this MINI Electric forum (well, that's mostly me at this point) will be watching and have questions.

    In the BMW press release about the Amazon winner, they say more than half the year's allocation (supposedly 2,000 cars) has been reserved with down payments:

    > After overwhelming interest in the new MINI Electric
    > over the past few months, including down payment
    > reservations on more than half of the units allocated
    > for the U.S. market...
     
    Last edited: Mar 14, 2020
  9. Matt Shumaker

    Matt Shumaker Active Member



    Here is one video
     
    SmartElectric and insightman like this.
  10. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    I added a comment below the video mentioning the additional reinforcing MINI adds to protect against the heavy battery. The need to prevent the battery from crushing the occupants in a rollover accident is probably why MINI is not making an electric convertible, which would be unique and very popular, despite the car's 110-mile EPA range.
     
    Cindy B likes this.
  11. Matt Shumaker

    Matt Shumaker Active Member

    If they do make a convertible, we will order one immediately.

    If I was rich, I would buy a SE and a Convertible and combine them to make my own.
     
    SmartElectric and insightman like this.
  12. To remove this ad click here.

  13. CandidCIO

    CandidCIO New Member

    Where is the ordering web site?


    Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
     
  14. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    When MINI was allocating the first 200 MINI Cooper SEs to US customers, they had a special website. My dealer gave me the URL and I hopped on early on the January morning when it first went online. The first 200 people who submitted a $500 deposit through the website were eligible for one of the 200 cars MINI put on a boat and sent to the US.

    The deposit went from MINI to the dealer. Two days later, my dealer called and told me about a couple of the cars that were close to what I said I wanted when I placed my first deposit in October. I wanted a Moonwalk Grey MINI Cooper SE with a black roof and I declined a Moonwalk Grey with a white roof, preferring to wait for my color choice.

    After that initial allocation of 200 was claimed, MINI put a Reserve Now button at the top of their website page for the MINI Cooper SE. When you click on that button, it connects you to a local dealer to order your MINI for you.
    https://www.miniusa.com/model/electric-hardtop.html

    MINI is now inundated with orders (more than half the 2,000 cars coming in 2020 are reserved with paid deposits) and I'm sad that my two early deposits didn't put me in line for one of the first SEs built to order. Perhaps if I lived in California...
     
  15. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    A French dealer already has a used (only 10 km) MINI Electric for sale.

    upload_2020-3-16_9-49-36.png
     
  16. Matt Shumaker

    Matt Shumaker Active Member

    We have our VIN! They sent us a picture of our window sticker. Our car is in the processing center in New York being readied for shipment to our dealer.

    It no longer feels like a dream. It is reality!
     
    SmartElectric likes this.
  17. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    Congrats! Does having a VIN enable you to download the Owners Manual?
     
  18. Matt Shumaker

    Matt Shumaker Active Member



    We took delivery of our SE today!
     
  19. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    MINI USA Vice President, Mike Peyton, took pity on the customers waiting and waiting and waiting for their MINI Cooper SEs to be delivered. He sent out this 9.5 x 6.5-inch mounted print with a note of encouragement on the back. Count me as encouraged.

    upload_2020-6-1_22-26-6.png

    upload_2020-6-1_22-26-34.png

    I wonder if the designer was fired for not including a hood scoop on the MINI Electric in this sketch?
     
    Last edited: Jun 1, 2020
    SmartElectric likes this.
  20. Matt Shumaker

    Matt Shumaker Active Member

    We got one of those sketches too even though we didn't have to wait for our car. Tesla gave the same type of sketch to those of us waiting for Model 3s.
     
    Last edited: Jun 1, 2020
    SmartElectric likes this.
  21. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    You were a waiting customer before your SE magically materialized in NYC, so I bet you are still on the list in the waiting-customer database.

    Matt, have you recorded quarter-mile numbers with your VBOX? I haven't seen quarter-mile time/speed results from anyone--not even MINI. In fact, I haven't seen anyone other than you care enough to check MINI's conservative 0-60 time. I wonder if journalists had to agree not to publish their own acceleration numbers in order to get a test car?
     
    Last edited: Jun 2, 2020
  22. Matt Shumaker

    Matt Shumaker Active Member

    Good question.

    I am nowhere near a drag strip. That being said, the V-Box gives 1/4 mile time. I could test it that way.
     
    insightman likes this.
  23. I have just spoken to my dealership in the UK. I've been told that the chassis has rolled out of the paint shop, but production is currently on hold due to a parts supply issue. The revised date for production to resume is mid-July and expected delivery by early August. My original estimated delivery date was June 30.
     
    Last edited: Jun 2, 2020
    insightman and SmartElectric like this.

Share This Page