[Spanc]

Hi,

Currently have a UK 5 door Cooper SD on order, hoping for delivery in late Oct to replace my partner's Fiat 500.

Spec as below;
Thunder grey
17" Tentacle alloys in silver
Roof and mirror caps in black
Cloth/leatherette Black Pearl Carbon Black seats
Firework interior trim
Media XL
Chili
Chrome line interior/exterior
Folding mirrors
Seat heating
Heated front windscreen
Rear parking sensors

Getting excited, been reading the forums quite a lot, the "Things I have discovered about F56" thread has been an interesting read so far too!

 

[Davyboy]

Welcome along

Sounds a nice spec, I bet you can't wait

 

[brandonbardsley]

Welcome on board! Another member to add to the SD crew. 0

 

[Spanc]

Thanks guys - will post pics when it's with us!

 

[jeremybingham]

Sounds nice!

 

[Spanc]

A quick update - so our car was built on the back of a pre-built but unregistered car not being available to us due to an admin error. We went in and made a few tweaks to the new factory order spec (so added heated seats and windscreen for instance).

The new build was complete in the penultimate week of October but for some reason delivery was delayed until this week - bear in mind our factory order was being expedited to make up for the car not being available, and we are in the UK so delivery typically only takes a week from completion.

We went in at the weekend to sort out the extra delay, and my partner saw on their screen that it still had stripes which we had removed in our spec - it transpires that our salesman has actually ordered the original spec car instead of our tweaked one, and had she not noticed we would be picking up a wrong car this weekend!

We've agreed to hit the reset button one more time and a second new car is being ordered today which we have said we need by Christmas... I'm hoping third time lucky!

 

[jeremybingham]

Crikey sounds like hard work. You've got to watch those salespeople!

 

[Davyboy]

Sorry to hear your issues

To me another case of a salesperson not listening, I wonder at times how some are still in a job!

 

[brandonbardsley]

Jeepers creepers, willing to name and shame the dealership? That's just utterly unorganised... Things like this make me angry.

Lets hope you think the car is worth the wait at the end of it all!

 

[Spanc]

Ha thanks for your kind words guys... Brandon we've privately been through the angry stage weeks ago! I've only presented a concise version here...

So the call about the wrong car was only made last night (after we'd chosen a reg plate) and safe to say when we got told it was pretty devastating news, the call started with a massive sigh from the new salesman looking after us and then a huge apology. We went straight in to the dealership last night past opening hours to sort out options, and the manager (naturally) said we've had the absolute worst luck of anyone he's ever had, and importantly to us took full responsibility, which is ultimately why we have given them a final chance.

We have thought about throwing in the towel, but as part of the ongoing goodwill we've been given a basic loan car (as the Fiat went back to the finance company ages ago) and even that has made us realise a Mini is what we really want, which is why we're doing our best to endure the situation. The dealer did offer to transfer us elsewhere and pay for everything so we got the same deal we're getting but it's obviously in their interest to see us through... I'll keep their identity under wraps for now pending a successful delivery of the car, as they're obviously in a tricky situation having to accept a £26k car that we are rejecting too.

We just want our Mini and as you guys say, hopefully we'll get there! WIll keep you posted.

 

[jeremybingham]

Good luck , keep us posted; if as you say, they make the effort to lend you a car it does appear they're trying to make amends; we're the same-if a dealer does this it is amazing how much more forgiving you feel! I am sure it will be worth the wait!

 

[Davyboy]

I assume you had a copy of the sales invoice as would they so how can they still **** it up?

Hopefully no further issues and I hope they compensate you well, some nice "free" extras etc should be in order

 

[Spanc]

Just a very quick reply to say we picked up our car last night - we have been driving a loaded 7 as a courtesy car which was really nice and enjoyed significantly better service and comms, but now have ours along with a large bouquet of flowers and a Cooper S keyring! Will take some photos at the weekend.

 

[jeremybingham]

Grrrrrr we are still waiting for our keyring,on order apparently two months now.

 

[Grey thunder]

Congrats, seems delivery times were quite similar to my experience. Even got the mini keyring (no flowers though).

 

[Spanc]

Apologies for the delay, hopefully some pics attached (including one of the F55 Cooper Seven in Lapisluxury Blue). It's filthy already and coming up to a thousand miles so will probably wash between now and new year.

http://imgur.com/a/Q5Lnj

 

[Spanc]

Had the car for about a month now and just passed 2k miles - given the blasts of freezing air we've had in the UK over the last week or so I'd absolutely recommend the heated front screen as an option, it's been perfectly reliable, very quick and for the money an excellent value option.

Also glad we went for heated seats too, my SO was sceptical that it wouldn't be pleasant with the black pearl seats but safe to say she's converted with the recent weather. It's a shame MINI don't make the heated steering wheel available as an option on the F55/F56, think it's available on the new F60 though if I remember?

Gearbox is starting to become slightly less stiff which is good and the SD really does have an incredible amount of torque, pulling away in 6th from 45 to 70 in green mode is so easy and we're getting a solid 50mpg/500mi from a tank, not bad given all the heating elements we've had on full whack - fully expect this to improve as time goes on and temps rise.

If I had to find fault I'd say that the current tyres do seem to wheelspin/hop with too much ease in mid mode when pulling away - sport mode seems to make it happen less, not sure if anyone has any tips? I think I'd also go for a sunroof next time but otherwise am really pleased still. When the weather improves I'll try and get a few more photos.

 

[Russtnutts]

Hi there, looking at your posts it appears we picked up our cars about the same time, 16th Dec, I also have the heated front seats and quick clear windscreen, and totally agree they have been a godsend these last few weeks!

Having a blast with mine and can't wait for the better weather so I can welly it about a bit more!