[fjpatriot]

Stacey - you know about 1-866AskMini right? You can use this number from your cell phone to track your car all you want! Just need your production number. I track it enough the production number is emblazoned to my forehead!

[staceybassoon]

Quote: Originally Posted by fjpatriot

Stacey - you know about 1-866AskMini right? You can use this number from your cell phone to track your car all you want! Just need your production number. I track it enough the production number is emblazoned to my forehead!

But isn't it true that after it's been released to the carrier it doesn't give you anymore helpful information?

[fjpatriot]

I'm trying on the site http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shiplocations.phtml, and all that shows up is data from Feb 27. Anyone find any info on the location of Elektra, or should I expect the above site to be updated at some point? The ship left Southampton around 2:30pm Southampton time.

[fjpatriot]

Stacey - yes, sorry, didn't know yours had been released. Yes, the mini owner site and AskMini number don't even report my car as being on the elektra. Only the WW site knows this. What ship is your car on?

[staceybassoon]

I don't think it's on a ship yet... I haven't found anymore information on it since I found out that it was released. I've been plugging in my VIN number on the WW site, but nothing thus far.

[fjpatriot]

From the end of production it took about 2 days to show up on the WW site. Just to see what you will see once its available, on the WW site choose "Booking Number" under Cargo Tracking, then enter the number GBSOU414553 for the booking number. The VINs there are clickable. The ones shown as "loaded on vessel" are on the Electra right now. Good luck - it should show up soon. I believe the next ship is leaving Southampton on Friday.

[mct]

Ok - got some conflicting info tonight. When I called my MA this morning to add LSD to my MCS, he said I had a week 16 build (ie. next week). But when I called ASKMINI to talk to customer service (not the automated system) to check and make sure the LSD did get on the order, he said the LSD is on there and my car was a week 17 build. Who do you think is more accurate - the MA or ASKMINI customer service?

[fjpatriot]

In my case when I ordered my car my MA said the car would be made the week of Apr 10-14. My car in reality was made the week before, which AskMini stated was the estimated completion date. My opinion is until the car gets scheduled for production with an estimated completion date its all just a guess... They can produce a car from start to finish in 3 days, so either way it'll get produced this month! The real "wait" is once its done production and its waiting for the ship, or the travel time on the ship.

[staceybassoon]

So what happens with the wait listed cars and why are there so many?

[MGB Boy]

Quote: Originally Posted by fjpatriot

MGB Boy - congrats, we're ship mates! Wow, that was a fast turnaround, lucky you. I waited 3 days at port, which wasn't too bad, about 3 times less than the average - but 14 hours, yahoo! I've been following Elektra's progress, and BTW almost all the ships first stop at Halifax before going to NY/NJ. Its standard a 9 day trip from Southampton to NY, including Halifax as a midpoint.

Yeah, I know, but last time I got lucky and the Takasago was on a route that skipped Halifax, so it was a 7 day trip instead of 9 days. Okay, "lucky" is a relative term after it was bumped four times and spent 2.5 weeks hanging out on the pier. I figure the remarkably short wait this time is just karma finally coming around. Three weeks to the day after I decided to buy it and put the order in, the car was loaded on a ship. That's pretty keen! And I certainly can't complain about a couple extra days, looking thru the booking there's a car that arrived at the terminal on March 17 and another from March 27 which both got bumped again. I hadn't even decided to buy the car on March 17, and this poor schmuck's car has been there since then. Ugh, I'd be pulling my hair out by now...

-Ricardo

[Skatemom]

Stacy (my purple buddy) I don't know why the cars are waitlisted. With all 3 of ours, we've never had the dreaded asterisk. But keep entering your VIN (if you have a zero or "O" in your VIN, be sure to try both, just in case...), eventually it will show up. What was your completion date?

[Skatemom]

Quote: Originally Posted by fjpatriot

BTW almost all the ships first stop at Halifax before going to NY/NJ. Its standard a 9 day trip from Southampton to NY, including Halifax as a midpoint.

The WW schedule doesn't show a Halifax stop on my voyage, but the trip will take 9 days. Also, my ship is taking a markedly northern route. It certainly looks like it could make a stop in Halifax. Right now she just went south of the 50th parallel.


Has anyone tried oceanweather.com to look for the Electra? http://www.oceanweather.com/data/
You first click on the region you're expecting to see your ship and then go to Marine Observations. The ships are posted with their call sign next to little blue flags. Sometimes it's pretty crowded and hard to read. Maybe the Electra will show up there before sailwx.com, I don't know. The Liberty has been on both sites.

Good luck,

SkateMom

[fjpatriot]

Skatemom - I'm guessing the captain of the Elektra doesn't want anyone to know he Supercharged his engines so he and his mates can spend a few days celebrating in Halifax, when everyone else thinks they are at sea! I tried oceanweather last night and still got nothing. The Elektra's call sign is SIWB, and the only data on it is from Feb in sailwx. Maybe it will show up sometime, but maybe its better this way because then I won't be glued to my computer watching every inch the ship moves! Just in case anyone is interested in these car carrying ships, in my search for info on the Elektra I came across this:

http://www.wallenius.se/doc_upload/1_Elektra_july05.pdf

Pretty good description of the ship with a picture. Our Elektra is sporting the Swedish Racing Green body, with the white top - a classic combination! Just 8 more days now!

Stacey - my car was scheduled to be on the Manon, but out of the 88 cars scheduled, they only took 22. I then got wait listed to get on the Elektra, and got on, but out of the 106 cars they took about 30. I really wonder if some of the car records are just old, because I saw the same one's since March 17 get passed over. Otherwise, you wonder if something is wrong with the car and they are fixing it? The average wait time to get on though is a good 7-10 days - bet yours will be shorter though!

[nilo]

The ships try to take the straightest route possible to shorten travel. As all the ice starts to melt during this period, I imagine the ships take a more northern route where, as before, during the winter months, icebergs and such become a real threat.

I have an estimated delivery date of April 20 finally posted on the owner's lounge. Liberty is scheduled to dock on the 15th, a day ahead of schedule. My dealer is only 2.5 hours away so I hope I they surprise me with an earlier delivery.

[staceybassoon]

Hoyl crap holy crap holy crap!

I've been received at the terminal for the Integrity! My car was completed on Tuesday. I'm not sure if this is a definite loading, I guess it has to say it's loaded first doesn't it? What do I look for next? This ship arrives in SC. I thought most of them went to NY/NJ? What's next????

[mct]

Quote: Originally Posted by staceybassoon

Hoyl crap holy crap holy crap!

I've been received at the terminal for the Integrity! My car was completed on Tuesday. I'm not sure if this is a definite loading, I guess it has to say it's loaded first doesn't it? What do I look for next? This ship arrives in SC. I thought most of them went to NY/NJ? What's next????

Received at Terminal means it is waiting for a ship to be loaded on. This is where the frustration can set in as it can take a matter of hours to a matter of days if not weeks to be loaded on a ship. Good luck !!

[fjpatriot]

Just checked sailwx and she showed up:

Notesdate/timelatlonnaut. miles runSOAwind fromknots barometerair tempwater temp2006-Apr-13 12:00N 49°36'W 009°30' 250 211019.112.714.3

21 knots - go baby go My MA was saying if Baby gets in on the 20th I should have her in my hot little hands within 7 days Here's to an end of April citing of me in my MCSC!

[staceybassoon]

Quote: Originally Posted by mct

Received at Terminal means it is waiting for a ship to be loaded on. This is where the frustration can set in as it can take a matter of hours to a matter of days if not weeks to be loaded on a ship. Good luck !!

WEEKS?!?!?!?!

[staceybassoon]

There are some things I don't understand about the info here though...

It says it was booked on March 21... I didn't even order my car until Mar 25. Do they kinda pre-book MINIs for the ships before they are even made?

What does the voyage priority mean?

My booking number is GBSOU414563

[mct]

Quote: Originally Posted by staceybassoon

There are some things I don't understand about the info here though...

It says it was booked on March 21... I didn't even order my car until Mar 25. Do they kinda pre-book MINIs for the ships before they are even made?

What does the voyage priority mean?

My booking number is GBSOU414563

Yes - your dealer has a certain number of MINIs each month (their allotment). They pre-spec these cars and those cars are booked for the voyage over. Each car is given a status number that represents what step of the process the car is in:


037 Order is at BMW NA [ON ORDER]
087 Production Week Assigned
097 Order sent to factory
111 Order Accepted at factory
112 Order scheduled for Production
150 Production Started [SCHEDULED FOR PRODUCTION]
151 Body Shop Started
152 Paint Shop Started
153 Assembly Started
155 Production Completed
160 Released to Distribution
182 Released to Carrier [AWAITING TRANSPORTATION]
193 Arrived at Port of Exit [RECEIVED AT TERMINAL]
194 Selected for Shipment [LOADED ON VESSEL]
195 Shipped from Port of Exit [EN ROUTE]
196 Shipment Arrival [DISCHARGED]

(taken from http://www.mini2.com/forum/faq.php?f...q_tracking_usa)

As long as the status is less than 150, changes to the configuration can be made. So when you order your car, they just take one of the pre-spec'd cars and modify the configuration and *presto* - the car now has your options on it.

As for it taking weeks to get on a ship - that is an extreme, but has happened .

I would not worry yourself over that though - chances are you will get on a ship soon!