[ThomB]

Quote: Originally Posted by robm

Lorraine has been sitting at the dock since the 14th of April.

Do any of you know what vessel she will be loaded on? I've been checking and search by VIN returns nothing at WW's site.

It seems to be that the cars going to the west coast end up on shipping lines that you cannot track. Not sure whether that is 100% true, but everyone on the Left coast seems to have problems with tracking after the car is "Awaiting Transport".

[Zero G]

Just found out mine has been released to the carrier and awaiting shipment. How do you know who the carrier is? Do I have to call ASK MINI?

[dwhittington]

Quote: Originally Posted by Zero G

Just found out mine has been released to the carrier and awaiting shipment. How do you know who the carrier is? Do I have to call ASK MINI?

Go to the WW site with your VIN number as per the FAQs in this section. You should be able to get vin off the mini website.

[Zero G]

Quote: Originally Posted by dwhittington

Go to the WW site with your VIN number as per the FAQs in this section. You should be able to get vin off the mini website.

Thanks for the info! Looks like I'm scheduled on the Madame Butterfly

[HiMoz]

Is anybody else on the Morning Melody, scheduled to arrive in New York on sunday the 24th? Thats where my MCS is right now.

[silvertoy]

Woo Hoo, looks like I'm scheduled for the Madame Butterfly leaving on the 24th. NICE!!!

[21Blue]

My Mini will be leaving Southampton in about 3 hours and 30 mins!
Let the tracking begin

EDIT: the vessel has been delayed!

[JerryL]

HiMoz
I am new to this board and also on the Morning Melody. What is interesting is that it was supposed to dock on the 22nd and has been pushed back to Monday the 25th. I sent an email to W&W to find out the reason.

[thomthumb]

I'm on the morning melody too. I just noticed that it changed to the 25th too. Are the engines dead or something???

[jdtdds]

I know it has been talked about before but now I can't find the thread. Apparently WW does not handle all the Mini shipments to the west US coast. I think I read it was KLine. How do I find which line or vessel it is on or should I say trying to get on?

[AprilWhine]

First, a clarification:

Placing a deposit and/or giving specs to your dealer does not mean you have ordered your MINI.

Dealers receive allocations for a particular month's build about 5 - 6 weeks prior to the actual build month (eg. June 2002 build allocations were issued on April 26th). Once your spot on the waiting list comes up, your dealer will modify an existing allocation for your model to meet the specs you have supplied. The dealer then will give you a 7 digit production number which you can use to track your MINI.

Next, a warning:

Tracking your MINI may be more stressful than simply waiting for your dealer to call you to come pick it up. This is because you may become aware of delays, but you may not be able to learn the reason or the anticipated length of the delays. This can lead to a great deal of frustration. On the other hand, if everything works smoothly, you will be able to enjoy knowing at what particular stage your car is in the whole process.

Once your MINI has been ordered (ie. you have a production number), you may start tracking it by contacting MINIUSA customer service or visting the Owners' Lounge on the MINIUSA website. Later when production of your MINI has completed, you can use the Wallenius Wilhelmsen website to track its voyage across the pond. Details on all three tracking methods follow.



MINIUSA Customer Service Tracking

MINIUSA customer service is available at 1-866-ASK MINI (1-866-275-6464). Be prepared to give them your 7 digit production number, or once it's been assigned, the last 7 characters of the VIN for your MINI. Since they have access to the same order tracking system as your dealer, they can provide the most up-to-date information on the status of your MINI before it departs the UK and after it arrives in the US. The only reasons to call your dealer after you've received a production number is to change or correct the specs on your MINI before it's scheduled for production, or to find out when you can pick it up after it arrives at your dealer.

The following numeric status codes are commonly used internally to track the progress of your MINI:

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]

Notes:

Specific dates many not be available for each status code
Cross-references to status appearing at MINIUSA's Owners' Lounge and Wallenius Wilhelmsen's Cargo Tracking are SWAG



MINIUSA Website Tracking

Before you can start tracking your MINI on the MINIUSA website, you must:

Obtain the production number or VIN
To track the whereabouts of a MINI that has been ordered from a US dealer, you will need the car's production number OR the VIN (vehicle identification number). The production number is 7 digits (numerical) and will be supplied by your dealer once your order is placed. The VIN is 17 digits (alphanumerical) and will probably not be known until a short time before the date of scheduled production.
Sign Up in the Owners' Lounge
Visit www.miniusa.com and click Owners' Lounge. It's in the Owners' Lounge that you can track the progress of your MINI from the factory to your dealer. Sign up using your car’s production number or VIN. The Owners' Lounge is available for existing MINI owners and buyers who have placed an order, but don't yet have their cars. So, estimate the purchase date and enter zero for the mileage questions since you don't own a MINI yet.
MINIs are tracked in the Owners' Lounge through 6 separate steps:


ON ORDER
The factory recognizes your order and has assigned a production number for your MINI. During this step an estimated build date will also be given. These dates are usually that of a Friday, and indicate a car will be produced by rather than on this date.

Upon your first visit to the Owners' Lounge, and periodically thereafter, make sure you select Review Order Detail to see basic details on the model, paint color and many of the car’s options. More specific information about your MINI may appear as the estimated production date nears. Contact your dealer if the details shown do not match the car your are expecting. Once the status of your MINI proceeds to the next step, you cannot change your specs.
SCHEDULED FOR PRODUCTION
A date has been identfied for your MINI to be built. This date is approximate, so don't be surprised if the date is moved forward or backward in time before the car is actually assembled. Check back often to see if your date has changed. The day of the week your MINI is actually welded together, painted, and driven off the end of the production line may not actually match the date shown, but will likely occur just before your production date. Perhaps a week or two before the scheduled date of production, your MINI may be assigned a VIN which will appear in the Owners' Lounge.
AWAITING TRANSPORT
Surprise! Your MINI has been built! It is now on the journey from the factory in Oxford via auto transporter truck to the docks in Southampton. From there it will be placed aboard a ship that will bring it from England to the US.
EN ROUTE
Your new MINI is at sea. The amount of time your MINI is at sea is affected by many factors including weather, speed of the ship, number of ports of call, and at which port your MINI will be taken off of the ship (among other things). The voyage from England will typically range from 9-12 days to the US east coast, and perhaps 3-4 weeks to the west coast including transit through the Panama Canal. Tracking through the Wallenius Wilhelmsen website is detailed later.
AT VEHICLE DISTRIBUTION CENTER (aka Vehicle Processing Center – VPC)
Your MINI has arrived in the US and is undergoing final inspection and quality assurance. There are three VPC’s used for MINIs arriving in the US: New York (actually New Jersey), Charleston SC, and a west coast facility in Oxnard CA adjacent to Port Hueneme. MINIs have been known to spend as little as several days up to more than 3 or 4 weeks or longer at the VPC before being shipped by truck to the dealer. What is a VPC like? Have a look at these informative external links: NEAT in New York and Port Hueneme in California (sorry nothing on the VPC in Charleston at this time).
AT YOUR DEALER
Finally! As it says, the day you’ve been waiting and waiting for has arrived. Your MINI is now at your dealer and is waiting for you to take it home.
NOTE: Many people have discovered that the MINI tracking data in the Owners' Lounge is updated very infrequently. For example you may learn outside sources (ie. the Wallenius Wilhelmsen website) that you MINI is actually on a ship heading to the US long before the Owners' Lounge acknowledges that fact.



Wallenius Wilhelmsen Website Tracking

Once your MINI is built and released to distribution, it is transported from the factory by auto transport truck to the port at Southampton. From there it will make the voyage across the Atlantic aboard a Wallenius Wilhelmsen vessel to one of three US ports of destination ... New York, Charleston (SC) or Port Hueneme (CA).

Once you have an estimated production date listed at MINI USA's Owners' Lounge, and even before production has started, you can find out on which vessel your MINI might be booked. Just click on the Wallenius Wilhelmsen site to do a Search by Ports from the drop down menu to see which vessel leaves Southampton after your estimated production date and is bound for one of the three ports adjacent to a Vehicle Processing Center (VPC) closest to your dealer. That means the ports of either New York, Charleston SC, or the single west coast port of Port Hueneme CA.

Since estimated production dates have been know to ping-pong, it's probably less stressful to wait until your MINI has been assigned a VIN number and has started production. Then you can click Auto at WW Cargo Tracking and use your MINI's entire 17 digits (alphanumeric) VIN as the Cargo ID (it used to work with only the last 7 characters of the VIN). Tracking will display a Cargo Status History, showing your MINI as one or more of the following:

BOOKED
RECEIVED AT TERMINAL
LOADED ON VESSEL
DISCHARGED (at Port of Destination)
Having your MINI BOOKED and RECEIVED AT TERMINAL does not ensure it being LOADED on the specified vessel. Some MINIs have even been LOADED only to be REMOVED and then BOOKED on a later departing vessel. To avoid frustration, check to see that your MINI is still LOADED a day or two after its intended vessel departs Southampton.

Other interesting information listed on the Cargo Status History is Vessel, Voyage ID and Booking Number. Clicking the Voyage ID will display the sailing schedule for your vessel. You can also go back to WW Cargo Tracking after your vessel has sailed and then track by Booking Number to find out how many other MINIs are onboard with yours. For those with too much time on their hands, visit this US Coast Guard site to find your MINI-carrying ship's "call sign". Then, with the call sign in hand, visit the Ocean Weather site to look for your ship's call sign and current location at sea by scanning the Marine Observations pages.



UPDATE: 31 July 2002 Please note that the Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines website (as detailed above) continues to remain a valuable resource of shipping information allowing a MINI owner-to-be to track a MINI as it is shipped.

However, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines has indicated that BMW/MINI has advised them to no longer attempt to respond to personal email or phone calls from individual MINI purchasers regarding individual MINI shipping details. Wallenius Wilhelmsen simply does not have the resources to deal with responding to queries from individual MINI owners-to-be. Instead, all email or phone call inquiries regarding MINI shipments are to handled by contacting MINIUSA (1-866-ASK-MINI) or through the buyer’s local MINI dealership.


Contact FAQ Custodian

[jdtdds]

I did read the FAQ. I remember reading somewhere about tracking or at least getting info about Minis being shipped on lines than WW. I thought someone had tracked theirs on K-line or another ship. Oh well. I might just have to get a life and quit posting until it arrives. Later.

[AprilWhine]

No, you are right. The west coast ships no longer are booked on WW ships, now they ride K line or NYK ships. The tracking process for those is much more difficult.

NY bound ships still use the WW ships, but Charleston seems to go 50/50.

If you check out the March thread, there are people in there who tracked their MINIs on both K line and NYK ships. I don't remember all the steps, but it starts with getting your booking number from your MA?

[htrout13]

I'm joining this group a little late... My third is slated to be completed next week... I've been watching for a vin number for the last 3 weeks...

I'm going nutty ... the first was hard. The second was crazy... the third is nail biting!

About 6 months ago is when they split shipping companies... when we were watcing #2 being built in June - there was talk of splitting east and west coast shipping - but it was random - some of the west coast was still traveling via WW - however many were going via the Japanese shipping company.

Mrs S - does your sig mean that you've ordered or you've received your new MINI???
H

[htrout13]

Quote: Originally Posted by JerryL

HiMoz
I am new to this board and also on the Morning Melody. What is interesting is that it was supposed to dock on the 22nd and has been pushed back to Monday the 25th. I sent an email to W&W to find out the reason.

I would not recommend emailing the shipping companies - you most likely will not receive a reply. Once you know the ship - track its progress via the ship id (coast guard) and the Ocean Weather Site... Often weather or high traffic will delay arrival date... My 2nd got stuck at sea due to storms and high seas - all were safe - but it pushed it out a few days.

Also - if you could imagine ships arriving and there are only so many docks to allow for unloading... so it stands to reason this would delay a few days...

Just thoughts - but it will be ok... even if it's delayed a week - it's still coming in... and the wait just gets better!!!

[HiMoz]

I did notice the delay. There have been some major storms out at sea, so this is probably the reason.

I agree that it might not be the best idea to email the shipping company. They are told by MINI not to reply to customers' inqueries.

htrout13:
Our ship, the Morning Melody, is not reporting weather, so therefore is not listed on the ocean weather site.

[htrout13]

Yeah - that's pretty common... What I did last time was find another ship that was on a similar route - and tracked them - gave you a better idea than nothing!!!

Just wait until it reaches the processing center - from then on no-one - not even your dealer - really knows where your car is in the process until it shows up on their lot...

It's definitately worth it!!!

[Boondox]

My MC went into production on April 21, due for completion by May 4. I've read where others were able to find out where it was in the assembly line (i.e. in the paint shop, in quality control, etc) but all I hear when I check my status is "Your Mini is in production with a completion date of May 4th."

How do you get the detailed info?

TIA, Pete

[silvertoy]

YAY!! Loaded on the Madame Butterfly and the ship has set sail!!!
YAY!!!

[Jim Ray]

Quote: Originally Posted by Boondox

My MC went into production on April 21, due for completion by May 4. I've read where others were able to find out where it was in the assembly line (i.e. in the paint shop, in quality control, etc) but all I hear when I check my status is "Your Mini is in production with a completion date of May 4th."

How do you get the detailed info?

TIA, Pete

Read post #171 on this thread, and that is a good start.