Delivery Stories

Those Goodyear tires are what were on most of the cars the journalists drove. I read/watched a lot of reviews but the only tire complaint I heard was because that MINI was wearing winter tires--and it was in one of my favorite reviews, where the Italian, Marchettino, finds the kind of road on which MINI Coopers thrive. His video was quite thrilling--it's hard to imagine Marchettino going much faster on summer tires.

I, personally, am happy the MINI Cooper SE gets go-flat tires instead of run-flats. MINI Coopers have much stiffer suspension than my wife is used to and the extra weight and stiffer sidewalls of run-flats make the ride even harsher. I've already purchased a set of slightly used MINI Loop Spoke wheels, hoping that 195/55-16 tires with their taller sidewalls will soften the ride a bit.

The Power Spoke wheels I ordered look great IMO, but am terrified of leaving some of that Energetic Yellow paint on an undeserving concrete curb. The Loop Spoke wheels will go on within a week of delivery, after we've had time to get a good idea of the harshness of the 205/45-17 tires on the Power Spokes. I'm already anticipating her comment on the Loop Spoke wheels, "How can I tell that THESE are the softer tires?"

The Loop Spoke wheels will get the winter tires, too. It doesn't seem like the Power Spoke wheels lend themselves to frequent tire swapping. I read somewhere that the Power Spoke wheels require a special tool from MINI to balance them. I'm hoping my dealer's service department can show me a photo of what that tool looks like (because they're going out of business, I'm sure they didn't purchase one).

So why order the Power Spoke wheels if I'm not going to use them? I'm thinking of turning them into art by making a display board to hold them (Mrs. Insightman won't approve, so I guess it won't be living-room art). I'll put them back on my SE if there's ever another Drive Electric Week event.

 

I've been moved to the front of the line! This letter was sent to me while my MINI Cooper SE was still aboard the Grand Hero, but for some reason the Post Office couldn't deliver it right away.



My dealer called me yesterday to say the transporter bearing my car is scheduled to arrive this Sunday evening, less than 24 hours before MINI of Ann Arbor closes its doors forever. I hope my SE doesn't take a full day to "wake up" the way @Puppethead's SE did.

Even at this late date, I haven't given up on my struggle to exorcise the fake hood scoop, which IMO has no place on an electric car. I'm still hoping for that last-minute phone call from the Governor (er, General Manager), granting life for my wish. There are 2 Moonwalk Grey base MINIs still on the lot. I hand-delivered a letter to the dealer, addressed to the General Manager, begging him to name his price to swap one of those hoods onto my SE. If he won't do that, will he help me pay for the hood-scoopectomy performed with a new base-MINI Cooper hood at a body shop? I wonder, how much interest my $1,500 deposit has generated for them over the past 11 months? Am I tilting at wind-scoops? Don't ask Mrs. Insightman.

 

Well, now we know how many miles it takes for the staff of your dealer to "wake-up" a MINI Cooper SE. My dealer will have to get that done in just a few hours.

Did you find out what the stop-sale recall was all about? Did they tell you to bring your SE back soon to have it resolved?

 

The transporter carrying my SE left the Port of Baltimore yesterday and must have driven the 527 miles to Ann Arbor non-stop. I've often hear the phrase "hurry up and wait," but in this case the phrase would have to be "wait and hurry up." Six weeks waiting for a boat ride and then a high-speed scramble to get my SE off the boat in Baltimore and on its way to Ann Arbor.

Ann Arbor MINI is just a mile from my house. Knowing the transporter might show up at any time, I couldn't stop myself from checking out their parking lot a couple of times today. On my second visit I was slowly cruising past the giant door of the service department, trying to peer inside to see if I could spot my car in the gloomy interior.

Suddenly, as if on cue, my Moonwalk Grey MINI Cooper burst out of the darkness, heading straight for the side of my Clarity with it's glowing Energetic Yellow grille blade beaming in the sunlight!

By the time I got out of the way, parked my car and jumped out, my car was already exiting the dealership and turning right onto Jackson Road. "They must be waking it up," I thought to myself, remembering what @Puppethead's dealer told him.

I re-positioned my car so I could keep an eye on both the entrance from Jackson Road and the service garage door. In just a few minutes, I was again greeted by that pair of Energetic Yellow grille stripes (goose-bumps). I don't begrudge anyone else getting their SE as soon as possible, but I'm so glad I didn't spot another SE with that grille on the streets of Ann Arbor before I saw mine. Would I have been OK to see an SE that had the Vigorous Grey grille blade? It never happened so I don't have to think about it.

The returning mechanic stopped outside the service garage door long enough for me to catch up and ask him how the car felt. He said that it felt great, but it's battery was nearly dead--the range indicator indicated there was only 2 miles of EV travel available. When I asked if there was a Level 2 EVSE on the premises, he said there wasn't. Then it will take about 24 hours to charge the battery on 120 Volts, I replied. I then revealed this was the car I ordered 11 months ago and asked if there was a 240-Volt outlet inside so I could bring over my spare Level 2 EVSE. He said there wasn't (I was dubious, but not argumentative).

Rather than engage in a further discussion about charging, I jumped into the Satellite Grey Chesterfield Leather driver's seat and said, "Wow!" I told the mechanic that my previous Mini had been a 1968 Morris Mini Moke. His droll reply: "They've changed a bit since then." I jumped out after just a few seconds because I didn't want to further delay the dealer-prep process.

I waited even longer for my 2000 Honda Insight--the first hybrid production car delivered to the mid-west, but that car had only 72 horsepower. Although it was exciting for technical reasons, its best "performance" (high-MPGs) was achieved by driving it as slowly as practical. Things will be different with this high-tech driver's car. I won't be trying to stretch the MPG(e)s.

And if seeing my new car wasn't good enough, my year-long campaign to dispose of this electric car's fake hood scoop finally got some traction at the 11th hour. I was allowed to order a scoopless MINI Cooper hood and pay less than what it costs dealers. Then they negotiated with the best local body for 10% off the cost to paint and install the new hood. I was so grateful for those concessions that I didn't mind a bit when they asked me to wait until Monday morning to take delivery. By then my SE should be fully charged.

Thanks to all for your much appreciated support during this long wait. Only one more My Garage check-mark to go: Vehicle Delivered.

Here it is!