Car at the port?

[blaxerB]

So I apologize if this is a stupid question but my personal experience so far in trying to purchase an i3 has been quite challenging (I'm being kind), nothing to do with BMW at all just a series of follies. Anyway I believe I am back on track now but I wanted to verify some of the information I am getting. At this point the dealership is telling me that they have "reserved" a car with everything I wanted on it and that "my name is on it". I've been given a VIN as well which seems legitimate. Also I am told that the car is at the port in Oxnard, that was two weeks ago. But that is pretty much all they can tell me. They have no idea what a delivery date is, how long it will be at the port, etc...

My question is, does all of this parallel other people's experiences buying an i3 here? I've bought A LOT of cars in my time and have never had the experience where the dealership says they have absolutely no idea when the car will be ready. I may be just a bit paranoid here but given my experiences so far trying to buy his car, I figured I would try to verify what they are telling me rings true.

TIA!
Blax....

 

[mindmachine]

So I apologize if this is a stupid question but my personal experience so far in trying to purchase an i3 has been quite challenging (I'm being kind), nothing to do with BMW at all just a series of follies. Anyway I believe I am back on track now but I wanted to verify some of the information I am getting. At this point the dealership is telling me that they have "reserved" a car with everything I wanted on it and that "my name is on it". I've been given a VIN as well which seems legitimate. Also I am told that the car is at the port in Oxnard, that was two weeks ago. But that is pretty much all they can tell me. They have no idea what a delivery date is, how long it will be at the port, etc...

My question is, does all of this parallel other people's experiences buying an i3 here? I've bought A LOT of cars in my time and have never had the experience where the dealership says they have absolutely no idea when the car will be ready. I may be just a bit paranoid here but given my experiences so far trying to buy his car, I figured I would try to verify what they are telling me rings true.

TIA!
Blax....

Basically they are correct especially if any updates are needed. They do however have an idea of the schedule as the trucking release date is determined at the port, then they get notice that it was released and then know an approximate arrival date to the dealership.

 

[stumbledotcom]

Yes, mirrors my experience. My i3 hit Oxnard around the end of April and I took delivery mid-May.

Having your name attached to the car in the system means BMW NA should prioritize its processing. With the VIN you can use a tool at bmwusa.com to track the vehicle. It's not real time but will show you when your vehicle leaves the port.

The dealer is probably being vague to avoid setting unrealistic expectations. It can be unpredictable how long the ports holds onto an individual vehicle because of additional equipment to be added, software updated, shipping issues rectified, etc.

My guess is you'll have the key in your hand any day now.

 

[i3Pooshd]

Call: (1-800) 831-1117
• Say “Vehicle Production Status” when prompted… or at any time after the recording starts
• then,you will be asked for your production number, or last seven digits of your vin number…
• then say – the last seven digits of your VIN. In my case: E06XXXX, (Read as, for example: E, Zero,6,ex,ex,ex,ex.)

 

[blaxerB]

Thanks for all the good info, I was able to use it to track down my i3 and as I feared it is NOT at the port in CA. In fact, to my great sadness my car is listed as "in production"...

Now to have yet another uncomfortable conversation with the dealer. I swear, I have never had so much trouble buying a car in my life, let alone a relatively expensive one.

**Update: Called BMW this morning and they said the car was in QC last Monday so I think that is good news.

Thanks again!
Blax....

 

[Jeffj]

From recent experience (my car is on a ship mid-Atlantic as I type), once they say its in final QC, unless something really bad shows up, it'll move to the transportation department for transport to the port pretty quickly. My car was "produced" on a Tuesday, and arrived at the port on a Sunday. It missed the boat that left on Sunday, but was loaded onto a boat that left the following Thursday, so my car completed production and was shipped in about 9 days.

The iConcierge can give you precise shippping details once they are known (name of ship, particularly). If your car ships on the Wallenius- Wilhelmsen line, you can check on the status at this link:
https://offices.2wglobal.com/offices/Home/Template?url=https%3A%2F%2Fatt.2wglobal.com%2Fgstattweb%2Focean.do%3Fmethod%3DdisplayOceanQuickSearchResult

Enter the last 7 digits of your VIN in the cargo ID field (or enter WBY1% to see all i3's)

You can get shipping schedules from that same web-site by selecting Shipping Tools/Schedule

If your car ships on the NYK line, then you might be able to get a sense of the schedule (though no on-line status) from this site:
http://www.nykroro.com/customer/schedules.html

Shipping from Germany to the West Coast is ~24-26 days

You can actually track the ship live on this site:
http://www.marinetraffic.com/

Search for your ship by name in the upper right search box.

And if you are really in to it, you can watch your ship as it traverses the Panama Canal here http://www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/camera-java.html

Happy Tracking!