I sat in a FFRR Autobiography PHEV (P400e was on the boot) on Friday. It was fabulous. Makes my old RRS feel like a Cortina!  2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed

Gestation completed, in labour now as it goes through final build (dealer says that’s anything up to 6 days as they go over it with a fine tooth-comb looking for issues and checking all the electronics and toys are there and working...... LR take note), then final QC and finally delivery to the UK (PHEV and Convertible Minis are the only ones not built in the UK ), I even have a VIN number for it. 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

Paid the Mini dealership a visit this morning to do some of the final paperwork when a transporter turned up outside the dealership loaded with a heap of BMW’s, a Mini Countryman and a Mini Countryman PHEV - instantly I knew it was mine as I specced optional black wheels and black gloss finish roof rails........
My iPhone8 and the brilliant sun today make it look very Silver today but it is more like a light Silicone Silver or Ipanema Sand in LR speak. Pity that when I ordered that it wasn’t then available in Estoril Blue as they have another Countryman in stock in that Blue with a white roof and it looks fantastic on a day like today

It still has it’s transportation protection on and the dealer has been requested not to do any body work prepping other than inspection for damage and after PDI it will be off to the detailers who did the Sport in October last year for 3 Days of washing and applying GTechnic Ultra Serum protection before I get it on 15th June
Clicking on the photos will take you an off site host for the photos









 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

Love the color, good choice.
 2014MY RRS SDV6 HSE Black Stealth with 22" Black alloys - LOVE IT (Now wrapped in 3M Satin Dark Grey)

It looks great, Tim. Hope you’ll stay on the forum and keep us up to date on how you get on with it.

You have had quite a journey getting to this point, hope it lives up to your expectations.

Thanks, and yes i’ll Report back. It wasn’t supposed to be here until 23rd June........... also was really pleased with the part exchange value which was done by video link with the JLR dealership in the same group - Douglas Park Autos. I was expecting break even on the final settlement of the PCP but the in house dealership valued the car at £43000 which was a reduction because of 3 small paint chips and 3 minute scuffs on 3 alloys (cost me £750 in value for them to “repair”) so at the end of the day I have a huge amount of equity in the car that I wasn’t expecting and the gratifying comment from their LR dealership that the spec was spot on, the colour is the easiest to sell but I would have got back the value of the heated steering wheel if it had been specced as that is hugely important in Scotland (and where the car will head for resale in the Douglas Park Group) - I didn’t loose anything on the privacy glass, 22” Wheels or the fixed pano roof as they are the options most people look for in a used Sport apparrantly, and aside from the stainless steel sumpguard (value nil, even though it looks great on the car). Another nice Mini thing is that previously the PHEV was exempt from any discounted finance rate......... if I take the PCP instead of HP or a lease, they are offering a 2.75% rate at the moment so i’m Going to do that with max owner contribution and then after a year when my bank balance has recovered I’ll settle up the balance as I want to own this car outright rather than paying a big monthly outgoing for the next 3 -4 years. Makes JLR;s rates look very high! Also the service plan is a lot cheaper and covers MOTs and the battery system. 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

Tim, I wish you luck with the Mini, its quite a change!

We are looking at options but the problem is my local dealers for Mini, BMW, Mercedes, Kia, Mitsubishi and Volvo are all part of the Arnold 'Daley' group. Rubbish to deal with, worse than LR if that's possible and px offers straight from a comedy script

I was offered a good px on another LR for September delivery, will see on Friday if its still honoured. Also offered the same px on a Ford Mustang and 0% finance as the local Ford dealer is also part of the Parks group.

Tony 2018 MY19 HSE Dynamic, Santorini, Ebony/Ivory, Sliding pano, Adaptive cruise, Black wheels. Arrived 3rd September 2018
2015 MY16 HSE Dynamic, Santorini, ebony/cirrus, sliding pano, cameras, black wheels - Arrived 1 October 2015

I would have to be dragged screaming and kicking over the threshold of an Arnold Shark’s Dealership - wouldn’t touch them with a very long barge pole. Pity because some of the marques I would interested in - Volvo, Lexus, Toyota and Renault are all Arnold franchises. The man himself lived in the next village, he was a charming, Christian, generous and much liked resident BUT his employees are crooks out to rip every one off........ he never used to have a Land Rover, Jaguar or Rolls Royce franchise but then the group bought out the Peter Vardy empire and still trade under that name and with former AC employees now in charge........... 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

Interesting to know PV are part of AC empire. I had a discussion with a 'SVR Performance Specialist' sales person at a PV outlet last week as I was enquiring about a Jag F Pace SVR - thought the guy was a complete horses Ar5e. 2018 MY19 HSE Dynamic, Santorini, Ebony/Ivory, Sliding pano, Adaptive cruise, Black wheels. Arrived 3rd September 2018
2015 MY16 HSE Dynamic, Santorini, ebony/cirrus, sliding pano, cameras, black wheels - Arrived 1 October 2015

A work friend of mine has one of these and loves it, he’s had a few problems with it but nothing major until Monday night. He was traveling home from work when he got a parking aid warning on the dash. First thought was “ ”, then he started to get more and more warnings until his car just stopped and he had no power as if the car had shut down for safety. He called BMW assist or whatever they are called and he got a RAC guy (or it may have been AA) who came out to fix it. As he walked around to the front of the car, the guy called my mate over and said “have you seen this?” When my mate looked, the front of the car had dropped and the bumper was stretching the wiring looms running through it. BMW can’t get it in so it’s sat in his garage awaiting collection. It will be interesting to see what’s going on. 2019 5.0 SC SVA (Current)
2012 5.0 SC AB. Sadly written off by a campervan
23 plate Focus ST (Current)
1942 VEP Ford GPW Jeep (Willys) (Current)
1943 Whites M16 Halftrack (Current)
16 plate Eurofighter Typhoon, 2 x Eurojet engines with 20,000lbs thrust each. 1380mph

Last edited by Brit Plumber on Fri Jun 08 2018 7:53am. Edited 1 time in total

Looks lovely, Tim. That colour will look even more stunning once detailed and sealed. FF 4.4 V8 Soooo looking forward to this bad boy
Ex 2006 RRS SC - garbage
Ex 2016 135i M Sport - dream car
Ex 2003 RS6 Avant - piece of cr*p
Ex 2014 320d X Drive, M Sport Touring - ok I guess
Ex 2007 RRS TDV8 - bloody loved it
EX 2007 FL2 XS - not so bad

Really interesting conversation about insurance on the Countryman via Land Rover Insurance today.......... I have been insuring with them since LRI started and while not always the most competitive price the cover has been what suited my needs better than most companies. I have had a quote from NFU Mutual’s local office on the Mini and it was competitive but I asked LRI if they could cover me on my existing policy with them at least until the end of the policy. Their quote was actually better than NFU by £4 after taking into account the admin fee to issue new documents (£25), as well as giving me a refund of >£250 on the balance of the premium - no voluntary excess was required like I had with the RRS and they didn’t require any additional security/ tracker to be fitted even though the Countryman is only rated as a Thatcham 1 system. They will also ensure that genuine BMW Mini parts are used in case of repairs just like the car was a Land Rover product AND they are continuing the offroad use as the Mini is an SUV......... not that great an SUV as the ground clearance is 10mm less than an Evoque or Disco-Sport, I suppose it is was is termed a Soft Roader - a grassy field will be it’s limit! 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

Will they give you 2 years new for old replacement though if you write it off? RRS MY17 SDV6 AB
Evoque MY17 TD4 AB

From what I have read of the policy document and terms so far, there is no difference in the terms/ cover that I have had with them for the Sport. 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW