Hi I am new to NAM. I found your site about a month ago or so and I've been glued to reading all the useful input in here.

I am seriously considering purchasing a new 08 MCS. My bf and I will go test drive and order one in the next few months or so.

I understand that mini coopers are unique and different than ordinary cars, so I don't know if the negotiation/buying strategy would need different tactics.
(Sorry if there were other topics about this already)

I am looking at 08 MCS with Premuim, Sports, Convenient, Cold weather packages + LSD+Xenon ( i think thats its.. hehe )

Please help me with your input! thanks!

 

You won't find many successful stories on Negotiations. The big news of late, is the 4.something% interest rate that Mini is offering on in stock 07 models. I paid list, and even had to pay for my floor mats. Love the car, the deal could have been better though....

 

The best strategy I've found (and used to reasonable effect) is to send/give your desired build list to a number of dealers (with a price/percentage you're hoping for) and have them bid (then potentially bid again, and again, and again...). It helps if you're ultimately willing to travel, but you might be able to take the best deal you get to your closest dealer and tell them 'Make it worth my while not to road trip...'.

Just don't expect miracles, and be willing to be flexible (such as taking discounts on accessories instead of straight off of MSRP). If you end up saving even $500 consider it a good deal. If you're looking to order some dealer installed accessories (iPod integration, various JCW bits, etc) ask if they can be installed at the VDC/port which tends to be cheaper than having the dealer do it themselves.

 

The only time to go to a dealership is to test drive and delivery. Do not discuss price or financing at a dealer at all! arrange your own financing, preferably through a credit union for the lowest rates, do all negotiation through e-mail, contact all the dealers within an area you are willing to drive home from and ask for their best price and let them know that you have contacted several others asking for thier best price.....One guy I have seen managed to get $500 off this way.

 

ok i will try the email with different dealers within a reasonable driving distances and see about what they can bid on.

anyone know the dealers around the southeast region that work well with their customers??

 

You will also do better on an in stock vehicle if you are willing to be flexible about color/options/ etc. I bought my 07 MC--list $25,550 for $20900. No dealer prep charges and certified to 100k. The car was an untitled MINIUSA car and it had 2100 miles on it. I financed through my credit union.

 

My service experiences at Global Imports in Atlanta could be used to write a horror novel. I wouldn't trust their mechanics to fix my lawnmower and certainly would not buy a car from them.

Amanda is a motoring advisor at the other Atlanta dealership and is an active member of this board and long time MINI owner. We'll be buying our third MINI from her later in 2008.

 

is she the one in south of Atlanta? I haven't been there yet. I've stopped by the global import one up north of Atlanta and just browsed, didn't test drive or anything. Me and my girl friend walked in together, no one really attended to us at first until we asked to speak to someone about it
Probably because they figured we are a bunch of kids (we look young, even thoough we are out of college and working already).

 

Buy a nice newly used one....if your flexible....The newer MCS's (07,08) are different than the 02-06 models. They both have their charm & I would own a new one as I think its a much better sorted car even though it has a newly designed turbo engine compared to the older SuperCharged engine. The car is slightly larger and I think handles and drives a bit nicer than the older ones. The seats are 100x better (read more comfortable & supportive) than the seats of old. That was one of the 1st mods I did to my older MCS...change out the seats to something that would actually hold me in place. I would say drive both models so you can get a feel for the difference. If you liked the older supercharged MCS I would highly reccomend looking for an 05/06 model year as they really are the best sorted of the bunch.

All and all, any model you will drive will bring a huge smile to your face, as they really are that much fun!

peas...

 

Hey! Okay. Gonna be a bit long winded here...

...We shopped for our MINI COOPER S over a three week period.

First we went to the East Bay Mini Dealership in Pleasanton CA and test drove a MCS that was similar to what we wanted.

We went home, priced things out on the MINIUSA site, printed the options we wanted.

When we went back to East Bay Mini we wrote out the options we wanted WITHOUT the prices and handed it to the dealer to see what he would do asking what his best price would be.

The MA IMMEDIATELY brought up the "build yer Mini" portion of the Mini USA site and built it up the SAME way we did, and it ended up being the same price.

We advised the MA that the price was out of our range and the MA hemmed and hawed about how MCS' sell @ MSRP (with options, as we wanted it, $27,864.00 before tax, title, license).

We advised this wouldn't do and that he needed to knock a bit off of MSRP. He proceeded to knock it down about $500 off MSRP to about $27,300.00.

We took his price quote, set up some kinda "dummy" Hotmail account, and emailed a list of the options that we wanted to all of the other MINI dealers in the San Francisco Bay Area, including one dealership in Sacramento.

In the email we said "best price wins."

Mini of San Francisco responded in about 2 minutes saying they would beat the price.

The JERKOFFS @ Concord, Sacramento, and Mountain View Mini all STONEWALLED saying that MCS' sell @ MSRP, NO EXCEPTIONS.

Fired a couple of emails back and forth, and ended up making an appointment with MINI of San Francisco to see what they would come up with. They ended knocking a grand total of $600.00 off of MSRP, and we piled in a few extra options with the savings.




It stinks that you cannot negotiate on these things, but its all part of the MINI MADNESS!




Good luck and, ENJOY!

 

Can't blame dealerships that aren't flexible on the price. MINI gives each dealership "x" number of production slots and if they are able to fill them at full MSRP, why would they be inclined to drop the price ?

If you can find a dealership close by that feels they can't fill all their slots, then that's cool, of course. Just don't expect it. Paying full MSRP is the price most of us pay for driving a wildly popular car that is not produced in numbers like an Accord or Camry.

 

A&J, thanks for the detailed reply! i might give your strategy a shot! Sounds like a lot of people are recommending with talking to different dealership and have them bid on the price.

 

I can confirm that concord wouldnt budge on price so I ended up buying elsewhere.

 

Hopefully these weren't any dealer installed accessories as MINI of SF has the highest labor rates in the Bay Area

 

No dealer installed accessories. These were "extras" that we had put on @ the factory @ time of production.

 

All that effort for $500?

My strategy is this.

1)Find the car you want

2) Buy it,

3) Enjoy it till you sell it.

 

That $500 you save can then be spent on even more options/mods/accessories!

 

Damn straight the effort was worth it.

$600 saving is a NECESSITY, unless yer FILTHY RICH and live by codes such as:

"My strategy is this.

1)Find the car you want

2) Buy it,

3) Enjoy it till you sell it."

LOL.

 

I'm not rich, but very few dealers will discount the car, and in some states you run into tax situations (like Ca) if you buy a car out of state and so on. Plus I believe in supporting my local dealer (unless he's adding ADM, then I won't patronize him)

I think some people spend way too mcuh time agonizing over whether they got the best deal instead of the best car. My BIL will look in the paper for months after he buys a car to see if someone is selling it cheaper, I think that's a waste of time and energy............

If you can afford a $25,000 or more car, that $500 is not gonna make/break the deal...............

 

I negotiated an 07 X5 in 2006 when people were paying full list price +! If you can pay CASH, you are in a great bargaining position, if not you are still ok. Be flexible with the dealer. If you plan on keeping the car for a while try to negotiate things such as extended maintenance plans, warranties or vouchers to their parts/accessories department. If you are going to spend a few hundred $$ there anyways it will be a win win situation. They are much happier giving you a few hundred dollars at retail since it costs them much less but it doesn't matter to you since you were going to spend the money anyways.

 

Okay, okay point taken.

You don't care about saving $600 bucks or the time spent to save it.

I never said the the $600 was gonna "make or break the deal."

$600 bucks is $600 bucks, FOR ME.

If that means I can go out and buy myself a Wii or a Playstation 3, or if I can hit the poker room for some low limit entertainment, it's definitely worth it (to me).

ENJOY!

 

I think you need to look at the big picture when making a decision of this size. In your example, you are pretty much throwing the money away (mindess entertainment like gambling) so why would you begrudge your local dealer making a reasonable profit on the sale of the car? Mind you, I'm not advocating paying over the sticker - those who want to do so please feel free, but it's not for me.

But to drive 200 or 300 or 400 miles to save a couple hundred bucks does not pencil out for me. My time is worth something too. Plus, as I said, I like to patronize my local busineses. They're the ones who will go to bat for you if you have a problem, not that guy 2 states away.

Also you need to consider the overall investment, is this a 1 year ownership or a 10 year? You're going to take a pretty big hit if you sell it after 1 year, will that $500 matter then? What about after 10 years?

I'm all for saving money, and if you can get your local dealer to cut his deal a bit, fine. But whether he will or not will not stop me from buying the car I want. Either I can afford it or I can't.........

 

I ordered my MCS in November and picked it up Saturday. I was able to negotiate away the labor cost on my dealer accessories (JCW tuning kit) and had them throw in the mats and 2 chrome license plate holder thingys, which saved me around $700. I tried calling the only other dealer in the area (2 hours away) and he said he would beat the price by an additional $100.

I ended up going local for the convenience versus $100. As I chose to stay local I was able to visit my Mini once she arrived and I was able to approve my roof graphic before it went on. I wouldn't have done those things if each trip was 2 hours each way. Also, imagine the hassle if you go to pick up your Mini and there's a problem. I'd stay local every time ....it's worth a couple hundred bucks to know you're close by if anything goes wrong.

.....That's my 2 cents. Bottom line, there's very little you can do on the price but that's why mini owners enjoy such fabulous resale values!!

 

Correction.....saved about $600 with my local dealer, the one further away would have made the savings $700. Sorry, my math was off!!!

 

Anyone know if anyone has been able to get this rate on an 08?