The dealer I went to tonight wanted MSRP plus a $395 dealer processing fee. I was not happy to say the least. We ended up leaving with no deal. We gave them a price that we wanted to pay monthly, and it was as if they did not care. They were more that $100 over what we were wanting to spend. I guess the finance calculators on MINIusa do not take into consideration the dealer add-ons. I added significantly more to get a feel for what I could expect, but was blown away when the sales manager presented the numbers to us. Then they wanted to just talk about lease options instead of moving on the trade value or coming off MSRP. I now have a bad taste in my mouth and do not know if I want a MINI anymore. I am assuming everyone else has had better experiences since most are current owners. Sorry for the long rant. Has anyone had a similar dealer Experience?

 

Sorry to hear about your crappy experience at this particular Mini dealer. Don't let it get to you. The nearest Mini dealer to where I live is also a jerk. They were only going to give me $500 off a Clubman that's priced at $31k MSRP. I told them to goto hell. I think they thought I was young or stupid or something.

Are there other dealers in your area that you can try?

Other choices are going through Costco. Also try carsdirect.com.

 

MINI just came off of one of their best sales quarters ever and with the price of gas going back up, fuel efficient cars like the MINI will be more attractive. Dealers are probably going to become less flexible as they figure demand is on their side to hold out.

Hopefully you have some other dealership options or buying services. Try not to let the first strike turn you off of MINI though.

 

Do not hesitate to go to another dealer. I actually had someone on this forum who was an MA at another dealership contact me and try to sell me. I feel bad but I ended up with a similar deal at a dealership closer to me at school.

I had the same problem with the dealership near my home home, I had an MCS spec'd at $32k and they wanted MSRP.

 

You might have to be fleixible and extend your range. Just send out inquiries to dealers for about 100 mile radius via the internet. Those dealerships that want your business will respond quickly without alot of questions trying to lure you into the building. I basically asked for pricing above invoice and suggested the price range for the vehicle that I would be ordering. If you are willing to negotiate on a vehicle on the lot that increases your chances of meeting your goals. I was able to negotiate a price at $600 over invoice for an ordered vehicle, your mileage will vary depending on your area.

Good luck!!!

 

Keep trying- you will NOT regret owning a MINI. Definitely see another MINI dealership.

 

I think you'll find every MINI to sell at or very near MSRP, that's just how it rolls. If they don't sell to you, thell just sell to the next person.

Don't mean for it to sound gloomy, but it's been like that for quite some time. MINIs, for the most part, are MSRP cars.

 

I've bought well over 20 cars in my life, and I would say the local MINI dealer here (Schomp in Denver area) was easily one of the best I've ever dealt with. They freely offered $2k off MSRP and were just completely pleasant to deal with. Don't give up because one dealer didn't want to make a sale that day. In my experience, there is always another one that will make a deal -- especially if you open the conversation with "I was over at xxx MINI, and they treated me like crap!". They'll usually work harder to make the sale just to make the "competition" look even worse...

 

Man, that sucks. Car shopping is one of the most unpleasant things a person has to go through in life. I'd rather get a root canal with no anesthesia.

Are there any other dealers in your area? Are there any car buying services like costco or maybe a credit union or something like that? Right now Mini themselves are offering 0.9% financing and a free upgrade package which takes at least 1250.0 off MSRP right off the bat.

The bad part about buying a Mini is that there are not as many dealers as there are for other brands so they can afford to be tight on pricing and not want to haggle.

 

I am going to email and call two other dealerships today. Both are about two hours away so it is not easy to go and talk face to face. We will see. I appreciate all of the encouragement. I just wish buying a car was not such a pain in the rear.

 

Don't give up!!!

When I was shopping for my Mini, I was sooo stressed out as well. I couldn't sleep. But I know it'll be all worth it at the end.

My motto was: Never pay MSRP.

 

Car dealers are allocated cars. That means, if there isn't a slump in sales, they just can not order as many as they want. They get X amount per month. That is how supply and demand works in this industry. If allocations are getting slim, the price goes up. When there are plenty of slots open, it is a buyers market.

Remember, this works well for you too. The cheaper new ones are, the less your car is worth. Also this effects leases. The higher new car prices raise residuals and lower lease costs.

You want to buy a cheap car, get the least desireable car made. Just remember, that is the car that will plummet in value.

 

Check this post out. darthhen lays out some pretty good tips to use when negotiating. I used some of the info in this post to help me get a decent deal, even after they said they can't negotiate on special orders. Ended up saving me about $1500 off MSRP https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-building.html

Edit: Also, it gave me the idea to have them throw in the floor and boot mats, which I wouldn't have thought of otherwise.

 

WOW!! THAT'S GREEEEEAAAATTTTTTT!!!!

I sound like Tony the Tiger on the cereal commercial.

 

One more advice, don't be afraid to challenge the MA's. But do it respectfully. The worst thing is to walk out of a dealership and you've insulted them, this will show no integrity on your behalf. They see a lot of buyers everyday. And they know some comes in educated and some un-educated. And for the educated ones, they'll make you think you've been educated wrongly. When I went to one the local dealers in the area, I gave them an offer and the MA said no way. And he said that I got my information off the Internet and it is wrong. Don't let them trick you. You need to do your homework and arm yourself with that information when you talk to the dealer. This is a mind game.

 

Don't forget, the configurator does not account for tax or dealer fees or registration.

 

That is exactly what I paid in Dec '09 for an ordered car ('10 Clubman). There are few dealers to compete with around here. I'm in PNW and my closest dealer is over 200 miles away. I was told the MSRP + $395 before I even when to the dealer via EM after inquiring at the dealers web site.

The $395 included 4 floor mats + boot mat. A set of locking lug nuts, some doc fees, a tank of gas and a really expensive car wash they call detailing.

They would have done deals of a few hundred off of some of the '09's on the lot but MSRP only for current year ordered or on the lot. Most lot cars had options we did not want.

Not sure how you can be so far off on your payments? My calculations were within pennies of what the dealer calculated. Unless they are adding on extended warranty and such. Note - no sales tax in OR and registration is only $400 or so for 4 years.

My dealer did not even look at my trade - '98 Honda Civic. They would only do trades on MINI's or BMW. They did offer to have a buyer come an make an offer on our trade but that would have been totally separate from the new car deal and we would not have been able to know the offer amount until after the MINI purchase. Ended up selling it on CL.

 

Had a similar experience with my local MINI dealer. I live in a part of the country (MN) where dealers are far apart - only one in this state (about 20 miles from me). So, being the only place in town, and having a dealership in one of the more expensive locations in the city, they stick to their guns when it comes to dealing - particularly on custom orders. I think they might have done deals for on-the-lot vehicles, but the recent incentives, plus heavy traffic with gas prices spiking probably limited even that. As others have said, if you don't buy at their price, there is the next person in line who might.

Yes, cars are on allocation, but I was wanting to order a very loaded base Cooper hardtop. It was not like I was going to fill one of their order slots with a stripped down, low-margin vehicle. And their cost of money is nearly zero on a pre-sold car. There is no capital locked up while it sits on the lot waiting for a buyer. Asked those questions, never got an answer.

I built my car on the configurator, and downloaded the pdf. I took the order list from that, and sent it to 5 other dealers within livable driving distance (Omaha to Milwaukee). Of those 5, 4 responded quickly. 3 of those 4 were MSRP only on customer orders. One of those had a similar enough vehicle that I debated for a bit with them -- but decided I wanted my exact configuration.

The other one that responded quickly was willing to deal. I was offered $1000 off MSRP for the custom order, plus I get any incentives that might be in place when the car is delivered.

I went back to my local dealer with this in hand and to get a formal appraisal on my 2004 TL (one of this MA's arguments for staying with them was that they were generous on trade-in value). They low-balled my trade (I had done all my research before hand). When I was clearly not happy, he offered me $500 off, but I would only get that if there were no incentives at the time of delivery.

I walked. Next morning, had the other dealer (Appleton, WI) start the order process. They have been perfect to deal with, responding by e-mail or phone. Swapped contract work by FedEx over the weekend. Locked on configuration last Tuesday, and the car moved into production on the Owners Lounge yesterday.

Will be interesting what they offer on trade-in - hope they don't try and make up the $1000 that way! But that is too far (~300 miles) to drive over for an appraisal.

I am jealous of those who live in places with 5+ dealers within reasonable driving range. I really like how I have been treated by Appleton so far, but it is way too far to take for service! But I am thinking of spending a week in Door County with my wife this summer so I can drive past there and have any tweaks done post-delivery.

 

Why unpleasant....
most any mini dealer sells the same car for the same $$.
So you know everybody got about the same deal +/- a couple hundred os MSRP.
It sounds like you need to have more $$ to spend....and a hint...
never shop by monthly payment. Never.you will often end up with an excessivly long loan, and be upsidedown on the loan for an excessive period of time.