Howdy,

First of all, I love my new family ... Even if I can't drive the family car yet .

Thanks so much for your helpful responses! I have definitely decided in favor of the Cooper - and a special thanks for the gentle chiding of one Namer who reminded me that the whole purpose of my purchase was to be more ecologically pure and self-righteous than my 6-cylinder Toyota station allows me to be. That said ...

I went to one dealer today who actually had in stock the red & white beauty with the sun roof that I dream about. I has asked him how much and he said he wasn't allowed to say over the phone, but that he would definitely make my trip worthwhile.

Turns out, this dealer charges $1,500 over the MSRP, plus the Demo that he was willing to deduct $1,200 from had all this sports equipment that I would never need (unless I get the lead in Italian Job ll) and that cost about $6 thousand extra. For that I'd rather have a navigation system. To make a short story long, the price was $27,800, and so I took my beat up Toyota and went homeCooperless.

Also, since this was the first time, I've actually been inside a Mini much less driven one, I was kind of surprised at how rough the ride was ... like bad shocks. The salesman told me this is the nature of all sports car and that it probably seemed rough to me since I'm use to driving in my comfy Camry sofa. Whatever, I'm still hell bent on getting a Cooper - yes, I'm hooked. What else can you drive with a built in support group? The therapy's worth it.

But it looks like I'm going to have to order one and start waiting for my ship to come in. Heck, I wanted one today!

PS I will call Torrance tomorrow. And I live in Eagle Rock between Pasadena and Glendale
More PS Whatz the dif between a thread and a posting? I wrote this last night as a post and couldn't understand why I didn't see it.

 

That's pretty damn shady if you ask me ... Especially with him charging over MSRP!!!

I'd say order from another dealership who doesn't charge over MSRP, and especially doesn't try to fek ya over the phone like that. Yes you'll have to wait longer to get it, but the wait (although it drives you crazy!) will make you love your MINI that much more once you get it!

 

the mcs w/ non-sports package definitely benefits from the
taller sidewalls on the 16" wheels. (even w/ the stiff 16" runflats,
the MCS is far more comfy than the mitsu eclipse gsx which was
it's predecessor. on the same size tyres, but the gsx had a much
stiffer ride)

order one from the east coast or in the midwest (classic
mini comes to mind). no additional 'dealer bonus' surcharges out here.

 

ranchopam - one thing you'll learn pretty quick around here is that if you're not talking about the MCS (MINI Cooper S), you have to repeat that about ten times before anyone will get it. And even then some people will assume you have/want an S.

Sorry that your first dealer experience was so terrible. If you're not in a huge hurry (I'm guessing that old Toyota will last you another couple of months, right?), definitely look into ordering a new Cooper from a dealership somewhere other than California, where you can get exactly what you want, nothing you don't, pay MSRP (which is as good as it gets with MINIs) and then $500 or so to ship it right to you (or buy a plane ticket and take a long weekend!).

As far as posting vs new thread... If you hit the "reply" button while you're reading a thread, you're posting a response to that thread. At first, as a new user, your posts may show up immediately, since they're monitored until the NAM admins are pretty sure you're not here just to cause trouble. A new thread (with a new subject heading) is started when you click on "new thread" at the top of the list of threads inside any given forum, such as 1st Gear. Hope that helps.

Stick around and keep asking questions; we'll help you negotiate the sometimes-scummy MINI dealer network!