Just wondering if there's any room to negotiate with the dealer on price when building/custom ordering a Mini?

I've been with Keeler Mini in Albany because I'm up here for school, but I live on Long Island so Westchester, Mini of Manhattan and Habberstad are all options for me in turns of "going to another dealer"

 

Yes, there's room to negotiate when custom order. But the dealer may tell you otherwise. Don't believe a word they're saying.

I custom build my Clubman, thru Mini's website. Printed out the PDF that has all the options I wanted, including the floor and boot mats. Sent it to a 4 different dealers in my area.

Dealer A gave me $1311 off the MSRP without me even having to negotiate
Dealer B gave me $500 off the MSRP
Dealer C gave me $500 off the MSRP
Delaer D didn't give me any discount

I called back to dealers B and C. And see if they can do better than dealer A. Dealer B then gave me $1543 off the MSRP within 5 minutes of me telling him the better price I got from dealer A. Dealer C wasn't going to deal. I never mentioned which dealership, I just told them another dealership in my area. Luckily in my area, there's 5 dealerships.

I didn't even bother with dealer D, they were very arrogant and cocky. I'm like whatever, if you don't want my money, I'll take it elsewhere. They gave me a bunch of BS about how there's never a discount on custom since they have to 'special' order it. I told them it's BS since they're guaranteed a sale to a customer if they custom order a car. Otherwise, they have to buy the car, let it sit on the lot till somebody comes along to buy it.

I also went to www.carsdirect.com. They're pretty good as well. Just go through the steps to build your car. On the custom build page, it even shows the incentives Mini is offering. For my custom built car, they actually gave me about $1100 off the MSRP.

I prefer to buy it through the dealer, since the MA can find out the status of your car. So what I would do if none of your local dealers are willing to give you a good price is that I would goto carsdirect.com, get a quote from them. Then call your local dealerships and use the carsdirect.com price as leverage. Don't rush into buying, that's my advice. And whatever you negotiate, get it in writing.

You should stand firm and don't back down. Dealer D, from above, I was going to buy a car they had on the lot. They were only willing to give me $500 off their sticker price. And their sticker price is > $31k. I'm asked them how about the free Premium package incentive? They told me that the dealership doesn't have to participate. I'm like WTF?!

So about this $500 discount they dealerships B and C gave off the bat. It is actually a discount through the Costco car buying program. So the dealership actually takes NO LOSS for this. Even though they try to make you think you're getting a discount. These guys are no fools.

Another word of advice. After you negotiate on a price for the car. Also ask them if you can opt for a better price pending the promotional discounts when you pick up the car. So in my case, I got $1543 off the MSRP price. I got the Premium package with my custom build, which is $1750. So when I pick up the car, and if Mini still offers the free Premium deal, then the price I would be paying on my car would be:
Original MSRP - $1750 (Free Premium package) - $500 (Costco)
So then my price would be lower than the current price that I'm locked in at. Get this in writing as well on your contract.

One final thing, in my custom build PDF file, I included the floor mats and boot mat. I read that the dealerships ususally give you the floor mats anyways, but not the boot mat. The mats doesn't come from Mini. So when the dealer sends the order to Mini, they won't put in the mats as part of the order. So in the contract, make sure they put down floor mats and boot mats.

Good luck!!

 

I know not to rush hah, that's the mistake I made with my Xterra.

Sounds like a plan, I haven't heard of carsdirect before but I'll check it out, I'm like you, I would also like to deal with a BMW/MINI dealer.

So in essence hitting the "Send to Dealer" button in the Configurator is pretty much the same?

 

That "Send to Dealer" button is useless I think.

 

great write-up, darthhen!

When I bought my first mini in 06, I was in such a rush to get one I just took the MA's word for it that the price was non-negotiable. Im planning to get a new one by this summer and I will definitely be using your post to help me get a better deal!

 

darthhen, sounds like you are lucky to have multiple dealers close. unfortunately for most of us that's not the case. i did custom order and got $500 off MSRP. I also got them to come up significantly on my trade in which is another angle to consider (plus you save some tax that way too, at least in Ohio). I am lucky (I think) that my dealer is Classic Mini in Willoughby (Ohio) and I saw on this site that they give great parts discounts to NAM members and everyone seems happy with them (added bonus being located 10 minutes from where I work). honestly though, i wanted this car and probably would have paid sticker - you only live once, and this isn't a Chevy that you see on every corner. I love the fact that each is unique. They've got their own personalities.

 

Matt made me think of something I ran into before. The trade-in. At the time I had an old Camry, but it was still low on miles and ran great, but the MA said they weren't interested in the trade-in at all. So, they basically wouldn't give me anything for the trade-in and wouldn't take any money off of the car. How do you go about negotiating the trade-in? Especially when you have to negotiate AND wait for the car to be shipped, so it's not like you can give them your car right there. Since I owe slightly more on my car than the suggested trade-in value, I'd really like to try to at least break even so I don't roll over or any of that.

 

I've got a USAA price to work with too, which I might actually go for, USAA gave me one dealer offering $1500 above invoice and another (further away) at $900 above invoice. Should I send the USAA certificate in with the printed pdf? Even if it's to a different dealer than the ones USAA mentioned.

 

Juancho, sorry, I haven't done trade-ins before so I don't have any input on this. But from what I've heard from my friends, it's better to sell your car to a private party in terms of getting a higher price. But of course, it could be a while till you find a buyer. The advantages and disadvantages here I think. It's a matter of patience I guess.

 

And you don't want to buy from me? Westchester MINI in White Plains. Check the newsgroups about my reputation - been selling MINI for 7 years. I'm off today but give me a call tomorrow at 914-831-6613 and let's chat and check out my website below.
Best.... Steve
www.minicooperinfo.com

 

Juancho, good questions, same I had for my MA. I made sure they knew I was ready to order before we got to the trade in. I let them evaluate it and they made me an incredibly low offer that they were willing to hold (i.e., let me drive my car until my Mini arrived). I said the offer was too low and flat out told them it was a deal-breaker (and it was). So the MA went back to the sales manager and came back with a better number (acceptable to me), but the condition was I had to surrender my trade right there. I said I would do the deal only if they gave me the higher number and let me continue to drive my current car until the Mini arrived. The MA went back to the sales manager and he agreed. I was fortunate that the car I traded had only 1 owner (me), zero paint work, and is in excellent condition with a very high scoring AutoCheck #. You will always do better selling your car outright, but I do not want to take the time, hassle, potential risks, or have someone show up in a week saying "it broke." Used cars are used cars, no guarantees, but I don't want the headaches or harrassment if something goes wrong.

 

Haha, Steve I'll give you a call tomorrow... afternoon?


I want the car that I want but I'm not sure if I want to keep it forever, over the next few years I'll be:

Troy, NY til May 2012
Newport, RI June to September 2012 (estimates from here on out)
Charleston, SC November 2012 to May 2013
Charleston, SC or Ballston Spa, NY July 2013 to January 2014
Newport, RI March to April 2014
Unknown Base May 2014 to May 2017
Unknown Location June 2017 to June 2019


I could lease and give it back before I get stationed to my first boat in 2014, or keep it, get a good 8 years out of it (hopefully) and trade it in for something more practical depending on my situation 8 years from now.

 

One dealer called me today to talk price, I have the JCW strut brace in my configuration and that would be separate, and said it would be $500 parts+labor for the strut brace install, from what I've seen of the strut brace it should only be a few bolts on and off. Should I just buy it and do it myself? Self-installed strut brace bad for warranty?

 

I contacted the 4 dealers in the 'area' (one is about 2 hours away). Only two got back to me. One was really helpful, although he was trying to talk me into cars on the lot that had options that I didn't want/need. Overall though it was a good conversation with him, but people on these forums have complained a lot about this particular dealer. I am probably going to take this Thursday off to meet up with some of the dealerships and maybe even put an order in!

Is it a myth that it's better to visit dealerships near the end of the month, since they're trying to move inventory before they put their numbers for the month, or is there some truth to that?

 

One way to keep prices down is to limit the dealer-installed accessories. There's arguments here that a strut tower brace is nearly useless on Minis due to the chassis strength, but they look cool.

I'd opt to buy for about $250 and install yourself, and yes, it's three bolts per strut tower.

Not bad for the warranty.

As for the original topic: I got a great deal (according to me) when I was able to negotiate between the two local dealers here. One gave me MRSP + Tax, Title, and License at first, then when he heard I was getting more favorable pricing from the competition, he slashed.

I ended up going with the other dealer anyway. Still a good price, and she had a sexier voice. Worth the extra $50 difference they ended at.

 

I will use USAA, and that is exactly what I am planning to do. Still i do my best to use the USAA certified dealrs first. Different dealers than the USAA certified dealers may give you more hassle, but they want to make money as well. If a dealer does not honor the USAA price, I will not buy a car from them. Hell, I will not even go to them for parts and service. Even warranty work.

 

just curious....which dealer did you go with? i'm in sj too.

 

uhdeeuh,

Sorry for the late response here, I lost track of this thread. There's just too much to read.

I went with the Pleasanton dealer. The Steven's Creek dealer didn't want to play ball. From my post #2 on this thread, I think you can derive which dealer this is.

 

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Thanks for your info. I'd like to add one thing.. I am buying through Carsdirect and it's such a pleasant experience. Everything is done via email and phone call. About having MA... they will connect you with their partner MINI Center and you will have a dedicated staff member from the dealership. So, you can still call your 'MA' at the MINI Center and find out the status of your car - There is no downside of going through carsdirect.com in terms of tracking your car.

 

That's good to know. Thanks.

 

Does buying elsewhere make service less pleasant? I'm in Rochester, NY and the nearest dealer is in Buffalo (60 miles away) but I would be willing to drive to Cleveland, Albany or even NY metro to pick up. I will be ordering and know exactly what I want. But I would use Buffalo for service going forward. Saving $1000 and being treated as a second class citizen wouldn't be worth it to me.

 

Just be prepared to walk, and/or to drive aways for another dealer (if there aren't multiple dealers in your area). On my Clubman purchase I negotiated the price down by about $1500 on my order, got several thousand more for my trade in than they originally offered (a 6-month old Cooper; actually got more than they listed the car for when they sold it) and made them agree to the trade-in price at the time of order, though they wouldn't actually get the car until my order came in. When they originally made the trade-in offer on my 2010 I didn't think we'd be able to work a deal, thanked the salesman, got up and started toward the door. Wasn't rude, just followed through on what I'd told them initially - I wasn't desperate for the car and if we couldn't work a deal I was willing to live with that.

Car ended up being a few hundred over invoice (which is what I was looking for - dealer has to make something) and as best as I can figure they ended up losing a couple of grand on the trade-in. I'm guessing there were some added allowances or something to the dealer at that time (either that, or they're just really bad negotiators).

Point is, be polite, reasonable, and willing to leave without the car and you should be able to work a satisfactory deal even when ordering. I'd think if anything ordering gives you an added advantage - it's not like with some makes where they may have exact car with the exact options you want there on the lot to dangle over your head - any MINI dealer can order you that exact same car.

 

I ordered my MINI Cooper S last month. I got 4 quotes. All negotiating was done over the phone and by email. Since there are no MINI dealers in my city, I am listing miles distance from my city to the MINI dealers.

Dealer A (120 miles away): $0 off MSRP plus they had no “builds” left for the month of May and the 3 “builds” they were allotted for the month of June were spoken for and none of them was even a Cooper S
Dealer B (100 miles away): $1216 off MSRP
Dealer C (215 miles away): $856 off MSRP
Dealer D (170 miles away): $0 off MSRP

I went with Dealer B. I am doing an all-cash deal, so no financing or trade-in to negotiate. I recommend that you shop around when ordering a MINI.

 

Great information here...I found this to be more than helpful as I'm tooling up for 2012 and I'm willing to shop around if I have to get get near invoice pricing.

 

Just wanted to say that this thread was very helpful in giving me the courage to ask for a discount, even though I was only ordering one option (pano roof). BTW, my Costco discount was $250, which wasn't much. But the MA was amenable to the Edmunds suggested price, so that was fine with me.