Dondada,
You may have been stuck at that point with taking their financing. But if I were you I would call Capitol One or whoever you want to use and just take out the loan anyways. They will (should) give you the same new car rate you had originally, just send payment to MINIUSA to pay it off. Hardly anyone knows that this is available. But from the lenders I have spoken with over the years, it is. Worth a phone call, at least. As always, if you are a member of a credit union their rates can be quite competitive, too. Sometimes your local bank will match a rate.
Enjoy your ride!
John

 

Good luck with your new MINI ! I've had my MCS Works since July '04 and so far it's been nothing but smiles mile after mile!

I am SO happy our MINI dealer here in Honolulu is a good one because it's the ONLY one!

Every time I cross the big pond and head stateside I try to visit different dealerships to I check out the lot.

I dropped in on a dealer in Long Beach last year and they had a great staff on hand. Other than the feeding frenzy of sales people that initially decended on me I had a nice visit.

I figured they would drop me like a stone when they found out I already owned a MINI but hey, I got the full customer treatment and had the opportunity to test drive a '05 MCS! Cool stuff !

Aloha!

JCW04

 

Also in NoVA...wish there was a Mini of Arlington. The BMW dealer had several minis in their lot 3 years ago and I thought they were also a mini dealer. As it turns out, they only sold a few used minis for a while.

We've only dealt with Tate so far, and I know the guys dondada was talking about (Rick and Darrin). Rick told us to our face that we were stupid if we selected the Mini Select financing. We were only trying to find out if someone would quote a couple of ballpark figures for us to help make the decision. We can handle figuring out the cost over time ourselves and don't need counseling, thanks.

Darrin was always nice and polite. Unfortunately, he was the one I had to turn down when he called to check up on us. Our purchase is on hold indefinitely for financial reasons although maybe we'll jump on the special 2006 package that Gabe talked about on motoringfile yesterday.

 

From the stories I heard, the Arlington dealers jumped the gun on this... They had put in for the franchise in 2002, even going so far as putting up MINI banners and taking deposits for cars... And then were rejected by BMW. The people I know who dealt with them over this had HORRIBLE experiences... as bad or worse than what was relayed above about Tate.

From a post in Feb 2002 here on NAM (then MCO)
You can find that post in this thread https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...=bmw+arlington

I know MINI got a lot of complaints about that, and because of that and many other stories I heard from that incident, I don't think BMW of Arlington will ever get a MINI dealership...

 

Yea, I wish there was something in Arlington. It would be so much closer for me.

As far as Tate Financing, I tried everything I could and they would not accept anything but their own. What shady bastards.


I called Capitol One and they informed me that the check has to be written to the dealer otherwise it can't be cashed. Getting a personal loan was an option but the interest rates were little higher.


Anyway, with everything I read about dealers (not only Tate Mini) I just don't understand one thing. The car industry has be around for over 80 years and we consumers are still dealing with this B.S. of hassles when buying and shady-ness of dealers. There has to be something illegal about this. I mean we can only buy cars from authorized dealers. And all the authorized dealers are working together to screw the consumer and squeeze every dollar out of our pocket.


Take Mini, for example, why is the price across the entire country MSRP? Who set this price? How come dealers are allowed to get away with it?


Here's my 2 cent's on it...The reason its MSRP is b/c, we consumers allow that to happen. We consumers need to demand an improvement in the car purchase process. It's been over 80 years for christ sake...shouldn't things improve?


I wish I had money to open my own dealership b/c I would be the 1st one to attempt a new car purchase model. Something more cutting edge and more modern and more revolutionary.


Look at google for example, they were the 1st company to defy Wallstreet by not going down the traditional route of IPOing. They managed their own IPO and auctioned their shares. Their motivation was simple, why should all the greedy Investment Bankers get all the money when they put in no effort to help a company grow.

I've had the unfortunate luck of bad experience twice now. My last car, which was my 1st new car purchase was a POS. I bought a 2002 Acura TL-S and after driving around for 7K miles, the transmission failed on the highway at 60MPH. And guess what, there was nothing I can do about it. The dealer did end up fixing it and when I complained to Honda Corp. of America they throw the warranty & maintenance agreement in my face and told me that's why we have a warranty on the car and your car will be covered under it. Well that's all great and everything but it took the dealer over 4 months to fix the car. And after driving it around for another 43K miles, the damn transmission failed on me again. Thank god this time it took the dealer only 1 week to fix the car. And that's when I got rid of that car and went for a Mini.

Maybe I'm just venting or maybe I just have had bad luck with cars. But that's the honest truth that's on most people's minds.


We need a revolutionary thinker in the automotive industry that is there to look out for the consumer's.

-dondada

 

That may be true. Too bad if so. My local bank and my out-of-state credit union both told me they would write the loan and pay off MINI financial directly.

Soon enough your frustration will begin to fade and you will just be able to MOTOR and enjoy the hell out of your car!

 

It's called a market economy... The market sets the prices for these cars.

The cars are in high demand, high enough demand that there's no incentive for the dealers to sell below MSRP, and there's no incentive for the manufacturers to offer any concessions either...

That's why so many dealers in the US can charge OVER MSRP. The car is in demand and the market can bear the higher price.

If and when MINIs start to pile up in dealer inventories, then and only then will you start seeing dealers and MINI offer concessions.

Right now for every potential customer a MINI dealer losses there are at least 2 other customers ready to take their place, and the dealers know this. As long as this persists you won't see prices fall below MSRP.

Not only that but MINI has decided that such demand is good for them and good for their dealers...

Look at what happened with the PT Cruiser or the new VW Beetle when they were released. Both were commanding several month waits and 3 to 9 thousand dollar premiums when they were released. Heck even NHTSA paid $6k over sticker to get a PT Cruiser for safety testing.

But not long after Chrysler and VW bumped up production to help meet demand they flooded the market. In just 60 days both models went from the hottest car on the market to 0% financing and a few grand in rebates.

MINI has made a concious decision to avoid the pitfall that Chrysler and VW fell into, and will always keep production below demand. So don't expect anything to change here...

 

Don't get me wrong. I am frustrated but that hasn't stopped me MOTORing.
The drive is so much fun. Each day I look forward to getting out of work and driving the car.

:smile:

 

mbabischkin,

I understand what you are saying, I agree with you, and I know about general market and economics.



All I was trying to say is, that line of thinking is the traditional way of thinking. We are now in the new Millennium and the world around us is quickly changing. The traditional way of doing business has been challenged and we can see it all around us. Consumers are demanding better service, better prices, better products and they wont stop demanding till the manufactures meet these demands.



This is the exact reason I gave the google IPO example. Google challenged the world financial institutes and they won. Their new method of IPOing is more stream lined w/ lower overhead costs. Therefore they can offer better prices and more share's to their investors.



On the side note, did you guys know that you can play MP3 CDs in the standard head unit. I wish I knew this b/f I bought the aux input. I was driving this morning and had an MP3 CD in my bag. Sitting in traffic I looked at my bag and I thought to myself, why not give it a try. I popped it in and much to my amazement, I was shocked to see the MP3 CD play in the stock head unit.



GO MINI.....

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$250 - $200 = $50 in extra possible dealer profit

Free (what? who said free?) floormats? = $100 in reduced dealer expense

Accessories at Cost = $100 in lost dealer profit (maybe)

(DEALERS: PLEASE NOTE)
Lost profits because consumers read this story on-line and went to another dealership = THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS!!!


Why car dealers can't figure this out in this day and age is beyond me... especially for a tight-knit community of internet-savy buyers. We aren't buying Ford Crown Victorias, for Christ's sake...

The owner of a chain of dealerships in Dallas (Sewell) has done the research to show that each new happy consumer is worth about $20,000 in ADDITIONAL PROFIT for the dealership over their lifetime (repeat business, referrals and service). If the sales staff at slacker dealerships could get their puny little heads around the idea that they just blew $20,000 on this one dis-satisfied customer and probably lost several more $20,000 opportunities from people reading NAM, one would hope that they would change their operating practices.

 

Actually you completely missed my point... When it comes to cars, they aren't demanding anything... As long a models can command long waiting lists like MINIs, Prius's, anything hybird, etc... consumers aren't demanding anything.

What they're doing is putting their emotions in front of their logic, and then complaining about it afterwards... That won't instigate change.

When it comes to buying a car, you can't claim to demand better service and pricing until you get up and walk out because you're being mistreated. Money talks, and when you get mistreated by the sales staff and STILL buy a car from them, it say a lot to the sales staff about you. None of it in your favor...

See there's no incentive to improve or do better if you buy from them anyway. They've got your money, they don't care if your happy.

You want to demand better treatment when you buy a car fine... When the dealer presents you with terms you don't like LEAVE! That's the ONLY incentive you have over a dealer, and it's a pretty powerful one.

 

Since the topic of service at Sterling was raised above, I feel I need to jump in here. I had heard Sterling was improving and I now have at least one experience to support that rumor.

I called for a service appointment on a recent Friday and had to leave a voicemail. Call was returned in about 10 minutes and I was offered an appointment the following Tuesday. When I took the car in for service, I was given an Enterprise BMW 325i for the day. The loaner was brand new, only 2000 miles on the odometer.

My car was ready by 2:00 as promised. I had to follow up for something that turned out not to be their fault so I called the next day. When I didn't get a return call by the end of the day, I emailed Tradd. He called me about an hour later (about 6:30 pm) and said to bring my car back anytime I wanted. I went back two days later and was on my way in 30 minutes with everything taken care of to my satisfaction. This is all a huge improvement over my last service visit to Sterling about 9 months ago.

Granted, this was routine service and not the major issue HowardPM had, but I was satisfied. I got a follow up call from Sterling Customer Relations the following day to make sure everything was done to my satisfaction. It was.

 

It must be hit or miss with Sterling, or with any dealer. I also received the call about my satisfaction, and I guess I surprised them that I wasn't totally happy and had questions. The service manager did call me, and said he would have my SA call me. No word yet, that was last week. I left a voice mail, no word, so I gave up. So, the appointment coordinator was great, customer service did call, service manager did respond, but it ended there. I know I can just make another appointment, but the lack of call backs from the service advisor or advisors is frustrating. If your manager asks to you to call a customer, and that doesn't work......

 

I think my favorite was the form they give you after the work is done says "If you can't give us a 5 on this please call this # immediately and let us know why." The # goes directly to voicemail and no one calls you back regarding it.

Howard

 

Was that number, 1-800-eat-sh**

A lot of dealers use a similar number.

 

Even though the world is changing, the rules of supply and demand will not. You will always have to pay more for something that is in high demand and limited supply. If there was a six-month supply of MINIS sitting on dealers' lots, you would see prices being discounted and maybe even rebates. Before I ordered my MINI, I looked at a Chevy SSR. MSRP was $45K, and the dealer said I could buy it for $57K - $12K over MSRP! Needless to say, I ordered the MINI. Due to a lack of sales for the SSR I understand that they are now being heavily discounted and GM may even be offering rebates in an attempt to move inventory. It was somewhat painful for me to pay MSRP for a car, as I have always received a heafty discount on my purchases, but I looked at the quality, content, and resale value of the MINI and decided that it was a good VALUE overall. I am very glad that I didn't pay almost $60K for an SSR that would probably be worth less than $20K now!

I had a wonderful sales experience with Tate MINI of Annapolis. I knew that I would need to pay MSRP, however they did throw in free carpeted floor mats. I was able to provide my own financing. I was not pressured to buy an extended warranty, paint protection or other dealer profit builders.
I am sorry that your experience was different. In hindsight, if you had not been trying to match the $250 dscount from the other dealer, you probably would not have needed to deal with "Rick" and would have had a much better experience. I have never met "Rick" and my experience in both the sales and service departments has been very good.

 

haskindmh,

I'm glad one of us had a good experience with Tate Mini.

But keep in mind, I wasn't trying to match "$250" discount from other dealer. As a consumer, I have the right to ask for anything I want. It's up to the seller, in this case Tate Mini, to say NO.



Instead of saying NO, what did "Rick" do. He pulls a sleazy tactic and makes promises that he can't deliver and then lies about it.



If he said NO, I would've been perfectly happy and would still buy the car. Because at the end of the day, "$250" is not really a lot of money when you are buy a $25,000+ car (that works out to about 1%).



I was not pissed off about the $250 or the getting free floor mats (worth $100), I was pissed about the fact that the BASTARD lied in front of me and in front of 2 other witnesses and at the end denied the fact that he had a conversation with me.


My attempt to write this experience was not to say "...hey, I went to a dealer and they screwed me out of $100...". It was more of an attempt to worn other's, that may want to deal with Tate Mini, about what they could possibly experience with dealing with that SLEAZY BASTARD Rick.



At work, I manage a large team and have a customer facing role. My rules of engagement with any customer are simple. "Don't make promises on things you can't deliver on. And if you do make false promises, well do what it takes to deliver. If you can't, deal with the situation cause the last thing you want to do is **** of a customer."



All I hope is that when people read this thread, they think twice b/f dealing with Tat Mini.



-dondada

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I bought my Mini from Tate and had a good experience. I bought mine used, off the lot and I dealt with Brian. He was a great kid, and I found out he lives a couple of blocks from me. Everything was above board and neither of us misunderstood anything about the deal. Rick, on the other hand, had stuck his nose in a couple of times and I had him sized up pretty quick as an "old school" used car salesman. I merely smiled and nodded at the bs lines he threw in occasionally (statements akin to "only driven on Sundays by a little old lady going to the laundramat" ). When Rick disappeared, I had the strange feeling that I should check if my wallet was still in my pocket.

I wouldn't write Tate off, but I would approach the younger sales guys first. From my description, anyone should be able to pick Rick out pretty quickly.

 

LOL....you're right Rick is the 4th "manager" I've met since walking in there 3 years ago. He's definitely old school.

 

CC are you in DC?
I am looking for the young lady who bought my MCS 2003 from Tate. She, I was told, lives in the District.

Anyone with an used Dark silver MCS from Tate ? I really would sleep better at night if I knew who is taking care of my old little one. Sometimes I still miss her ...


MD STREGA2

 

I just picked up my JCW Cab from Mini of TOWSON who are the best staff. Sales and SERVICE. I signed my paperwork on Thurs. morning, car was in the shop in the afternoon and done by 5pm on Fri. Needless to say I picked it up on Sat afternoon for the great ride home.

I originally planned to order from Tate. I get to the dealership with deposit in hand and was met at the door as they were closing on a Sat. by this rude bastard(mngr) who locked the door as I'm walking up. I was pissed as I drove from Rockville after work ready to order with cash in hand. Anyway, I'm happy to have dealt with Towson as Chuck Jaffe runs the best service dept. as far as I'm concerned. When I asked him how long it would take to install the JCW kit he said he'd see what he could do and sure enough HE DELIVERED when it counted(for the weekend) . Thanks to Benn Edwards as well as he was great as my MA. The whole staff there does a great job and will be recommended by me as far as BMW's and MINI's go. THANKS TO ALL. I love my JCW Cab

MINI of Towson = Winners

 

Chuck is the greastest service manager I've ever workd with. He actually takes my car to work when it needs something fixed.

Howard

 

I agree, i have too many good experiences with towson to list. Very happy with Wayne, the service manager, Tony Roles (our MA) and everyone else there. They even stayed after hours to fix a problem with my car once, so i wont have to come back the next day. Good stuff.

 

Last Saturday I was talking with a guy at the y club and he told me that he hates Tate service and doesn't take his BMW to them anymore but prefers to drive to Towson or even Sterling (he lives in Arnold). Apparently they forget to put things back in place and "they have an attitude".


So it's not just poor service torward MINIs but a poor service from Tate

MD STREGA2