After driving just short of 100 miles and expecting to close a deal on a mini-cooper.

I found out that on a basic mini-cooper there is a $16,000.00 profit at a 16,000.00 price tag.

I found out what BMW Palm Harbor Mini-Cooper plans are.

1. Tell the customer that "We only have limited supplies".
2. Then the "List tactacs are activated." They put you on a list then call you and tell you the price?
3.They are charging a overcharge of more then $5,000.00 for a Mini.

These people must realize that the "Baby boomers are here."

We are not twits.

I will laugh at you in your mini because I know you are a sucker.

johnmeksa@aol.com



















'

 

I ordered my MINI from Ferman in Palm Harbor, and I was required to buy the 995.00 3M coating and floor mats, but not the 2500.00 markup (to be recouped with dealer options after delivery) that they were requiring in April and May. My name was on the list for quite a while, however, and we were former Ferman BMW customers, so that might have been the reason we weren't gouged so badly. My boyfriend tried to get them to knock off the 3M stuff but they refused to budge. I've got quite a lot to say about this dealer in many other respects, but am waiting until my car arrives before I post. My experience with that dealer has been extremely disappointing - sad, because the BMW side of the house is nothing but excellent.

 

>>I ordered my MINI from Ferman in Palm Harbor, and I was required to buy the 995.00 3M coating and floor mats, but not the 2500.00 markup (to be recouped with dealer options after delivery) that they were requiring in April and May. My name was on the list for quite a while, however, and we were former Ferman BMW customers, so that might have been the reason we weren't gouged so badly. My boyfriend tried to get them to knock off the 3M stuff but they refused to budge. I've got quite a lot to say about this dealer in many other respects, but am waiting until my car arrives before I post. My experience with that dealer has been extremely disappointing - sad, because the BMW side of the house is nothing but excellent.
Dear Mister Sad Sack or shall I call you 'Mr.anonymous'
"I will laugh at you in your Mini because I know you are a sucker".
Why are you bothering with this forum? Calling people you have never met 'suckers' only because we decided to purcahse a vehicle that you deem to be a rip off. Who gave you the impression that you are any better than anyone else on this planet? I know for a fact you purchase stuff everyday that has been marked-up. Do you drink booze? Do you eat out in restraunts? Etc..etc...! Then to top it off, you can not be bothered to sign up for this site, creating a member name for yourself. Because of all this mentioned, I would personnally like to ask you to 'bugger off' and to not post messages here again.
Thank you very much.

:evil:

 

>>>>I ordered my MINI from Ferman in Palm Harbor, and I was required to buy the 995.00 3M coating and floor mats, but not the 2500.00 markup (to be recouped with dealer options after delivery) that they were requiring in April and May. My name was on the list for quite a while, however, and we were former Ferman BMW customers, so that might have been the reason we weren't gouged so badly. My boyfriend tried to get them to knock off the 3M stuff but they refused to budge. I've got quite a lot to say about this dealer in many other respects, but am waiting until my car arrives before I post. My experience with that dealer has been extremely disappointing - sad, because the BMW side of the house is nothing but excellent.
>>Dear Mister Sad Sack or shall I call you 'Mr.anonymous'
>>"I will laugh at you in your Mini because I know you are a sucker".
>>Why are you bothering with this forum? Calling people you have never met 'suckers' only because we decided to purcahse a vehicle that you deem to be a rip off. Who gave you the impression that you are any better than anyone else on this planet? I know for a fact you purchase stuff everyday that has been marked-up. Do you drink booze? Do you eat out in restraunts? Etc..etc...! Then to top it off, you can not be bothered to sign up for this site, creating a member name for yourself. Because of all this mentioned, I would personnally like to ask you to 'bugger off' and to not post messages here again.
>> Thank you very much.
>>
>> :evil:


Uh, I'm not sure which of the first two posters you are
actually talking to since you quoted mostly from the second
poster, caribayb, who is a member but I have visited Ferman Mini
and I'm disappointed regarding their $2500 mark-up.
They were still adding it 2 weeks ago. I have been a Ferman
customer also, I bought my Acura from Ferman Acura in
Tampa. I was really hoping to use this dealer to buy a
Cooper but I haven't heard much about good experiences
purchasing from Ferman on this site or on 2 other Mini
sites. I might end up buying from Lauderdale at MSRP
and driving it back to Tampa. I may give Ferman another
try, the salesman I talked to - Doug - seemed like a really
nice guy. Besides, no matter where I buy, this is the
closest dealership for servicing.

Just my .02.

 

Excuse me caribayb, i hit the quote button from your message by accident. I wanted to respond to the original message above yours. sorry for the confusion.

 

to those folks who paid a markup on their minis, i'm sure the satisfaction of getting something you love makes up for the higher premiums paid. it's not like any of us here just blindly fork out the cash to whatever price the dealer says. we do weigh the pros and cons of shelling more dough or waiting a little longer/travelling a little farther to get the mini we want.

i, myself, placed my deposit with a dealer who placed a $1K markup on the car. i really didn't let the markup spoil my enthusiasm for the mini, even if the other dealer i went to sold with no markup ... but the wait was till march of next year. for me, the "compromise" was something i could live with and chose voluntarily.

so stop the unnecessary negativity and just keep motoring

 

This is the USA, If you don't like the price don't buy it, or try somewhere else. If there are people willing to pay mark-up, then dealers are going to do it.
You could always buy a YUGO cheap.

 

We have to pay a $600 markup and we have to wait.. Floor mats and a MINI cover.. Oh well.. Its not as bad as some places.. Plus, its not like its a Ford, or something more readily available..

I still want a MINI.

 

>>We have to pay a $600 markup and we have to wait.. Floor mats and a MINI cover.. Oh well.. Its not as bad as some places.. Plus, its not like its a Ford, or something more readily available..
>>
>>I still want a MINI.

 

>>

 

The anonymous person that originally posted this is just pissed off that they can't have one, too!

 

All of us live in a FREE LAND, so if something do not likes you, just DON´T DO IT,
if the price don´t like you, PLEASE, I BEG YOU, DO NOT BUY the car, live it for someone else, capable to pay any price, I think nobody will be ofense just because you ( The guy that wants to paid $ 16,000 ) can not get the car.
People that appreciate themself can get a Mini and do not feel worry about their pocket ( $$$$$$ ) Period

 

My Dealer, Downtown Mini - Orlando, insists you purchase $1500 of accesories. But you can buy from the 'Motorig Gear' catalog too. This means that my Mini is going to get A 6 Cd-changer and mats and a few other things and I will be doing my christmas shopping from the 'motoring gear' catalog. I have to buy X-mas presents so why not buy cool stuff with the money I have to spend anyway? :smile:

 

I happened to be in Palm Harbor and I stopped in the Mini dealer cause they had a lot of Mini's on the lot. Majority of them were sold but they did have a couple available they attributed to an unexpected delivery due to some of the other Mini dealerships not being open yet.
I was sticker shocked at first, but I have wanted a Mini since I lived in Europe as a teen and have been salivating since I heard BMW was going to be producing them. I bought a blue one that was available, that already had the 2500 in options chosen. I ended up with roofracks(I am gonna buy the bicycle adapters), 16 inch star wheels, rally lights, bonnet stripes, and floor mats. I couldn't be more satisfied with the service I recieved, especially the test drive Doug took us on. I didn't mind paying the extra for the autobond(3M) once it was explained what it does. My mother bought a beetle and it did not have that option, and she sure could have used it. She had her beetle for 2 years and was already considering a paint job due to the extensive pitting from bugs and rocks. I will pay the 900 bucks to save twice that in a paint job.
All I can say is gouging happens. The same thing happened when they rereleased beetles. They gouged the PT cruiser as well.
I love my mini and I love to motor!

 

I got a 6 disk Cd changer too. On a side note, the dealer said that about 90% of the minis they have sold have been bought with cash. So I am assuming they aren't too worried about loosing customers due to a little gouging.

 

>>I got a 6 disk Cd changer too. On a side note, the dealer said that about 90% of the minis they have sold have been bought with cash. So I am assuming they aren't too worried about loosing customers due to a little gouging.


Regardless of whether or not they're worried about losing customers due to gouging, they shouldn't project the 'we don't need you' attitude that they've got at Ferman. If they based MINI franchises on BMW customer service ratings, they really screwed up when they staffed Ferman MINI. We're bright enough to know that the cars are a hot commodity. We understand Supply and Demand. It's totally unnecessary for them to be arrogant and dismissive to customers (as has been my experience thus far). If I had any other choice in this area after my first 8 visits to the dealer BEFORE I even ordered my car, I would have gone elsewhere. I don't like putting up with crappy service at McDonald's, much less a business who is getting $21,000 of my money.

 

Well if you live in the Central/South Florida regions, I highly recommend purchasing your new MINI from Lauderdale Imports/MINI in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Order the car any way you want it, no mandatory accessory packages, no markups above MSRP, no BULL whatsoever.

You get the car the exact way you want it, no the other way around as is the case with some MINI operations out there.

 

>>Regardless of whether or not they're worried about losing customers due to gouging, they shouldn't project the 'we don't need you' attitude that they've got at Ferman. If they based MINI franchises on BMW customer service ratings, they really screwed up when they staffed Ferman MINI. We're bright enough to know that the cars are a hot commodity. We understand Supply and Demand. It's totally unnecessary for them to be arrogant and dismissive to customers (as has been my experience thus far). If I had any other choice in this area after my first 8 visits to the dealer BEFORE I even ordered my car, I would have gone elsewhere. I don't like putting up with crappy service at McDonald's, much less a business who is getting $21,000 of my money.

I agree they shouldn't have the attitude, not sure why I didn't see it. Maybe cause I was willing to take one off the floor as is.
But I have experienced the same arrogant attitude you are speaking of when the new beetles initially came out. I went to Reeves VW in Tampa and they were total jerks, you had to have a Rolex on before they would even look at you. Needless to say I didn't get a beetle and I am glad.

 

Thank you. I could not for the life of me understand why my local MINI dealer keeps blowing me off when I request a test drive. Now I know, next time I WILL wear my ROLEX.

 

I paid over MSRP for my Mini but, I paid the going "rate" and I think it is a proper value, especially compared to other cars in the 20k to 25k range. I believe the "s" in MSRP stands for suggested. MSRP is not etched in stone, nor a promised price. I've bought other cars (as I am sure we all have) for under the MSRP. This website is full of complaints about dealer pricing. It's simply a matter of supply and demand. If BMW continues to keep supply down, the markups will continue. My bet is that BMW will raise the MSRP price next year so that they get a piece of the action. I also believe that BMW undervalued this car at the outset and are limiting distribution to drive up interest. It's called marketing. They did the same thing with the X5 and Z3. It's not the most honest marketing but, it is what it is. Why all the whining? The bigger problem is that the dealer network sucks in terms of ignorant and arrogant salespeople. Tremendous misinformation and horrible after sale service. The best example is the lack of honesty and "hide and seek" B.S. going on with the shift linkage problems. The don't want the publicity of a recall and so they are playing games. Now that is a disaster waiting to happen, not the pricing.