Ordered my '05 MCS from MINI of Pittsburgh in mid July and got it on September 6 for MSRP including shipping to my door (+ $51 document fee and $5 for a 30 day temporary license plate).

When I was checking the Northern California dealers (Bay Area and Sacramento), all but 1 charged MSRP + $2500. One dealership charged MSRP, but had a 9 - 12 month waiting list before you could even place your order!!

A couple of the dealerships would do a deal on a new convertible since they had a bunch in stock, but no deals on an MCS.

I had a great experience with MINI of Pittsburgh and in less than 2 months my new MCS was in my driveway.

 

Why don't you charge them for advertising their good name? I have the dealerships remove their stickers and such from the car before delivery.

 

If it is so important for some of you to get a discount.
Join usminiclub.com, get the $200 coupon for habberstad, and save $200 off MSRP.

 

This wasn't true with my experience...I bought off the lot from Long Beach MINI, paid MSRP and only had one option on the car that I wouldn't have purchased if ordered, the anthracite headliner (which as it turns out, I enjoy after the fact). I spose I got lucky, but I did indeed pay MSRP with no wait, and no delivery needed. Personally, I loved the fact that I didn't have to negotiate.

 

I have a list of things I want done before delivery;

1. Preserve the window sticker (Optimally I would have it laminated)
2. DO NOT Drill front bumper or install front license plate holder
3. NO Dealer stickers, only a dealer license plate frame (I can remove it later if I choose to!)
4. Program the MINI features the way we want them.
5. Program our favorite local radio stations
6. A jpg copy of the delivery picture sent to our E-mail box.
7. Put my "Black" CD in the radio for the drive home
8. FULLY tank up with gas (with gas at $3 a gallon I want it all the way to the top of the neck, none of this off at the auto stop bull) (I can get another 3-4 gallons in our MINIvan after the first auto stop)

 

Everything you asked for is probably SOP.


Program your stations. LOL
A pic of delivery? Who does that? Never heard of it


You left out the following

1. MINI CDs ... There are a bunch of them, I think about 4.
2. MINI Mints.
3. MAKE SURE they take you to the Parts/Service Dept and tell you their policies. For example, if you come in for service, do you need an appt (I don't at my dealer)? Will they give you a free rental?
4. At delivery, its not a bad idea to have pre-orders some maintenaince things (e.g., oil filters) unless you really want to wait 10K miles for an oil change (either DIY but wherever you go, GIVE them a real MINI oil filter).
5. ASK for some freebies. If you don't ask, you will never get them. I know this is a tough one for some people. They may thrown in floor mats, glove box organizer, CD holder, etc. It costs them little but a lot for customer satisfaction.
6. Make sure they go over EVERY feature in the car until you understand them.
7. Make sure all the bits and pieces are there (e.g., is the tool box there? the tow hook?)
8. Make sure the exterior of the car is immaculate. Go over it (e.g., my wife found smudge marks and made them polish it!)

Do all these things BEFORE you hand them the money.

I would think the most important message is to ASK, no matter how outrageous it seems. If you don't ASK, you get nothing

Good luck!

 

Oh, yeah I didn't type that up right! Yes - #3 - Since I'm in CA I'm buying out of state from Classic and then driving back across country.
No markup out of state, so there are a few choices. I ultimately just went with the friendliest person I could find who also had inventory.

 

I'm in northern CA, and I've only found 1 dealers that do not have some sort of markup. And that dealer has a wait of at least 6 months. I wanted my Mini for birthday, so that sorta ruined the fun. I'm not super picky on options, as long as my Mini has premium and sport. And I pretty much like all the colors, so I'm "easy" when it comes to finding something usually. As soon as I found that I could get them on the east coast, I was set. And the cool part was I was able to pick a Mini that was ready to board the ship!

So, I could have spent $2,500 ADM beyond MSRP. But my costs to get my Mini home are less:

Flight - $129
Gas - $300 (est.)
5 Hotels - $500 (est)

As an added benefit, I'm going to get neat pictures of my Mini every few hundred miles as I drive it home. Now that will be a blast!

Also, I've driven this route across country numerous times already. If I push hard, I can do it in 2 long days, 15-16 hrs each day. BUT...since I have a week of vacation, I'm going to take my time and enjoy the route.

 

Sounds like fun! Especially in a brand new MINI!!! Just watch out for the break in period .....

Oh, and Happy Birthday!

 

I got my 03 MCS from MINI of Hawaii for free. Yep free...I bought extra special MINI floor mats for about $26,000 and they gave me the car as part of the deal

 

Now that sounds like a MINI Dealer!

 

No. Seattle's MINI dealer also has a markup, last I checked. It might just be me, though.

 

There is only one way to get a discount. Work for BMW. All others pay retail. And come on thats not a bad thing. Its called supply and demand. The more demand the more the price stays up when you go to sell.

What you think all those GM cars that just sold at "Employee Cost" will hold any value?

 

That depends on if you bought it before, during, or after the Employee Cost promotion.

 

I got a $350 discount from Roadshow in Aug. of 03 when I ordered my 03 MC. I negotiated over the phone without ever having been to the dealer. Maybe it was because it was late in the model year? Made me feel better anyway.

Also got free floor mats and a discount on a boot box and car cover, (returned the MINI outdoor car cover, not worth the price even with a big discount off the $197 list.

 

for my second purchase, I received floor mats.

 

We paid MSRP for our '05 MCS (delivered Nov.'04) and I was quite happy to do so. However, with the redesigned '07 on the horizon, there's no way you should be paying MSRP for an '06 in my opinion.

Whether the new one is better, or not, it will have an immediate negative impact on the value of 1st gen MINIs.....this is invariably the case when a new model is launched (this may, of course, change with time).

I'm contemplating buying an '06 (for April delivery) and my mindset is that I will be able to negotiate a "substantial" discount.....if I can't, I'll consider something else.

 

I am happily paying MSRP again here... the "discount" i got on my nissan was a joke... I kinda like that when you get a MINI you dont have to do all the negotiation crap... but thats me.

and i am getting a free parcel shelf and an excuse to go on a road trip to Chicago and Detroit. (so i cant complain )

 

Well, I ordered an '06 and paid MSRP. Let us know what your "substantial" discount is, and also, let us know what your next car turns out to be.

'Cause it probably ain't gonna be a mini.

Michael

 

Unless new '06 MINIs are suddenly languishing on dealers' lots come next spring (highly unlikely), I think your "substantial" discount is a pipe dream.

 

best way to get a discount on one - and you can do this on the miniusa site - build one with all the goodies on it...puts you up in the 30k-ish range...then start pulling stuff off and watch the price drop ...there's your discount

 

What about if the '07s are uglier? I'm completely serious.

 

This is the first of anything I have ever purchase at a retail price.Well,almost,I am getting free mats,I have cut down the dealer prep fee and when I pick up the car I am sure I will find something else to get for free.It is just against my business ethics to purchase anything at the asking price,everything for sale is negotiable including Mini's.

 

Dn't take the Risks:

• F-UGLY styling (thanks BMW ) Sorry WWR guys!
• New unproven Engine
• Shove a Turbo down your throat: MC and MCS gets Turbos in '07

Play it safe, Get a 2006!

 

plus a toy MINI, and they installed a set of aftermarket stripes I had shipped to them for free. Plus they do not add on a whole bunch of little dealer prep charges and other silly stuff to ad a few hundred bucks.

We had a fantastic experience working with Julie from Classic MINI in Ohio and would buy from her and Classic even though it is 800 miles further away than our "local" dealers that are over 100 miles away.