Hey everybody. I'm new here. I'm in the market for a new car, and have decided on a Mini, so my girlfriend and I used the Build Your Own function on the website to make the car we want. The question we have now is.. now what do we do?

I see a lot of talk about ordering Mini's and dealers putting them into production for you. Will any dealer do this for you, and what does it cost?

So far we've gone to Long Beach Mini in SoCal. They said that it could take 4 to 5 months right now to get one through build your own, and they made it sound like it wasn't as much "create your own and we'll build it" but more like "give us your wishlist and when we find it we'll let you know".

Thanks in advance! Any help you can give will be appreciated.

 

Ok,

Any dealer can submit your custom order. Some have more business so the wait can be long. 4-5 months is not un-common. Keep in mind, the production run for the 06 is almost over and you have to get the order in PDQ!!! I would try calling dealers not in CA and see if it is possible to get a car built. Then you can road trip back to your state.

Or, you could pick up an '05 or '06 used.

Hope this helps.

 

Do most (any) dealers charge you anything ahead of time to have your car built? The Long Beach dealer said that you don't even have to pay if they get the car for you and you decide not to buy.

 

I picked up my MINI from LB MINI in May and when I ordered, they told me the same thing, 4-5 months before delivery with approx 1/2 of this time on the wait list. I said OK and sent them my build requirements. Three weeks after I ordered (beginning of March) they called me and asked if I stilll wanted the car and if there were any changes on my build because they were ready to submit the order. The longest part of this was waiting for my MINI to get loaded on the ship and for the ship to reach the VDC at Port Hueneme.

LB MINI and South Bay are the only local So Cal MINI dealers that charge MSRP. Brecht by me sometimes does, but they typically add about $2-3K worth of extra stuff, super clear coat, Lojack, etc. on every car.

LB MINI also will search other dealers for a car that matches your build requirements.

I agree, the '06 production run is ending, and the dealers will stop taking orders soon, so if you want an '06, I would suggest you get your order in. BTW, LB MINI provides loaner cars, which is why I drove up there to get mine.

Good luck!

 

You will usually be requested to put down a refundable deposit on the order of $500-$1000.

They can't force you to buy the car when it comes in, and it really wouldn't be worth their time to try anyway. They can always turn around and sell it to someone else, especially here in Southern California.

I would also check out South Bay MINI in Torrance, since they are the other MINI dealer selling at MSRP out here.

 

LB MINI does not require a deposit to order. I asked them about this when I picked up my MINI and my MA indicated that only 10% of all peeps that order don't want their cars and that it was not a problem as MINI's sell so well, so they don't see the need to require a deposit up front.

I am not trying to push LB MINI by any means, just trying to relate what I have learned from my experience with them. LB MINI could do some things better, but overall I was and still am happy with them. I will see how the service is as I have a always "on" pixel on my nav screen, and am bringing my MINI in on Friday.

 

West coast seems to have a much longer wait than east coast. Here in Northern Va (DC Metro) I had to wait 6 weeks for a custom build. There were a few used ones around too if you really just had to have one now.

You should try calling around a bit to see if other dealers have such a long wait if you want it sooner. The down side would be if your dealer only offers things like free loaner cars to people who buy directly from them.

But hell, for a 6 month wait I'd probably buy it three states away and enjoy a nice cross country drive!

 

dont let the dealer turn you off from building one... sounds more like he /she may want to move some inventory off in your direction... Lets be honest here...

 

Niello Mini in Sacramento do not require any kind of downpayment if you have decent credit. They will order it on faith, and will take about three months.

One thing I learned though, make sure you find out how much those dealer added options will cost you, because there's labor involved not shown on the "Build a Mini" site.

Thing two we learned, if you have plans to run any Autocross events, something like having the Aero package added (dealer addition) will knock you out of the stock classes.

 

Thanks for everyone's advice. We went to the Long Beach dealer and ordered an '06 yesterday. Both dealers we spoke to said that you can order an '06 until late October. When I asked them about what I'd heard (late July being the cut-off) neither one had heard anything about it.

My MA said that he would call me after the July 4th weekend was over and get me a production number. I'm so excited. I can see the difference between the dealers though. At Crevier in Santa Ana, all the cars on the lot had a required $3,995 package added on, and they wanted $1,000 down to order one.

What was weird is that even though Long Beach told me last time that it would take 4-5 months (and their website said the same), I was told yesterday that I'd probably take delivery of it in September.

 

Congrats on your order

As a follow up to my previous post, LB MINI changed out my nav screen/board without any hassel. I sat in the BMW waiting longe drinking coffee and eating their cookies and my car was done in 2 1/2 hours. They even offered me a loaner car to go driving around town in, which was pretty kewl! I asked if I could go for a spin on one of their BMW touring motorcycles, but they said noooo!

If you get chance, take a look at the new Z4 M3 coupe, awesome car! It lists for $70K, and you pay the gas guzzler tax of $2k (if I remember correctly, I was too hopped up on caffine and sugar )

 

Hmmmm...that's really interesting about their timing. I ordered from South Bay because they have a shorter wait than Long Beach, no dealer markup, but there was a $1000 deposit that's totally refundable. My MA said that I'd get my production number in a couple weeks after ordering but it actually took 4.5 weeks. Usually you are on a waiting list first until there is an allocation available. I'm expecting delivery in mid to late August because my status is still "on order". When I called around I was told 4-5 months at LB as well, but only 3 months at SB. Apparently it takes about a week to produce the MINI and aprox. 20 days across the ocean. Of course they have no control over how long it sits at the dock awaiting transport. So after it goes into production I guess it can take 4-6 weeks until delivery. It'll be interesting to see if you do actually get a production number next week. You'll have to keep us posted!

 

I know that I'd heard that LB usually starts by searching for matches in the area before they order. Even as I mentioned in my first post, the last time we went there, they said they would "look for a match". Well, when we went back yesterday, we basically told the guy that we wanted to order one, and he said he would put in an order, also mentioning to us that it would be nearly impossible to find the exact match in the area anyway.

When he first said September, we thought that he meant that it wouldn't be put into production until then, so we asked, and he said that would probably be the expected delivery. So we'll see.

Now I need to decide how I want to finance. Mini Select sounds appealing, because of the low payments, but I have other options available (my credit union, or traditional finance). Any advice on this? hehe

On a side note, when I asked about trading in my 2000 Beetle, he estimated the trade-in value on the computer as only $5,000, when the Blue Book site I looked at showed $6-8k, depending on condition, and $10k-$12k for selling it outright.