I've been going back and forth about a HC Clubman S that my local dealer has. I just found out that it is being used as a Demo. I asked about a discount because it is a demo and they said as long as it is less that 3K miles, there is no discount. Am I wrong in thinking there should be a discount b/c it is a demo (it has around 500 miles) or since it is a clubman S I should accept it as is?

My wife and I were speaking and she said to me to check out other dealer websites (within the area) to see if they had what i was looking for (the about HC has stuff on it that i don't want to pay for - the sirius stereo and a few other things). So i called one and they said that they had a PW with Silver top - not my idea but the salesman asked me what I wanted. He said he'd call me back in a few minutes. Five minutes later he had the car (it's at port). I'm wondering, are other dealers doing this or are they just living with what's on order? I was surprised to see this.

just wondering out loud,
Joe

 

the dealers aren't gonna have anything in stock except the demos... order what you want and wait patiently for your car

 

Regarding the Demo, why would you want a car with 500 miles on it if you are going to be paying sticker? They should at least throw in a TON of freebies if they are going to offload their demo on you. 500 miles doesn't seem like that much though, but it will still count against your warranty total so it might cost you some in the end.

I ordered mine becuase they didn't have anything in stock that was optioned the way I wanted, and they weren't willing to budge off sticker. In that case, I wasn't going to pay for options I didn't want or need in place of ones I wanted.

Dealers can do a fair bit of trading to find another car if it there is one optioned that way a customer wants. They have a pretty good computer list stock, even ones on the boats. It wouldn't suprise me if they were able to find one close to what you were looking for. If they aren't bargining at all, you'll have to decide if paying for the extra options offset the 6-8 week wait of an order.

Good luck.

Jon W.

 

i'd be leery about buying a demo car. and if i did i would definitely get a discount on it. i've heard too many stories about people test driving the poo out of the demo car. i would almost guarantee that those are 500 hard earned miles on that car...

 

I have bought a few demo's in the past (american made cars) and never have I paid MSRP. When it came time to order my clubman I knew I was paying sticker, so I wanted it just the way I ordered. If you are paying sticker get what you want. What's a few weeks for something you want!

 

After the way I test drove a Clubman S... I wouldn't want to buy a demo. I wasn't *too* hard on her, but she was itching to go fast and turn hard, so what was I supposed to do?!?

I'm sure my new Clubman will get similar treatment..... *after* a proper break-in time.

 

I'm with the rest. Order one exactly how you want it.

 

If I had to order another color combo, the PW/Silver would be the one. I remember the Clubman launch cars, which Sandia Mini had or still has after 2 months didn't have the multi-functions steering wheel. That is a must for me so there was no way I would "settle" on available cars. Unless you can't wait, you will have to "settle" with vehicles on stock and pay what they ask. Since I paid over 27k for mine and I was upside down over 6k, I better get exactly what I want.

 

Upside down about 6K? That is my situation. Still trying to work out the kinks. First dealership did not seem to anxious to make anything work. Going to visit a second tomorrow.

Shooting put about 2K down - get payments in the low 500's (about a 27,500 Build)

What do you think ?? Possible??

Care to elaborate on your situation further? THANKS!

Trying to make a deal and I am dying

 

Demos in the UK are always dealer-stock cars sold under the Cherished scheme as second-hand after 3 months. To try selling one with even 500 miles on it at MRSP is ridiculous. Walk away and find another dealer.

 

Robertcbradley, I traded in my '05 BRG/White MC with about 24k to 25k miles. It ran wonderfully, looked great, nice interior, but it had been repainted we found out after the dealer inspection. Instead of the 16K we thought we were going to get we only got 9.5k. They told us to sell it ourselves to get more than they were offering but my wife and I didn't want to go through the time and effort. We live in far West Texas and our dealer is in Albuquerque. So we took the 9.5k and ordered our Clubman. At least we got 1.9 interest for the upside down amount.

 

Robertcbradley, the paint looked great and I never even heard that if it is repainted, the values goes down that much. The previous owner who bought it from the dealer put 5k on it in 4 or 5 months so I assume that it went through a hail storm during that time due to the several small dings on the roof still. I'll readily admit to being a sucker but it was a heart breaking situation because I kept it so clean, treated it great, and detailed it so nicely for the trade it. My Clubman makes all of the bad memories go away though.
Make sure this is the car you want to go out this far for. I'm seeing a few already in the used section.

 

Order your own customized MINI. I dont think i'd ever buy a demo (i guess it'd depend) - but definitely not a MINI. People run them too hard when they just test drive them. When i test drove mine before i ordered, i didn't go crazy hard on her or anything, but i definitely drove her to see what she could do. =)

Be patient. Order your own. You'll be much happier in the end knowing you got EXACTLY what you wanted. It took me a while to realize that, especially taking into account the more i wanted = more money! =) =) But in the end, it'll totally be worth it.

 

I guess that's my problem - I'm impatient and i want my car now. like who doesn't. That's part of my problem. What makes the deal with the demo worse is - the car has everything I want on it. But it does include two things - cold weather package (I live in florida) and the Sirius stereo - that I don't want, but was willing to get because I wanted the car. Again it boils down to being impatient. I guess I'm going to have to wait.

 

Not TRUE for me! I am on my third MINI bought off the showroom floor, all with less than 15 miles on them. Check around some more, they are out there, at least Downtown MINI has been able to get me in a new no-demo, no-waiting for an order car, THREE TIMES!

 

CDMINI,

that's the place with the HC S, I want to kick myself in the *** because i test drove it when it had 17 miles on it. My wife said the color reminded her of poop and she didn't want me to buy it. Now it is a demo. :(

 

It has been my experience that DTM doesn't bargain, on anything. When I was shopping for my car, they offered me $200 worth of free accessories on the outgoing 07 S model after I asked for their best offer. I bought my car from another Florida dealer for $1000 off MSRP with $500 in "freebies" after asking the same question about a car specced exactly the same.

When I bought my 04, DTM wanted $2000 OVER MSRP.

HC/B is an awesome looking color combo, I just wouldn't pay MSRP for anything with more than 10-20 miles on it. Correct me if I'm wrong, but when I looked at what was probably the exact same car at DTM, the cold weather package was included as part of the "Clubman Launch Package" and was essentially free.

 

DTM has the same attitude as their mothership. I've been there once or twice and they think I'm doing them a favor by showing up on their hallowed grounds.

When I spoke with the salesman they said they would lower the price of the demo when the mileage was at 3000 miles +. I can't do that!

By the way, what part of the state did you get your car?

 

So you passed on the car when it was new and now you want a discount? I guess I know when to buy and not blame the salesman for my inability to make the decision. Downtown MINI has given me as good a deal as anyone here gets. I frankly don't believe any of them discount off MSRP, show me the purchase order and I'll consider maybe they did, but mostly I think those making that claim are just lying about that to make themselves sound good. All the posters here ALL report MSRP as the price, and that is what I pay. I think Downtown MINI is a great dealer and I'll miss their cozy downtown location after they move out to the I-4.

P.S. That Brown color does look just like "poop" (dog or people I can't say for sure), I did pass on the Royal Grey after seeing it last year!

 

No, I asked this question "Am I wrong in thinking there should be a discount b/c it is a demo (it has around 500 miles) or since it is a clubman S I should accept it as is?" I wanted to know the forum's opinion of a demo. Nothing more. Did I make the wrong decision? Yeah, but I wanted others opinion. How difficult is that to figure out????

 

You asked for an opinion and then the thread drifted into maligning a really good MINI dealer, IMO, partially because you want to change their pricing policy. I ordered my first S from them, and I had it in 6 weeks. I don't think anyone can beat that on an order. Frankly, at this point you just look like another wanabee MINI owner, Buyers buy cars, not just talk about buying cars. They know that! When you didn't buy the car you drove, you were free to put down a 100% refundable $500 deposit to get exactly what you did want, you didn't do that either. So if you want a MINI it is not up to anyone but you. You will easily save all that discount $ you want from them, by staying away from all the extras, that is how I get my MINIs for, 23 and 25K (it had LSD and a few other things already on it) for 2 S's, 18K for a MINI, non-S, and 25K for a Clubman S. If you do that you have a better chance of getting a great car at a low price than trying to haggle them for a car that your wife already hates the color. Think about it.

 

I would not pay sticker for a demo. Classic MINI had at least 3 or 4 Clubmen the last time I was there. There are Clubman in stock if you want it now, however, you'll have to compromise. In order to get "exactly" what you want you have to order.

 

...if it's a manual, think of all those missed-shifts, stalls, grinding, over-reving, etc, all on an engine and clutch that haven't been broken-in....Add in the ridiculous request for full MSRP, and you've got one really bad deal going. Order exactly what you want, and look forward to a Summar delivery. It's worth the wait.

 

This guy, JOEP, disappeared pretty quick when challenged as to why he didn't put a deposit down and order what he wanted. Maybe he will turn up again with a MINI, but I think he just wanted to pull on everybody's chain and see if they would offer him a discount, probably had no intention of ever buying the Clubman or any MINI, frankly!

 

Can this thread die already, or at least the side argument (CDMini)? I don't think it needed to turn into a dealer-rip or love fest (I have my own opinion with DTM but don't feel they are relevant to the thread), but that wasn't the point.

His question was fair regarding the demo. I think he got differing opinions, and is an adult and can make his own decisions. If he has looked at the Clubman that many times, I for one would not be suprised if he made a purchase.

Mine is on order. As bad as the wait is, I would not want a demo if it wasn't discounted.

Jon W.