Ok so my husband and I usually have 2 cars. 2 Honda Civics. He traded one of them in for his BMW 1 series and we're doing the Euro Delivery so we won't get that car til November or so.

Now we're left with the other Civic which we share. Here's my problem:

- I want to get a new MINI (I've fallen in love with em) and trade in my 07 Civic EX. However, then we'll be carless. We could wait til his car comes in in November, but we're getting a really good trade in value right now and are afraid we won't get that same rate in November!

Any advice? I'm sure there are others who've gone through this.

I'm very new to this forum..its my very first post! Ive been reading it for about a month or so and Im in love with it.

Thanks!

Skinny Mini
(my nickname growing up..haha)

 

can't negotiate the price. I had to pay sticker price BUT you can ask for FREEBIES...I got floor mat for me and secure nuts on all 4 run-flat tires. About 200.00 worth of freebies. Couldn't even tell them to take of the registration fee and it's only 86.00 bucks. There are only 2 dealers where I live and I've heard some one's willing to pay over sticker price just because the he/she wants that particular one and has to compete with a diff. buyer.
Bottom lines...it's worth every penny for this fun machine.
ps. don't take whatever interest rate they gave u....this you can reasonable negotiate :-)

 

Welcome to NAM. Usually you have to pay sticker for the Mini, the negotiating is for the trade in. A Honda Civic is a great car to trade in as small cars are a hot commodity right now and will probably be that way for awhile with high gas prices. I don't think the fed will raise the prime until after the election, can never tell though. Get your loan through a credit union if you can though.

The Mini is a great car, you will love it.

 

Since you have the time why not try and sell the honda outright. Resale value is almost always better than a good trade in value.

 

I would absolutely keep the honda until ~2-3 weeks (or even wait as it will be an easy sell) before your scheduled delivery and then sell it yourself. It is an easy market for such a vehicle and you will undoubtedly do better financially (even with the sales tax advantage). And, you won't have to worry about a car (until the very end and if you have to, you can rent a car for a week or so).

 

I didn't have any problems negotiating. I picked my MINI and said that I wasn't going to pay sticker, and anybody who does is stupid. I ended up getting $1200 of MSRP and a GREAT interest rate.

 

From everything I've read, the market is strong for used cars that get good gas mileage. And there's always a market for Honda Civics. For the most money - sell it yourself. I just ordered a mini and paid MSRP. Small gas efficient cars are a hot commodity right now and I'll bet they are going for MSRP or darn close. That certainly includes hybrids. On the other hand, I wouldn't expect to pay MSRP for a large gas guzzling SUV or pick-up. In fact, who would want either right now? Looks like Detroit has been caught unprepared, once again, for the market shift. Toyota is doing well and mini sales are up too. I'll bet you have no problem unloading the Civic.

 

In Florida you only pay tax on the difference between what you get for your car and the price of the new one. It makes a difference so I would make sure you know what you are getting for the Honda from the dealer and factor that into your decision to sell it yourslef, if it even applies to where you live.

Everyone pays sticker at the dealers in my area, but you can negociate the trade and ask for mats, etc. Good luck!

 

Whats wrong with buying a MINI off the lot?

 

bought both mine off the lot....

I don't like to wait.

First one was actually still on the truck when I eyeballed it. Second was in JAX waiting to be loaded on a truck and I picked it off the shipping list.

Just depends on if you can find what you want I suppose.

One thing people like about MINI is ordering and 'building' their car...and they think this is unique. Well you can custom order a Chevy or a Toyota too. My father always 'ordered' his American monsters to his specific specs. Problem with buying off the lot for MINI is that not many dealers HAVE much on the lot, if any. Same thing is happening with SMART right now.....altho SMART seems to be finding more orphaned cars than MINI has.... I just canx'd my quota....

 

I have ordered most of the cars I have owned. Some of the Japanese companies no longer let you order one. I bought a Nissan truck a few years ago and the dealer told me I could not order one from the factory. Then again looking at a Japanese car now, most models have 3 to 5 trim levels of the model and maybe 2 or 3 option packages, so i could see how they could frown on ordering.

Thats another nice thing about MINI, get it just the way you want it.

 

Don't go in there thinking you're going to get $1200 off MSRP. I don't know what this guy did, but this was definitely an exception, not the rule. I don't pay sticker for cars either, but the Mini is a different animal, and folks shouldn't be calling people stupid just because some extenuating circumstance allowed them to get lucky. You look at the number of posts where people say they could not get much over $500 off MSRP, and it is the overwhelming majority. All these people probably have had no problems in the past talking down the price of a Ford, Chevy, Dodge, or similar vehicle. Just because the Mini is a unique market does not make them all stupid! I don't think we got the WHOLE story here.

 

You can ALWAYS negotiate. Even on hard to find, in-demand products. Just be prepared with as much info as you can gather - internet, other dealers, etc. Get actual cost figures for base car and all options if you can. And be as tactful and polite as possible. And also be prepared to walk if you are not happy with the deal regardless. You can always come back a day later and discuss.

Sites like kbb.com, edmunds.com, etc can give you 'some' info, but it's not all 100%. Transportation is never negotiable, and rarely are doc fees as each dealer treats these as 'must do same for every customer' sort of things.

But the total nut on the car itself is where you want to start. Find out the actual dealer cost of the car and options, and start there. Sure, a dealer will always claim they sell every car at list, but they don't. They might, and they surely will want to, but they don't.

And realize that the dealer must make profits to stay open and provide great service to you after the sale, so surely profit is warranted. How much is up to you to decide, and up the dealer to make the deal in your range.

But no matter what, most of this depends on two things: 1) your relationship with the selling dealer (bought other cars from them or from related dealerships), and 2) being armed with adequate information.

From that point on, realize there is not the same markup on a 25-30k vehicle as there would be on a 75k vehicle, so there's not a lot of room, but you might get a few things discounted, like mats, mirror covers, etc.

Good luck. Can't comment on your timing, though as you get later in the calendar year, pending any changes, realize the '09 model will likely be released December/January time frame, if that matters.

Just my two cents.

 

Was it a custom build or did you buy one off the lot? (or does it matter )

 

Ditto. (except for the stupid part). Not sure of my savings, but it's about $2k. Most non-s purchases should be shooting for $1,750 off msrp.

Anyone who purchases a car should always walk away once (at least.)

Good luck!

 

Let's not forget the market and how fluid, dynamic, it can be. If you bought your mini a year ago it's entirely possible that you could cut a deal that you wouldn't get today. With gas rocketing up to $4 within a matter of months, the number of folks looking to downsize has gone up proportionately. If the mini is hot, dealers can certainly command MSRP when 6 - 8 months ago they couldn't. But I'm just speculating. I really doubt you will get a price break on a Prius right now. The same may be true of any small, fuel efficient vehicle. Or any hybrid for that matter. On the other hand, if you pay MSRP in this market for a 14 mpg SUV, you're probably getting taken. If demand exceeds supply, you can expect to pay a premium. That's certainly the case with gasoline.

 

My local dealer still had about 8 07's in stock last month. They currently have at least 1 07 mcs that is still stock and 1 07 mc as well(as of last week at least and according to thier web site today). Since we are half way through 08 they were/are really trying to get them off the lot. As such they were/are giving substantial discounts for them.

We have been talking with them and they are giving decent money off new 08's too. I realize money is a sensitive issue but some people are getting $1000 or more off a new one. That is what we have been able to negotiate on an 08 mcsA so far. I think it really depends on where you live.

 

I managed $1200 off MSRP and free floormats.

It helped that I had a lot of contact with the dealer via email and made him think it was a certain sale. I also came in from 300km away just to see him so he wasn't going to let me walk.

I think I caught him off guard with my low offer and it was fairly easy to negotiate from there. I obtained the invoice price and made an offer that included a 3% profit for the dealership. He said that was far too low for the dealership so I gave him my second prepared offer of a 5% profit for them.

We moved a little from there and I was getting ready to walk. I had to budge another $100 to get the deal signed but it was worth it in the end.

It's important to remain calm when negotiating. The last you thing you want is tempers flaring. As you'll be dealing with the dealership for the next four years you want to have a good relationship with them. Remain confident in your offer and be prepared to walk if necessary. If you don't like the price thank the rep for his time and leave.

 

I'd say if you're picking off the lot, you can get yourself a deal. Heck, today I saw someone pick up the 2008 MCSCa I test drove merely two hours before. 248 miles on the odometer when I dropped it back off at the dealership. So I should hope they at least got some mark down.

If you're ordering custom, go for floor mats or some other dealer goodies instead of trying to haggle on the price tags from MINI. There is always room to negotiate, but either you want the car or you don't, and if you're trying to say you're going to walk on a special order, there's no real loss to the dealership because you weren't going to help clear out their on the lot inventory anyway.

Good luck with your purchase though, and be sure to post pictures

 

Not really my 06 was mint and got 14K as best offer had navi too

 

US dealers are staying near MSRP.
$4-5 gas is starting to clear the dealer's lots.
I looked locally this week. There are few around.

Others noted asking for freebies. ASK.

Trade in value is critical. All dealers will low ball you.

 

I got $1000 off msrp. I called ahead a couple of days before the end of the month to the dealer who had a car very near what I would have ordered (all the main items included). This was a $30,900 car. No doc fees or any other fees (except the delivery fee). Purchased the car on the last day of the month and got 5.25% (48 - 66 months).

Mike.

 

I was at my dealer the other day. They had zero coopers on the lot, 6 Ss, zero Clubmans and 4 convertibles. Clubmans are a 4 month wait. I don't think my dealer is going to be taking anything off of these. I picked up my cooper a year ago and paid pretty close to MSRP. Look at MINI sales USA, they are up 50% in May compared to May 07. I had never paid MSRP prior to the Cooper. I'll agree maybe you could get a deal if you ordered in the middle of winter when car sales slow down but I think right now the dealer has the upper hand.

On the other hand a lot of MINI dealers are not like your normal car dealer. My dealer throws a couple of open house parties a year, throws on an auto cross, sponsors many club events, puts on a yearly rally. Try to get that from your local toyota dealer.

 

absolutely nothing, but they dont seem to have the one i want at the lots

 

My $1000 off was on 4/30/2008. It may be worth a drive to another dealer if they have something close to what you want on the lot.

Mike