You are lucky you even had that option. There wasn't a MINI dealer anywhere near me listed in the CostCo site. I ended up buying the JCW that was in the showroom.

$35,500 after the $1,575 discount for the Premium pkg. Mgr wouldn't any further as she was built 2/11 and I think just arrived to them. They were going to do pinstriping and something else they had written on the addendum, but it wasn't on the car yet so I told them to leave it off. They even had the JCW scuttles on her and I told them to take them off for the standard ones to save on $225. In the end, they forgot and they are still on the car.

I did however get them to throw in some accessories to sweeten the deal.

 

HarleyDS,

Just looked at your gallery, that is one mean looking JCW. Congrats on the purchase!

PS - The costco website did not list any MINI dealers in my area so I had to call them and inquire, that is when I found out that there was one about 70 miles away. I guess the costco website only searches a certain radius (obviously less than 70 miles).

 

perhaps I should have pursued it further and called them. Oh well, in the end, I grabbed her off the showroom floor. The only thing I asked them to add was the chrome hood scoop. I'm still debating on adding chrome brake ducts. I'm wondering if its too much. I already ordered a clear bra so I better make up my mind soon!

 

UPDATE: MINI has extended the wonderful 0.9% APR + one bonus option (AT, PP, or SP).

Valid for MINIs delivered before May 2nd, 2011

 

That's great news. I have one on the way over due into Baltimore on 4/8. I was hoping those deals would be extended.

 

I'm almost there, in terms of buying my MINI, and thought I would report back. Again I'm in So Cal so there are 10 dealers with in 75 miles of me. 1 is a Costco authorized dealer.

I'm ordering a car and not buying out of dealer inventory, so that affects price as well, I assume. But for what its worth I emailed all the dealers in my area, attached my build sheet and let them know I wasn't looking to go back and forth with pricing but "requested a price" from them. I sent it to 5 of the 10 dealers, and heard back from 3. I went with the best offer (price, customer service, distance, dealer perks).

For everyone's reference quotes for an ordered car ranged between $500-$1250 over dealer invoice (MCSa~$28.8k MSRP). I assume those that did not respond would have been higher, but who knows? I appreciate a dealer that is willing to cut through the mess of haggling and just give me a good straight up. That way neither of us waste any time. BTW - this pricing does not include any additional incentives or free package deals that may or may not be in play when my car arrives.

I know it's just my own personal (one individual's) MINI pricing experience, but I know many posters, and lurkers (like myself) are always curious what the pricing market is like. So for May 2011, this my brief description of what I found the MINI pricing market to be like.

Big Thanks to all on NAM for providing so much reference material to make my build one I think I'm really going to enjoy.

 

Great info. I would also recommend during final negotiations for when you are on the fence about their final offer and they say to you, "what would it take for you to sign today". I had a list of accessories from the Mini catalog ready to go. Floor mats, Chrome Hood Scoop, Grocery bag holder, Mini die cast model, etc....
I also tried for the driving lights and gauges, but that required more as it involved technician's time...

Good Luck All!

 

i'm in socal also and given your "pre-negotiated" amount over invoice being identical to mine (for a mcs), i'm under the impression that we're shopping at the same dealership. they've been nothing but courteous with me. of course, part of it is b/c the deals not done yet. they've picked up a car that i want from another dealership and i put down a deposit. i'm gonna drive down to take a look tmrw and may be bringing the car home if all goes right. from my experience thus far, you're working with the right dealership (the reviews on yelp confirm this as well). another dealer in the area is offering up $995 over invoice, but it seems like they want to drag you in and play games, b/c my "let's cut the bs and get to the point" response to one of their emails has caused a cessation in communication. good luck with your order and i will post a detailed review of my purchase experience if/when it happens.

 

I just ordered one and I am getting $2500 off sticker and 0.9%. Not a bad deal...

 

is that $2500 off sticker before or after the free bonus option? with the premium package, the bonus option discounts your car by $1575. the MA at alexander mini failed to mention this to me when he threw out his first price. he said he was offering me a good deal when in fact the price offered ($900 off sticker) would essentially be $675 over msrp. that's a big part of the reason why i'm not buying my car from there. i may be biting my nose to spite the face, but i don't mind paying a couple hundred more to a dealer who's honest and straight forward.
for the dealers that surf this board, make sure you know your audience. if i'm asking about residual value and money factor, chances are i at least looked up invoice and did some research on prices people paid. it's not only tiring, but it's really frustrating to have to jump back and forth through the unnecessary sales hoops.

 

2500 includes the free premium package

 

So I did it (actually did it last week, but finally reporting back). See sig for details of my build.

 

That's a great deal. I got the same deal on mine (so I hope it's a great deal! ). I took one of their in-stock models though although I really wouldn't have changed too much even if I had ordered it. The color was the one I would have wanted and the only option I would have ordered additional was the upgraded stereo but I'm sure I can do just as well if not better by going aftermarket.

I also got the dealer fee waived and some floormats thrown in.

Mine also included the bonus which in my case was an auto transmission. I think bottom line my price was just a couple hundred over invoice and from all the research I did, BMW doesn't have any dealer holdback so the dealer probably didn't have much more room to haggle.

 

congrats! as i said earlier, i think we purchased from the same place (crevier). i hammered out a deal with the MA on thursday over the phone, the car was picked up from escondido on friday, and i took delivery saturday evening. the paperwork took a long time (they were taking care of 3-4 sales in the time i was at the dealership) so i ended up missing the angels game which my buddy had tix to. but other than that and a little back and forth negotiating on a trade-in i didn't want to let go of, the process could not have gone much smoother. the guys there were very courteous and friendly, to say the least...much better than alexander, which is a LOT closer to where i live.

 

A note on Nick Alexander (NA)- a buddy of mine bought a brand new M3 from them about a year ago, and after 1k miles he discovered his rough ride was due to them forgetting to take out the plastic spring spacers used during overseas shipping. NA was absolutely rude about it, and the subsequent interior rattles caused from 1k miles of rough driving. So I think you made a good choice by avoiding NA

 

MC or MCS: MSC
Auto or Manual: Auto
Custom ORDER or bought from dealer INVENTORY: Custom Order

Date of Purchase: April 8th 2011City/State: California
Dealer: rather not say

MSRP/Sticker: $28.6k
Price Paid: $26.5k

Also had them throw in about $350 in free dealer accessories (not reflected in pricing above)

 

no doubt! the MA i dealt with at NA was just awkward (**if you happen to be on this forum and are reading this, good**). first off, they were busy, according to them. i wasn't looking to take a car home that day, so fine, i don't mind if i don't get immediate help. in fact, i told the receptionist that i was just looking around. but once an MA starts dealing with me, i expect his/her 100% attention. all he was able to offer during the test drive was "do you have any questions?" the test drive at crevier was a lot more interactive - dana explained a few things here and there which prompted me to ask some questions. back to NA - to add insult to boredom, we get back to the dealership and all of a sudden he has to deliver a car to a customer so he asked us to wait. no biggie...maybe it'll be like 15-20mins. 30-45mins later, he finishes delivering his car and comes back in. he's not looking for us and starts having another conversation with his colleague or something. i finally get his attention and no apologies or explanations, so i offered to break the ice a bit and kidded with him "did you just sell a 12 bedroom house or something?" his response: "there are a lot of features in the car that i had to explain to the owner." well, add lack of a sense of humor to his lack of courtesy. i knew i was done by that point, but wanted to get some numbers. i asked about leasing an MCS b/c he was telling me how great the residual value was on a cooper (fails to mention non-S cooper). he runs the lease numbers for me and it comes out to be like $461/mo! i asked about residual value, no idea. i told him i'm a value shopper and wanted to know how i can reduce my rates, no idea. i was finally able to get the terms from the finance manager (residual, money factor, etc.). the car's sticker was $30.8K and he said he can give me a good deal at $29.9K. ok...i just asked you for details that your average purchaser prob doesn't care about and you're gonna try to dog me like that? no mention of the free option so you're basically trying to get me to pay $675 over msrp? peace out! i don't care how many cars you guys sell over at NA...you guys gotta realize that customers come in various forms and with various knowledge. don't go thru your cookie cutter script when dealing with everyone out there.
my purchase at crevier cost me maybe $200 more than the lowest price i could have gotten, but not having to deal with BS made it entirely worth it!

 

I hear ya' it's all about getting a good deal (and that includes price, customer service, location, etc.)

PS - Post up some pics of your new MINI, I'd love to see it

 

here's a lame iphone pic. i'm gonna swing by crevier this weekend to pick up some stuff and get my bonnet stripes put on. after that's done, i'll get some legit pics.
i was originally looking for horizon blue, but my buddy talked me into british racing green II. he said it's a classic color. i'm glad i went with brgII. hb would have been a bit soft for me.

 

That looks great! BRG has always been a favorite MINI color of mine...I could only imagine how bad *** this WC50 would look with a black roof like yours

 

apparently the brg has changed over the years, if i'm reading the posts here correctly. and the wc50 green is different from brg and brgII. either way, i love the color and am glad i got it in this color. apparently, it was the only brgII in all of cali that had at least prem, xenon and a/t. i ended up with a/t, prem, sport (w/17" web spokes), bluetooth, anthracite headliner, black color line, bluetooth/ipod, and checkered cloth.
i feel like there needs to be a socal meet sometime after you get your car, if there aren't regular ones already. i'd also be interested in going down to RMW in irvine to see if i can be "convinced" to get a tune! =)

 

Yeah, I'm gonna have to look into the So Cal MINI club meet ups as well. As for RMW, I will try to stay away as long as I can...I suspect I wouldn't be able to control myself when enticed with all the mods

 

Hey guys thanks for the info. I can't believe it, but I have been lurking here since 2007. Each year I tell my wife "I think this is the year I buy the MINI." But then something in the horizon has me holding out longer. In this case the refresh.

I too am in SoCal, so this thread held some extra interest. I actually live about 2 miles from Bob Smith in Calabasas, but have had nothing but ridiculously bad experiences there. Not sure if you wanted to name names, but would it be safe to ask, from your dealing experiences, that Crevier would be my best bet? And how did the Costco thing work out? Did you order from Costco, then a dealership handles the order from there?

Just trying to gauge the best way of going forward, and prior experience is very helpful. Any tips, fees and markups to look out for etc..

Oh, and I have been lusting BRG from day one! Thanks.

 

My .02 cents
- Build out the exact car you want. Use something like yahoo autos to get your invoice pricing & MSRP. Basically know ahead of time what you want and don't want and write it down.
- Being in SoCal your pricing is pretty good, as we have 10 dealers between Ventura and San Diego.
- BTW: The Costco Dealer is the Kearny Mesa MINI dealer (just call the costco auto program for details, it will take you all of 2 minutes).
- Dealer time = money. Your time = money. So the more hand holding you need (test drives, features, ordering, configuring, etc.) the more you should be prepared/willing to pay. That's why "sometimes" an MA will be a bit put off if all they are doing is spending time educating and entertaining w/o an imminent sale in sight. "Sometimes" its just rude "sometimes" it's just business (no comment on if it is right or wrong...it just is)
- Ask dealer to give you price quotes for MSRP, Ivoice, Sale Price, TTL, and OTD (you'll then be able to see if there are any odd fees).
- End of month means end of month sales goals, so "sometimes" you can find a dealer that needs to move another unit or two to make a sales goal and would be willing to do a quick and fast deal with an educated, ready to go buyer.
- If its been raining a while in SoCal those dealers will have seen little traffic, so go in while its raining and they may be salivating for a sale.
- An educated, direct, and friendly buyer/MA will yield the best deal (price, service, location, etc.)
- If you want more personal attention from an MA and aren't looking to buy today, then try going during the the middle of the day during the week when they aren't busy.

* If you don't want to do all the leg work, just do Costco (if Costco site does not pull up a dealer in Cal, just call the toll free number and they will help you out) or Carsdirect.com and you will get very competitive pricing in SoCal with very little effort.

DISCLAIMER: pricing/incentives/supply/demand changes all the time and these most dramatically effect pricing.

 

that's weird...i typed out a response earlier that never got posted. i must have goofed somewhere. in any case, i live in west LA and the trek down to crevier was worth it. i dealt with armond and dana - both guys were great to work with! if you need any additional information or if you want me to put you in touch with armond/dana or vice versa, PM me and i'll be glad to do so. i'll be at crevier on saturday to pick up some stuff and get my bonnet stripes put in so i'll be seeing them.