I really want to test drive both the MC and MCS. I have an opportunity to possibly do that this weekend. Baron Mini of KC is about 200+ miles away. My problem is, I have not had good experiences with auto dealers and pushy sales people, so I am really nervous, since my plan is to just drive to get a feel for the vehicle. Buying is not an option, yet, but will be within a few months. I have had past experiences with sales people not listening when I say I am just browsing, and hounding me with phone calls and getting angry when I refuse to buy from them this instant (yes, he was that childish). I understand that Mini MA's tend to be less aggressive, but that just makes me feel guilty about wasting their time. I would appreciate any encouragement and/or any positive experiences anyone could give about working with Baron Mini of KC. Thanks.

 

I don't think you'll have a problem. I just called and said I wanted a test drive. They scheduled it, came in took the drive. No real pushes for sale, just told them I was looking to buy in the next couple months. Just let them know you are taking your time to research. It should be fine.... Minis sell pretty easily, so they don't need to hound you.

 

Just tell them up front you are not ready to buy. The Mini dealer in San Diego is connected to a respected BMW dealer and they are not pushy at all.

 

I find that Mini Sales people (or MA's) are incredibly friendly and helpful and are anything but pushy. If we are being honest, the Mini sells itself, they have an easy sell Still they do a damn good job at it in my experience. The culture in the sales room is very different that your typical car dealership - the MA's want you to just experience the Mini, not neccesserily push you into one...

Easily the best experience I have had buying a car.

 

be flat out honest or even embellish and say there is no money to spend right now but you are expecting a promotion or whatever. tell them if this is a good experience for you that you will be coming back to buy when the promotion happens. flat out there is no other car like the mini. there's the mazdaspeed3 but that doesn't necessarily fit the same bill. when i was in sales i tried to follow the customer's vibe and if i felt they were apprehensive and ready i would lean on em a little bit but if they said it was far off maybe a few months i tried to make it memorable for them. i gave out mustang shirts and other crap so they would remember me by name and come back to buy. just be honest and they will help you out.

 

I do business with Baron and I feel comfortable saying that you will have no problem with them, they're a good bunch. It's their job to sell you a car so they will try, but I've never found them to be like a domestic store where you get turned from one sales "manager" to another till you buy something.

If you're in the market, tell them so - since you drove 200 miles to see and drive the cars, if you find something you like make a deal and drive it home! If you're not in the market yet, just tell them, they'll let you drive anything you're sincerely interested in.........

 

Come to Colorado! We'll take great care of you!!!!
I agree with other posts here... MINI Motoring Advisors are the best! Not the "vultures" I've always experienced at car dealerships!!!!

 

Remember that dealers usually can't keep Mini's on the lot, so they don't need to push for a sale.

Just relax and have fun!

 

Don't worry. I had a great test drive experience at MINI. She turned me loose in the car at about 430pm and the only requirement was to have it back by closing time which was 6pm. I just gave her my license and current insurance card and the keys to my current car in case they needed to move it and off i went!

 

After lurking here for a month and a half, I am certainly sold on the Mini. I want to get the feel of a Mini. I am also hoping to convince my wife that this is more than just a commuter vehicle I am looking at. She keeps saying it's 'just soooo small' and that it would be impossible to get my son in the back seat. I hope I can convince her this would be a fun car we can all enjoy (if I let her drive it).

 

Have fun! We test drove one in July and DH actually did the credit stuff the next week (unbeknownst to me), but when we were in the dealership it was no pressure at all. The sales guy pulled the car around for me, put the top down and handed me the key.

-Holly

 

Baron is also my dealer. I've been in a couple times in the last few months and they have no problem letting me take a car for a spin. They know that if I do buy a car, it won't be right away, and they don't make a fuss about it. Just let them know that you'll be coming in and what you want to drive and they should take care of it.

 

In my experience there was no pressure at all. Like someone else said here it is a very different experience than buying any other car. Our MA just pulled the car around, handed us the keys, pointed out a few things and said have fun! We even beeped and waved as we lapped the dealership on our 3rd time by! No worries think positive it will be a good experience !

Happy Motoring and let us know what you buy!

 

+1 for Colorado. I went to Ralph Schomp for a test drive. Super freindly, and no pressure. The salesman there told me they don't work on commission, so they just want to take care of you, not "sell you a car". I wanted to drive a R53 and a R56. He grabbed a R53, handed the keys to me and my wife, and said "have fun". I came back later, and swapped out for the R56. Drove that for 45 minutes, and that was that.

 

I test drove three cars MCS stick, MC stick, MC auto, at two different dealerships. Neither was pushy. Neither seemed to expect anything other than I bring the car back before closing. Most amazingly pleasant car-buying experience I've ever had.

 

Most MAs understand the need to build/price a car in the on-line configurator and understand that you need to look in person at the different packages, and more importantly, weigh the MC/MCS decision and the manual/auto decision, before starting to do your on-line decision-making. They also know there is no good way to make those fundamental decisions w/o a test drive. I think most folks do the test drive, then go back to the configurator to spec and re-spec their MINIs. Then they go back to the dealer to place their order. Saves time for them and works best for you. Now, some owners are eager to buy something off the lot, but a significant majority don't...they use the configurator. In light of this way of ordering MINIs, I hope you can relax, enjoy the day, and learn all you can. Informing prospective buyers is a big part of what MAs are supposed to do.

 

My experience with MINI was a good one. At least my MA was. It comes down to the fact that a LOT of people (this is often not true of other, more mainstream car brands) go into the dealership already knowing they are buying a car, but only need to spec it out with options. The cars really do sell themselves. The MA's are really just there to put in the paperwork for you.

I really doubt you'll have a bad experience.