Finally picked up our mini. I'm editing a lot because it's bordering a rant.

On the whole I'm happy (the car does help one get over bad feelings quickly).

The so-called 'best salesman' my dealer had knew less than I did about a vehicle that I had just started to look into. I wanted it to be unique and I understand that this is what mini is all about -- choose what you want and all that.

Well, it proved all too complicated for these guys. They were unaware of parts that I easily sourced on the 'Net (all mini stock) and became overwhelmed by what I feel was a simple deal with a simple list of accessories.

In the end they presented my sales contract with one lump price that included all the dealer options with no breakdown of how it was arrived -- then couldn't show me how they came up with the figure. "Here's the price...how did we get that price? Don't know, but trust us this is the price." I've never seen anything so unprofessional when dealing with a contract and major dollars.

When I asked for a break down they said they would have to create something and get back to me. I asked how they could have arrived at the figure in the first place if they needed to create something now?? They did come back to me, twice -- with different numbers. In the end, I did up a spreadsheet showing categories of base price + dealer installed options + factory installed options, etc. it took me all of 5 minutes. I was told they would use this as a template going forward. So I gather every deal before me then must have been a base vehicle off the showroom floor or people don't mind forking over $13,000 blindly.

I was told that my mini would come with a fun bag of goodies (it should for $60+CDN). And, I would also get a mini model with my purchase, but there it was included on my bill!!!?? I had asked for no badging and no dealer plate holders and was told they would throw in some simple black holders and then charged me $93!!!!! Forget that.

The salesman had no concept of how he kept falling short and kept spinning PR crap about how he hasn’t let me down... I've edited lots here. The dealership did some good in that the salesman sold me both the factory installed CD changer and the iPod adapter saying they were compatible when I asked specifically, but took the CD changer off the bill as the two were not. But he fibbed about so many things -- always speaking with absolute authority and mostly contradicting himself -- that what I learned mostly from this experience was to insist that every conversation be put in writing. The guy was a wiggly worm who was overly high on himself.

I bought a Honda CRV that day too and the insurance girl at the mini dealership returned me a different pouch then I had handed her (unbeknownst to me until late that evening, it had all my CRV purchase contract docs in it) she trashed them and then lied about it to me.

I have to say that the service folks at the dealership are 110% and I'm very happy with the jcw install. I will be confident in my dealings with these very competent and enthusiastic people.

I was the next day trying to figure out what they had charged me for and trying to get copies of my 'lost' documents. Went for a drive in the Mini and felt better.

 

Well, despite your username, I don't think you're being at all grumpy here, GrumpyGills! What a debacle of an experience! You sure do have the right attitude: the MINI is great fun and the crappy experience will soon fade away!

Enjoy your new rides and give us a full report on the MINI! Happy New Year!


Clover

 

Thanks Clover.

We're waiting for a nice (not rainy) day to take some real pictures. So far my CRV is quite neglected

 

Who was this dealer? I want to give them a wide berth.

 

Avitor,

I'd rather my experience be used as a lesson for future mini-buyers: what to watch out for and to be prepared. The onus is on the consumer at all times. It's not my intent to stear people away from the dealer because for the most part the rest of the team was good and the service guys are GREAT. I hope that my feedback to them will inspire them to betterness, it's not meant to be punitive.

 

There is very little incentive for the average auto salesperson to become knowledgeable about his product. I worked in the car business for awhile in my younger days and the greatest salesman that I ever met was unbelievably ignorant about the cars he was selling. The customers didn't care and he exceeded his quota almost every month! MINI buyers are probably a litlle different from the average car buyer, so this salesman may do well to migrate to a different brand. I sold cars for about three years and since I am a "car guy", I knew the product. When I would try to tell a customer about the car they were considering, you could watch their eyes glaze over. The average customer wanted help on deciding on a color and assurance that they were getting your "best deal". They did not care about anything else. They would then compare your price to the prices they had written down on the stack of salesmen's budiness cards they had in their pocket. Of course they had no idea what was included in the price they had written down. Did the price include title tax? I don't know. How was the car equipped? It was red... The reason that many people get "screwed" at a dealership is because they ask for it. They want to be treated like an informed customer but are too lazy to do their homework. They are so greedy that they let a fast-talking salesman convince them that they are getting a good deal when they don't know what a good deal is. Again, this is probably less true about a MINI buyer than many others, but it is unbelievable some of the things you see and hear when you are "on the other side of the desk". Excuse the rant, but I still wake up in a cold sweat from nightmares about my days in the auto business.

 

I think that's true. You have to be an informed buyer. I went into the Mini dealer with the print out of my mini in hand and knew exactly what I wanted. The only thing they "sold" me was some floor mats