Hi,

I got a bit screwed by the dealership that I was working with. They insist on a dealer markup on a 06 JCW ordered to my spec when initally they did not. Im walking away from them, but really want to place my order and get my car. Im in the Bay Area and teh only dealership that is stright up about price is quoting me 9 months for delivery. I dont really want to wait that long. I saw some posts about out of state purchasing, but that sounds scary...

What should I do? I simply want my mini!

 

I would call South Bay and Long Beach. Both are in state and sell at MSRP with no mark-up.

 

try LBmini or SBmini. They don't charge above msrp. I think brechts? in sd sells at msrp also. Find one of them I'm sure they would love to help you!

 

I'm in L.A., and had an order with South Bay. They're good people, but I changed to Mini of the Hamptons (in NY), as I got a discount off MSRP and earlier delivery date! Should be coming in a little over a month from now, vs. 3 months for South Bay...

Search around, there's a few threads talking about buying out of state...

 

If all else fails, out-of-state ordering can be painless. I had the same qualms, but my transaction with Classic in Ohio was trouble-free.
Even a caveman could do it!


ooo...sorry guys

 

Lots of car dealerships out there. In addition to the ones mentioned above, there's Murray in Utah, Classic in Ohio, MOTH, etc that would be happy to take your money.
Unfortunately for us, there are too many people here with too much money (or at least are willing to pay for the convenience of local/fast.) Basic supply and demand. You can get around it, but it takes additional time and effort and/or money. If you want to save some money, you can get a plane ticket and a road trip, or pay a little more ($500 at MOTH) and have it delivered.

If you want the car you want at the price you want at the time you want from the place you want, you'll be disappointed.

FWIW, neither MINI of Mt View or SF have ever been shy about their dealer markup.

 

Hi there,

I called around to neighboring states and was able to order immediatly to my specs. Dealer markup is BS, if you're willing to drive (and who could ask for anything better than flying to wherever and driving back your brand new MINI!) it's worth it. And I had no problems with the dealership and paperwork or money. It was all smooth. Most MINI dealerships are used to getting calls from out of state. I would warn you though, Las Vegas MINI will charge you a $1000 out of state fee, don't do it!

Good luck!

 

Classic has GREAT customer service- call Mike Kost.....
and MINI of the Hamptons has cheap shipping...

From what I hear both have fast turn around times.

good luck!

 

Thanks everyone, you are the best. I have emails out to a bunch of dealerships...hoping I can work a deal with someone...

Im happy to fly and drive home...happy to be creative...just worried about Buying out of state. All minis are teh same, there should be no issues with california registration right?

 

I recommend Debbie at Mini of Murray in Salt Lake City - She was great to deal with.... Good luck

 

You might want to call SouthBay MINI to see if they still have that CR/B JCW on the lot. I saw it like a couple of weeks ago.

 

is that you'll have to get a smog and take it to the DMV for inspection and registration, and the first year reg is sales tax, so you won't be able to roll that into financing.

I did Mini of Murray in Sept or Oct of 02. Was back in bed 17 hours after I was picked up at the airport in my very own car!

Worked out great, and screw the $2500 mark up and long waits at Mini of Mountain View! But they still get it....

Matt

 

Can I ask which Bay Area dealer you went to? I currently have an order at Concord and I know up front they charge a mark up. But thats wrong of the dealer to tell you they didnt and then change their mind.

 

Don't be scared of an out of state purchase. I bought mine from Julie at Classic in OH. Great experience. No hassles at all with CA registration. Had one back and forth of documention with Julie via FedEx. I probably spent less time getting it smogged and inspected at DMV (~2 hours) than I would have going through all the elaborate sales rituals at a dealer.

I think I had the car less than 8 weeks after ordering, delivered to my door. At the time Classic was offering a discount off MSRP that just about covered shipping. Another bonus was being able to avoid sales tax on accessories. I saved about $400 right there.

 

I've seen ads in the SF Chronicle. SF MINI has (had -- I haven't checked recently) a *demo* JCW for sale...

I wouldn't ever buy a demo, but if you want a JCW and want it now....

Sincerely,

RockC.

 

I went with MINI of the Hamptons, ordered February 17th it is in production now will be done on the March 7th they ship it out here to you for $500.00 but you can work a deal maybe get free shipping talk to Jerry Halloran tell him Sandie sent you. no mark up

 

Don't pay markup! Just keep looking.

Matt

 

After just, again, seeing a ton of used Minis on Craigslist (esp in NorCal and SoCal - you have to click through the cities) I thought that I'd suggest another approach. There are quite a few low mileage 05s and even 06s out there that you could buy and have a dealer add on the JCW. You never know, you might find the perfect car for you, save a bunch over new (and it can be done with the used - advertised asking price aside) and you will still have a warrantied JCW MCS. Not only would you save on the purchase price but the reduced price would save you on taxes and subsequent registration - also adding the JCW on means your reg won't be based on that higher cost too.

Anyway, just an idea. Last year we ordered from South Bay at MSRP w/no funny fees and free mats incl, turnaround was not long (taking into consideration the shipping time to the west coast), got next to free tickets to Burbank and they picked us up in a 7 series at the airport. Picked up the car in short order and we were out on a lovely drive back to SF in no time

 

would rather not say, even though Im very upset with the decission. The people who were helping me were on my side, owner wouldnt budge...

 

Thats what I was thinking. The socal dealerships seem to want to play ball..southwest to get the mini, get the breakin done on I5, sweet.


thanks everyone.. I have my feelers out there, but nothing set. :(

 

|I concur with Sandie,my Mini was purchased from Mini of the Hamptons and Jerry was the salesman.Problem free in dealing with him,hope he reads this forum.Q

 

I ordered from Mike Kost of Classic mini in Ohio.
Be aware that they charge $125.00 title and doc fee over MSRP.
They are up front about it but not up front about the fact that they title the car in Ohio. It cost me another title and transfer fee to title it in Oregon.
Also I used thier lending bank (Ohio Savings Bank) to finance it as they were at 5.2% my credit union quoted 5.5%. When It came down to signing papers the interest was 6.01%!
Seems they have daily interest rates and that wasn't disclosed to me until I showed up to pick up the car.
I wound up refinancing with my credit union when I returned to Oregon which turned out to be a hassle getting the title release from Ohio savings.
Long story short.
Get a final quote in writing.
If financing through the dealer get all the finance charges including daily interest if any.
As far as Classic Mini goes If you are flying to Cleveland be aware that you will have to take a train to downtown Cleveland from the airport and then a $50.00 taxi from the train depot to Classic in Mentor. You would think that they would have offered to pick me up but was told no pick up available.
The dealer transaction was fast and Mike was very courteous. He let me make several changes to the oreder and called me when the car was in the states.
Classic if you are reading this. When you quote a finance charge quote all of it and find a way to pick your out-of-state customers up at the airport or at the train station at the very least!
Would I recommend Classic Mini? No.

 

It's worth making the time to do at least part of the drive back by the coast if the weather is good - we did that and it was really nice. Stopped and had lunch then found some cool windy road along the way, then at some point came back via 101 as I recall (having the nav was sooo handy right off). I5 is the fasted tho, just not the prettiest.

Best of luck!

 

Once upon a time there was a dealership ratings section on NAM/MCO that helped people avoid wasting huge amounts of time and money. People shared their experiences with each dealership (good and bad), and you were able to have a much better feeling that you knew what was in store for you at Dealership X. Then the site software changed, a few more MINI dealerships signed on as NAM-supporting vendors, and now people like you are getting blindsided all over again. NAM is pretty good at helping people recover from situations like yours, but I wish it hadn't shed its ability to prevent your situation in the first place.

 

Or have DINAN install their "JCW" kit - save money and keep the warranty.

T