Hi, I am flannel hippie of the notorious Swashbuckling midget cowboys, the Band streight out of Rapid City SD. I love minis and I have a question for all those less ignorant than myself.

I saw as I was designing my dream mini on thier site, that you could have a JCW package on the cooper s. Can you get this aftermarket, or does the car need to be built with it in there?

 

Welcome! You can get the JCW pkg from either the factory or the dealer. If you buy it from the factory you also get limited slip diff, and the JCW brakes. From the Dealers you can purchase the engine kit alone or with various JCW pieces. I can tell you that after labor, you probably wont save much if anything by going through the dealer. My dealer said they charged about 6k forfor the engine pkg, but from the factory you also get the brakes and lsd. My dealer in particular said thhey pretty much only do JCW now on people who find a car on the lot, but want JCW, or on automatics that you can't get JCW on from the factory.

Good luck, and remember, there is a plethora of aftermarket equipment out there to choose from as well (if you don't mind possible warranty issues).

 

I dont much care about saving money on it, because it will eventually be put in the car anyways. But, I will however be taking out a loan, and the sooner I get the loan paid off, the better.

 

If you're ordering then get it from the factory. As was pointed out you get the LSD and brakes. I took a car off the lot and had the JCW added by the dealer - it cost the same as from the factory but I didn't get the LSD and brakes.

Paul

 

One small consideration when getting the JCW kit.

Order the car with it. The car's resale value will be higher if it comes with it rather then being a dealer installed option.

 

This is true! When NADA updates it's vehicle options for 06, the factory JCW will be the only one available to on the option list.

 

*raises hand to vote for the factory JCW*

Its fantastic to have, and a better deal than at the dealership

(PLUS theres no additional waiting!)

 

If it's the performance you're after, rather than re-sale value and the JCW brand value, go aftermarket. I'd order the MCS with the LSD, then go to one of the NAM Vendors for an engine, suspension, brake upgrade. It'll be a much better return for your hard earned cash (how the 'ell much does a midget cowboy even earn lassoing calves, sheep and cats?!), you can do it piecemeal rather than have that whole payment thing hanging over your head, and you'll spend countless hours pouring over which component to get next. This is what MINI ownership is all 'bout.

 

Ah, but the JCW package is financed because it's included in the car loan...

Paul

 

Hmm, I suppose if you buy it with the JCW from the factory it will also raise the registration for the life of the car? I know that those costs vary by state but I wonder if that and the increased sales tax based on the higher cost car adds up to much. I'd also be curious if insurance is the same or more since its based on VIN? Anyone compare an MCS with added JCW vs factory with their insurance co?

Anywho, welcome 'flannel hippie of the notorious Swashbuckling midget cowboys' - great byline there What are you notorious for?

 

I spoke with GEICO my car insurance Co. We have not had any tickets or accidents in 20 years.

The difference between a JCW factory installed conversion vs after market installed (they look at it if you add things to the car that makes it run faster even JCW installed at the dealer as after market) is...

If they will insure the car, it is about 30% more for after market tweaking.

Your Company and the person you speak with may vary, but the person I spoke with (I know) and she told me that there is a good chance they would drop us if we go the after market route even with our good driving record. IMHO / Just the insurance issue could sway many to buy JCW from the factory.

I am 50+ and if I officially race or (after market) tweak my cars for more speed I would start to play havoc with my insurance policies and not just auto insurance!

I am sure you can find Companies to insure the car, but it appears there is a premium.

Just my thoughts,
Steve772

 

Odd about the aftermarket stuff and Geico - with State Farm and my last bimmer I asked them about aftermarket stuff and they said as long as I had receipts it was fine and would be covered as needed to bring the car to its same condition. I even sent them copies of receipts for my wheels, Dinan stuff, etc for my file, coverage did not increase as it was based on the VIN. Havn't done that this time as it seemed to be a waste as long as I had copies. On the other hand, when I asked about having the total value of a car (stock actually) to increase to match the market vs normal insurance total loss values that would require a higher premium.

 

That's interesting. That would seem to suggest that you would get coverage as a standard car with regular (massive) depreciation instead of market value for our cars which are holding their value if anything happened. Is that how it basically shook out to you?

 

I agree, it appears GEICO is not conducive to the concept (after market).

With my last car they wanted me to bring it to an inspection place locally, and they checked the car compared to the window sticker.

Every 6 months they ask if we have altered the car.

This might be unique to some, but to us it is normal.

Steve772

 

Go with the factory installed JCW package-no muss, no fuss, full warranty and financed through the dealership.

 

I was curious and called my insurance agent's office - its a valid concern as there are tons of pre-06 JCWs out there that I'm sure people did not think to cross check with their insurance, you provide the VIN and the rest follows. Anyway as it stands it seems that insurance is based on the VIN and then the body shop/adjusters/underwriters address the issue of the parts later. So, if the parts are evident and you have receipts for aftermarket parts or the JCW installed later or even pre-delivery (which would be on the sales contract I imagine) that would be taken into account at the time repairs or total loss would be addressed. She even mentioned how recently someone was compensated for added items to her Mustang that was stolen since she had all the receipts.

Anyway, I certainly got her curious about the whole thing As I said, I'm sure there are lots of JCWs insured out there that are not classified as such since there was no place for it in the system when it was not in the VIN, and yet when there is a claim they are suitably covered. She said she was going to look into it more Your insurance may vary of course, I'd say if you had any big mod (super expensive wheels, audio, etc) and wanted to be sure it was covered you should contact your insurance and address it specifically to be certain.

The bottom line is that I could not get any cost figures without a factory JCW VIN to inquire with and compare to a dealer installed version, so I can't be sure that the VIN reflects the JCWness of the car at all even... It would certainly bump up registration and sales tax if you have those (since you can always choose to get the kit afterwards w/o sales tax, ie I thought of having it done in Portland at one point; I'd still have warranty and perhaps could barter). I do think the factory is a great choice though, just curious over the other issues around it - sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread.

 

yeap yeap.. i got JCW from the factory and absolutely loves it.

 

Been there, done that.

If you buy the car new and have the JCW bits installed (any of the bits) at time of delivery, they are just dealer installed options ... no different than any other dealer installed options (like floor mats) for any car. Ergo ... you pay the extra sales tax because they are part of the car. Caveat Emptor ... the dealer may decided to charge you sales tax for Labour, which in my state is not legal so you got to watch carefully what is on the contract.

As to insurance, when mine renewed they added a clause saying you had to have a rider if you bought more than $600 of aftermarket parts ... INCLUDING wheels and tires. I inquired about this and ... if the parts are standard parts installed by the dealer UNDER their warranty, no worries ... Of course, for collision or something like that, the value of the car is $6 - $8K more so that cost will be higher accordingly. Ergo ... if you get other aftermarket bits, like new wheels/tires ... then they MUST go on the rider for all costs more than $600 (total) or they are NOT insured.