Me too joshknot...perfect timing!

 

I went to the Test Drive Take Down at Momentum Mini in Houston today. Even though I had signed up online, they had me sign up again at the font desk. We were given tee shirts and water a pretty friendly bunch. All the sales staff plus a traveling band of Mini reps were on hand including some pro drivers who were there to accompany us on a fling around an impromptu autocross track in the back parking lot of the dealership.

I took a pretty steady couple of laps round in a Countryman and a MCS but a couple of the pros were really ringing out laps in brand new dealer cars which, if I was thinking about buying today, I'd have not been happy about.

My assigned sales lady was busy with another client and after 30 minutes of hanging around after the laps, I left my business card for the MA and we headed out for lunch.

We did run into a couple of other people who had cars on order, due to arrive in the next few weeks and Momentum had told them their certificate was applicable to their purchase.

I am expecting my certificate in the mail and once I do I will re-post to confirm. OUr car is on order from another local dealership that has it's Test Drive next Tuesday. I am invited there too, so I might just show up there for a bit of fun and another free tee shirt ;-)

 

My car is on a ship as I type.
My M.A. Pretty much said they could honor the deal as of the day of the event. So I may need to delay picking up the car for a week.

 

You do not get your certificate from the dealer - AFAIK it arrives at your email address to print - that might mean a couple more days

 

I still cannot get a strait answer from my MA on if I can get the $750 for my car that was ordered and on the dealer lot as of last Thursday. The motoring event is a week from Tuesday so we will see.
I went and took a look at the car after it was striped. Appearantly when the mechanic did the PDI, he installed the front license plate bracket in a state where there are no front plate requirements. The dealer told me they would re-paint the bumper or give me a fancy plate. The sales manager and I will be having a major conversation about this. I am tired of the pompass *** attitude they try to project.

Here is what they did:

 

JohnnyMCS - They did that to my Genesis as well. So I got these... www.bumperplugs.com

 

Thanks MotoGreg. I am going to try to get them to switch out the nose clip first with another car. If that does not work, I am thinking of extending the sports stripes to the front and rear bumper but rounding them off to make it look more asthetic. I am not going to pay 33k for a car and then have to put plugs in where they should have not drilled!

 

Ozarkgolfer, when your certificate arrives can be you please tell us the exact language of any restrictions, please? I was planning to place an order this week, and I don't want to find out that I'm out $750 because I ordered too soon. Thanks so much.

 

Hi Shark715,

I am an MA at a souther region dealer. I am not sure about other region's time frame for the voucher, but here it is valid until July 2nd. I would recommend ordering sooner rather than later, especially if you are looking to get a Countryman, Coupe, or Roadster as those cars are taking a bit longer to arrive in many cases.

Just my $0.02, but contact your dealer soon. MINI has said there will be no exceptions for cars that take longer to arrive.

Cheers!

 

Sure thing....but I believe the words of the MA who posted just after you. You cannot order too soon. OTOH, there seems to be reasonable supply of cars on the lots right now....one of the reasons why Mini is trying to get bodies into the dealerships.

 

Where are you located? Maybe not a good idea to be too precise and fall foul of advertising rules on the site? Or PM me?

 

Here is the "restrictions" section of my email coupon. Hope you can read it....small print and all. I think you can enlarge by clicking on it.

 

Terrific. I should be able to take advantage of this! Thanks so much for taking the time to post.

 

I checked with my dealership since I just ordered my CM the first of the month. He read some info from his "FAQ" sheet that clearly stated the offer was only good for new customers, not existing ones.

Kind of makes sense since the purpose of the order is to attract new customers.

While on my local dealer's website, I was dissappointed to notice that there was a $500 of MSRP offer if customer mentions the internet special (which I didnt know about...).

 

You are a new customer - you have not purchased the car yet. It seems dealers all have their own interpretation of what the faqs are and you are going to have to work this out with your own MA.

And the $750 does not come out of the dealer's pocket. Why they would not want to work with you to get you the best deal possible should make you want to scratch your head and ask why? Is it just ignorance of the procedure?

 

Thanks for posting that - exactly the same as my certificate. The wording is very broad. Mini want us to buy their cars!

 

I'm guessing they can still claim the $750 from Mini even if you don't?? Dunno..

 

I just emailed my MA and told him that I've signed up for the event and that I am expecting that the $750 discount is applied to the invoice price and add that my agreed price over invoice is added on top of that, I'll report back on his reply.

 

Great thread. I didn't realize there was a coupon associated with the test drive event. Here I was getting anxious for my car to come sooner, and it seems I should have hoped for the opposite! I expect my car to arrive in about 2 weeks, but my dealer event isn't until May 5, and there is no other earlier event within driveable distance. I already got a discount off MSRP and the order form said "all incentives included". In case my car is delayed and I can do the test drive, do you think I'd get to use the coupon? Does the dealer get reimbursed by MINI for the $750 as some other posted have mentioned? If yes, then they shouldn't care, right?

 

The fine print on the coupon says you get $750 off your already negotiated price, so I'm assuming that means the dealer is not contributing to the discount, and the entire $750 comes from Mini. You must attend the event BEFORE taking delivery, and you must take delivery by July 2nd. I would also would assume you need to allow a few days for the coupon to arrive from Mini after you attend the event.

 

This incentive is on top of any other negotiation you have made with the dealer and has been stated can be applied on ordered or off the lot cars as long as you get the certificate before you take delivery. Some dealers either don't know or don't care to know this. As usual, buyer beware.

 

I attended the event on Saturday and got the certificate emailed to me on the Tuesday following.

 

Well, just found out my MINI is due at the port in Jersey City on the 18th. My local test drive event is May 5, and I just can't justify delaying taking delivery for more than two weeks (particularly when I'm in a rental car paid for by insurance). So looks like I will lose the $750 discount. Shoot.

 

If the car is due at the Port on the 18th the earliest it will probably arrive at the dealership is the 24th....

 

I am told that as long as you do not take delivery from your dealer before their event actually happens you can indeed use the coupon on an ordered car. This is what I plan on doing and according to the sales manager if I attend the event and complete the requirements listed on the coupon I can take delivery after the event hopefully the very same day. What's a couple more weeks after waiting anyway!