I am looking high and low all over the country for a specific color/interior/options/wheel package F60 Countryman. Cant find it anywhere.

With that said, I am considering custom designing and ordering my new Countryman.
Has anyone of this forum custom designed and taken deliver on a new mini?
Positive or negative experience?
If I custom order a Countryman can I take advantage of any factory incentives or is the price the price as built on the mini website...?
Any other feedback or insights would be super helpful.

Lastly, is there any way to do a nationwide search of Mini vehicles online? I have to believe the package I am looking for exists somewhere built already, just don't know how to search for it.
thanks

 

Lots of people here ordered their MINIs. It's one of my favorite things about the brand--you can order exactly what you want. Between me and my wife, we've ordered 3 MINIs over the years, and I"ll probably order my next one. I don't like to compromise on such a large purchase.

When we bought our most recent one, there was a $1500 rebate for using BMW financing and a $500 rebate if you're a USAA member. Their deals change all the time, so it's kind of hit or miss.

The worst part of ordering is the wait. It takes 2-3 months for it to be built and shipped across the pond.

 

+1
Only we just ordered one custom build, my co-pilot's '15 R60. I don't know if it is still available, but we tracked the build and delivery process on line, made it a bit more interesting. And, when you get it, you know that it is yours, no questions.

 

I custom built my F56 in July. Great fun and I was able to take advantage of any incentives at the time of delivery (not at the time of ordering). My MA was able to give me the tracking info and I tracked the ship with my car on it all the way from the docks in England through the Panama Canal and to LA.

 

You can ask your Motoring Advisor to do the search for you. If you are ordering one, negotiate the price before signing the paper work. Any incentives available when you pick up the car is yours and long as the agreed upon price doesn't include incentives.

 

I took delivery of my custom ordered F60 JCW back around end of October. The most painful part was the waiting. Order was placed on August 2 and I took possession on October 29 so it was almost 3 months. I was a little annoyed because they told me it should be 2 months tops due to the fact that my car was in August production. How it works is the dealer has already ordered cars several months in advance to get them in the production queue but they can edit the configs of each car up until the car actually goes into production. So when you custom order they look at a car they've already ordered and then just adjust it to match what you want. They told me the car they customized for me was due to enter production 'any day' but it took 3 weeks before it actually entered production. Then a couple weeks in production, 3 weeks to make the trip to east coast Canada, then 3 more weeks to get across the country to me. My guess is that 3 months is pretty typical for anyone on the west side of North America. It was a long wait but it was so worth it.

Apart from that, the purchasing process is just like any other car. Sales guy is nice and appears to have your best interests at heart (and I do think mine did). Then when it comes time to finalize the deal the finance manager pulls out all the tricks trying to up sell you on protection packages, extended warranties, and all that nonsense. Well, I'll admit I went for a basic protection package because I live somewhere I am guaranteed to need a new windshield every few years and the price of the package is basically the same as a windshield replacement. It drives me crazy though how the sales guys talk about how reliable their cars are and "you aren't going to have any problems" but then as soon as you walk into the finance guys office it's all "there's going to be expensive repairs and you should buy this warranty". This isn't a MINI thing, this is true to all car sales.

As for deals, I didn't get anything particularly notable. As soon as you want to custom order a lot of your bargaining power goes out the window. They are much more likely to give you a deal on a car off the lot. I did get free 3M on the bumpers, hood and roof leading edge so that was nice. And I think they threw in some all-weather floor mats. That's pretty much it though.

 

I don't know him at all but this MINI sales guy just started posting https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...id-borjas.html , he is in FL and maybe he can help you find what you are looking for.

 

If they have an allocation that has already been spec'd and are changing it for your order, make sure you follow up and get the build list for your vehicle to make sure everything was actually changed to the options you ordered.

 

Upon recommendation of someone I trust, I decided to go the route of having a car broker in California work with one of "his" dealers (a MINI dealer in Southern California) to order my custom '18 JCW last year. I spec'd the car online using the MINI configurator, saved it as a PDF and sent it to the broker. He took it to the dealer, and came back with a negotiated/discounted quote that I accepted immediately without haggling because the discount was more or less what I was hoping to get. He told me the dealer had an available allocation number coming up and they would apply it to my vehicle. All the financial transactions were through the dealer. I paid the dealer a deposit on October 2. Here is the full sequence of events:
Oct 2: Ordered
Oct 4: Production number assigned
Nov 2: Production began and VIN assigned
Nov 14: Assembly completed and Production Date recorded in vehicle
Nov 22: On a ship to California
Dec 12: Ship transited the Panama Canal
Dec 15: At VDC in Port Hueneme
Dec 19: At dealer
Dec 20: Picked up from dealer

Here are two (rather long) threads that people wanting to buy a custom MINI might be interested in:

The following thread was started originally for people awaiting delivery of custom MINIs in the "Waiter's Club":
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ters-club.html

This is an excellent series of posts about ordering/negotiating an auto:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-the-deal.html

For me, it was great having a purchasing professional work with a dealer in his "network." Everything went smoothly.

-Bob

 

 

I don't think there is such a thing as a "normal deposit"... maybe for that dealer. I provided a $500 deposit on my order.
-Bob

 

The great thing about MINI is you can order your MINI vehicle. My local dealership says it's about a 8-10 week lead time in regards to an order. There is also a Loyalty credit if you order your car from now until April 1st and take delivery of your new MINI before July 1st.

The Loyalty incentive is for small engine Coopers getting a credit of $1000 or $2000 credit off S and JCW models.

Tommy

 

I ordered my F60 JCW last year while I was deployed. Ordered over email and called in my credit card info. Couldn't have been easier. And since I had all the time in the world, I got to track it on the ship the entire way. Arrived a week before I got home, picked it up, and have been loving it ever since!!!

PS - Get it in a stick.