I test drove a mini cooper at Mini Edmonton last weekend and loved it. I sat down to price one out with the salesperson and was very disappointed with the extra charges. I was just wondering if I am getting ripped off here? Even with the classic and no options I was rolling out the door at $28k, and sorry to say but it is not 28K worth of car.

Cooper classic-$22,800
convenience package-$600

Dealer Charges:

anti theft $270
Freight/PDI $1900
admin $400
AC and tire tax $116
Base tire and rim coverage: $800

total price including GST: $28 221

That is nearly 30K out the door on the base model! On top of that financing rates are not exactly attractive at 6.9%. What kind of markups did you guys get on your mini's?

 

Wow....$1900 for Frt and PDI is somewhat inflated and are you saying you are receiving NO discount for the Mini ??? I would recommend that you visit another Mini dealership or find a "car broker"

The 6.9% interest rate IS ridiculous and we as Canadians are already paying an overly inflated price for vehicles....but you're in Alberta and are lucky to pay only 1 tax....in Ontario, we have both PST and GST = 13%

Good luck with your search.....but BMW does not seem to want to discount their cars like Audi or Toyota for example. My wife is looking at the new M3 and there is a $14,000 price difference .....guess I'll wait a little longer and if the warranty is valid in Canada, I be importing one from the US

 

Yep
BMW Canada wants you to bend over, smile and feel grateful.

 

I wouldn't go for the "antitheft". All they do is etch your VIN in the glass of each window with a $30 etching kit. Not required IMO.

Seems that Freight/PDI has gone up a little bit. I think my freight was $1600 (MINI's can't swim ), can't recall the PDI offhand.

AC and tire tax are a government grab, can't get around that one.

The base tire and rim coverage is, IIRC, an optional insurance in case you blow out a tire or bend a rim.

 

make a list of what you want on the car....

Call each dealer in an increasing radius from where you live to find...

1) If they have what you want on the lot.
2) To see if they are asking rediculous mark ups or forcing options.
3) What delivery time is for a factory order.

And then check to see what it costs for a one way trip when it's time to pick up your car.

Don't put up with options you don't want, or mark ups at all.

Matt

 

I bought my Mini in 2007 right before the R56 came out. Originally I was dealing with Mini Edmonton but getting no where because of their added charges and refusal to budge on some extras that I wanted. Their mistake because they have competition just next door in Calgary. Disgrunteled by the whole thing I walked in to MINI CROWFOOT and left the details of what I wanted with the salesman. The very next day I recieved a call saying that it was accepted. Prices on freight etc. were cheaper and their were no hidden fees. On top of that all the salesman really know their stuff about the cars and are very helpful. It really is like night and day which is a shame. My mother also ended up getting a Mini and I told her to go with the salesman that I had in Calgary but she decided to try Edmonton. SHe came back saying that they weren't helpful at all and didn't even try to sell her the car. Eventually she listened to my advice and is very pleased in her peper white R52 from MINI CROWFOOT.

 

It is a little discouraging that a car that starts out at $22,800 should end up over $28K, but this is not out of line with what I paid for a Cooper Classic back in '04. The freight/PDI is about $100 more than when I bought. The anti-theft and wheel/tire insurance I would recommend declining, for savings of over $1K, and the eco auto rebate is good for another $1K back. I received no discount, but did manage to include a set of winter mats, and $300 value in accessories of my choice. And I also purchased at Crowfoot, as the Edmonton dealership did not yet exist.
As for value, I have been very satisfied with the Cooper Classic. These cars do not compare in any way to a Yaris, Fit, Versa, etc. - they are miles ahead, particularly in handling, driving position and steering feel. The best handling front drive car there is!

 

thanks for all the replies guys. I sat down and thought long and hard about this car, and my final thoughts were that it was not worth the premium in price. I didn't really like the feel of the gearbox, and although it handled well the ergonomics felt really wrong for spirited driving with the upright position and seat style. I really loved the body styling though, hands down the best looking compact I looked at. I ended up buying a leftover 07 miata for 27k out the door. Thanks again for all your help and I will definately give mini owners a wave when I'm driving my miata

 

Another loss for BMW Canada. Hopefully they will follow suit with the others and lower their Canadian MSRPs.

 

from the true costs of the car. Here in the US the dollar has dropped by about a third, and the purchase price has hardly changed! MINI/BMW is taking it in the shorts!

Matt

 

probably they had so much margin to begin with that they can absorb the dollar offset and still make a decent profit.

 

if they were to raise the prices by the amount the dollar changed, they'd never sell a car. Lots of companies are getting squeezed by this. If a base cooper sold for $32k, and the JCW for almost $50k people would just look elsewhere. They burry profits and losses and do some averaging over the world-side sales totals. This is one of the reasons that Clubmans weren't destined for the US in the numbers originally thought, and also why I was shocked that they selected Austria for building the SUV of whatever it's called, when it's targeted for the US market. Should have built in in Spartenberg....

Just look at the pricing of the cars here and in Germany. The numbers are pretty close, no where near the excange rate weighted differences.

Matt

 

Well, the similarly equipped Mini in Canada sells for quite a lot more than in the USA.. about 7k for my desired configuration... so I guess in Canada we're pretty much at the point you're talking about right there.