How often do these occur? There is a substantial savings in shipping costs by being a part of one of these group buys, though overall delivery time will likely take longer, depending on when one orders.

Should I wait for a group buy to be announced, or just place my order, indicating my wanting it to be part of the next group buy?

Sincerely,

-Ready For My Next Mini.

 

It is worth the wait. It was a unique experience, taking delivery of my MINI with a few other people at the same time. I was able to make a few friendships from it as well. It was also nice to look at everyone elses MINI.

I dealt with Julie, she is a great MA. Place your order and hopefully they will find people to join the group buy as well.

 

I might need to get in on one of these too. My GF is looking to get a Mini and I'm not sure if we're going 05 or 06 yet.

Heath

 

I am also looking into buying from Julie, but the shipping cost (if not shared with other buyers) almost kills off the markup I would need to pay locally in the Bay Area. Do we have enough buyers at this point?

 

MiniKJ,

That's what I was trying to find out, but no one seems to know. I think you just have to contact Classic Mini, tell them what you want to do, and they will let you know what's going on. If it's going to be awhile before there will be enough people for a group buy, you just have them put your order on hold...until there are enough, I think. I'm not sure, to be honest, and no one else seems to know either. Directly contacting the dealer, and just asking, seems the best bet. I haven't gotten around to that, because...I'm not sure what's going on with my personal financial situation right now, and I don't want to get sucked into an order that might not work out. Not that I'd expect such a thing to happen with this particular dealership, but...I'm still skittish from my last Mini dealership experience, and I'm not even 100% I want a Mini at all anymore, let alone a new one, with all the associated commitments.

Just give them a call, find out what's up, and when you do...let us know what you learn, ok? LOL :smile:

 

Group buys are initiated and organized by the buyers, not the dealers. You might check out this thread for some of the pros and cons, and the current situation:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=50075

 

Chief Charlie organized the group buy on NAM when I ordered my MINI. He arranged for the delivery at University of Santa Clara. That is where I met Kellzir, but was late so I missed everyone else. Other NAMalikes dropped by to cheer us on and JCampos roared his modified MCS around the parking lot. It would not have happened without Chief Charlie's encouragement and continuous coordination.

I was very pleased with Julie (at Classic) during the sale and delivery. Very friendly and cheerful emails as though we were buddies. She was very responsive when recommending options and, when my car arrived at Classic, she forwarded me an image of my car. That was nice. She was also kind enough to respond after I got the car and emailed my happy driving impressions and expressed more gratitude to her.

But consider the downside. Group delivery in the enclosed truck was $900. I believe we each tipped $100. And when I asked my local dealership to fix a problem I was told that options are automatically covered for parts but not for labor if installed by another dealer. I emailed Julie to learn if that was true and if her service advisor could give me any recommendations, but she did not reply. Guess we weren't really buddies

 

That's one of my concerns about buying from out of state. I can imagine they wouldn't be thrill to work on any problems with options installed by someone else. And it wouldn't be fair either although as part of the dealer network, they should take care of all customers. Other thing is, Julie mentioned the shipping cost, it's quite hefty. In fact, it goes over the markup I need to pay locally here, not to mention I still need to do smog and dmv reg. I am still open to anything, I will wait for a figure from Julie next week. If the saving in CA tax (due to no markup at Classic) and other saving from accessories plus shipping outweight the markup here, then I will probably go with Julie's offer.

 

Hmmm...that's interesting, I'd not thought of some of those issues, though they are not surprising. I had always thought that Classic Mini organized their own group buys, but I can see how there might be some risk to that. The first time I taked to them, which was awhile back, I had an opportunity to get in on a group buy that was still going on at the time. Shipping would've been something on the order of $700. I don't think any tax differences are going to be much help, but all these little things do add up, and Classic is known for good assistance, at least during the ordering process.

Of course, up until after delivery, Niello Mini in Sacramento had been pretty helpful as well! LOL

I can understand optionally installed (dealer installed) options not being warranty covered for labor. I think that's pretty standard, though not always the case...depending on what kind of product you are buying, and from whom. I've had good experiences with both Les Schwab and Big O Tires, when it comes to warranty service, with labor included, at any of their retailers. But that's tires, not cars, and Mini is known, on the whole, to be...rather lackluster in that department.

I'm still on hold when it comes to getting another Mini, so it doesn't really matter to me so much any more, at least for now.

Good luck with your purchase, MiniKJ. I hope it all goes well, no matter whom you decide to buy from. :smile: