Good morning everyone,

I had posted a few month ago that I was thinking about swapping out my 2011 Clubman JCW for a shiny new electric Mini. At the time the Clubman was our only car so the range limitation of the SE made that not really workable. Well subsequently my wife has decided she wanted her own car and just picked up a 2018 Nissan Kicks. Being a traditional, climate-hating gas powered car it can serve our needs for longer road trips. That means the SE is back on the table!

Yesterday I went down to test drive the demo SE that Seattle Mini has. I gotta say, that was a blast!! I have read other comments about the instant torque in the electric but that was something else. It is really hard to describe to someone who has not driven an electric car before but is definitely a fun experience.

So I think I am pretty much decided that I would like to get into a new Cooper SE. Mini is currently switching over to the 2023 models so the car will be a 2023. Originally I was eyeballing the Electric Collection SE due to it offering the Island Blue paint exclusively but that isn't available in 2023 since they are moving to the Resolute Edition. I got to see the Rebel Green paint that will come on that car and I gotta say I am not a fan. In Seattle we get so many overcast and generally darker days that such a dark color just fades to black and isn't exciting. I did learn from the advisor that the 2023's will be offered with Island Blue as a color option though! That means I should be able custom order a brand new 2023 with the color I want and get to pick all my options as well!

Now for some down sides.

- I was told that many of the wiring harnesses in the car are actually fabricated in Ukraine. That being the case orders are looking to be pretty delayed due to Russia being an ***. He stated that I could expect a 6 to 8 month lead time to get the car. He said they do prioritize higher spec cars so it might be sooner since I would be topping out the options but still looking at 5 to 6 months. He confirmed that the H/K stereo isn't limited any longer but the heated steering wheel is. Not a big issue for me as I likely would never use that though.

- Mini Seattle will only sell at MSRP. I can understand that since the SE is in high demand but they also put on $2000 in dealer extras that are non-negotiable! This includes the paint sealant at $599 (I would prefer to do this myself), Dealer Prep at $599 (really, isn't that included in the cost?!?), and LoJack installed at $799 (this really chaps me!). I could hold my nose and accept the paint sealant and dealer prep charges but the LoJack is just absurd to me! Not only is it being forced on me but I assume it would mean modification to the car which I really would prefer not be done. In addition, I am sure there is monthly/yearly fee for that service that they make very difficult to cancel.

Due to the above issue with Seattle Mini I also reached out to Mini of Portland to see if they could do better. I would need to explore getting it shipped up to Seattle or possibly a road trip with stops to charge along the way. Anyone have any suggestions or thoughts on this?

 

I bought my car 800 miles away and had it shipped to me. I found the car on Autotrader and the transaction was pretty easy. I never went to the dealership.

 

First, congrats on deciding to order a 2023 SE. I'm mulling over ordering a 2023 F56 S or waiting for the new, redesigned next gen model arriving in 2024. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

The dealer's force fed "add-ons" are just ways to really inflate its profit margin for the car -- already priced at MSRP. Dealer prep is their cost of doing business. Paint sealant (easily and cheaply applied yourself, btw) and Lojack are also ways to increase margins. Fabric guard and VIN etch are other tried and true, similar type gimmicks that dealers push as well, fyi.

My suggestion is that you call around, find a dealer that's not strong arming you, finalize the deal using phone and email, and buy the car from them. I bought my current F 56 from a Mini dealer 500 miles away in Pittsburgh, flew there, and drove it home. You could do the same with some planning. Portland and Seattle seem like they're only a charging stop or two apart. Shipping is a good option also, and would permit you to greatly expand your search. A few years back I priced shipping my F56 from Chicago to Portland OR. My lowest quote was $1,000. Dealers have car hauling connections and could probably help out too.

Good luck and Happy Motoring.

 

Thanks for the input/comments. I totally agree on the paint sealant and dealer prep things but, like i said, would hold my nose. Where I run out of breathe is them actually modifying the car for their own profit margin. Not cool.

Portland would be the farthest I would want to go and drive it back. Concern would really be around charging the thing for the first time while effectively on a road trip. I could just see Murphy come knocking and I get stuck somewhere because I couldn't figure out charging it. Shipping is definitely doable. I actually bought a Honda S2000 down in SoCal several years ago and had it shipped up and that was super easy. Since I am not in a huge rush I am going to see what the Portland folks say and also give Seattle a chance to pull their heads out of their backsides before looking farther afield.

Hopefully I will be electric-motoring along by the end of summer.

 

If you can get MSRP that’s actually a deal. A few months ago in California you couldn’t get a 2022 without an “addendum” of thousands in markup that doesn’t even get you something like paint sealant.

My original order was facing interminable delays, so I eventually flew from San Francisco to Los Angeles and drove 400mi back with an overnight stop. That was certainly an exciting way to get to know the car.

 

Yeah, I am starting to realize that. I actually posted on my local Mini owners group FB page and am seeing similar responses. Then the dealership manager commented on the post reflecting the same. One thing the salesman did say is if I wanted to skip the LoJack they could offer another product of similar value for me to purchase. Since I plan to finance something like GAP insurance might be a good option.

I have an appointment to go in on Thursday and hopefully work up the order and get in line. Based on what they have told me the lead time is still going to be quite long. Since I am ordering a top spec car they might put me closer to the front of the list since they make more off me based on that but still expecting a 5-6 month wait.

 

Why would you need LoJack? You can track the car’s position in the MINI app. This does need to be enabled in the car, and a thief could disable it, but only if they know to go deep into the settings.

 

Everyone has different tolerances for car deals. For a highly sought after model I'd pay MSRP and hold my nose when I pay a dealer's document fee (varies from state to state). Where I live average is Doc fee is $699 and that is pure dealer "in their pocket" profit. But all the inflated add-on's are a no go for me. That is outright thievery IMO Hanging their hat on selling a car at MSRP and then inflating that price by $2K is an insult to my intelligence. That being said, everyone has their idea of a good deal, so if the dealer is happy with the deal and you are happy with the deal, then it's a good deal, and don't worry about what others say.. Just don't broadcast the deal as you generally won't be pleased with others opinions.

 

Have them just lay the lojack on the floor in its unopened original packaging and then sell it to recover a few of those bucks.

 

Thanks for the replies all. I did hear back from Mini of Portland yesterday. Their pricing is a little better but not by that much. They are charging MSRP as well but with only $995 of add-ons instead of the $2000 Seattle is charging. They estimated shipping of the car would be around $300 so the total would be around $1300 on top of MSRP. While that does constitute a significant savings there is also something to be said for the simplified logistics of working with a local dealer.

I have an appointment to sit down with salesman at Seattle MINI today after work and see about placing an order. We shall see...

All of this is really sort of a preamble to the fun of waiting for an allocation and then waiting for the build to start and finish.

Oh, and then there is the waiting for the car to make it to the port of export and the waiting for it to be assigned to a ship.

Then the real fun part of waiting for the ship to make it over to the US (assume it would come into Hueneme after going through the Panama Canal) followed by the waiting for it to clear customs.

Then the final fun of waiting for it to be assigned a trucking company and be routed to the dealer.

Did I mention there will be a lot of waiting...?

 

Well, I have placed my order! Of course no allocation number available at this time but I have joined the queue. Here is the specs of what I ordered:

2023 Cooper SE Iconic

Island Blue with white roof and mirror caps

Lounge leather interior

Piano black trim

Electric spoke wheels

All options except roof rails

These didn't appear in the online configurator but they were able to add:
Delete moonroof
Add black belt line trim in place of chrome

https://www.miniusa.com/build-your-o...o51hgb/summary

 

Very cool, you're going to love it.

If you want to hang out with the rest of the SE owners, we're on this forum: https://www.insideevsforum.com/commu...-cooper-se.81/

 

Thanks! Looks like a pretty active board.

One question for you (and everyone else). Has anyone attempted to activate the variable light distribution system on the SE? It looks like it should have all the hardware to do it and I did see the VO code to decode it on the order sheet. I would assume it might be as simple as modifying the VO to drop the "Variable Light Decoding" option and coding the car. I would love to have that functionality again. When I had my 2016 M3 I activated the system and it was amazing!

 

Small update.

I just sold my Clubman in anticipation of the SE arriving soon! I am hoping I will take delivery in the next week or so. :D

Also, in case anyone finds this and asks, it looks like the US headlights are different than the EU headlights and lack the hardware required to enable the matrix lighting functions. That means the VO code change would not work on the new SE. :(

 

Super nice build!

 

LoJack is a joke.
They dont even try to hide it.
Bought an Infiniti back in 2010. Had LoJack. Told the dealer I dont want it take it out. The LoJack guy comes out, pretends to be secretive, parking the car out of sight.
All he did was pop off the drivers kick panel, and remove it!! That was supposed to be hidden in the frame or somewhere.
Lo Joke