So I have a few questions on those of you that have your cooper on order.

1. How much did you pay? I have been told they can not move on MSRP because it is a custom order.

2. How long does it take to get a new cooper in?

3. When is the time to negotiate? I was told that all the financing takes place when the car comes in, so should you negotiate price on ordering or once the car gets in?

Thanks for any input.

 

1) $500 off MSRP, back in 4/12, on a custom order. Not being able to move MSRP is not true, its entirely up to the dealer. My dealership is a no-negotiate dealership though and do $500 off MSRP on all cars period. Others have gotten some off. More likely if there is competition in the area, even on an order.

2) Still waiting (see sig). 8-10 weeks seems rather normal, occasionally we've seen folks on the forum get them as fast as 5-6, but that's rare.

3) You'll probably be required to place a deposit and sign off on some pricing to place your order. Again, this'll vary by the dealer and what they allow and are comfortable with. Negotiate up front as much as you can. My dealership locked me in on financing rate when I placed the order, which worked out to my advantage, the default rate has gone up since.

 

Thanks for the reply. I am in orlando and we have only one dealer here, so not much dealer competition. I was thinking of trying for them to pay tax / tag / title but from the MA I spoke to, he didn't seem to want to budge. My dealer wants $1,000 refundable deposit which I don't mind.

Still debating on getting one...leaning to ordering it for arrival on my b-day. Looking to trade up from my 07 scion tc which is in great condition and a fun car to drive. Hoping the cooper will fulfill that and more.

 

How close are the nearest non-Orlando dealers? Most cities only have a single Mini dealer, but, could have a few within a couple hundred miles of them (I have three dealers available to me really, one 100 miles away, one 150 miles away, one 175 miles away, all in different directions). Call some of those up and ask if they are willing to do anything off MSRP. If they are, taking that back to your Orlando dealer to see if they will match it. If not... well, a couple hours isn't too bad to drive if its one way in an old car and one way in the new one Don't forget trade in pricing as well, that tends to vary a lot by dealer.

 

Good suggestion. I actually have two more dealers within 100 miles. Going to be taking a trip down there early July for a weekend getaway. Maybe a good time to hit up those dealers in person. The only thing I was wondering about was the service programs but those should be good no matter where I get the car and get it serviced.

KBB trade in value is $6,500 on my scion but CarMax sells them for $11,000. I was actually going to see about selling the car separately either to another dealer or privately.

 

Yup, any MINI dealer should take it for service when its time. My dealer is the 100 mile away one, and actually told me that not only could I bring it to any MINI service place, but that they'd send someone to my house, pick up my car and give me a loaner for the day, bring my car back to them and do routine service, and then deliver it back, all free.

Selling yourself on the side definitely the way to go if you have the patience for it =)

 

That is an awesome service....will need to check with mine to see if they do the same.

The way I figure, I have 8-10 weeks to sell it!

 

1. I paid MSRP, but I got free tint and no dealer add-ons (which can be $700 - $1200). So, I feel good about it.

2. 10 days wait for me. I was going to place an order. When my MA saw what I wanted, she suggested an incoming inventory vehicle. The only thing I didn't get that I had on my original want list is the adaptive LED headlights.

3. We negotiated during the time of the order. They also gave me the trade-in value at that time. I could have gone to Carmax for a possible better trade-in, but I didn't do that. The trade-in would have changed if I significantly added to mileage or any happened. Since it was only a 10 day wait, and I wasn't really driving my "boring" VW Fahrenheit that much... nothing changed

 

Thanks jmeryllman for the reply. When I went to inquire about one, they tried to push me towards a inventory model.

I am looking to get white silver with the fully loaded package, wired upgrade, john cooper works interior, dynamic suspension, etc. Basically everything but the auto parking (it is a mini with a rearview camera and backup sensors, do you really need it to park itself?). Plus if I am going to pay $37,000 for a custom car, it will have everything my heart desires.

 

There has been some discussion about the 2015 models. I don't think anyone knows for sure, but it sounds like any MINI built after 7/1/2014 will be a 2015 model and the 2015's will have a higher price and additional features that will also raise the price.

There are a couple of threads out there.

 

Hmmm.....that is interesting. I would be ordering after July 1st so I wonder what the additional features may be? I was thinking about waiting for the JCW model , but I am already pushing what I wanted to spend. For me, it would be hard to justify getting a JCW vs a BMW 2 series.

 

Went to two dealers in the Houston area (there are three). Both said MSRP. When it came time to sign off on the build details (right before it went to production) there was $600 difference (higher) than the spec sheet I originally gave my MA. The configurator also showed the extra $600 at that time. When questioned about it, they discounted that $600. It is a very loaded car at $33,645 before TTL.

I placed the order on 4/21. Car built on 5/23. On a boat on 5/27 (best I can tell). Boat is still on the water. I think I may have it by the end of June.

 

Car dealers work on volume and there are price breaks for them the more they sell. They normally have some sort of floor plan - meaning they don't have to pay on delivery but months later. Also there are lots of incentive plans for them - for instance if you order 40 cars you will get 4 free and much much more that the average buyer does not know about. Design and tooling up the factories is where the cost is. I bet these car cost less than $1000 each once they are cranking them out on the line.
So to get a great price you need to know when the dealer has to pay back his money to MINI. They will discount at that point rather than having cars they own sitting on their lots. Also if they are at a volume threshold point they will discount to go past (they might get 3 free cars etc...)
It is always worth deciding on your car then phoning around . I got $2k off mine but that was because 3 dealers wanted my business.
Get on that Phone!
Greg

 

You are so off base here...

There may be incentive thresholds, and you could equate the value to in terms of an average price of a car, but no, they don't get free cars.

Was there a trade involved or a straight up purchase? If there's a trade, no one but the dealer knows what you got off on the new car.

About the only thing I agree with is there is room to negotiate but one must shop around to increase odds finding a discount.

 

Cars built after 7/1/2014 indeed will be 2015.

 

Forgot about the 2015 change over... here's a thread on that: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ring-file.html

You'd almost definitely be getting a 2015. If you're going all out, there may not be any changes in your pricing, besides the base price increase. Most of the changes are for package combination, some options are now linked to others that weren't before. At the price point you mentioned, unlikely to be an issue for you, but read through to see. JCW body kit is in November I think I read? Not sure when the actual JCW tuning will be out.

 

AA. Not sure of your background. Are you a Mini Dealer?
I ran a car dealership for 6 years.
I worked as an assist designer for an Italian industrial designer specializing in cars in the 70's.
No trade paid cash.
What I would ask you is. how much do people pay for PDI? I have read people here stating that the whole process took 1 1/2 hours.
Also when you are tooled up you are only paying for the labour and the materials. How much do you think the sheet metal in a hood that sells for $500 costs? Not much when your factory is making it. Right?

 

Hi Sepp,Is your dealer in albany?

 

Nope, that was my third choice, I went with the Rochester dealer. Its about 30 minutes closer for me. Buffalo would've been my next choice, as its surprisingly closer to Syracuse than Albany is =)

But they're all in range!