For anyone out there that has already picked up their car, what sort of pressure did anyone get at the dealership to get various warranties, add ons, improvements? Anything more we should expect to be bled of, once we go to pick up the car?

Did anyone get anything for free, full tank, car cover, beating the interest rate you already have in hand? If you got something good, help your Mini brothers and sisters out. Specifically with the 2014 F56 Hardtops, as they are not offering much in the way of incentives on these.

I'm hearing rumbles of discontent, but I'd like more detail. We don't like feeling ambushed, so it would be nice to be prepared.

 

I think it will be a different experience at each dealership. As far as the 'push' to buy warranties and other stuff, I think it just depends on how tenacious the F & I guy (gal) is. I didn't even encounter an F & I person in my transaction.

To start off, my dealership does not have commissioned sales people. They are salaried employees. They have 'no bicker' pricing. My car was discounted about $300.00 from msrp. The price was posted on the windshield and it was a 'take-it or leave-it' price. In turn, they were very generous in their evaluation of my trade it.

After owning the car for a few months I did get an interesting packet from MINI USA with several trinkets, some worth while and most not.

It ended up being the most pleasant new car buying experience I ever had.

 

No pressure to buy any extended warranties, nitrogen, paint treatments, etc.

I supplied all the forms for credit union financing, but they would have preferred to work with a CU or bank they already had a relationship with. They said that they could have gotten the same or a lower APR, but no pressure.

 

Any pressure you get or don't get is all going to be a factor of the dealer, and not the result of any generic Mini experience.

Having said that, when I picked up my first Mini in 2008, I got zero pressure for any additional add ons. They told me what they were, I answered yes or no (I remember all no), and they moved on. If I recall correctly, the car came with a full tank, which was good because I had 120 mile drive home having bought from the dealer who gave me $500 off MSRP vs the $2500 over MSRP the local dealer was asking and getting.

The local dealer management has changed, and the 2015 is being purchased from them (got a great deal) and I totally expect zero pressure at car pickup.

I think I saw in another post mention of a third party extended warranty, so make sure there is no exclusion or poor coverage of turbos. While I'm not a big fan of extended warranties in general, the concern of expensive repair expenses on my 2009 MCS (which was coming up on six years in Oct 2014) a significant reason I had been looking at possible car purchases for the past year. In thirty eight years of buying cars, I've only bought an extended warranty twice. Once on a used car bought from Hertz for my son (his first car) because while Hertz does a good job maintaining their cars, I know how rental drivers drive. And the second time on my wife's 2007 Honda Odyssey van bought in Dec 2006 -- I found an out of state dealer who sold Honda Care 8 year coverage or 120000 miles with a $0 deductible and free car rental for any covered repair for $1240 -- that was a pretty easy piece of mind coverage for $248 a year (to me the warranty was really five extra years).

The dealer may also offer you a tire warranty. I don't know if Carson City is too far from you, but you can get a road hazard policy from them (which I believe includes free lifetime balancing and tire rotation) for probably between $80 to $120. You have to drive there so they can inspect the tires. I found this out when I got an unrepairable (in the sidewall) nail in my 2009 in the first month of ownership. I bought the warranty on the remaining new tires and the new replacement warranty, and they cut me a deal on the replacement tire (gave me a credit for half the warranty price against the new tire). Discount Tire will be one of my first stop on the way home when I pick up my 2015.

Finally, you should try to hook up with this group in September when they are in Tahoe area -- you could go on some of the runs. http://www.clubscmm.com/board/index.php?topic=9896.0

 

Picking up for me was pretty easy. All the hard work was done when I ordered my MCS. We have agreed on the price and trade-in. Basically I just picked up the car when it arrived at the dealership. I paid MSRP, but got free tint and no dealer-add ons. I said no to all the different warrantees and packages. There was no pressure for me to get anything extra. Hope this helps.

 

All of your replies were fantastic! It's a huge relief to know, that in general, your experiences were positive.

I had read some general grumbling on other posts about pressure to buy many types of warranties, but it sounds like they offer, and leave it at that. THAT I can deal with.

It did seem like the estimate they give when you build the car, is the price...no real bickering. We were surprised, because they don't really say that...it would have been easier to know that ahead of time.

Our CU said they could get a better deal, but the guy really didn't, we would have had to drive to another dealership 200 miles away to get it. So our closer dealership said, "what would make you happy?" We said "$750 off", he said, 'okay.' They added another feature we didn't ask for, so they are throwing that in for free. I just saw they also added fog lights, which is not on our signed agreement, and they said they won't charge us for that either.

I'm just glad to know that we won't be surprised when we go in, because to this point, it's been pretty easy. This is our MA's first sale, so she's getting a lot of help from the manager, but they've both been easier to deal with.

Thank you all, for sharing.

aafflyer we will definitely do that in Sept! We're looking at joining up with the Sierra Nevada Mini "Gang"/group, have you contacted them to meet up with them? http://www.snmc.us/Index.html Thanks!

 

I think that it really depends all on the specific person you work with. We were a little uncomfortable because they asked us 3 times if we wanted any of the extra addons and things. I mean it did not ruin my experience with getting the car it was just a little awkward while my husband had to repeatly tell them no each time they asked.

I also got some swag from MINI USA in the mail which was awesome. Who does not like free stuff!

 

Anyone know what the going price for the maintenance upgrade is (6 yrs/100,000 miles)? If you live near a dealer, is it worth it?

 

What kind of swag?!? I'm interested!!! Got an F56 almost two months ago and haven't seen anything in the mail from MINI other than the bill :(

 

I signed up for automatic payment/billing on MINI USA and got the following things in the mail:

A MINI pen
A MINI notebook with the bulldog on it
A MINI bag with the bulldog on it
A MINI bracklet thing
A MINI car that is actually a USB drive

AND some other stuff I cannot remember. It was cool though.

 

You're smarter that I am...I hadn't realized that was anything other than a toy car until I saw your post. *sigh*

 

No "pressure" to do anthing but finance it through Mini (I didn't, used home equity line of credit at less than 3% net). No pens, T shirts. I'd bought from the same MA in 2007. He knew I wan't stupid enough to bite on the extended warranty ripoff lol. What I love is the "tire insurance" whatever the hell that is. He didn't bother to even mention that one.

 

yep, extended warranties don't make sense. You're betting against the manufacturer of the car that it will need more in repairs than the cost of the warranty. Obviously they are pretty smart people and make sure that more often than not it will benefit them.

tire insurance, wheel insurance, glass coatings, never-wax paint coatings, Scotchguard interior coatings... crazy all the crap they try to push on you.

As soon as i sit down i say "no, i'm not buying anything extra. don't waste your breath"

 

The Finance guy went through all the extended warranty stuff with me. They were all pretty pricey. One package, it may have been the extension to 6 yr, 100,000 mi, was $4000+. Seems like the cheapest was ~$1300 for lifetime brakes. He showed me where one brake change could be that much. I turned it all down. There is some amount of work that I do on my cars. Not the major stuff, but I can do brakes. Not really a hard sell, but he asked to confirm a couple of times. I am hoping that this is a well built and reliable car. If not, I will get rid of it before it bleeds me dry. I firmly believe that some of the issues we bring on ourselves by how we drive and maintain the vehicles. Realizing that this car is meant to be DRIVEN, hopefully it is built to hold up. I plan to keep it serviced well.

 

Brakes on my R56 at dealer were about $550 fronts and same for rears. The thing I hated about the warranty pitch was when we bought my wife's 2005 Mazda 3 they cut the price of the warranty in HALF by the time I was walking out the door lol.

 

Holy smokes, $4k would be a lot of standard maintenance. I'm a pretty gentle driver. Brakes done once in 97k miles on my current daily driver. As they say in the musical "Oliver," I think I better think this out again.

 

Does anybody know what's the different between a Mini dealer's tire and wheel protection vs. Costco's road hazard plus lifetime balancing/rotation program? Does it mean the rim is covered? The quote from my dealer is about the same as installing a set of run flat tires with labor/tax included at Costco. Why should I buy the protection plan when I can simply buy another new set from Costco? Maybe the dealer is leaving some room for negotiation or maybe I am missing something here. The tire I refer to is Bridgestone Potenza RE050A RFT MOE/II 205/45R17 84W item#142554 run flat.

Also received quotes for extended warranty and extended maintenance. Since I don't have all the details such as deductible/exclusion/inclusion, I won't discuss the dollar amount here but you are welcome to PM me so we can exchange some info.

 

See? Extended warranties are a very personal decision and choice. I've done my homework, found my Credit Union warranty substantially cheaper and better. We bought one on our 95 Dodge Van, and we USED that puppy. Two transmissions, no cost; leaking windshield flooded van (didn't know), then it got warm and our carpet grew fur. They replaced the windshield seal, all the carpet, and decontaminated the vents. Two fuel sensors, bla bla bla, on and on. It paid for itself. I'd just write a list of problems, take it in, and give them my novel of repairs. They didn't like me, but I used it on everything that was reasonably their responsibility. I didn't nickle and dime them, but I paid for the insurance, I used it...they can't cancel it.

I'm just gun shy, since I know of a few people that seem to have had some problems with previous years, and they were in the shop for a long time. This is a commuter car, we'll need a rental if it's going to sit in the shop for weeks, because they don't have enough 2014 parts on hand yet.

Tires and breaks are wear and tear, I expect them to have an expected life span. A brand new engine, though, that I expect to last awhile. For the cost of my CU extended warranty, I think I'll by my own Mini pen and USB drive, it's nice but not a couple thousand dollars nice.

 

What is this extended warranty through your credit union that you speak of? I have never heard of purchasing an extended warranty through the bank it's financed through but am definitely interested in knowing more information related to that.

I am in the same boat as to where I am unsure of it being beneficial to buy the extended warranties through the dealer. I know you can buy them before the factory warranty expires but I would like to really explore my options and know the cost ahead of time so I am prepared once delivery day comes. Any advice or info is greatly appreciated. :-)

 

From a R56 link, posted in Jan. 2012 in MA,

Mini Cooper S 2012:
Extended Warranty for 5/100K $2195
6/100K Maintenance for $1695.

Wheel and Tire protection plan $995, ... hit pot holes the wheel and tires are all protected, they also claim that they will do alignment if the pothole was the cause of misalignment.

 

This thread deviated from the initial post...which was what to expect when picking the car up from the dealer.

HOWEVER, the extended warranty debate has merit, and I started another thread in regards to that, and what we chose.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post3955391

 

Thank you for the information! :-)

 

Sorry about going off topic. I will head over to the link you provided.

 

mikeymike1985, don't worry about it. I started going off topic first! haha I'm glad it opened up more avenues to share ideas. That's the only way we can be happy with what we got, by not belatedly seeing a good deal or idea somewhere else.

 

Thanks for being understanding. Im just always full of questions and still trying to get used to the forum routine lol...