Hi There,

I apologize if this has been addressed earlier and I have overlooked it. I'm pretty close to pulling the trigger on ordering a new 2015 Mini Cooper S since my local dealer doesn't have any in inventory with the features and options I would like to have. This will be my first MINI ever if I decide to order one. I have always been interested in them, but our state didn't get its first MINI dealership until recently so I never considered it fully as a viable option beforehand.

The main question I had revolves around trade-ins when ordering from the factory. I will be trading in my current vehicle which is a 2011 Audi Q5 should I decide to order the MINI and lease it. I had went by the dealership a few months ago and spoke with a different motoring advisor when I was first thinking about it and he told me that with trade ins what they do is they will settle on an agreed upon amount when the order is made so that it is taken care of before ordering so I don't have to worry about any surprises/differences when it arrives in 6 to 8 weeks. When I went in over the weekend to seriously inquire and mentioned this the MA I'm dealing with now (the previous one is no longer there) he said that the trade in value could change between now and then and he is not sure if that is something they do or guarantee for me, but he could ask and see.

Have any of you had any experience with this on your purchases/leases? What I would like to do is just have them put something in writing stating that they will honor the trade value they gave me this weekend until the order arrives as long as the Q5 is still in the same condition when the MINI arrives with no more than 500 or 1000 miles added since the trade in appraisal. I plan on just keeping it garaged and driving another vehicle I have during the that time unless I just had to drive it if the other one was in use.

Do you see that being a problem or something that is unreasonable to ask for?

The dealership is owned by the same dealership where I purchased my Audi from and I'm pretty familiar with the service advisors there and have been a loyal customer as I have all my service work done there.

Two other things I wanted to ask about as well are lease lock ins and how much you were able to get them to come off MSRP when ordering.

Right now they have agreed to come off $1000 which he said normally they only ever do $500. (I was thinking $500 maybe the You-if-ication credit and other $500 is dealer contribution amount according to national lease details online). Is that pretty standard across all MINI dealers?

The reason I ask is because we recently ordered a 2015 Subaru Outback that was delivered in December and they said they had much more pricing flexibility when ordering from the factory cause it doesn't count against the dealer allotment. We paid $100 over invoice and watched the sales guy build the vehicle in SubaruNet showing invoice and MSRP values side by side. My MA though said MINI is completely different though.

Last question has to do on lease locking. This is my first lease so I'm new to it and have had to research a lot about residuals, money factors, cap cost, etc. but if I do order the MINI when I place my order will they lock in my rate with MINI Financial Services and setup financing to where when it arrives everything is setup except for signing papers and paying the rest of the cash due at signing minus the initial deposit made when placing the order?

I know these are a lot of questions but I appreciate any insight and help you can provide. I'm having one of my colleagues in the accounting department at my office tomorrow check the lease numbers they provided just to see if everything looks okay because I have been using Leasematic on my iPhone to check numbers and mine and the dealers are around $40 off a month and I can't figure out why since the MSRP, residual, and MF factors all match on the dealers and my sheet and I have included all of the fees they disclosed to me and put the same downpayment on each. Residual and MF matches Edmunds ones provided in that forum.

Once I get that worked out, clarification on whether they would honor the trade in value, and the lease lock in I'll probably be placing an order this week.

Thanks again in advance.

 

The wife and I both traded cars in towards our ordered Minis. We would not buy unless the trade value would be the same come time of delivery. The mini dealer said that was their norm although the Subaru dealership told me that they would have to reappraise again when I inquired about ordering a WRX since the had none in stock.

No way could I agree to buy a car without knowing what my trade value would be! The subaru dealership was all like "well it'll probably only be like $500 less or something" but that's enough to me that I would buy from someone else which I obviously did!

The dealership actually held my trade value for both vehicles from June 21 until we finally took delivery on October 11! As tough as it was, the EPA delay worked in our favor. Save money by putting more miles on our trade vehicles while their value was a constant.

 

Thank you so much for the response and input, that is very helpful and good to know that it is possible to have an agreed upon value before ordering. I appreciate you taking the time to answer my question. Hope you and your wife are enjoying your new MINIs!

 

I've had a similar experience. If they want your business they will lock in a trade amount, or barring that lock in the lease amount after tax such that if the car appraises differently at turnover they eat that difference one way or another. Then, if you can, sell the car and arrive at pick up with no trade in and renegotiate the deal. That's always your option.

 

I did not trade in my 2009 when ordering my 2015, however, if I chose to trade it in, the price would have been locked in subject to renegotiation if there was any physical damage.

Having said that, the dealer offered me a very low price ($300 less than the written Car Max offer I got immediately after the dealer gave me his figure) -- but I would have been able to drive the car for the (estimated) eight weeks waiting for the car [which would have been sixteen weeks due to the EPA mess].

I had another vehicle I could drive while waiting for the new Mini, so I decided to try and sell the Mini myself figuring I could go back to the dealer or CarMax if the car had not sold by the time the new Mini arrived.

To make a long story short, I priced the car about 1500 less than the asking prices for similar cars, and ended up selling at my full asking price in less than a week. I was still happy with this price, because this was 3000 above the CarMax price and the car was due for brakes (on the Mini condition based service minder) in 700 miles, and was approaching the end of tire life -- not to mention I was paranoid about something going wrong and a 2K or 3K repair popping up.

So, bottom line, get a locked in value, and then see if you can sell the car yourself.

 

I don't know about trade-in, but for leasing, the initial paperwork you sign is just an estimate. The total agreed price discounts are locked (actually you could add discounts even later on), but the money factor isn't locked. That gets in the final paperwork during your car pickup, so your final monthly payment could change slightly.

Mine went up 2-3 dollars/month because MF went up a tiny bit (from 0.00125 in Sept. to 0.00130 in Nov.), and also I chose the upgraded license plate to match the color of the car for $30 more.


This was my first lease, and I studied how to do my own calculation and created an excel sheet. I double checked all the numbers and that there were no BS fees such as Dealer Prep fee. I got total $1250 off MSRP after several emails back and fourth.

Compared to my own calculation, with $1000 down pay, my calculation tells me it's $280/month, but I'm paying $281/month so that's close enough. This is for a $24050 MSRP car (2015 F56 + Auto + SportsPackage) with 62% residual after 3 years.

 

When I ordered my 2011 MCS they told me what the trade in value would be when I ordered. It was supposed to be 6-8 weeks but ended up being 3 months. When I finally picked up I was still given the full amount they had stated, even though I had put on about 3K extra miles.

 

I went to CarMax right before ordering my 2015 Cooper S. They appraised my 2011 Cooper S Countryman at $18,000 (price only good for 7days). I thought that was pretty low, so I just hang on to my car.


Then one week before my 2015 Cooper S arrived at the dealer, I had the dealer appraised my car, they could only do $17,000. So I went back to CarMax again thinking if they can still do $18,000 with 900 more miles on the car, I would go with them. Sure enough, CarMax appraised the car at $18,000. I left CarMax with $1,000 more than what I could get from the dealer.


I knew I could get more $$$ selling the car myself. But factor in the phone calls, emails, test drives, other hassles from potential buyers, I just went with CarMax. Easier for me.


Hope that helps!

 

Thanks everyone for all of the responses and feedback! It has been very helpful and given me a lot of perspective on different options and how each of you handled your trade in situation. My MA got back with me today and said they would guarantee my trade in value till delivery so I won't have to worry about that detail anymore

I'm also considering a new A3/Q3 as well and I'm waiting on those proposals too, but I am leaning towards the MINI... I would just have wait for it to be built, but I think it would be worth it It's just a departure from what I have driven in the past so I'm just a little hesitant I guess, but excited about it too.

I should know something within the next day or two on what I decide and if its a new MCS I'll post my build out and be checking out the forum a lot more and posting some photos when it comes in. I've really enjoyed looking through the threads and seeing all of the different colors, forms, and iterations of Coopers. Some of you guys have really made them your own and given me a lot of ideas for my own build, although mine will be all stock since I would be leasing.

Thanks again!

 

The dealer may be able to see what cars are en route from England to other dealers and hijack one for you if it has the equiptment you want. I almost did that in February at the Tempe dealership. Unfortunately by the time I was able to go there and put down a deposit someone else had hijacked it from the Ontario, CA dealership.

 

I am sure you are probably aware of this already ... I would 100% go with the stock option of the mini cooper except for the factory audio system. Try and get the harmon-kardon speakers.

 

Hey all, just a quick update to this thread and thanks again for all of the replies and advice. They are very much appreciated. I pulled the trigger today and went with the Cooper S! I visited my dealer this afternoon and filled out the paperwork and put my deposit down. Below are the details on my build out. About an hour after leaving my MA emailed me the VIR sheet and production number. Here is how I spec'd mine:

Color
Thunder Gray Body
Body Color Roof/Mirrors

Packages
Cold Weather Package
Wired Upgrade
No Stripes
Fully Loaded Package

Exterior
LED Fog Lights
Rear Fog Lights
LED Headlights with Cornering Lights
Auto Dimming Mirrors
Auto Dimming Rearview Mirror
Heated Powerfold Mirrors & Washer Jets
Heated Mirrors & Washer Jets
Rain Sensor and Auto Headlamps
Panoramic Sunroof
Chrome Line Exterior
White Turn Signals

Wheels
17" Black Cosmos Spoke

Interior
Sport Seats
Heated Front Seats
Center Armrest
Standard Floor Mats
Leatherette: Carbon Black
JCW Leather Steering Wheel w/Multifunction
Chrome Line Interior
Anthracite Headliner
Piano Black Dash Surface
Carbon Black Color Line
Automatic Climate Control
Storage Package
MINI Excitement Package

Performance
MINI Driving Modes
6-Speed Automatic with Paddle Shifters
2.0L TwinPower Turbocharged Engine
Toggle Ignition
Dual Stage, 8 Airbag System
Performance Control
Dynamic Damper Control

Audio & Tech
Harman/Kardon Sound System
SiriusXM Satellite Radio
Alarm System
Connected + Visual Boost XL
Navigation System XL
Real Time Traffic Information
MINI Head-Up Display
Rear-view Camera + PDC
Park Assistant Package
Active Driving Assistant
On-Board Computer
Universal Garage Door Opener with Compass
Comfort Access System
Enhanced Bluetooth and USB/iPod Adapter

I kind of went all out with the tech options (been watching too many CNET Car Tech videos "Check the Tech"), but I'm used to having a good amount of technology in the Q5 and I wanted to have that same experience and then some in the MCS. MA gave me an estimate of the third week of March, but he says it just varies depending on when production starts/etc. I was able to register for Owner's Lounge tonight and bring up the tracking info. It still has the old dealer slotted car, but he said it would update to my build in a few days. Order status is 112 - Scheduled for daily, right now.

I downloaded the 2014 owner's manual online to read when I have time to learn all of the ins and outs on all of the equipment. I've probably watched around 50 videos already on YouTube (Saabkyle04, TFLCar, Alex on Autos, etc.) since the newest generation launched. I remember really wanting one in high school when the Italian Job came out, and now about 10 years later I've got one ordered.

Pretty excited about it!

 

Very nice. You went all out I see

You should like all the tech gizmo's. My car's going on about 14 weeks now, and it's a blast every day.

My only real complaint is no album art from Spotify on the Android app -- though I think this is a Spotify issue to fix.

 

I ended up with more tech than I planned just based on the packages. Not tech I wouldn't enjoy, but for example I use nav on the phone... But it's nice to have more toy in the toy to look forward to.

I waffled on some of the stuff I had intended on I the weeks leading up to order: JCW (once again, felt priced out) sport suspension... I'm driving kids around most of the time so it didn't seem as critical...

Congrats on your order! Check out the thread in the main section on tracking your MINI if you haven't already...

 

Thanks! I can't wait to get it. When I did the test drive I couldn't help but have a good time especially through the twistys and some new roundabouts. I thought then imagine having this much fun just driving to work, going to the post office, heading to the bank, and just doing your normal everyday menial errands that takes up a good chuck of your life. If you gotta do it, might as well have a little more fun doing it!

Glad to hear after 14 weeks your still having a blast, cause thats what I'm wanting!

Yeah, bluetooth audio and the connected apps capability is probably one of the things that I'm looking forward to the the most. My Q5 is a 2011 with the nav. package that got you the better head unit, but it only had bluetooth for telephone calls and no bluetooth streaming audio. If I want to listen to new music I have to unhook the iPod Classic from the glovebox when I get home at night, plug it into my iMac, purchase new songs in iTunes, sync songs back to iPod, put iPod back in glovebox in the morning. It's extremely tedious and Audi's MMI can be a little quirky. For example if you start the car and if navigation was last up on screen and your iPod is connected prepare to wait for around 40 seconds before it shows the device library and your music. It's like it doesn't have enough processing power to do both at the same time.

Loading....
No device found, please connect a device to AMI.
Loading....

Most of the time it will remember the last song you were on but every once in awhile it defaults to the very first playlist on the device. New iPods/iPhones in the Q5 are even more hit and miss for me as sometimes they would just stop playing songs, or skip tracks so I stuck with my trusty iPod Classic. Sometimes when cycling through songs using the next buttons or the controller **** to play the next track the outgoing song would get really loud for about half a second for some reason before playing the next song like a form of protest for dismissing it early. Those things can get old over time and its a shame cause the Bang & Olfusen sound system in there is really nice. I even tried a tune2air bluetooth adapter as a work around that I got from Amazon but it didn't work good in mine and the audio would cut in and out.

That's disappointing about the album art issue in Spotify with Android phones. I have an iPhone and I use Spotify a lot but I've never been able to break away from iTunes cause I had to have it for music in the car on the iPod. It will be so nice to fire up bluetooth on the iPhone or connect via USB where I can actually reach it and use Spotify, Pandora, etc. to play new music and not have to buy new songs all the time.

I also listen to the Audible books occasionally in the car and it will be great to do that with the iPhone in the MCS instead of the iPod touch. Imaging holding the next button for 8 minutes trying to cycle to the 3 hour and 40 minute mark of a book because the file on your iPod is all a single track (no chapters)... it's madness and I definitely won't miss that!

 

Definitely know what you mean on the waffling, as I was that same way on the JCW exterior and on some of up-level leather seats. They were certainly nice to look at and the seats were really well done in the cross punch, but ended up staying with the standard sports seats in leatherette and using that savings elsewhere in the build.

I'll be checking out that order thread for sure and thanks for the tip! Its going to be a long haul till the end of March for me, but I'm going to keep checking these forums and watching youtube videos to keep me patient occupied until then

 

It would've have been cheaper if you would have gotten the JCW Interior Package since you got the JCW steering wheel and Anthracite Headliner, plus you get the Stainless Steel Pedals, JCW Door Sills and the JCW Gear Lever, you probably still have time to change it before it starts production and save $100, just my $.02 but regardless that's a really nice build.

 

Hey, thanks for the tip! I didn't think about that at all. I just kind of ended up with the JCW steering wheel cause I wanted paddle shifters and I picked the anthracite headliner cause I wanted the roof to match the dark theme of the rest of the car. If I can get extra stuff and save some money, I'm all about that.


Thank you very much!


Update: 1/28/15 1:03 PM CST - I emailed my MA about this and he was able to get it added and your right it saved me an extra $100.00 plus I get the extra interior options. Really appreciate the tip! He also said my production moved up 2 weeks to the 7th now.


I owe you one!

 

Congrats indierocke!

Sounds like you and I will get our cars around the same time.

Looks like you went all out! (I did too....I like the tech as well ) I'm especially interested in the Active Driving Assistant - it was the one option I couldn't get because of a conflict with the JCW Exterior pack. It's a feature not a lot of people here in the US have (I have never seen it).

Waiting is the worst part of the experience...when I got my CM, I was checking the Owners Lounge every two minutes, calling 1-866-ASK-MINI and then spamming the refresh button on the ship tracker once it shipped. I must have read the owners manual 100 times lol.

The good thing is, NAM is a great support group

 

Hey thanks siriuszero! I actually got an email from my MA this morning and he said they already pulled mine into production today!!! I got a VIN # too on it and I just put the order in on Tuesday, which I thought seemed pretty quick. He said I should be on the 6 weeks time frame now instead of 8 unless there is a delay so I'm pretty excited about it. I should get it about a week after my birthday in March which will make for a nice present.

I actually didn't even know about the Active Driving Assistant until I started reading the instruction manual Tuesday night some and saw the intelligent safety stuff so I went googling. That's when I saw becky1711's post in here about it and how it is not listed in the configuration builder on MINIUSA so I emailed my MA about it and he was able to have it added at the last minute along with the JCW interior package that MINIMAN1411 suggested I get since I already had the wheel and headliner and it would be cheaper and I could get more stuff, so I kind of lucked into it. My MA was excited about it too and he said he hasn't seen one with it yet and he wants to go on a test drive with me once it comes in to check it all out.

I checked into the JCW exterior package too, but it wouldn't let me have the fully loaded package with it on so I had to leave it off, but it definitely looks striking though! I bet it will look great with your color combo. What color/type of wheels did you go for?

Yeah, I've been watching YouTube videos, looking through all of the threads here, checking out Motoringfile.com and checking into my local MINI club which seems pretty active where I live. Looks like they meet every 3rd Wednesday for dinner each month and in October there is also a big event called Mini in the Ozarks.

http://www.ozarkmini.com/

Looks really cool, so I'm excited to get my MINI and go to stuff like this every year. I didn't realize how big of an ownership community there is around MINI. I have an Audi Club North America membership, but it was mostly just to get the 6% pricing savings on new vehicle purchases and a few other discounts. Mini in the Ozarks also partners with a great non profit we have in our state which is really awesome called Camp Aldersgate. They do a lot of great work there for children and seniors and I had a cousin who worked there some in the summer when she was in college.

http://www.ozarkmini.com/index.php/a...why-we-do-this

The more and more I read and come across stuff like this and MINI Takes The States the more I feel even better about my decision to purchase a MINI. Seems like a great group of owners and I'm excited to be joining the ranks

 

Nice!

The configurator is a joke sometimes...so incredibly slow to update and the rules never work right either... It just now added JCW Exterior pack on ther even though it's been available since at least October. Active Driving Assistant has been available for a while, but not a lot of dealers or customers seem to be getting it. I've never seen a US MINI with one at my dealer or otherwise, I'm not surprised your MA is eager to see it. I know what it does and how it works, but I would still love to see real world feedback.

The JCW Exterior package seems to not work with a lot of packages...I had to get creative and add most of the packs separately or certain options individually. Sadly, Driving Assistant needs to have the Fully Loaded pack equipped, which is not possible with JCW Ext, even though I have all the components of it equipped. Go figure... I got the 17" JCW black track spoke wheels. I wanted the 18" cup spokes, but you can't get all seasons with those.

MINI owners are the best. They're laid back, chill and love to just drive. We also have a couple local MINI clubs in Seattle, though I haven't done much with them aside from a couple drives. I've always wanted to do MINI Takes the States, but getting that much time off is always a challenge. My local dealers did do a MINI Takes the Northwest a few years ago that was a rally from Seattle MINI to a MINI dealer down south, then to MINI of Portland. It was about 40-50 MINIs that left Seattle and more met us at the second dealer. So cool to be around so many MINIs and like minded people.

 

Awesome. My buddy that I work with in the office next to mine has a new Go Pro so when I get the car we want to test it out with the MINI Connect stuff. Maybe I could film the heads up display showing Active Driving Assistant and some of its features and upload it to YouTube and post a link. I'll definitely give you some feedback though on it if your interested.

 

For sure!

I've seen one video of some guy in Europe demoing the active cruise control and that's it. Nothing from the US system though.

 

I'm in the same boat as indierock... I was hot for that aero kit, going back to my first gen R53 aero... I just like the lower body color on the side sills. I went back and forth on it, even after I convinced myself not to get the proper JCW model... and even though it's a lot of cabbage just for the sides (the back on the base S I like fine, and the front of the JCW I can't decide if I like all that business or not)I might have pulled the trigger had the configurator thrown up adding the packages. It's annoying.

So I went without the exterior kit. If I want to add the side skirts later it's about $650-700 plus painting just for them. Probably an unlikely mod for me unless I keep the car...and these days I lease, so I'm more interested in bolt on mods that are easy to resell if needed.

Indiemusic, our build week thread is here:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...05-thread.html

Act fast if you want that link to work. The mods will be revising the name and the link will be bad. It's in the root of the F56 subforum just in case...