Thanks again for the assistance all. I was not able to get the 599 processing fee waived but I did get the 500 USAA discount and another 1K off to move from a 0.9% APR to 1.9%. I will be paying it off as soon as I turn in the VW so the interest really makes no difference. 24k base and 25,730 I believe out the door. Pretty happy and the wife loves it. Probably going to get the 3M wrap for the front this week and go from there. Thanks again!

 

Congratulations. Now it's all about enjoying your new MINI!!!

 

This thread has explored the basics of car buying as well as lots of details about the deal-making process.

Underlying all of this is, at the end of a successful car deal, the customer drives off in a new car.

MINI enthusiasts occupy a narrow band. There's something about driving a MINI that captures the imagination and makes a statement that cars can still be fun without being pretentious, big, or thundering,or bank account draining.

One full year into MINI ownership (or lease-ship in my case) and we are lovin' our MINI even more than when we first drove him off the lot. We've done a few road trips and a lot of grocery getting. The car continues to deliver on its promise of excellent handling, quickness, aesthetic pleasure, surprisingly low cost of ownership, reliability, and grin-inducing fun every time we motor.

So, the moral to this story is: We drive hard bargains so we can drive the right cars. A great deal on a bad car is not a great deal. No matter how low the final price, it's not a good car deal if you don't love what you drive.

 

We've all seen the internet ads that say, "Call for Best Price." So you call, and the "internet manager" or whomever it is that takes your call, gives as little info as possible, asks a few qualifying questions and, sooner or later, gets around to some version of "When can you come in?".

Dealers believe they have a much better chance of closing a sale if they can get a prospect into the showroom. Once in the showroom, the selling system goes into high gear.

A few dealers are experimenting with alternatives, because they understand that the next generations of car buyers have different priorities and, in significant numbers, have very different relationships with their transportation. The Uber generation has spent several years ordering transportation with smart phones. These folks are more likely to say, "Don't leave a voicemail or email. Just text me or shoot me a tweet."

So dealers are caught in this transition. The Old School model of 'get them into the dealership, give them a walk around and a test drive and then put them in the box and get them closed' still is the preferred, and well-understood method at many dealerships.

Dealers, of course, fear that a tech-savvy customer, having done a bit of on line research, will simply shoot out requests for bids from several dealers and the best deal gets the sale.

Some dealers are playing with concierge services wherein the sales representative will come to a prospect's home or office with color and fabric samples and maybe even a car to test drive. Lincoln has an experimental showroom adjacent to a Tesla store in Orange County California where there's a latte bar and clusters of comfy sofas with big screen TV's. The prospective Lincoln owner hangs out at this VIP Black Label lounge and gets steeped in the Lincoln brand and then a referral to a dealer is done for followup and the final close.

It's easy to acquire a new MINI without hitting the showroom. One can build a car at the MINI web site, have it sent to a preferred dealer or download the build and spam it out to multiple dealers, and the deal can be done by electronic communication and maybe a phone call. Some Mini dealers will come to you with a car to test, especially if you are a returning customer who already has a MINI.

No matter how one prefers to manage contact with the dealership, be it walk in, internet, or telephone, or some combination of all of the above, the dynamics are the same.

1. The customer brings the money to the deal and, without that, there is no deal.

2. The customer is responsible for getting whatever information is required to gain an understanding of the many details of a car deal.

3. The dealer will try all available methods to control the selling process.

4. The savvy customer uses the dealer's game to his/her advantage by managing the process every step of the way, even when it appears the dealer is in control.

5. The power to walk away remains the customer's winning ace. The dealer needs every deal. The customer needs the right deal, on the right car.

Thus, the advantage is with the customer and the dealer will use every tool at their disposal to try and minimize and eliminate the customer's advantage.

NEVER FORGET, the ball is in your court, no matter what the dealer tries to do to get you to come on down to the dealership and get into the selling box. The customer visits the dealer when the customer is ready, and for whatever reasons the customer determines, whether it's to do a test drive or get a trade appraised or simply to sign some papers and motor.

 

Lots of great advice in this thread, thank you, it's always a good read.

I forget where exactly I was linked to this, but here's an episode of This American Life that's somewhat on topic. It's called 129 cars and the cast and crew of TAL spend a month at a car dealership shadowing the staff.

https://www.thisamericanlife.org/rad...e/513/129-cars

I was reminded of this because NPR is re-broadcasting it this week. So you can tune in this weekend or listen at the link above if you like! It was interesting to hear first-hand some of the tactics the dealership employs. It was also a great glimpse into the life of a car salesperson.

 

Thanks. Glad you get something out of this thread.

The This American Life episode is a good one -- really gives the feel for what goes on at some dealerships. Sadly, it does not feature examples of professional car salespeople who are a bit more sophisticated -- there are some out there!! But the reality of the pressure to close sales, as portrayed in the NPR broadcast, is still fairly universal. Good to keep in mind when grinding for a good car deal.

 

According to Bloomberg, there is a glut of used luxury cars in the market as lease turn-ins come back and are replaced with SUVs. Not enough buyers of coupes and sedans, apparently.

It’s probably a good time to buy a used lease return MINI—especially a fully loaded model. But a correspondingly difficult time to get a high trade in value on your current ride, I suspect.

(I’ve never traded in a car; always done it myself as a private sale. So I have no first hand knowledge of this suspicion. But I’m a big fan of letting other people take the depreciation hit.)

 

MINI Brand Sales

For October, MINI USA reported 3,669 vehicles sold, a decrease of 7.2 percent from the 3,954 sold in the same month a year ago. Year-to-date, MINI USA reported a total of 38,456 vehicles sold, a decrease of 10.3 percent from 42,865 vehicles sold in the first ten months of 2016.

MINI Pre-Owned Vehicles

In October, MINI Certified Pre-Owned sold 756 vehicles, a decrease of 25.6 percent from October 2016.
Total MINI Pre-Owned sold 2,164 vehicles in October 2017, a decrease of 11.9 percent from October 2016.
Total MINI Pre-Owned sales year-to-date were 25,604, a 7.8 percent increase from the first ten months of 2016.

 

Taking BMW as an example of your point:

In October, BMW Certified Pre-Owned sold 9,961 vehicles, a decrease of 11.9 percent from October 2016.
Total BMW Pre-Owned sold 18,180 vehicles, a decrease of 16.6 percent from October 2016.

 

Had an interesting chat with a MINI sales manager the other day. He said that if I knew anyone interested in a MINI or a BMW, they were making very aggressive deals for qualified customers.

 

Anyone taking advantage of special holiday deals?

Don't be shy. Let us know what you're finding.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

 

MINI of Portland is giving away some free coupons and $15 visa card with all sorts of "deals". I will be avoiding it at all costs, no need to be tempted by the devil. My car is still barely broken in.

Happy T day!

 

Here we go. It's year end.

This is the last week of the month and one month away from the end of the year.

Many dealers have bonus programs for their managers based on sales through the end of the calendar year.

This is also the time when dealers really don't want to sit on inventory -- especially in areas where the weather gets bad during winter. Nobody wants to have a lot full of MINIs in January and February.

We've all seen the TV ads with the shiny new car with the bow sitting outside the front door on a snowy Christmas morning. A few people actually do buy a car as a holiday gift -- I did it for my wife years ago. Dealer even took a giant red bow off of the bonnet of a Rolls Royce sitting in his showroom and put it in the boot of the Jag I was buying for the little Missus for Christmas.

But, mostly, folks are going to Walmart and Best Buy and Amazon and mall jewelry stores for their holiday shopping. Very few actually have the time and energy to get into a car deal on the sly. Most of the year end car business is folks, having talked to their accountants, deciding that there is some tax-advantaged reason (excuse) to get that under 6,000 pound SUV for their "business."

Basically, car dealers get pretty lonely on Friday, November 30th, and even more lonely on Thursday the 29th and even more lonely still between Christmas and January 1st.

If your dealer has a car you covet in his/her inventory, now is the time to make your most aggressive offer. Your holiday gift to the dealer is when you say, "I'm ready to do this today if we can get to the right numbers." Your holiday gift to yourself is when you drive off the lot in a new car that you got for a very merry price and terms.

Ho, ho, ho

 

 

Clubman sales are fading fast. Maybe my lightly used JCW will be showing up at a steal sooner rather than later.

 

Or you could snag a BMW 7 series. They can't seem to give those $100K beasts away!!

 

To all the children who asked for ponies for Christmas and are going to get bicycles, congratulations on your excellent negotiations!!

 

Hi all! My name is Collin, and I’m a Motoring Advisor at Baron MINI in Kansas City. As I was posting on another thread, a member suggested I should check in on this one. If you guys have any questions, I’m happy to help as best I can.

 

Your insights are most welcome here. Thank you!!

 

Welcome!

I remember last year that when I was looking at replacing my diesel VW Golf, a new non diesel was substantially** cheaper in other parts of the country vs. the west coast. Do you get any long distance buyers coming to you for deals or is pricing tight like it is in Portland?

**$7000 off vs. $2000 here in Oregon.

 

Any incentives for an S owner wanting to trade in for a JCW?

I remember back in the day Subaru had these incentives to get more used cars on lots

 

Its not often that we get what I would call long distance buyers, maybe once every other month we’ll hear from someone who found a specific car on our website that they want. We will frequently get price shopped against the two dealers who are two to three hours to our east and west. With the internet and phones, it’s very easy for customers to get dealers to compete with each other to earn someone’s business. Mostly though, we get local customers within Kansas and Missouri, since were located just a mile or so from the state line.

 

Our dealership is a shared campus with a BMW store, and our used department is run from there (30 second walking distance). The used car department prefers to sell cars quickly as opposed to at a huge profit, and so each car has a maximum 60 day life on the lot. Because of that, they like to take in a lot of cars, and is very fair with their trade appraisals.

On the new side, MINI has an “in stock allowance” every month that we can use when we sell a car on the lot as opposed to ordering or dealer trading. We also have a “customer cash” incentive, specific to each model, and of course you would get the $500 loyalty credit for already having a MINI.

Usually, JCW models are not heavily incentivized, but because they’re usually more expensive, were able to discount them a bit more. Either way, we like to sell cars, and my manager is always willing to make good deals.

 

For those fellow motorers and aspiring motorers seeking the right deal on a new MINI, I offer the following holiday story which is a reminder that believing there is a good deal to be had often leads to a good deal:

It's Christmas morning and Grandma walks into little Johnnie's room and sees a giant pile of shiny new toys that Santa has delivered for Johnnie.

"My, Santa was sure good to you this year Johnnie," exclaims Grandma.

But Johnnie has a very disappointed look on his face as he tells his surprised Grandmother, "Yeah, but I got this new trumpet and that means I'll have to take music lessons and I got this remote controlled race car but it needs batteries and where am I gonna get batteries on Christmas day and Mom's gonna be buggin' me to not get any roast beef juice on my new Christmas sweater and..."

At which point Grandma interrupts Johnnie's little Christmas pout and says, "Well, Merry Christmas to you Johnnie," and she leave his room heading down the hall to visit Johnie's brother Bobby.

As Grandma approaches Bobby's room she catches a whiff of a rather unpleasant odor and, as she walks into Bobby's room she comes upon Bobby, humming a Christmas tune as he gleefully digs into what appears to be a massive pile of horse manure.

"Bobby!" exclaims Grandma, "Is that what Santa brought you for Christmas??"

To which Bobby joyfully replies, "Yeah Grandma. Santa brought me this shiny new shovel and this big old pile of manure. And I'm thinkin', all this manure, there's gotta be a pony under here somewhere!!"

Here's hoping everyone finds the pony this year. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to one and all who are kind enough to follow this thread.

Cheers!!

 

No, that's not the start of a bad joke.

It's the LAST WEEKEND of the year. MINI sales have not been stellar all year. The MINI USA web site has changed the way it publicizes special offers. Things are more regionalized now and the thrust is to get potential customers to visit their local dealer.

So we need to work a bit harder to get the info we need to secure a killer deal on a MINI we want.

One thing hasn't changed. The last weekend of the month which also happens to be the last weekend of the year would be the moment to land an insane deal on an in-stock MINI.

Dealers may not reveal everything they are willing to do to move some metal this weekend. But they are ready to do a lot.

If you have fantasies of starting 2018 in a new MINI, put on your Big Boy pants, brave the cold, and drive a hard bargain so you can drive that new MINI into the new year. You might just amaze yourself at the deal you can negotiate if you're really ready to motor.

Best wishes for a safe an happy new year to all!!