MINI Oxford Plant to close from 23 March to 17 April

 

So this makes it even more interesting! Will existing dealer inventory and cars in the pipeline become more valuable due to limited supply? Or will dealers be as aggressive as possible to move metal because car sales have basically ground to a halt?

I would think it depends on how bad the virus situation becomes in the next few weeks. If the infection curve flattens soon, and the masses retain discipline and don't start spreading the bug again, then maybe production starts again and the economy starts chugging.

Wheels within wheels.

I've said it before: The customer gives the dealer an opportunity to sell a car. What the dealer does with that opportunity depends on what a willing buyer and a willing seller are willing to do to make a deal. Coronavirus does not change this dynamic, though it might influence what a seller is willing to do, one way or the other.

 

This just in. BMWNA/BMWFS is offering special relief in response to the Coronavirus situation. The BMW relief package includes complimentary lease extensions for people coming to lease end and some payment deferral options for new purchases. ... AND, $1,000 incentives from BMW directly to dealers on every new car sold/leased. We have yet to see a formal announcement about specifics of what MINI is doing, but if BMW is doing this, it is reasonable to surmise that MINI is doing something as well.

If you're MINI shopping, ASK YOUR DEALER about any special incentives. $$$ might be hiding in the trunk, or boot. If the response is vague, mention that you understand BMW has laid on additional incentives and you're just wondering what MINI is doing.

 

Not as granular as the old monthly reports, but here's the grim news:

 

Next Q we can look back on this one as kind of robust.

 

 

Did this screen grab off of Motoring File:

 

Has anyone bought a new car in the past few weeks? What's it like these days?

 

I'm buying a Clubman very soon. Here's what I can say from looking around. It's a *very* good time to buy.

Here are a few that really stand out to me (I'm using MINI of San Diego because these prices are published online. I have no connection to the dealer)

• 2 Door MCS for $4000 off at MINI of San Diego
• 2 Door MCS for $3000 off at MINI of San Diego
• 2 Door JCW for $3000 off at MINI of San Diego
• Clubman S for $3000 off at MINI of San Diego

Now keep in mind, that is just the dealer discount. MINIUSA adds up to $1500 off and 1.9% or 3.49% financing, plus they will make the first 3 payments up to $330/month.

Without even any work at all, you're $3500-$5500 off MSRP (depending on the car once you add MINIUSA's incentive). Then if you finance through MINIUSA you can wind up getting nearly another $1000 off during the first 3 months of your loan.

So put that all together and it's possible for your total cost OTD to be less than MSRP and once you factor in the savings on the loan, get in the neighborhood of $1500 less than MSRP OTD. And that is just using the published prices and incentives.

 

This just in from Bloomberg News:The auto industry, already fretting lengthy factory shutdowns and depressed new-vehicle demand, is starting to sound the alarm about a potential used-car price collapse that could have far-reaching consequences for manufacturers, lenders and rental companies.

Used-vehicle auctions are for now virtually paralyzed, much like the rest of the economy. The grave concern market watchers have is that vehicles already are starting to pile up at places where buyers and sellers make and take bids on cars and trucks -- and that this imbalance will last for months.
If that fear is realized and prices plummet, it will be detrimental to automakers and their in-house lending units, which likely will have to write down the value of lease contracts that had assumed vehicles would retain greater value. Rental-car companies also will get less money from selling down their fleet of vehicles, which are sitting idle amid a global pandemic that’s been catastrophic for travel.“Six months from now, there will be huge, if not unprecedented, levels of wholesale supply in the market,” Dale Pollak, an executive vice president of *** Automotive, which owns North America’s largest auto-auction company, wrote in an open letter to auto dealers last week. “Cars are coming in, but they aren’t selling. Today’s huge supply of wholesale inventory suggests supplies will be even larger in the months ahead.”

Lease Extensions

Automakers are doing what they can to limit the damage. General Motors and Ford Motor’s finance units already are offering customers one-month lease extensions. In addition to relieving pressure on consumers wary of going into showrooms, this will delay some of the influx of off-lease vehicles headed to auctions that are for now operating only virtually.

But these measures are unlikely to go nearly far enough to address the asymmetry between the supply of used vehicles and demand that is unlikely to rebound anytime soon given that almost 17 million Americans sought jobless benefits in just the last three weeks.

“There aren’t a lot of people in gloves and masks running out to buy cars,” said Maryann Keller, a former Wall Street analyst who’s now an auto-industry consultant in Stamford, Connecticut. “Auctions are mostly shut down and they’re filled with cars that have no buyers.”

 

Thousands of near-new cars are coming off lease every week. Thousands.

The auctions are basically frozen.

BMW told its dealers this week that even Priority 1 (sold) and custom ordered cars will not be delivered to dealers in the immediate future. Might be the same for MINI, with operations at the port vehicle delivery centers basically shut down.

Meanwhile, USA Today reports that people whose leases are up are being turned away by dealers; some being told that the dealer cannot accept the lease returns.

The GOOD NEWS is that, for the first time in a long time, people within 90 days of lease end are being offered deep discounts from residual if they wish to purchase their cars. The transaction is between MINI(BMW) Financial Services and the customer -- the dealer isn't in the middle of these deals. The reason for this sudden generosity by BMW and MINI is that dealers don't want the cars and MINI has no easy way to dispose of them through the frozen auction system.

So, if your leased MINI has had a gentle life and you want to keep it, you might get a compelling offer from MINI. Or if this isn't a good moment to shop for a new car, MINI will offer lease extensions. But remember, you will be on the hook for registration costs and ongoing insurance.So if MINI says you can keep the car for an extra month or two, ask them how MINI will help you with the extra registration cost, which is for an entire year in most states.

The BAD NEWS is there are reports of dealers refusing to accept lease returns or telling customers they will only handle the return if the leasee buys/leases another car. Can't imagine MINI handling us that way, but there is a documented report of a BMW dealer in California doing that to a BMW leasee.

Obviously, if anything like that happens, call MINI Financial and tell them what has happened and invite them to come get your car. The contract says if you return your car in good condition per the lease terms, they gotta take it back.

There may be opportunities here, but be careful and negotiate hard.

And stay safe and well. We're not anywhere near out of the woods yet.

 

"BMW Group Financial Services and BMW of North America recognize our customers may continue to be impacted by the
coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic and may be in need of additional options as they approach Lease maturity.
Although our first goal is to put customers into a new vehicle, we want to ensure we are providing the tools and resources
to help keep customers mobile during this time.

Due to multiple shelter-in-place orders and dealer closures, BMW Group Financial Services and BMW of North America
recognize customers may experience a larger gap between the maturity of their current Lease and the delivery of their
next vehicle. BMW Group Financial Services is currently offering impacted customers up to a six (6) month Lease
Extension, without requiring a production number of proof of deposit. However, BMW Group Financial Services
recognizes certain situations may occur in which a Lease Extension does not provide sufficient time for customers, given
challenges in returning their current vehicle and viewing new vehicles.

Therefore, between now and June 30, 2020, BMW and MINI Financial Services customers may be eligible to participate
in the COVID-19 Customer Early- Out Re-Lease Program. This program will allow qualifying customers the
opportunity to Re-Lease their existing vehicle for an additional 12-month period. Customers will also be able to
terminate this new Lease contract during the 12-month term without incurring Early Termination liability."

Customer Eligibility:

This offer will be available for all credit approved BMW Group Financial Services Lease customers who have exhausted a
six (6) month Lease Extension and are prohibited from returning their vehicle due to unexpected delays relating to the
COVID-19 crisis. Re-Leases are only eligible for processing within the final 60 days to Lease Maturity.
In order to qualify for this program, in addition to the above, one of the below scenarios must also be met.

• Customer has a new vehicle on order; however, the vehicle delivery is postponed due to
production/shipping delays.

• Customer has a new vehicle on order; however, their dealer is closed and unable to facilitate delivery.

• Customer intends to order a new vehicle; however, they are unable to place a new vehicle order due to a
dealer closure or a shelter-in-place order, as validated through Infobahn communication.

Customer Payment:

BMW Group Financial Services will exhaust all efforts to match the existing monthly Lease payment. In some situations,
the Re-Lease payment may increase from the original contract amount. These situations are, but not limited to, the
following:

• Customer is over mileage on his/her current Lease. BMW Group Financial Services may be able to Re-Lease the
vehicle to this customer, but some of his/her excess mileage will be paid monthly in the Re-Lease.
Current contractual mileage allotments will not be modified.

• Customer had a large Capitalized Cost Reduction or significant discount off of the original MSRP. If the
Capitalized Cost Reduction exceeds $2,500, BMW Group Financial Services may not be able to match the
current Lease payment.

In order to take advantage of the COVID-19 Customer Early Out Re-Lease Program, either the customer or
dealer will need to contact Financial Services

 

I'm in the market for a new JCW Clubman with the 301hp, bigger brakes, new 8 speed tranny, and new suspension. I found one at Mini of Tempe (AZ) in the color I want. Sticker is $45k. I'll trade in my 2014 JCW Coupe (same color!). I contacted a sales person but so far he's not responded to dealing on it yet (I have a feeling the place is pretty much a ghost town now but he was there yesterday). I'm hoping for about a $25k (plus tax/license) differential, cash. $5k off the sticker and $15k for mine (was 40k new)?

Edit: first offer was $10.5k for the trade. Think I'll stick with 15k trade and ask for 4k off the selling price (which is 45k). With tax/lic it would be about $30k out the door, a little less than the last Mini deal for quite a bit more car IMO.

 

If they can't get you the deal you want I highly doubt your R58 JCW would last long on the NAM marketplace. Just sayin' ;]

 

Ah, makes more sense now wit the edit.

You should qualify for $1000 from MINIUSA and there is an offer to have MINIUSA pay the first three payments up to $330/month when you finance through MINI.

 

So, used car prices are collapsing nationwide. The auctions are shut down and the traditional pricing databases are not giving dealers current, correct market information that they usually rely upon to price trade-ins. So, dealers are flying blind, as are customers trying to get their trades valued correctly.

Perhaps the best way to pencil out a deal these days is to focus on Total Drive Off Cost -- the out the door price. If you are comfortable at $30,000 out the door, and you take advantage of the first 3 payment support, even if you pay off the loan shortly thereafter (say 4 ~ 6 months so the dealer doesn't get dinged), you don't have to get into dickering about trade-in value. You just say, "My car plus $30K and I'll sign today." Let them worry about moving the numbers around to make it work. How the dealer applies rebates, factory-to-dealer hidden cash, holdback, whatever else, is up to them. You are offering to give them your MINI plus $30K and done. Or your car and $28K, or whatever you think is comfortable.

Then, let them come back and you can consider what they counter-offer. Let's say they say, "Your trade plus $35K." Then you say, "That's about 5 grand more than my comfort zone. How much closer to my numbers can you get, because at your numbers, we're not even close to getting there." And so on.

On a $45,000 MSRP, invoice will be about $41,500 ~ $42,000. Assume 2.5% holdback and maybe a bit more secret cash and the $1,000 customer rebate and you're at, say +/- $40,000 with the dealer making basically nothing. So, $40,000 plus drive off tax and tags minus your trade gets you to the magic number, give or take.

At that point, it depends on how bad you want the car. If you are comfortable walking and continuing driving what you have, you will have maximum leverage. If you really want the car and just want to get it for the best price, that best price might be a bit higher.

 

After checking around a bit to get a sense of things my recent experience with dealers has been a bit varied:

• Some are very clear they want to make a deal happen: Recommendation for San Diego and Long Beach on that front
• At least one dealer I talked to was fixed price, thus they had a fixed discount off MSRP and would add any qualifying incentives. This got very close to Invoice + TTL, but no additional wiggle room there. So, not bad if that was your only local dealer and didn't want to travel or ship a car, but not a deal that reflected the dramatic drop off in demand either.
• The third category seemed to be treating their existing stock as if they weren't going to see more new cars for a long time so they needed to maximize dealer profit. Thus, they offered minimal discounting (maybe $1000 of MSRP)

 

Of course, as has been explored throughout this thread, one never really knows where the dealer is until "the conversation" happens -- "I'm ready to buy today. Here are the numbers that will work for me."
Best price/terms happen when you've got one hand on your open checkbook and one foot about to walk out the dealer's door. "Best deal now or I'm walkin."
Until that moment, its all just numbers flying around.

 

This is great. Goes hand in hand with my craigslist mantra; "The sign of a good deal is when both parties walk away feeling like they got screwed."
I have a lot to learn about haggling with dealers though, I tend to just pay asking price because I know what I want and don't want to be a jerk about it. Or I show interest and balk at the price (shocker, that doesn't lead anywhere.)

I've been eyeing up THIS hardtop for a while now. It's getting close to a nice price, they just need a little nudge. Might make them an offer following 2017All4's rules.

Any suggestions on how to get a decent value for a trade-in without the dealer actually laying eyes on the car? Or am I better off buying the car with no trade and selling my FIAT on my own time?

 

Suggestions??? My wife would roll her eyes and beg you, "Please, don't ever ask him for suggestions, unless you want to be in an all-day conversation."

The reality is, at this moment, used car prices are very, very soft. Especially for cars not in high demand. The auction lots are filled to capacity and though the online dealer auction portals are still running, there is little bidding activity as many dealers are basically shut down and those that are operating are doing very little volume.

So, now more than usual, it truly is what a willing buyer will give and what a willing seller will accept.

How one has that conversation depends on circumstances and one's disposition.

I have never believed that a good deal is when buyer and seller walk away thinking they got screwed. In the long run, it's better, I think, to approach these things from the perspective that a buyer is presenting an opportunity to a seller. What that seller does with the opportunity is up to the seller.

This is why I stress that "I'm ready to buy today if we can agree upon terms," is so useful. The buyer doesn't have to feel any guilt that he/she is jerking the seller around. "I'll buy it for $xx,xxx if you're willing to do the deal at this price. I'm happy to walk away if my offer is unacceptable."

As for selling a Fiat in this market... dealers won't offer much, whether they see the car or not.

I'd contact a Fiat dealer and have a conversation with the used car manager to get a sense of wholesale and retail values on today's crazy market. How much would a dealer give? How much would a dealer try to sell it for? How much is reasonable to ask in a private party sale?

If you don't want the hassle (see first post on this thread), then it seems to me the way to handle a trade-in is, after you get a value sense from a Fiat dealer who knows everything about the current Fiat marketplace, you sharpen your pencil and figure out the deal to present to a MINI dealer, "My car and $xx,xxx from me and I'll sign today." And you get to the $xx,xxx number through lots of price research.

Always remembering, a willing buyer presents an opportunity to a willing seller, without worrying about hurting the seller's feelings. It's a simple, straightforward business offer. "I've got this much to do this deal. Wanna do it?"

But, if you really want the car, expect to pay a bit more. Usually I do deals at or behind dead invoice, before incentives, on new car leases. On my latest Clubman deal, my dealer told me, $500 over invoice before incentives, take it or leave it. I wanted the car, in the one-off color combo, custom ordered to my exact specifications, no deposit, no visit to the dealer until delivery day. I took the deal. I got full value because I love this car!! The dealer knew it, so he got his $500.

 

This. Don't forget Reddit and Facebook listings, too. There are a few guys on r/mini who want the now hard-to-get coupe.

 

Well here in AZ it ain't the same (so far). The guy I talked to said $1000 off MSRP on a $45k JCW Clubman. And pretty low on my trade to boot. He talked like there wasn't more than a few hundred more bucks to play with on this "pretty rare" car. I'll wait til Mini starts shipping some more of these cars over here. There are hardly any at the 3 AZ dealerships. (All I'm interested in are the new JCW Clubman/Countryman models with 300hp).

 

Well he came off the MSRP another $1500 yesterday afternoon ($2500 total). I showed him an identical car in San Diego they have for $5000 off. So he did $5000 off for me too (including the $1k window tint and paint protection). And upped the trade 500, so it's a deal I pick it up in Tempe tomorrow. 2020 JCW Clubman with Signature trim, leather, and Nav. Should be a rocket right?

 

Heck yeah congrats Newt!

I wonder how much they are going to list the Coupe for... hmmmm

 

Congratulations! I saw the JCW in Tempe too. That looks like a great car. Nicely done!