Yes, our configuraton is Chesterfield Brown, Chesterfield Color Line (dash trim and door armrests) with Pepper White exterior. We should have the car next week, can post photos.

 

Please do, I am considering that color combination for the interior as well.

 

My wife likes an interior color other than black. Good luck finding much on the market that isn't black. I have a convertible now that is a low-use car that has a Crystal Grey leather and it shows every speck of dirt and wear, so I really didn't want her to get the grey MINI leather. The brown goes nice with the Pepper White, which is the color of her current MINI and is easy to take care of and should last in the elements. Choosing the darn color combination seemed to be the most difficult part of configuring a new MINI!!!

Another reason the new configurator worked for us in this circumstance. In 2018 Chesterfield was only a convertible color and the Rail Spoke wheels were only on the Series Seven.

 

Please do.

 

One thing I noticed, if the spec sheets are right - looks like there is no more blazing red, just Chili Red? Wonder why? I like Chili Red, and just picked up an '18 with Blazing Red, so far liking that too - the metallic looks great in the sun.

 

A thought on all that Choice that MINI has been offering since its start…

https://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schw...oice#t-1160963

Hmmmm.

(Although I still can't believe one of the problems cited was dealers ordering bizarre one-offs. Dealer guys, you've only been selling these for 15 years now; you know what you can sell.)

 

Satire Snark alert,but have fun reading:

I hate all these options over the decades that have been creeped into Mini and others. Power windows, power locks, auto AC (and why have AC at all for the Iceland/Greenland South Argentina crowd), radio, aluminum wheels (chuck holes kill them, bring back steel), inside adjustable mirrors, cruise control, fog/running lights, wrapped steering wheel (we all liked the hard rim steering wheel like Cadillac used to have), power brakes, disc brakes, power steering, molded door handles, cup holders, glove box, tachometer (plus other gages, bring back blinking lights to shift, and show condition), vanity mirror (yes, “vanity is lucifer favorite sin”, Devil’s Advocate movie), interior lights, synchromesh manual, 6 speeds (who needs more than a PowerGlide), radial tires, sound deadening.. Who needs all these stinking bundled items that used to be options for years and years. I want to pick exactly what I want. I want door pull straps like a Old Porsche 911 RSR has. Adds to the million dollar auction price years later like we see with the 911. How can I Street race with all the weight of sound deadening. Should be an option. Same for cruise control, AC, whatever. I am sure if I could order a car like the old days, eventually some old gray hair as Barrett Jackson will pay $250k 20 years from now.

Hope you enjoyed the attempt at satire. In meantime enjoy all the new standard and optional items in the bundles that have added to the fun and convenience on the 2019 Minis. But, geez, if I had s commuter Mini, I want disc brake delete. Drums are so much cheaper and easier to maintain.

 

If being concerned with now having to pay $4000 so you can pick a color other than Pepper White, Chili Red, Moonwalk Grey or Midnight Black or having to pay an additional $2000 on top of that to get any interior other than leatherette is considered complaining about bundled options, oh well.

 

If you want a Fiesta ST you only get four color choices. You can spend almost $27,000 for a Fiesta ST. The colors MINI offers on the lowest-priced base-models are some of the most popular colors. For $4,000 you can pick a color AND get a slew of popular options. If you want a low-priced base-model car then your options are limited, that just makes sense. When you trade in that econobox then at least it's a desirable color.

I think ONE free color and having to pay $500 or $1,000 for any other color seemed like a rip-off.

One thing I found disappointing is that the MINI Driving Modes are no longer available on the 3-cylinder models at any trim level or as an option. One of my favorite features on our MINI.

 

Cable brakes, like an old VW Beetle, f-that hydraulic crap. Bring back the opening wing window, best air conditioning ever. The Henry Ford Color Option Package would be awesome, any color you want . . . as long as it's black.

 

I suspect once the new configurator is up for people to play with and see where value lies and where discounts are given, some of the frustration will subside.

 

And the Fiesta is dead in the US, along with almost all of the other Ford passenger cars.

The slew of popular options is basically an automatic transmission for $1500 of that $4000, a sunroof at $1000 of it and comfort access at $500 of it. Great, drop the price of ZSG $2500 and make the automatic an optional extra for an additional $1500 like it's always been.

One or two free colors and paying for others is the way BMW has done things for years.

Oh, well of course they aren't. You can just pay for an additional option package that gets you a 4 cylinder engine bundled with the driving modes, we call it the S package. Most customers seem to want it that way, so we made it easier for you to order the car the way we want you to have it.

 

Driving modes 3 cylinder

 

Um, yeah, not sure what you are trying to say there. We're talking 2019 models. I've talked to two dealers and I have a print out of the 2019 ordering guide. MINI Driving Modes is not available in 2019 on the 3-cylinder models.

ND40oz is correct, if you want driving modes you must move up to the S model. A disappointment, but not a bad option given the value of the fully-loaded 3-cylinder models now. We saved thousands of dollars over a 2018 model, I can give up Driving Modes for the extra value and not cry like a baby about it. The dealer told us the take of the optional Driving Modes on the 3-cylinder models was so low that MINI figured most people didn't want it on that model. I guess I am an anomaly, I don't expect to be catered to because I am on the fringe.

 

I thought the 2019s were live, guess I missed that. How about just adding a Dinan Sport with bluetooth. Not as handy but you can at least change the performance. My wife has the 3 cylinder, never uses the sport/green modes.

 

Yesterday at our local MINI dealer we were discussing just this argument. The dealer called the oddball MINIs "Unicorn" cars. They hate them.

Now MINI has learned their lesson and realized the unicorn cars are hurting the brand as a whole by reducing sale prices. Be thankful, maybe all MINIs will have less depreciation now, like a Subaru, that offer almost no options.

They told us about a base MINI in Iced Chocolate with JUST the JCW interior package with the striped seats (just take a moment and visualize that combination). The car sat unsold forever and in the same time frame they sold 5 or 6 base model cars in common colors with standard seats.

 

Driving Modes isn't a deal breaker. I've even found a thread where it can be added. My wife and I use it all the time, I like Sport, She likes Green. Gives us a chance to fight about me screwing up her fuel economy.

I spent hours monkeying around with the 2018 configurator trying to get the best value in a 30k loaded 3-cylinder. Everything was a compromise to get to 30k. Now it's easy. Choose the Iconic Package, pick your options within the Iconic Package and it's done. No compromises, with the exception of Driving Modes. Chances are I could configure an S model with Driving Modes for about the same price as a loaded 3-cylinder in exchange for something I care less about, like the navigation package.

 

I don't think you understand. You keep going back to "the dealer doesn't like the way the car is optioned". Or, "that group of options make the car less desirable for resale". When the dealer, or another owner is paying for the car I will start to care about what they/you think about how it should be optioned. When I buy a car I'm thinking about how I want it to be built. I'm not buying it with the next owner down the line or the dealer in mind. They don't factor into a car that I am buying for myself. And I'm sure as heck not thinking about the overall resale value of used Minis when I'm buying.

If it was a lease car I could understand it, because then I obviously don't intend to keep the car for the long term.

 

Please don't underestimate my understanding. I have been in the car sales business for 30 years.

I still think MINI offers more personal choices than any other car manufacturer at their price point. They are looking at the big picture. Eventually your oddball car will come to market, bring a lower price than the equivalent "popular" car, those results are collected and evaluated and the brand is devalued as a whole. Actually, I think it is your attitude, and that of American entitlement, of not considering resale value that has caused this in the first place. Notice that no other market in the world has the same package structure as the USA cars. What does that tell you? Go to the German configurator, every single option is a la carte. Why is that? Maybe because Germans wouldn't order a car that was too unique to resell?

MINI isn't changing the ordering for the fun of it. It's not profitable to offer unlimited choices. All of us dumb-*** Americans ordered customized stupid cars that nobody else wanted and the resale dropped and devalued the brand as a whole.

My local MINI dealer told me just last night that 50% of their sales comes from used cars. Read what I wrote about the Iced Chocolate MINI that someone ordered that they eventually had to give away. Your individualized custom oddball configuration is hurting the brand as a whole. If MINI doesn't offer enough options then move to the next guy, which there is none at the price points MINI offers.

 

I agree with what you are saying, I think the same way.

Except dealers are about moving inventory and having an oddball car sit is against the rules of making money. Not sure why you would argue that point. Usually the oddball car is going to be because a customer ordered it and failed to complete the transaction. When I tried to order an oddball the car the dealer pushed back on my order, I went and bought a used MINI from Audi dealer. Take that Mini of Portland!

 

Considering this has been their business model for 16 of the last 17 model years I would beg to differ. If anything has hurt their resale value it was from outsourcing the motors for the 2nd Gen cars to Peugeot. That and Mini's brilliant idea to make 15K miles the interval for oil changes in the N14 engine.

 

Yes, I will agree with you. Reliability has hurt the brand, but now we're talking 3rd generation. In conjunction with improving build quality, MINI is trying to improve resale value. Maybe that isn't important to you, but to many people, resale value is very important. Many manufacturers use it in their advertising. If people didn't care, they wouldn't bother to exploit it.

AND, I will say again, even with the new ordering structure, MINI still offers more customization than any other manufacturer at their price point BY FAR!!!

 

Okay, maybe you will pay a little more than you wanted for an option package than get EXACTLY what you wanted, but you will get close. Chances are MINIs configuration will net you more in the long run. Maybe you will pay a little more than you wanted, but when you go to sell or trade your car the money will come back to you.

I'm not going to cry because I can't get Driving Modes. Apparently most people driving a 3-cylinder don't care. I'm not rich enough to ignore what my car will be worth when I am done with it. I want a good resale or trade or at least a quick sale. MINI is just guiding you in what their sales information has showed is the most desirable direction. Thanks.

I sold used cars for over 20 years. I never lost a sale because a car had too many options.

Once again, please point me in the direction of any manufacturer, at the same price point, that offers as many choices as MINI. Maybe it is less than in the past, but it is still more than anybody else.

 

As for the color choices, MINI is offering red, silver (Moonwalk is somewhat dark metallic silver) white, and black, the most popular colors for free on the base models. If they wanted to screw people over they'd offer purple, brown, pink, and olive drab.

 

No, I'll end up completely losing the extra $1500 I paid as part of either the Signature or Iconic lines that covers the included automatic transmission and I optioned a manual. That's a sunk cost that I had to pay to get the vehicle with the drivetrain I wanted that will never be recouped at trade-in.

I've never had a trade where an option or package was worth more than what I originally paid for it. Options and packages are always worth less than what you paid for them when you trade-in. If you didn't want them in the first place, you lost money when you had to purchase them and then you lose even more money on them when they're worth pennies on the dollar of the price you paid for them new.

Of course not, options on used vehicles are worth a fraction of what they were new, the original owner took the hit at trade-in and the secondary buyer is reaping the benefit.

That's why people are prepared to pay a premium price for the Mini product. Mini isn't competing in the bang for the buck department. They're more expensive then everything else in their class, which is why having the myriad of configurations they offer is essential for bringing in buyers.

The fact that you can get an X1 xDrive28i for less than a Countryman JCW when they share the same platform and drivetrain means the Countryman better offer something that I can't get in the X1. That's where the ability to get options like a manual transmission and all of the configurations that are available from a factory order come into play.