i was at my dealership test driving a JCW. They were having a meeting w/ Mini via tele-confer later that day regarding the new config and additional customization beyond what is shown.


In discussing the new options w/ the the sale manage, he echoed the used market being strangled w/ used cars that were too odd-ball to sell. The mentioned one they called the Ronald McDonald car, because it have every color of the clown suit as one part of the car or the other.



I'd have to surmise that sunroof, driving assistant, HUD and few others could be optioned off the car through customization w/o turning a car into an unsalable pariah.

 

I don't see how the new configurator would prevent strange color combinations. You can still configure something like an solaris orange exterior with a glowing red color line interior and malt brown leather seats.

 

That is very true.

 

 

That's strange, 4FQ and NYMJ are not listed as requirements for one another on the ordering guide. Doesn't appear to be a restriction on the configurator either.

 

I'm guessing the dealership told him that. Sales can pretty much say anything to a customer. Whether the customer takes the advice is another thing entirely.


Again, when I was at the dealership, they had another meeting w/ corporate about the configuator. Perhaps directives are coming down from "on high" about what to allow and what not to (or at least suggest).


W/ so many options for colors and trims, it may be too difficult to build an online configuator that allows or dis-allows choices.


Who knows.

 

I'm glad I ordered my 2018. I couldn't even come close to getting my car now, a BRG S with no sunroof, silver roof and mirrors, and various other bits no longer available. I needed to get the "7" package to get the silver roof. Maybe that package was a one year thing.

 

I'd want to know what they'd say if you want Chesterfield Leather Malt Brown seats in a JCW, considering the Malt Brown color line isn't even an option for it.

 

Likely would say black is allowable, not red or gray.



I see many cars w/ interior color options only show the color on the seats (some w/ a little color on the door arm rests). Base 2015 C7 Corvette is seat only all except gray (which actually had matching carpet).

 

It still doesn't make any sense for a dealer to care on a custom build unless it's a lease. Once they've sold it, they'll never have to deal with it again. If the buyer wants to trade it in down the line, they can ding them at that point for a weird config.

 

Most new cars make it into the used market sooner or later. The values of the car sales are collected and reported (where do you think KBB values come from, auction and sales reports). Oddball, unicorn, and clown car MINIs devalue the brand as a whole. That's why depreciation is so high and residual values are so low. MINI is trying to correct that problem by only offering desirable option packages for purchase.

 

I had been wondering since the start of this chain, why would MINI care about the resale value of the unique configurations. If the customer pays for it, why should they care. Thank you for the insight.

I still think it is more about the cost of facilitating options. It is cheaper to make a limited number of combinations. It is also more profitable to push people up to a higher trim level if they want something crazy like red mirrors and roof on a gray GPW (after they pushed contrasting roof and mirrors for years).

 

Can certainly see the logic for limiting options for leases, since the clown car comes back to the dealer. A cash purchase takes Mini (dealers) off the hook for the future sales on that car, however, where stats are concerned, resale of cash bought clown cars can reflect on Mini as a brand.



I know when browsing CR looking at % of value after X # of years, that figure is of some concern. Nice to see a 50% of better resale after 5 years than something in the 40% or less range.

 

A CPA point of view! Agree 100%

Probably also cuts down on production errors when they have less options and inventory to deal with.

I'm also of the belief that BMW will eventually sell off MINI. Seems like it isn't big enough for them to continue with. Maybe the Chinese hook up with EV will be it.

 

I continue to be amazed with the endless combinations available in the 1950s and the limited combinations available today from most manufacturers. In 1957, you could get a Chevrolet in 16 solid colors and 15 two tone combinations, there were also 20 interior color combinations. Now we get a spectrum from white to black with a few grays in between and one or two exceptions. I always thought that with computers controlling the manufacturing process, we would again have the ability to get more unique options. Instead we get fewer as fewer people order from the factory instead taking whatever is available on the lot.

MINI was the exception.

 

I can see the bundling of certain things like Tech and Premium packages, after all, that's what they did before. But not being able to change the interior of your vehicle without a package upgrade seems a little strange. Especially when once you pay your $2000 for it, you have access to all the same combos you had in years prior.

I still don't see how the new lines cut down on the options, they're still all there, you just have to splurge on the Iconic to access all of them. Other market cars are produced on the same production line and they're not using the new bundling in other markets.

I don't see that happening. UKL has allowed them to platform share between Mini and BMW to cut costs across the both brands. Without it, there's no F48, F49 X1, F39 X2, F40, F41 1er or F44, F45, F46 2er.

 

Part of what I like about MINI, and the reason I've had two of them, is the ability to "custom order" them more than most cars, short of Bentleys and Rollers. Still, there is very little choice compared to 60's American cars. When my parents ordered a 1966 Dodge Coronet, there were about 20 paint colors, 8 interior colors, 7 or 8 engines, different final drive ratios, etc. If they could handle all of those options when computers barely existed, why can't car companies handle color and option choices now?

 

This change is about streamlining production and charging people more when they go off plan. The excuse that imaginitivly optioned cars don’t sell may have some merit. I think the bigger factors are the less than stellar reputation for reliability that MINI has garnered, which takes some time to overcome (particularly in the used car market) and the fact that people, in the US at least, aren’t buying cars, let alone small, moderately expensive ones.

 

So it looks like they've updated the configurator after reading through this thread.

On the JCW, if you select Chesterfield Malt Brown seats you're locked into the carbon black color line. On the non-JCWs if carbon black color line is selected already, it keeps it, but as soon as you select the malt brown color line, it doesn't allow you to change back to carbon black.

 

I saw that, in fact, there are conflicts when choosing some interior color options. Can not add gray dash w/ brown seats and vise versa, etc. headliner, etc. Nothing I can't live with.