The car in my sig went back off lease a few months ago but I just ordered another JCW and I discovered a mistake in the configurator that I brought to my MA's attention yesterday and coincidently MINI finally fixed it today.

Prior to today, the MINIUSA configurator allowed you to build a JCW with the black headlamp housings, however, for some retarded reason MINI is not building the JCW's this way. Thought I'd let you guys know because I am sure there are some of you who already ordered JCW's this way and are expecting to get a car with black headlamps and you won't. Really awful for me because I ordered a Midnight Black JCW. Will update my sig soon.

 

only awful in that you'll have to pull the lamps and do the Joey Mod yourself!
You can do it!


So wow, leasing... I never really THOUGHT about leasing. I don't know if I even have the option, now that the car is on the way, but I'm curious: isn't leasing not cost effective? Or is it?

 

you can still lease.

Leasing works great for some people. Do you keep your cars forever? Do you trade them in before you've paid them off? Do you get a new car every 3 years?



Leasing typically gives you much lower payments than retail financing. Leasing works for me. It may or may not be right for you.

Forget about what people say about building equity in a car you buy. Most newer cars traded in at dealerships aren't worth as much money as is owed on them.

 

I hear that on trade in!
So you put some cash down, have lower payments, and at end of lease term you return it or refinance a new lease on same vehicle or pay difference?
You know I really didn't consider it. Could have made jcw an option for me.

 

Typically you have to pay a minimum driveoff at the beginning of a lease which includes the first month payment, registration fees, and a security deposit. You can put more down to lower your payments. each $1000 you put down will roughly lower the monthly by $30.

At the end you can turn it in and walk away, turn it in and get another MINI, or buy it out for a price you know at the beginning of the lease (called the residual).

 

Hmmm... for those of you that have gone the lease route, did you make that arrangement at time of order or did you just settle it when the car arrived (assuming you ordered)... I'm in for a deposit on the new car, but I know financing is subject to change, in buyer's favor, up until the car is transferred to you. Such as interest rate improvements and the like.

My instinct has always been to BUY, but of course, you do that thinking, well, this will be the car I keep until it's dead. Until something comes up...

 

The dealer won't care if you buy or lease the car when it comes in, you can do whichever suits your fancy. I do advise though, if you're a newbie to leasing, read up as much as you can on the subject to educate yourself. I think in general a dealer can milk a customer for more on a lease if they are not informed than on a finance deal.

 

My Motor Advisor made a note to me that we could find financing or lease that the decision to do that comes at the end and is our decision. So, in short, YES you could go for leasing if you want.

 

how so? the back end arrangement, or a non-competitive interest rate so the lease payments don't put much of a dent in the car's closing cost?

 

I hope this is not breaking the rules, but go take a look here
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=146090 on tips for a first time leaser. Figuring a lease is a pretty simple formula, but knowing how it's done before you're under the hot lights of the Finance office is always a good idea. MINI Financial is part of BMW Financial so I think most of the fees are the same and as that thread explains the dealer can mark some of them up. BMW Financial will have a base rate for each model car and the dealer is only allowed a certain markup but if you don't know that they will surely use the maximum on you. I have leased twice in my automotive life, the first time I was ripped off to the max, the second time many years later, I knew the ropes and had a great deal on an Audi I knew I would only keep three years.

 

I appreciate it. I had subsequently followed up on my initial research with quite a bit more, and determined that traditional financing remained my most sensible solution. At the end of the day, I think it boils down to my wife's comfort level on whether the CLubman is likely to be a keeper. The last MINI was supposed to be, anyway. I'm informed, and appreciate the assist!

 

When I ordered my JCW the configurator for JCWs wasn't set up yet. I asked for the black headlight enclosures and the dealer checked and said they wern't available for JCWs, so I got my midnight black with chrome enclosures. I wonder if I can order black enclosures and switch them out. It might be spendy, but doing the Joey mod looks like a royal pain. I've plasti-dipped my headlight and tail light rings, grill chrome, gas cap, and put blackout tape on the belt line. All quick and easy and looks fantastic. Going in next week for window tint. If I do the Joey mod, Harley dealers sell high temp black krinkle (textured) spray paint for Night Train engines.

 

That's fair. I often buy seconds on onerous mods myself...

 

I just ran onto this problem as well. My original jcw color pick on the configurator had a silver body with red roof, and now they won't let me pick that color scheme even though I have it saved in my garage & a printout.

 

HAVE YOUR MOTOR ADVISOR ORDER IT FOR YOU. ECLIPSE GRAY AND WHITE SILVER ARE AVAILABLE WITH THE RED ROOF. PURE SILVER IS NO LONGER AVAILABALE FOR ANY OF THE MINI'S THIS YEAR.

 

That's funny. There is a 2011 Pure silver cooper on my dealer's lot right now.


The configurator sometimes does have mistakes, but if you can't build it on the configurator, your MA probably cannot get it for you.

 

MotorMouth: The Pure Silver goes South in March. Same for Sparkling Silver. White/Silver replaces, (which I personally think is a poor replacement) Pure Silver and Sparkling Silver is replaced. I think that takes place after Jan. 1st.