spent the day in SF on Wed and I was really surprised how many Mini's I saw running around SF - or is it just becuase I have one on order - One thing that might account for the "numbers" = 4 dealers within about 30 miles??? Anyway, nice to see that many running around...

 

You weren't seeing things (or we both were.) I was there a few weeks ago and the MINIs were everywhere. Makes sense - small, zippy, easy to park. They get some serious abuse from parking on the street.

 

I may buy my next Mini @ SF Mini on Howard St. and head south on the 101 (& Hwy 1) back to Hollywood Hills. I hope they're a nice dealership.

 

i parked my car on Mission street for 3 years, and now my bumper looks like swiss cheese. Surprisingly I never had a break in, but just before I moved someone stole my registration sticker off of my back bumper.

 

That's why if I buy one in SF I'm doing so as I see the 101 just above the hood heading southbound on Van Ness. In SF I've learned to park the car at the hotel and use public transportation while in the city. I like Swiss cheese but not THAT much!

 

San Francisco is swarming with MINIs. When I walk the dog, I see one every few minutes -- this is not an exaggeration. However, it is interesting how quickly the density drops off once you leave the city boundary. In the surrounding Bay Area, MINI is still easily seen but nothing at all like the density within San Francisco itself. Leaving the Bay Area, MINI becomes uncommon and seeing one really gets your attention.

MINI of SF has the highest dealer markups in the Bay Area, I believe $2000 or $2500 for an S.

 

I bought mine out of state and drove it back to California to avoid the markup and waiting list. My dealer handled everything and I didn't have any problems with it. Might be something to consider.

 

if your looking in the norcal area you can consider niello in sacramento. Im pretty lucky that the dealership is 15 minutes from my house... some people have to plan roadtrips to get to their dealers. Sacramento doesnt have a ton of minis like sf, but its not that rare to see one. Or at least i dont think its that uncommon.

 

I bought my MCS from SF. Shopped in the SF Bay Area because there seemed to be a lot more to choose from on the used market there. I remember seeing a lot of them out there last summer when I was on vacation. I have an uncle in the area, which helped make shopping easier too (no MINI dealers in AK...)

 

I thought mark-ups were nil nowadays? Here in L.A. I've not heard of any lately. Is this still common?

 

All those MINIs were running around checking out venues for next years Magical Mystery MINI Tour 2008. This will be ONE BIG MINI BASH!!!! September 5-7, 2008. Come join us and have a great time on San Francisco.

Here is a little information on this event:


Magical Mystery MINI Tour 2008

We are looking into using one of the SF piers or a location at Fort Mason for the event headquarters. We hope to get a spot where we can all park our MINIs. We hope to have 24 hour security with "in & out" privileges. San Francisco has plenty of public transportation so it would be easy to park the MINI and get around SF via cable car, bus, Golden Gate Ferry, taxi, bicycle, tugboat, rickshaw, BART, etc.
This would also provide a place for vendor booths. It will also provide a visible spot of a large banner with the corporate sponsor’s name. This could also house a “live broadcast” radio station. We would likely use stickers on the Minis and wrist bans for the participants for identification and entry into the venues and activities

Chinatown, Ghirardelli Square, Fisherman's Warf, Coit Tower, Broadway, AT&T Park, Pier 39, the Ferry Building & Terminal are all within walking distance.

A Saturday nightcatered BBQ dinner followed by a concert on Treasure Island. This will provide quite a spectacular back-drop with the San Francisco nighttime skyline in the background. Should make for some awesome photos.

We are considering having a Sunday early morning "sunrise" run in leu of the midnight run. This will allow many to "recuperate" from Saturday nights "party" before engaging in a drive through the streets of SF. This would also be a good time for a beach bonfire and breakfast before the run. The streets of San Francisco will be fairly empty early Sunday morning which should make for a smooth run.

Daily MINI Driving Events:

We have MINI runs planned: Saturday morning to the Golden Gate Bridge, Marin Headlands, Mount Tamalpias, and the Marin Coast.

Sunday afternoon: A run through the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Friday/Sunday: A run to the Sonoma & Napa county wine country is also very close for those that wish to pay a visit to the wineries.

We have looked into this and there are MINIs available for rent.


Non-Driving Activities:

Giants baseball game at AT&T Park. The Giants will be at home for this weekend. They will be playing the Pittsburg Pirates. They have games scheduled for Friday, Saturday, & Sunday.

We have spoken with the Giants sales staff and can arrange a MINI Cooper group. Since I have season tickets and REME has been a group ticket buyer the past two years, we will be moved to the front of the line as far as available seating and preferred seating. The Giants can provide us with special “picnic” or banquet areas in the park. These would be either in center field behind the scoreboard or on the club level.

Other Non-Driving activities will include visits to Golden Gate Bridge, Angel Island, Alcatraz, Ferry Dinner Bay Cruise, cable cars, Fishermans' Wharf, Ghirardelli Square, watching Sea Lions, Pier 39, Russian Hill, picnic in Golden Gate Park, visit the Cliff House, Beach Blanket Babylon Show, the De Young Museum, the Exploratorium, The Metreon Theater at Moscone Center, Palace of Fine Arts, Golden Gate Park, China Town, Japan Center, Muir Woods, and the Haight-Ashbury district.

Publicity and Promotions:

Press:
We will contact all the local radios TV, and newspapers. We will see if we can get a radio station to provide “live” broadcasts from Treasure Island and our headquarters.

We will have T-shirts, CDs, hand bills and posters made up to commemorate the event.

Hotels and accommodations:

We are working with Marriott Hotels and Argonaught Hotels to provide enough rooms for our expected visitors. They have several hotels on or near the San Francisco waterfront. We are working to get group rates.

We will be talking with local SF restaurants/bars and will try to set up some “Beer Fest” or meals for our group. Gordon Bierch is a local restaurant which I think would be receptive. Also MOMO’s across from AT&T Park. Other possibilities: Hard Rock Café, Bimbo’s, Buena Vista near Fisherman’s Warf next to the cable cars.


Again this is in the planning stages but we are making progress. Hope to see you all in San Francisco in September (make sure to wear some flowers in your hair). This is the best time of year in SF, warm, clear, sunny, with beautiful clear starry nights.

Cheers,

Norman Nelson (Pooper)
Redwood Empire Mini Enthusiasts
email:norm@redwoodempiremini.com


By the way, there really are a lot of MINIs in San Francisco!

 

that sounds like fun. hopefully I'll be living back out there by then!

 

SF may be the only dealer in the Bay Area still with a markup. East Bay MINI was always at MSRP, and people have posted that Concord and Mountain View removed their markups recently.

 

When I bought my Mini, I talked to Sacramento and the MA told me (Aug) there was a 999 on Coopers and 1999 on "S" - EB has been straight MRSP for some time... I do believe SF also still sells for over - just do your home work and all should be fine... I did learn just today that Mountain View Mini says they are all sold out of their 07 production slots/numbers so any new orders will be for the 08 and they don't expect to get them at their dealer until late Jan...

 

This sounds like a major blast. I will keep my schedule clear!!

 

I bought mine at East Bay MINI in Pleasanton even though I live in SF. I didn't appreciate the $1500-$2k mark up when I could use that extra $ on the options and accessories for the car. It's worth the drive for me to get the MSRP and their superb customer service.

My boss went to SF MINI to do a test drive and said their customer service was horrible.

 

I have not bought a car from them, but found that I was VERY well treated by their service department, when I has some warranty issues with my 2003 MCs I bought used from a private party. They were also great about finding me a used (takeoff) bumper and grill so I could refresh the front of my car. Gave me a very fair price on the replacements and their installation. When an intermittant short in the MINI's electrical system started throwing codes, they found the problem was being caused by the Alta CAI installed by the previous owner rubbing on some wires, so they repaired the harness, rather than replacing it as suggested by "The Book", to save me several hundred dollars. All in all, I feel pretty good about them.

 

Try MINI of Mt. View better deals

 

When I bought Gromit in 2006, I shopped all the Bay Area dealers. They all either had mark-up's of wanted deposits to order. I bought from Niello in Sacramento. MSRP and no deposit.

 

Niello stopped their markups? That's cool. We bought our cabrio there and they waived the markup as we've purchased three MINIs from them in our family. SF MINI seems to be one of the worst in Nor Cal... I have not had any direct experience with them, but reading about it on NAM and the like... I would not do any business with them.

 

In late Aug, I went to Niello (Female MA) and talked to the Dealer - I really, wanted to buy a Mini and was tring to get it in Sac - Right within the first 5 min of talking, I was told about the mark up but they were willing to "talk" about it and if I wanted to order - it would take at least 3-4 months.. I had already been to EB and wanted to "shop" and look at other color Combo's - I told Niello thanks but I was going back to EB - at that moment she offered to drop the "Mark-up" I told her Thanks but too late - I really did not like the feeling - Plus I had made an appoitment for 8am and drove from Turlock to meet with a MA and drive a car - No one was there to talk to me until 9am - and then to be told "Mark-up" within 5min - not a good way of doing business. EB has been "stand-up" from the start. AS far as a deposit - I don't blame anyone for wanting a good faith Deposit - If I am going to order a Mini to MY specs - thats just business - What's $500 towards a $22K+ purchase??

 

i had a few bad experiences with MINI SF and their service department the first couple years I had my car. Also, the salespeople consistently ignored me everytime I was in the show room. I guess I didn't look important (or rich) enough to talk to.

However, right before I moved I brought my car in for service, and I had a great experience. They must have made some changes, and whatever they did it really left me with a good impression. I even got a letter from them the day I moved (as I checked my mail for the last time as I walked out of the door) where they offered to buy my car. (I had been trying to sell it for months before. if i'd gotten that letter a week earlier i might still be in SF).

So, my advice: don't buy a car from them. You can get the car cheaper elsewhere. Fly out to another dealer and make a road trip out of it.

SF is ok for service, Eastbay might be better judging from other posts on here, and from my personal experience, don't even think about going to MINI of Concord. Their service department has scarred me for life.

Hope my 2 cents help

 

Who was the MA? The only female they have there right now, is Crystal. But there was a woman named Eva who no longer works there. My MA was Wade, and I told him right off we'd been shopping around, and wanted MSRP. I did order, but it was only six weeks from that to delivery.

 

I know we are way off topic here but I do believe her name was Crystal but not 100% - I walked around the showroom for some time before anyone finally tried to take care of me that day - had a "not welcome" feeling from the start and the "Mark-up" comment off the bat was a surprise... I think her comment on "order" was to keep me there and to try and sell me a Mini off the lot - but thats just a guess...

 

Well. not entirely off topic, since we're talking mainly about Mini buying. We always have a nice chat with Crystal when we're there for service. Dark blond, nordic looking?

Anyway, it does pay to shop around. Sometimes it's the deal, sometimes it's chemestry.