Jalopnik has a list of vehicles in their "The Ten Most Outrageous Car MSRP's". The MINI is #3.

 

Well....they did get a regular Coop to over $55,000...

 

I understand how they did it, my MCS was $35 without all the options...I still regret not getting those darn heated seats

 

What??? 35k and no PFMs or heated seats??

 

MINI prices are downright silly if you don't exercise restraint on the option list. I don't miss the options on mine....it's still the same car, without the price.

 

The last R56 that I built on the website came to a little over $38,000, which is just too much. Better off getting the few luxury items you want and going aftermarket for the performance bits.

 

I am impressed that they got all the way up to $55k on a Cooper. When I paid $29k for my '06 MCS I thought I had checked almost all the options. Guess not.

 

I haven't looked at the prices on the new ones. My '06 MCS WITH heated seats (HB4ME ), and sunroof, chrono, but no leather was in the $27 range. Did the price go up that much with the second generation? I'm assuming that MINI/BMW figured out that they should bump their margin.

-Mike

 

Just add all of the JCW goodies and it can really get high.

 

Yup, for fun I just did another one, and only really got the stuff I wanted, but with all the JCW crap, $49,000+, and I didn't even get into the roof racks yet.

 

So they purposely tried to see how high they could option up a Cooper? That's silly...no one does this. Just because there are lots of options available doesn't mean folks order every single one. This is simply a configurator exercise...means nothing.

 

While still impressive, it's kinda silly that the criteria used by Jalopnik is to not select any packages, but instead order the same options a la carte to maximize the cost

This exercise would "prove" that non-customizable cars (ex. 5-series wagon which can only ordered with just about everything on it, including 4-wheel drive) are a great value, but cars that offer different accessories (like bike, ski, and kayak racks) are outrageous MSRPs

 

They are not even factoring in labor charges for the Accessories either.

 

This was my first thought as well. The companies that provide full customization will be penalized and the companies (like my wife's Cadillac that came in trim A, trim B or trim C only, no a la carte ordering) with package only pricing would be rewarded.

It's yet another example of measuring A and drawing conclusions about B... meaningless.

 

Well, the first time on the configurator, I pegged my Mini-creation at an eye-popping $39K. I bought a lightly used 1-yr-old one for ~$18K.

I don't miss those options too much... really.
(I just never get into someone elses Mini.)

 

They load the Mini with every single option available. What a crock of sh*t.
The use the Canadian website for the SmartCar, which of course will show Canadian dollars (higher number than US dollars).

This whole list is bogus.

 

ORLY?
USDCAD=XFeb 12
0.9962 : 0.9962

 

Ok, so I get that you can make a Mini...or any car....more expensive by piling on the options. But I have a 2007 Cooper with a few options (automatic, sport seats, multifunction steering wheel, cold weather package) and I paid right around $21,000 for it. I'm very happy with my options and don't regret not getting something. And my friends and family who have been in my Mini are both impressed by how many options there are to it AND they're shocked by how little it cost.

 

I love the closing comment:
"Just make sure you don't accidentally choose a Cooper S, because that'll make the $55K you spent on a 120-horsepower hatchback almost worthwhile."

 

mini's no criminal for that... porsche is even more famous for doing this sorta thing

 

I think its hilarious that he's painting the picture of "more options is a bad thing."

 

Somehow, "$55k" and "MINI" should not be in the same sentence, much less together.

 

Alas, that fine $200 meal in Montreal is now $200.

 

I guess that's the beauty of MINI marketing, and what they are going after. They do it so that we CAN have the option of making the car pretty much any way we want, but most definitely not that we should throw in everything.

I think it's very clever on their end (they make a pretty penny on optioned MINI, I'm sure), but as a consumer, it's refreshing to know that your car isn't necessarily like anyone else's.

Like I said, it's all marketing, but I buy into it.

 

My '06 full JCW, w/ many options, came in around 37K- my 2nd MINI, so I knew what I wanted and what I could live w/out. Looking around, for that money, there was nothing else new even close to as practical w/ the same fun factor, period. Several 2 seater options, but if you want to golf or haul just about anything, game over. Couple that w/ the fact that it will outperform most of those comparably priced 2 seaters, and the well optioned MINI's price isn't so outrageous.