I'll admit upfront that I've never bought a new car before, so this experience (hopefully later this year) will be my first.

I had really hoped to order a new MINI & spec it exactly as I want, but I'm wondering if I might do better to wait 'til the dealers start to get antsy to move their '10s off the lot & make room for the '11s. To that end, approx. when do the new model year MINIs start to arrive?

I'm hoping that if I can time things right, I can get a good deal on a car that's only missing one or two things from my "want" list. If the price is right, the sacrifice might be worth it.

Thoughts? (and thanx for being patient w/the noob )

 

Log onto your local MINI dealer's site and see what they have in inventory. Our local dealer has a lot of inventory on the ground and several are marked "Special" under the price column. We also have two dealerships that opened recently within a couple of hours from here so that may be affecting them. Good luck...hopefully you won't have to compromise at all.

 

2011 production begins in August but in previous years they usually start building for Europe first, and North America lags by 1-2 months. My guess is that 2011 model year cars won't start arriving at US dealers until October/November.

 

I am all for saving money...but...consider this. If you finance, $1000 is probably less than $20 per month. Your payment is still going to be substancial. Do you really want to compromise for a few bucks (over what you would order).

There is no correct answer. Many folks would say yes and you may too, but I wanted to put it in perspective. You may only save a few bucks a month and not have what you always wanted. Spend wisely.

 

Just use some basic car-buying strategies... do your research ahead of time and show up at the dealership with all the important numbers (MSRP of what you want, Invoice of what you want... I had a lot of luck with www.edmunds.com for getting pricing details). Walk in knowing what you want to spend and don't be afraid to walk away if they can't/won't make the right deal. Shopping towards the end of the month (dealers have monthly goals, so they're often willing to deal more since one more car might net them a better bonus).

 

I'm new at buying a MINI also. But, a couple of thoughts:

- I just bought one by ordering it exactly as I wanted it, color, options, features, etc. etc. So far so good (of course I don't have it yet).

- On the lot for my dealer were at least 30 MINIs. All colors, shapes, and so forth, but not with the options I wanted. In fact, color was the varying option for the most part at the dealer, the other options only varied by a little.

- In my thinking since this is a MINI, you should get what you want, that seems to be part of the point.

- I've read a few threads on this board that seem to say not many people get MINI dealers to budge much on the price.

Good luck.

 

You can wait for cars "on the push list", but don't expect any huge savigs, $1000 to $1500 if you are in an area where there are competing dealers. Here in Salt Lake probably $500 on a good day. So don't give up on ordering exactly what you want unless it's really not that important.

 

November is tradionally the best time to get a deal on a car.

 

It definately depends on the dealer and their location. San Antonio dealers use to get MSRP without an issue, but then they built a dealership in Austin (an hour north) and it really has hurt their business. I just got them to drop $2,000 off of MSRP for my '10 Clubman S that stickered at $29,000. I was fortunate that it was optioned just as I wanted minus the seating surface I preferred, but it's good business to either put some money down or get them to come down on the MSRP. They were still offering 1.9 percent financing for 60 months too.

 

Houston dealers stuck to the MSRP only for a long run, but it seems to have cracked. A good friend of mine just got a mediumly optioned Clubman S off the lot for $1500 off plus the option package discount, unheard of when I got mine in late 2008. In addition, he got what I thought was an incredible trade in value, a car that their sister dealership across the freeway sells. A third dealer in Houston opens this week, should be interesting to see what happens as they are all owned by different dealer groups.

 

Shop and compare prices. I did with 2 dealers. About $1300-$1600 off a $30-32+ 2010 MCS convert. However, I ended up with the Laurel Edition ($34,545) and the incentive was very generous. I wanted a Mini from stock. Did not have time to order and wait. I'm really not sure if the time of the month/year matters. Especially today. Cars are not moving that great....Find a well motivated salesperson. Someone that wants to accommodate you without the pressure and Bullsoup.

 

Hmm, I remember a day when all MINIs were MSRP. Because of this there was no pressure nor "bullsoup" because you knew exactly what you were going to pay less than 10 minutes after walking into a dealership. Never mind that there was no lot stock, and in some places you waited months, even years, to get your car.

To me, that was a good thing.

 

I looked into a Mini in 08. Dealer was selling them for $2300 over list. Had stripes, LoJack, Nitrogen, security kit, etc. The salesman had a very good Soft Sell pressurized kind of technique but not offending and insulting like other Manufacturers sales people can be. Mini's personnel appear to be well mannered and aggressive in a positive way. They are geared to sell. My experience is the dealerships vary their discounts. My particular model sold for a few thousand more at a different dealership. So I say again. Shop & compare. It works.