Look at the charges on the attachment below. Are these standard for all Mini dealers? To me it appears to be 1500 dollars in fees for 100 dollars work (or less) (I'm disabled and get my tags free). I was ready to order one, but after seeing the charges...not so fast.

• $695.00 Owner Protection Package
• $498.80 Processing Fee
• $199.00 Theft Deterrent
• $99.00 Tag Fee

 

Is this from a MINI dealer?

Ask them to define each of the charges.

When I bought Schultze, I had to pay a Processing Fee & Plate Fee, but not the rest.

 

I am not familar with most of the items you have listed.I have only paid tax and license with my purchase of my Mini.|Q

 

The only "standard" fee would be the registration/ licensing fees.In your case these are waived. Every other 'fee' 'charge' or cost is negotiable. Many are fees that the dealer will present as standard, but when challenged you'll find that they are actually not even required. If the dealer believes that you as a customer will not balk, they will just pile the stuff on. Most occurs in the finance office AFTER you've made your deal. They will pile it on and just wait for you to object! The best way is to make the deal with the salesman and stipulate that the negotiated price is 'plus tax, title and license ONLY. And when the next office down the hall adds crap, be prepared to bail on the deal. They will suddenly become able to get rid of 'mandatory' junk.

 

Owner Protection is most likely magic wax and a can of scotchgard. Tell them to bad but you do not want it.

Processing Fee= help pay for the fancy building if you will. Think of it as a big red kettle the dealer keeps. Tell them you will not pay it.

 

Let me guess - you are in Tennessee?

 

That is an extra $1500 profit for the dealer. If he insists on adding those charges to his invoice you need to do some serious bargaining to get the price back down to msrp or below. There are dealers out there that will order a Mini for you for less than msrp if you shop around a bit more. When I ordered my lightly optioned justa last Dec, I found 2 dealers in my area willing to place an order for $500 under sticker. You should be able to do even better on an "S" or a justa loaded with options.

 

<crickets>



Where, oh where, did the OP go?

 

Not sure, but I would be certain to ask a lot of questions. In PA we don't get all those fees either, only "extras" the dealer charged me for was title transfer(state fee), registration(another state fee), and PA Sales tax(another state fee, see the trend here).

I would ask them to define what those fees are and why they are charging them. If it is for services you don't want, or didn't ask for, tell them to get rid of the charge.

My 2 cents.

 

Thanks for all the timely replies. I am fortunate in that I can and will travel to deal with someone who will give me a fair deal.

The answer to that is yes. It sounds as if you have dealt with these folks.

 

What is the 'theft deterrent' fee?

 

It's the key.

 

No...it's "LoJack" I think, the engraved VIN# or partial VIN# on the glass...somewhere??!! Either way, "if" you didn't ask for it...DON'T pay for it!!

 

That 199 fee is supposed to be for the glass etch... and ys, I know what dealer this is, and can tell you that it is easier to just negotiate with the fees showing on the paperwork than it is to get these folks to "remove" them (the owner is a D -as been for years - but most of the employees are decent at that same owner store beside them). Without knowing what your trade vehicle is (shown as 2500.00), you can simply think of these numbers as having them offering you 1000.00 for it -2500 - 1500 in fees equals 1000 (and think of that as also including any discount from the sticker). Now is that a good deal? Don't know - what is your current car worth to a willing buyer (with you being a willing seller)? Do a bit of research on that value or consider shopping it to several used car lots (that will give you very quick idea of it's truer wholesale value). There is even a CarMax just down the road from them - and while they, like the MINI dealer, will not likely keep your car for resale, at least you can go in with a clearer understanding of the actual dollars involved. Get a clear understanding of what options and packages are on the car you want and do a little research on Edmunds to see what the dealer cost is (add back in the freight) - now add the $1500 in fees (that can include any tag you are suppose to get - or $99 more profit), subtract the wholesale value of your trade and offer them that plus the taxes. Maybe, if you REALLY, REALLY want this car, maybe move $500 over tht (work it for at least an hour - come up $100 every 15 minutes or so - do look at your watch and sigh before offering that last $100 more...) -just my two cents with apologies for the preachin' and length of this post! Last words, be prepared to walk away at any point and simply call Nashville or Greenville or Atlanta or...

 

Guys thanks for all the help. BChili you are right about the folks that work there, Great bunch.
I had already decided to sell my trade outright as it has some things installed that will bring more money to a specific market. I visited another dealer without the extra charges and got a better offer. I then put it out on the net. Most of the calls were unproductive, but a couple were good. I was up front with the 2 distant dealers saying that I would shop their deal back to the 2 origonal dealers I had visited. I also advised them I was willing to travel to and would close the deal that day if my local dealers turned it down. I took the deal to my second choice and they turned it down. I then went back to the origonal dealer and they beat the distant phone deal. The charges still appear but they deducted them from MSRP plus the additional I negotiated. It took some work and willingness to travel, but I am happy with the results.
Bottom line...I am a new MINI owner hopefully taking delivery in February. Details to follow.