New Mini forums troll here...considering a Mini purchase.

Is there a consensus on the 'retail' price of a Mini, ie, is it the old "the sticker price IS the price", or have folks here been able to get that number lower w/ negotiation?

When I look at the number of 2013 Mini's on my local dealer's lot, there's nothing there I like. Are those the only ones that may be discounted? Because I'm pretty much thinking I'll be ordering a 2014, if I do it.

 

I paid full price for mine--I assumed it was just what you did when you ordered a car specifically for you.

After I was on here, I found that people were able to negotiate the price down in many cases. Sometimes it was just $500 (the dealer let them feel good about it), sometimes it was more. It sounds like the better deals are had when playing one dealer off against another. Get a quote from one, take it to another, take the response to a third, and so on. Which works best if there are several in your area...

Note that the 2013 and 2014 are completely different cars. Different chassis, different engines. The base model ("Cooper", not "Cooper S" or "JCW") for 2014 will have a three-cylinder turbocharged motor. The 2013 has a naturally-aspirated four-cylinder. The 2013 probably has the most bugs worked out of any 2nd-gen MINI, while nobody knows about the reliability of the 2014s yet.

 

The dealership I ended up at was a no haggle dealer, they gave me the price from the MiniUSA website minus $500 for a 2014 order. They did have a price beat policy, so in theory if I went to another mini dealer, show them that price and had them beat it, and went back, I'd have saved a bit (10% of the difference off). Unfortunately in my area it would have been several hundred miles of extra driving to play dealers against each other. If, like Slave to Felines mentions above, you have a few nearby, getting them to compete for you is going to be your best bet.

 

My local dealer in RI is having that nationally advertised 'Mini Promo' today from 1-7pm, but any perks available are thru the end of the month.

I'll go in a few days, when the rep is not trying to wait on 3 people at the same time.

 

Buying a MINI is no different then buying any other car - it's up to you to negotiate a good deal.

Depending on a model, those deals may be easier or harder to come by. For example, new F56 model is in high demand, and getting much off MSRP will be a challenge on either coast. Should be easier in Mid-West.

Start by researching invoice price on the vehicle (what it costs the dealer to get it on the lot). Then ALWAYS negotiate up from the invoice, not down from some mythical "sticker" or "MSRP" mark-up point:

http://www.truecar.com/
http://www.lotpro.com/cars/new/mini/cooper_hardtop/


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