I purchased my 2015 mini cooper s several weeks ago (driven very few miles due to crappy New York weather). Nonetheless, I have decided that I do want to purchase the extended maintenance plan (not the extended warranty). I am not looking for advice on whether or not it is a wise expenditure or whether the extended warranty is a more prudent purchase, etc. ... with all due respect. I've made my decision on the threshold question to my own satisfaction. Rather, I am looking for advice on negotiating the best price. The current rack rate (price) is somewhere around $1,700+. The best the snotty finance manager would do at my local Long Island dealership is to knock off $100. I have read on one of the sites (possibly this one) that some people had negotiated the price down to the $1,200+ range. Any ideas on how to negotiate a deal with anything close to this type of discount? If I purchase the maintenance from an out of the area dealer, I imagine that my local dealer would have to honor it? Should I reach out by phone for finance managers, send emails? Any guidance would be appreciated. Any referrals to specific mini dealership / personnel who offer good discounts would also be gratefully received.

 

Not telling you to buy or not , but human nature kicks in when you go to your local dealer for service and they see that you bought the car from them but gave the money to another dealer. You are going to be last on the list of priorities.

 

Extended service plan? What do you have to gain?

 

My experience, at least at my dealer, is not the same.

Both of my Minis came from elsewhere. One a CPO from a competitor, and the newer used from a KIA dealer. While under maintenance warranty I received absolutely stellar service and support. Even when it was obvious I had some work performed at an independent shop there were no issues.

My understanding is that the service department is separate from the sales department at most dealers, the servive department may have no idea where the extended maintenance was purchased, just that Mini says you have it.

On my newer R59 I am also considering the extended maintenance. It includes a clutch, and on my older R53 I go through clutches every 65k miles.

I have less than a month to decide...

Edit:
Forgot to mention that I negotiated a fantastic deal on the extended maintenance for my CPO R53 from the competitor, my favorite Mini dealer had no problems servicing the vehicle for me. Loaner cars, the lot.

BTW, extended maintenance for the R53 was 10 years or 100k miles. Not the 6 years it is now.

 

I would look very closely at what you're getting for that plan. I find that people end up money-ahead if the 'self-insure' for regular service, and even repairs. Let's say you get a plan for $1500 for, what, two years? What are they providing for that money? My hunch is to hold onto your money.

 

Thanks for the advice. Again, I am not looking for opinions on the merits of purchasing an extended maintenance program... Just looking for advice on getting the best deal. As I stated from the outset, I have decided to purchase an extended maintenance policy from mini. And, so far as checking what's included, the mini policy is uniform (no variation based on which dealer it is purchased from). Nonetheless, thanks for the input. Any names of particular dealers or persons at dealerships who offered a particularly good deal would be appreciated.

 

I shopped around in different states and found many dealers will not budge. Some mentioned there is only a couple a hundred dollars of room. Mini does put the extended maintenance plan occasionally on sale but I am not sure when. I ended up with a good deal when they had it on sale in June for $1,695 with no tax and almost 20,000 miles. You have plenty of time, since you can purchase it anytime prior to 36,000 miles.

I ended up purchasing from a Mini dealer in a state that does not tax on service contracts--saved versus buying it locally They also provided following est savings.


From a current MINI website:
Inquire today about how to protect your MINI by extending your maintenance for up to 72 months / 100,000 miles for only:

• $1,995 for COOPER Models
• $2,095 for COOPER S Models
• $2,195 for COUNTRYMAN and PACEMAN Models

I completed the transaction over the internet directly with the MINI finance manager.

 

Thanks TJANK, that is excellent information.

 

It is your money, but wtf? $550 for rear brake pads? $600 for front? Lol... Pay me 1/2 that, and I'll drive to your house from Maryland and do it for you.

Again, it's your money. But usually a bad way to spend it.

 

Advise #1: Take your time, shop/call around. You have until end of regular maintenance program to pull the trigger, and MINI does occasionally put the extended maintenance on sale.
Advise #2: 3x check that what you are buying is underwritten by MINI, and not some other 3rd party. Many dealers try to earn extra margin on substituting MINI program for some other "gold/platinum/diamond" package from Run'n'Hide Inc.
Advise #3: Do your homework on ROI. See what will be covered, and what limit (age or mileage) you are likely to exceed first. That will have significant impact on what services you will be eligible to receive vs. not.

Good luck,
a

 

I've seen this before and this logic only works if you don't count labor costs and use substandard or non-OE parts.

I just had my front brakes done at my local independent Mini specialist.

Rotors $191, (ECS $175)
Pads $101, (ECS ~$100)
Sensor $25
Misc $7
Labor $218, (2hrs @ $109)

Total $542.

Even if you do it yourself your spending at least $275 in parts alone.

The dealer price does not seem out of line to me.

 

$109 hour for Indy. My mech who never touched a mini did the fronts in two hours and fixed a loose hanging sensor, also installed my provided akebono euro pads and centric rotors for $70 per hour. Total $350. You don't need to be Mini fluent to do maintenance items. Takes a few minutes online to source the parts.

 

Sound like you got a great deal.

For comparison ECS sells a front brake kit similar to what you described for $337. ATE rotors and Akebono euro pads.
http://www.ecstuning.com/ES2762352/

Factor in 2 hours of labor and your over $500.

 

Yes, have considered parts and labor costs on likely maintenance, as well as likely mileage vs. the amount of mileage covered by the mini extended service plan. At this time, I am only considering the mini authorized plan (not after market)... may consider other policies depending on specs and ratings. Thanks for the valuable info guys.

 

just some food for though.
I'm a service writer at a German auto repair shop and the prices they gave you for work are WAY high $600/$550 for brakes?!? We would charge $322.50 front or rear and that's using OEM parts. I would expect most small independent european shops using OEM parts to charge about the same.
I could go on and on about dealers but nobody asked me. I would just suggest finding a good local shop and getting some number from them before paying for the extended maintenance plan.

 

My 2012 Roadster is also hitting it's 3-year maintenance period and I am also considering the extension.

I am not one who has the time, nor the desire to work on my car; the ideal candidate for the extended maintenance agreements.

While I like the chart that was posted previously I do not feel it is very accurate.

Based upon my experience with my R53, and what I have read here on this forum I believe the following is more indicative of what you would experience.

This assumes that you will average 15,000 miles per year, for years 4-6, or 45k miles total.

btw - I did have the 10year 100k mile extended maintenance agreement on my R53, and I got all 100k miles out of it, and it was worth the $1400 I spent.

Total is $2405. Given dealer prices vs independent this is essentially a wash.

The big gamble is if you can get the clutch work performed. From what I have read here it is hit or miss on if Mini feels your clutch repair is due to normal wear and tear or due to abuse. Abuse is not covered.

If this was 10 years or 100k miles like it was in the Gen1 days, meaning I would get more scheduled maintenance, I would say it definitely is worth it.

But as it is now I am not so sure.

Also, according to the flyer I received from Mini this past month the prices are:
Hardtop/Coupe/Convertible/Roadster
Justa - $1695
S/JCW - $1795

Paceman/Countryman - $1895 all versions

 

I'm in the process of purchasing my 2nd Countryman in as many years (hubby decided he liked it that much). On the first I didn't do any of the finance 'upgrades.' I'm pretty set against the Extended Maintenance Program as right now my dealership wants $2495 for it, with no negotiation room, and I have a great mechanic who I have taken all my out of warranty cars to. I'm wondering if anyone has done the Polysteel Environmental Protection- $795 for up to 6 years of "outdoor elements" and interior stains/rips/tears.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks!

 

Do not throw any money away on any of the "Finance" programs. They are all overpriced dealer profit centers! You already get 12 years rust protection through Mini.

 

That was what I figured... Keep the money in my pocket until I really need to spend it

 

I took my car in for it's last check before turning 50k and thus losing the warranty coverage - and while they had the car for that final "punch list," I strolled over to the finance rep and asked about extended service plans. I have attached his numbers, but they were essentially these:

The choices...

Anticipated major service I was told to expect by the finance rep...

• Brakes at $900/axle = $1800 for front brakes alone or $3600 for front and rear
• Clutch at $800
• A major inspection in 2017 at $600
• Sensors on the car that could total up to $600
• Bushings at $300+
• Filters that could total up to $300
• Oil changes, wiper blades, belts, etc all add smaller amounts which he says - with the above major items - will all add up to $5,000+ before I hit 100k.

The Extended Service deal...
Seeing the sticker shock on my face at having discovered the terrible dark side of Mini ownership, the rep then offered what seemed like the promising sound of a bugle over the hill - Mini's financial cavalry to the rescue. He told me that the extended service plan would only cost $2245 plus tax, easily cutting my anticipated maintenance costs in half - and he even offered a 12% coupon off of that price for $1985 plus tax. Gee - $5,000 or $2,000. Hmmm.... what a deal! Not to squander my possibly short-lived intoxication with this offer, he skillfully injected some urgency into the discussion. My car mileage was at 49,900 and he told me that the offer was void at 50,000 - that Mini was very strict about that right to the mile. Gulp. I wanted to sign right there, but since I was still consigned to the waiting room while my car was in the shop, I stepped away and said I would think about it before making a choice. I remember thinking that I would definitely be back at his desk, though - that my "thinking about it" was only going to be a formality of cautionary process.

About 45 minutes later, my service adviser told me the brakes were definitely ready for replacement, and the rotors were also within a millimeter of spec for replacement as well. At this point I was thinking this was definitely the time to jump on the service agreement offer. But then the adviser shocked me by saying that with rotors and sensor, the front brake job would be about $600 - a third of what the finance rep told me to expect. And I was like ... ummm ... what?

In one short conversation, the service adviser managed to expose a major flaw in the information a fellow Mini rep gave me, plus a major limitation of the service agreement when we discussed it further - that the power to pick and choose service covered was ultimately up to Mini, and that I was at their whim on whether they would either beneficently "overlook" or enforce the coverage exclusion on that fraction of a millimeter on my rotors.

Realizing my service adviser did not know I just spoke with the financial rep - I engaged him in a discussion of considering an extended service agreement without revealing that I had the same discussion with the rep almost an hour ago. We went through projected expenses and extended plan costs. His recommendation was that the extended service agreement would probably be a wash with what I would otherwise pay. He said it was even possible I could pay less by going "out of pocket" vs the service agreement. He told me that while the rotors were close to spec, they probably would not meet the bar for replacement under the extended service agreement - and he would have encouraged me to pay "out of pocket" to replace those as well. If I only replaced the pads, then when the rotors did require replacement, I would have already spent my allotted brake pad replacement allowance, so either way there would have been a significant out-of-pocket investment by me for the brake job with the extended maintenance plan.

Suddenly I was in no hurry to sign that contract.

My conclusion...
At least at this New Jersey dealership, I believe the extended service maintenance would have been a big mistake. At best, the finance rep was misinformed about projected expenses. At worst he was dishonest. I do not accuse him of either because I really do not know anything about him - only about the numbers he wrote out for me. I suppose that's all I need to know, anyways. But the fact that his estimate on the brake job alone went so far beyond the realm of exaggeration makes me question if it was an intended misrepresentation. If, in fact, that exaggeration was purposeful, it would be disturbingly predatory.

Another thing I did as I waited for my car was to call a few other dealerships. I was generally told that I had until 60k - not 50k - to decide. So even that pressure was off me, and I felt very comfortable stepping away from the whole mess - knowing my brakes were coming due and the decision could still be revisited. The next day on a thousand mile trip out of town for the weekend, my odometer passed 50k and I said a wistful goodbye to my warranty. Less than two hundred miles later, my brake pad service indicator came on with uncanny predictability (not that it would have been covered under warranty, but it sure added to the one-two punch of a kind of Mini experience they don't advertise about much ).

So I fortunately wended my way here to this forum and found a recommendation for an independent shop in my local area back home. I called and had a pleasant conversation with the owner of the shop who will do both my front rotors/pads/sensor for about $300-something - a third of the price of one axle according to the Mini finance rep. I think about that and realize if I had signed up with the extended maintenance, I would have effectively paid more "up front" for a lesser brake job that would have left me to travel on questionable rotors unless I was willing to pay more.

The extended maintenance agreement for me would not have saved me any significant money and in fact could have amounted to me having simply paid in advance for over-priced service. It would have left me at the whims of Mini service department decisions on what needed to be done. It would have kept me a vested, prepaid customer in the Mini service department, effectively shutting me out of less expensive independent service options.

I offer this post as a cautionary tale. Do your homework. Making this decision has nothing to do with being smart and everything to do with just looking at it carefully. I was ready to jump on this. Then I was suddenly very happy I didn't. And the difference was not because my intelligence quotient magically increased in the intervening 45 minutes. It was because I took a breath and looked carefully at the options. I ultimately rejected urgent deadlines or limited offers pushing me to a quick decision. And the fact remains that it was not very binary. If I had managed to talk the finance guy down to $1500 or less and really spelled out the servicing terms, I may have gone ahead with it anyways. I don't say this is a bad idea for everyone. Maybe there are no good independent options in your area. Maybe the service department does a stellar job and is worth the premium paid. Maybe spending say $1800 on an extended service will save you a lot by going there. So I am not saying it's not to be considered - but I did want to share my journey with this to the decision I made, and how I made it - in case that helps others.

I am attaching the sheet upon which the finance rep scribbled down his estimates and his offer (including an even steeper estimate for an extended warranty).

Lee



Extended maintenance offer and extended warranty offer (lower half of page) as written by the finance rep at my Mini dealership. The 49,000 figure drawn at the upper left was not a price but my mileage - scribbled as a reminder that I was only 100 miles from losing the opportunity to sign into the plan.

 

My recollection is that the extended warranty cost a good deal more than the extended maintenance plan. The advantage of the maintenance plan is that you will surely use the plan for scheduled maintenance. Whether you use the extended warranty depends on whether something that is covered actually breaks that is not covered by no extra cost factory warranty (which may or may not happen). I bought the maintenance plan, but not the extended warranty. Needless to say, neither is worth buying if you do not plan to keep the car.