Aloha folks!-

I had dinner Friday night with a good friend of mine who now lives in South Korea.

He is a civilian contractor for the US Military and when he saw my MCS he just about flipped.

His wife has been wanting one for a number of months but get this, the wait for a MINI in Korea is TWO YEARS! Owch!

I had a hard time waiting for a week to get mine prepped for pick-up!

Aloha!

JCW04

 

Two years?
I'd be an old man by then.

Can they import a used US MINI without restrictions?
Just buy one in Hawaii and ship it.

And did you ask how much MINIs cost in Korea?
Probably three or four times the cost of a similar Korean made car.
Aren't you glad you live in the US???

 

My friend Ed said he was quoted $27,500.00. I am guessing that is the MCS pricing. He told me that they were only being made available to US servicemen and he applied as he was on contract. I assume they are US standard vehicles.

By the way I have another friend who just got back from a year of active duty with the Naval Reserves. He got to spend his tour in ITALY!

While on leave in Germany he bought an '05 MCS and it just arrived here about a week ago. I'm dieing to check out his car.

Aloha!

JCW04

 

That's kinda depressing. I bet insurance is high as well.

When I was in London the price of an MCS was about $28,000 to $32,000 loaded and it seemed like they had more used "Cherished" MINIs for sale than new ones.

The popular model was the MINI ONE in manual and the Cooper with CVT.
MCS wasn't a volume seller due to high insurance costs and high initial cost.

And in fact when looking at MINIs on the road there were few MCS.

 

my god thats a long time to wait for any car. I dont feel bad now. for me its only a matter of weeks.
casey.

 

I have to e-mail my friend Ed. I wonder if you order today would you get an '05 in '07 or and '07 in '07. Wierd!

Hang in their Blown!

Aloha!

JCW04

 

You are right. Same thing in Italy. I do see several Minis a day, but they are mostly ONE or ONE D (diesel) models.

There is a road tax that is calculated based on the HP (KW equivalent) annually. On my Saab 9-3 with about 160 (???) HP, it came to 300 Euros per year, which is nearly $400.

I did not see as many Minis in the other EU countries as I do here in Italy.

As far as the Korean wait times, they may very well be for the BMW Military Sales program. I can tell you that the Naples, Italy "Pentagon Car Sales" was sold out of their entire '05 Mini allocation by December '04. Every once in a while they had a one or two extra pop up, which is how I was able to order mine.

The local Italian dealer has some in stock, but they're Euro specs/prices.

-Pete

 

what do you guys think about minis in thailand?

remember my first silk green/black cvt mini? i ended up selling that one to the owner of assagio's, who said she got it for her brother-in-law in thailand. the story she gave was that she buys slightly used unique'er cars for him over here and ships 'em up to thailand. he drives 'em around for a while, probably partly to showcase 'em, then sellls 'em for probably quite a bit more than what he paid total, including shipping.

if i sold my '03 cvt mini with 7-8k miles for $18500, i figure he probably got easily $25k+? especially if the shipping was like a few $K, like the sister said.

the other story is that used cars, for some reason, are much cheaper to ship and pay tax on upon entry into the country than a brand new one. that's why he only gets slightly used ones vs. brand new ones.

 

What is the difference between the Mini Cooper and the Mini One?

 

The MC has @ 115 hp. The MINI One has @ 85 hp. However, people have gotten large hp gains on the MINI One via ecu flashing. Apparently, the motor is the same, but the MOs engine is just detuned. Think of it as a stripped down MC

 

There is a 4 month wait in Korea. The dealeship can only sell about 800 this year. In Feb they had over 450 orders. The deliveries started the second week of June.

Due to the taxes, the Mini Cost about $30k and the MCS cost about $40K. They only sell automatics and thet are not US spec.

BMW Military sales should start taking orders in Jan 06. I am not sure how they will work as far as delivery.

I brought my 2004 MCS to Korea from the USA.

 

Have your friend contact me. I sent you a PM too.
I have my Mini here in Seoul......:smile: