Okay I'm ready to buy a new MINI S, I live in Northern California, can someone help me and tell me where the best place to buy is ? I'm so excited, I have owned a MINI for the last year and half, but now I want an S. I bought used before, so now I'm ready to get what I want. I love this car. Hope to get it before Vegas.

 

Classic MINI in Mentor Ohio. They are a sponsor of this site and Julie Saxa is a fantastic motoring advisor. They have great deals on shipping to California so you can avoid the long waits and typical California dealer markup above MSRP. Chances are that you can buy it from Classic, have it shipped to your door, and still pay a lot less than if you bought it almost anywhere in California!

If you don't want to ship it, you can make a little vacation out of it and go pick it up in person. Then you can motor home and have the engine broken in before you even get home!

Call Julie and tell her I sent you. . . she will treat you right!

This thread here describes all the things that Classic does for their out of state customers!

This thread lists all of their current in-stock inventory ready to come home NOW if you do not want to wait to order your new MINI!

 

Call Debbie at MINI of Murray (Salt Lake City). Fly in (cheap) and drive the car home.

 

I feel like a broken record since I have to post this when I see other people in Cali ask - South Bay Mini in Torrance California is a great place to buy the car. They sold the car to me at MSRP straight, no excessive doc fees/dealer prep fees or anything like that, and I didn't have to wait long for my production slot (that can be different for each person though depending on timing of course). I live in San Francisco and although it wasn't close by the distance was not bad at all - got a cheap plane ticket and it was a short flight, they picked us up at Burbank airport (much nicer then LAX IMHO), and it was a beautiful drive back to the Bay Area in one afternoon (we took 1 a bit, then 101, but you can take 5 if you want it faster but not as fun or pretty).

If you don't mind waiting East Bay Mini is MSRP too as far as I know and not bad peeps -I've taken our car there for service a couple of times and they have been accomodating and have not damaged the car (can't speak for Mini sales directly tho).

I'd say any place that sells straight MSRP, where you can pick it up in person to inspect it pre-delivery and drive it back yourself is a good thing - enjoy the process

*Just noticed where you were, not sure if Yreka is once day away from SoCal but you could use the drive as an excuse to visit SF overnight :smile:

**Last edit, if you are planning on driving the car back from a distance be sure about the weather conditions along the way, this time of year onwards can start making it less pleasant for a long drive in your new car...

 

Ditto that and eval's too.

I got mine at Classic MINI through Julie. She was very responsive and encouraging via email. And months later, after an email snafu had caused delays, she came through with after sales service information (note: both parts and labor of options are covered under warranty even if another authorized dealer had installed the parts). She was completely opposite of the non-responsive sales staff at my local dealer and the sluggish sales rep in Oregon. Several of us NAMbees shared a truck to the Bay Area for delivery at $900 apiece in May 2005. Meeting other NAMalikes when picking up the car was probably more interesting than going to a dealership. As for picking it up at Classic I was reluctant to drive the car from Ohio to California before it had been broken in, but had not considered how low the MINI's engine revs at 60 mph (unlike my previous car's 3500 rpm).

If I had known about Torrance MINI at the time I might have purchased there because it's a lot closer to where I live and driving Highway 1 in a MINI could have been a transcendental experience.

 

Mini of the Hamptons. MSRP. $500 to ship to Cali. Nobody is buying cars in the Hamptons in winter so the queue is short. Talk to Mike Dito

 

Ordered mine from South Bay Oct 18 with delivery expected late Feb or early Mar. Having it shipped to Portland is a cost factor as I'm unable to get away to drive it home. Mini of the Hamptons would ship for $500, but open rail in winter seemed risky. Classic estimated $1600-$1800 enclosed truck. South Bay's shipping estimate was $450 open truck or $800-900 enclosed truck to Portland. Be sure to factor in the "document fee" in the bottom line. I received quotes from $45 to $375. Now the wait!