Looking in to getting a mini and wondering about sales and service strengths and weaknesses at area dealers (Warwick, Boston, Peabody). Thanks much.

 

Peabody/bedford nh both have the same owner...generally a good reputation.
boston-herb chambers...pretty spotty.
RI Mostly good stuff...especially the parts department!! No real experience with their service dept...nice facility though....
And remember the "local" indy shop....Greasysgarage!! Does great work for out of warrenty stuff and many mods too!!

 

can we ask why?
Interesting first post....
Doing market research?

 

No I actually intend to get a mini in the next few wks and have been lurking on the board for awhile reading about choices (justa or s, sunroof or not, manual v auto etc). I've test driven a couple but haven't gotten into nitty gritty discussions with any of the dealers yet and need to figure out where (with whom) to move forward.

 

Ideally I'd like to buy from the same dealer I will use for service going forward.

Does anybody in mini-land sell much below MSRP or is that just the price we pay for a "hot" car and a limited supply of dealers?

 

You can buy a new one at ANY DEALER....the servicing (underwarrenty) can be done at any other mini dealer....
So buy on price....
Service....have been very fortunate in my mini ownership..very little dealer interaction.
Mini of peabody was VERY good to work with..actually very proactive in getting servive bulitins and campains done when i was in for normal service..then letting me know after the free oil change they "did extra work...to ensure future relibility"..pretty minor stuff, but a saved trip or issue is worth big point to me.....so i liked them. But for any dealer, they are $$ per hour, and i found Greasysgarage to be faster, better, cheaper for all nonwarrenty work....they are a mini centric indepandent garage.

 

I got two MINIs from Peabody, but I had a problem with the second purchase (misunderstanding about tyres that I couldn't get sorted out) so the current cars are from Warwick. It's about the same distance from where I live, and the traffic is way better.

I was always happy with Peabody service department, they went above and beyond a couple of times. Warwick is good, but I've only ever needed routine warranty stuff from them so I can't comment on anything more difficult.

 

After the back-and-forth in this thread I tried making a post in aNother formum to get advice about build-order choices (wheel size, etc.) but got notice that my posts were sent to a moderator for approval and then . . . nothing for 24 hours...? Are these moderated separately? Hoping to get my query out there so I can make final decisions and place my Mini order!

 

Since my posts are getting through here I'll post this here even though it might make more sense in another category:

I am planning to order a custom build for my first Mini (hardtop) and would welcome some advice on a few choices. I've been lurking in the forum for awhile and have read up on some of these issues but it would be helpful to get centralized and recent feedback.

While the power of an S is seductive, I am planning to go with a justa in light of cost, mileage, reliability, no-spare/runflat issues, etc. I expect it will still be a big improvement over the underpowered crossover I’ve been driving for years. Am I making a mistake?

I definitely want manual transmission, cold weather package, no sunroof (gives me an extra inch or so of headroom, less weight, no heat, noise, or leakage problems).

Questions:

Standard 15" wheels or upgrade to 16 or 17? What are the pros/cons?

Regular seats or sport seats? If sport seats, cloth or leatherette (will probably get aftermarket seat covers in any event)?

Center Armrest? (I’ve always had one in my cars, although people complain about this one and maybe with stick shift I wouldn’t use it as much?)

Fog lights?

Chrome interior accents - do they really dress things up or do they look chintzy?

Anything else I will later regret not including?

 

I drive my Roadster S enthusiastically and in a mix of 15 miles each way daily driving that has stop start, back roads and highway in about equal proportions, plus some runs at the weekend, the computer is showing just over 35MPG (UK/Imperial gallon).
EDIT: That 35MPG I thought I was getting turned out to be because I'd accidentally set the language through the Config menu to English (UK) and that also sets the trip computer use (bigger) Imperial gallons instead of (smaller) US gallons. Converted to US gallons that's just over 29MPG, still not bad considering how muh fun it is!

The justa Clubman does more short trips and is usually lower than that, partly due to weight and partly due to the automatic I think. The hardtop (and Coupe) is the only one of the regular sized MINIs to have more than a single MPG difference in the claims. I don't think mileage is enough to make the decision for you.
If you can, drive both the justa and the S back-to-back, on mixed roads. Make sure you get similar suspension options on both to start. If possible start in one, drive the other, then go back to the first to validate your feelings. Once you decide on the engine, drive the regular and the sport suspension in that car, with the wheels you are thinking of getting. All of the choices have an effect, and comparing a justa on 15" wheels and standard suspension versus an S on 16 or 17" wheels with sport suspension isn't a fair comparison. You need to change just one variable at a time. If the MA/dealer won't let you do the tests you want, go to another one that will.

We have a justa Clubman automatic and I wish I'd got an S instead. At the time I wasn't coming from a MINI having had a couple of years off so the justa felt great versus my current car at the time. Once I got the Roadster S then the justa was not quite so much fun. Maybe a manual justa would be a different story. A manual S is about as much fun as you can legally have on public roads...
I think the 16's are a good compromise, that's what we have on the Clubman. The 15s look too small on the car to my eye, and the 17s can be a touch harsh thanks to the low profile.
We have regular leatherette in the Clubman, and they're OK. If you are planning to have some fun, the sports are definitely better. As for finish, I have half leather in the Roadster S, and I like them but I felt cheated as there is much less than half leather. I was expecting mostly leather with cloth centres, but you get mostly cloth with leather bolsters, not even leather headrests. If you're getting covers I'd probably get straight cloth so the covers don't slide around as much.
I had one on my 2007 S but deliberately didn't get one on the Roadster S, as I found on the 2007 it got in the way of the handbrake and a little bit in the way of the shift, and was up more than it was down. I don't miss it.
On the S I got front as standard, and rear because I was used to them from Europe and also to fill the otherwise blank location on the switch panel. The Clubman has neither.
Get the chrome, it's nice.
You should definitely get the Xenons. The regular lights are like candles in comparison. They are a really expensive retrofit if you change your mind later.

In the Roadster my only regret was the parking sensors, as the rear visibility is really not great. In a hardtop that shouldn't be an issue.

 

We bought our Pepper last year from a non-MINI dealer a year old but still within mileage for warranty. Herb Chambers has taken care of her since and has done well by us.

They do have the tiniest lot for service ever imagined (too small even for the MINIs) but the rumor is that they are looking at building a brand new service location a bit further out of the city.

We shall see how that goes. Pepper was dinged a couple of times in that tiny lot but Herb Chambers took care of both (one requiring repainting the entire passenger door) with no hassles. They really want to keep us happy.

 

bought my '11 mcs at peabody, pretty good experience. my mother bought her '10 clubS in boston since peabody didn't want to negotiate on sticker price (brand new car).