There's no dealer in my city (Birmingham); so my choice will involve a three hour drive in some direction.

 

Look for a Motoring Advisor who know the car inside an out. Dial those dealers. Here in the Northwest there is very little turnover in the sales department so they seem to no the MINI inside and out.

 

Where are you located? That is the 1st place to start.....

 

Birmingham, AL. I've gotten service at Hank Aaron (now South Atlanta Mini). Global Imports Atlanta, Mini of Nashville, and Century Mini Greenville SC are options as well. Bought my last one from Tom Bush Mini in Jax, not a special order.

 

Give Amanda a call at Mini of South Atlanta. You can not get much more knowledgeable than her. She's been one of our leaders in the ATLMINIS for some time...plus I just bet she can get you a deal. I know I just got one from her last Monday when I picked up an 07 MCS PS/B to be used for mostly tracking.

Call

 

Take a vacation to San Diego! Go to Brecht MINI...they have a terrific variety of MINIs on their lot. Spend a week vacationing here in San Diego, meeting other MINI enthusiasts on the west coast, driving our twisties...buy your new baby, drive it home, and whallah! break-in mileage achieved.

 

Just my personal opinion, but I wouldn't trust Global Imports to work on my lawn mower. Not only have they been consistently rude and unaccommodating, but they kept my car for 3 weeks, refusing to repair a faulty brake caliper until the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration got involved and responded to my safety complaint.

I am in Birmingham too. On Friday I am going to the old Hank Aaron to test drive their service department with a routine scheduled maintenance on my wife's Cooper. If they pass the test, I will go to them for service because they are closest. If I were buying today, I would probably go to Nashville and buy my MINI from John Monk there. He has a reputation for being very good to his customers and is a true enthusiast.

Also, we have a great independent mechanic here in Birmingham. Give Stephen a call at Stephen's Garage downtown. He is great for minor fixes and maintenance if you don't have the time to take a day off to get a "free" oil change at an out of state dealership.

 

The former Hank Aaron MIIN is now Mini of South Atlanta. I've had service work on my 05 MCSC there and was completely satisfied...threw a slave cylinder while at TGPR last month, had the car hauled in to MoSA on Sunday. Car ready Monday afternoon.

Call

 

I've used Stephen once for a brake job and I was satisfied.

I've done all my major service at Hank Aaron and have no complaints. They don't seem to have as much inventory on the lot as Global, but that doesn't affect a custom order.

 

i second that...............that's who i bought my MINI from. he put up with me for over a year . he owns a great white on white modded MINI and also holds mod parties at his house.

here is a pic of his MINI

 

follow your 'gut'.. deal with whoever treats you the best.. also - take a look around the service dept if you can.. ask how long for service.. loaner cars.. stuff like that..

 

[quote=Yucca Patrol;1758547]Just my personal opinion, but I wouldn't trust Global Imports to work on my lawn mower. Not only have they been consistently rude and unaccommodating, but they kept my car for 3 weeks, refusing to repair a faulty brake caliper until the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration got involved and responded to my safety complaint.

quote]

plus one.

I've researched all the ones in the SE. Call each and ask what the additional fees are. Each dealer has some hidden costs that they try to explain as standard op. IE: Dealer tag fee, prep fee etc. This is on top of the dest fee.

I finally went with Hendrick Mini in Charlotte as they had the least offensive dealer fees and were very knowledgeable. I just rented a one way car and they picked me up. Call NICK!

Be ware of the dealers with the online incentives. I like Mini of South Atlanta, but they have a medium high dealer fee. They have incentives for their cars on the lot...but watch out. They put pin stripes on the car and charge you $500 for them (that's their angle). They all do it.

-s

 

The only add fee I was charged was the $499 documentation fee. If you are buying off the lot simply pick the car with the options you want that they have...if you see any dealer add-ons give them the option of removing them or leave them on but you aren't paying for them.

If you are ordering simply understand up front what you are being charged and you will have no problems.

KK

 

If you have a selection of good dealerships (nix the nasty ones) then see if one of them can get your a car sooner based on their monthly allocation. If not that, maybe one of them will throw in some free floor mats. If not that, some dealers offer certain perks to customers like free loaners. Are any of the MAs cute?

 

This is how I picked my MA.

 

Reputation and convenience.

 

i have nothing but great things to say about hank aaron mini, friendly and knowledgable

 

Having just gone through the process of checking out every MINI dealer from Boston to Phila. before finding the right one, I would suggest that you spec out your dream car, call/email for itemized quotes, scan NAM for the latest beta on how different dealers are performing, and then once your list is whittled down, find the MAs at the finalist dealers who (1) own a MINI themselves and (2) run with the local pack events. Oh, and make it clear from the start that you know that orders can be modified up to a week or two before the factory actually starts the build ... you will change things after your order is placed... for sure!

 

Amanda is the tops; she knows the most and is also part of the Mini community at large.
From her card:
678-479-4666
aharwood@sonsautogroup.com

 

[QUOTE=Yucca Patrol;1758547]

I would probably go to Nashville and buy my MINI from John Monk there. He has a reputation for being very good to his customers and is a true enthusiast.

I'm up the road in Huntsville. Nothing but praise for Mini of Nashville. Richey Schafer was my MA. I'd go there again.

 

I live in Charlotte, NC but I drove to Winston-Salem, NC (about an hour away) to do business with the dealership there because of their valuation of my trade. Even though I decided to sell my trade to a friend, the Winson-Salem dealership offered $1,250 more on my 10 year old Lexus which means a lot to me. It told me that they really wanted my business.

 

Not everyone is selling for MSRP. I called around and got several offers below MSRP. It shouldn't be difficult getting $400-500 off. There are even those who have managed a $1000 discount.

 

Yep, me!

Granted that was for my second MINI, purchased within a month from the same dealer, and I bought off the lot. However I had no problem at all getting $400 off my first MINI which I ordered.

 

But we decided on a dealership further away than 2 others due to the fact that didn't charge us any kind of tax or doc fees. One place wanted $300ish for doc fees and another was going to charge almost $500. These were on top of sticker price.
I'm glad we called around before we placed an order.
My only regret was my MA...he was recommended by a friend, but I was completely unimpressed by him.

 

A the very least you should be able to get rid of the bogus documentation fees. Discounts are almost always available, it's just that most dealers want you to think they aren't .

You have to work a bit at getting a discount.