I ordered my Mini from the Seattle dealer in August. They told me it would be about an 8 month wait. I was fine with that because I am waiting on an insurance settlement to pay for the car. All of a sudden we are into September and they want to place the order. Why are they so hot to order the car? Have sales dropped off that much?

 

8 month wait??? for what no one has ever waited 8 months

btw no sales have not gone down as far as i could see.

 

The seattle dealership has had a looong waiting list for several years now. It's the only dealership within several hundred miles.

 

my local dealership was able to put an order in the day the online prices were changed.. i was worried they would reflect the higher prices but luckily when they put the order in it was the original pricing... They actually put the order in just to see what the price would be as i wasnt ready to buy yet but they said that i could put the order in that day if i wanted to. I dont need the car till december so i told them they could hold off... now im regretting that decision... when do you guys think i should have the order put in to get it in december?

 

That stinks. Took 4 weeks to get mine here in nyc. Lots of dealers.

 

The Salesperson was probably hot to trot over your order due to the fact that the end of month is coming and he/she probably needs to meet their quota. If you are sure about the arrival of your insurance money, go ahead and order it now. I had to wait for about a year for probate to close then I ordered mine last monday. I cannot wait until she arrives!

 

I placed my order on 8/31 at EB Mini in Ca / Bay area - the week before I was in for a test drive, saw a couple there loading bags into a new PW mini - I started talking to them - they were from Seattle area and said it was an 8 month wait in WA and 8 week in CA..... so they flew down and drove home... plus WA was asking a little more than MSRP.....

 

Usually for the bay area from order date to taking delivery "averages" 60 days, but you should check and see what times are currently.

 

NW MINI always quotes 6-8 month waiting times. It usually turns out to be 4-6... but they don't want to give a shorter estimate and have the customer anxiously awaiting at month 4, only to have it turn out to be longer.

What will often happen is an MA has another customer back out of an order. That MA can then pass that open built spot along to one of his/her other buyers-in-waiting.

You can always take a pass if you were planning on waiting a while longer. I'm sure somone else will jump at the chance to order theirs early. Granted it'll still be (at least) 2 months before the car is built, shipped, arrives in the US, clears the VDC and gets trucked up to NW MINI.

 

Rasmussen in Portland had a two month wait, and lower fees, (no mark up out of package, and $175 above msrp) so I drove the extra 3 hrs, and bought mine there. I heard the Utah dealer was even less....plus the beautiful scenery. I believe the car gets built in a day....it's all the other stuff that takes soooo long.....worth the wait though!!

 

I guess I'm lucky, as there's two dealerships in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and while I haven't dealt with Mini of Dallas, Moritz Mini seems to always have a gaggle of them on the lot. A couple of days ago they had about 10-12 MCS with varying options and colors, and a bunch of MC and ragtops...no wait needed!

 

What does "no mark up out of package" mean?

So basicly you paid $175 over MSRP?

 

Yes that is the charge to cover the "free " floor mats and key ring that hopefully they will give you.

 

Between my wife and I, we've talked to a couple people that waited nearly eight months from NW Mini- I placed my order in June and production was just completed yesterday.

Back in June I was told there was an eight month waiting list also, but that was for every person they had on the waiting list and that some people often bump their order back a bit or cancel which eventually moves you up the line by a month or two overall.

About a month later I was told that their dealer allocation had been increased, so their waiting period would be cut by about three months, which is about right for my order.

Don't forget too that putting the order in doesn't mean you get your car right away. You're probably at least two months out. I got my production number a month before production started. YMMV of course...

 

The 175 Rasmussen charges is to cover the floormats, full tank of supreme, and a detail and the car's first wax!

 

Northwest Mini would charge $850 for cruise control..if you ordered it w/o the package it comes in...rather that , I think it was $500, or $550.This was back in June. Rasmussen kept the charge at MSRP for each item, in or out of the package.
No pressure to buy the package (things you maybe do not want or need), "because it would save you money." Northwest Mini actually claimed that Mini caused the price increase if you went out of package, not them...but not true.

 

Charging more than msrp for individual options? That's one of the wackiest things I've heard of. If the dealership wants more than MSRP they should put extraneous packages on or have a cash markup.
more for undividual options??

 

Really? That wasn't my experience. Everything (in package or out) was MSRP... just like MINIUSA suggested. They did originally want a $500 mark up... but that got reduced a bit, too.

 

Yes really! I had asked for a reduction closer to the Portland price, so that I could purchase it there....I told them about it...and they said they were not allowed to lower it. They said the packages were less and individual item prices had been raised.

 

well mine moved to "scheduled for production" late saturday... how long does it last in this period? im soooo excited!!!

 

I know there are many people out west who will order a car from Chicago and then fly out to get it and drive it back, and often find it's cheaper after the markups and you get it faster. Go figure.

Might be a fun way to get to know your new baby, although all those highway miles are not a great idea during run in. Gotta move up and down the RPM scale!!

 

It's the end of the month, every dealer wants to squeeze as much as they can in before the month changes. It boosts their incentives. Gives you leverage to get a better deal if you buy toward the end of a month.