OK.. so I'm still about a month away from taking delivery but had a few questions you all might be able to help me with. (I'm trying to be as prepared as possible when I go to pick up my MINI.)

1. What additional fees/costs do you have to consider on top of your purchase price. Obviously there is the tax, doc fees, etc. Can someone tell me how much they charge you for these fees (specifically within the SoCal dealerships)? I'm trying to calculate what my total out-the-door price will be.

2. Is it worth it to get any of the additional 'protection packages' they try to sell you? I've searched the forums and it seems like the general consensus is NO to everything. However, I was thinking of at least getting the extended maintenenance package. How much do they generally charge for that? And is that price negotiable?

3. Financing: Will they match your financing if you come in w/ a better interest rate from a different bank/institution?

Anyways, I think thats it for now. Thanks in advance everyone!

 

2. price on the maintenance package is negotiable. I do maintenance on all my other cars (BMWs) and I can use all my tools on the MINI so I declined. I believe it only extends it by 1 year? that is what I recall from two months ago when I took delivery.

 

I took deleivery from SB MINI in Oct. '07:
1. I don't remember exactly what the extra fees were for or how much they charged but I know it wasn't outrageous. Call your MA and ask.
3. They would not match financing I had from another source (Capital One through Costco). I asked a couple of times and got the same answer each time.

Good luck.

 

hi booyun,i went to south bay mini last week to test drive a mcs. i'm thinking of purchasing one soon. were you able to negotiate even if was a little? or did they give anything for ex. floor mats?thanks!

 

1. There should be no additional dealer fees except for a reasonable "documentation" fee. This should be less than $100. Anything more is a junk fee and should be negotiated. **However, some finance companies also charge doc fees and these are NON-negotiable** Don't forget about title & license from Kalifornia. That will set you back around $350-$450 depending on the value of your Mini.

2. Never buy anything the finance department tries to sell you unless you really insist on having lojack. If so, the cost should never be more than $595, but if you are sharp you can talk them down to $500(+/-). If you are certain you will keep your car for a long time, you *might* consider the extended warranty since it can be financed into your monthly payment at the time of sale. However, be very cautious about what kind of warranty you get. About half of the warranties I've seen are crap. Generally, the only warranties worth buying are the ones sponsored by the factory. NEVER EVER buy paint protection, permaplate, teflon, scotchguard, or any of that crap.

3. Generally speaking, any dealer has the ability to match any financing you can find on your own (unless you get some super wazzoo government credit union rate). The question is ARE THEY WILLING to match your deal. Most MINI dealers will not. FYI, the current best rate on 60-month, 10% down financing I've seen is 3.99%. Best 100% financing is 4.24%. This should be easy to match with the Fed lowering rates again.

Cheers & good luck.

 

I bought mine off of the lot at south bay mini

I decided to get the extended maintenance (I'm going to keep the car for a long while) and it brought my monthly payment to about 489.xx from 450.xx. I think its around two grand? Don't quote me on that though...

Initially I wasn't going to because my payment jumped up a tad (a moderately sized tad mind you..) but having that little extra safety net, to me, is worth it.

I didn't even glance at the other protection packages. Except for Lo Jack.

NEVER saw a lo jack commercial until I bought my MINI...

Weird huh.

 

hi gjello..

yes, you can definitely negotiate w/ SB Mini...but I wouldn't expect anything less then maybe $500 under SRP. It will depend on who you're MA is and how your negotiating skills are but I'm pretty certain you can at LEAST get MSRP. I've called and visited other socal dealerships and South Bay seemed to be the easiest to work with.

 

Doc fee (varries), tax, title and license should be it. No dealer prep fees or anything like that should be tolerated.

You should be able to ask your MA *NOW* for the out the door costs so that you're not caught up in the excitement of delivery day and can negotiate them in advance. Also, if you want a clear bra (invisashield is the name they use for the 3M product) you'll want that on before delivery day, anyway.

The MINI extended service (not a warranty) has been discussed many times here. I highly suggest doing a search before purchasing it.

Also, based on my readings here, I did get the clear bra installed. I went with the dealer only because I didn't want to drive the 3+ hours home from the dealer without protection just to get it installed locally.

 

3. Generally speaking, any dealer has the ability to match any financing you can find on your own (unless you get some super wazzoo government credit union rate). The question is ARE THEY WILLING to match your deal. Most MINI dealers will not. FYI, the current best rate on 60-month, 10% down financing I've seen is 3.99%. Best 100% financing is 4.24%. This should be easy to match with the Fed lowering rates again.

Cheers & good luck.[/quote]

Thanks Trojanman... can you tell me where you saw this 3.99%? I've been looking around and I think the best I've found is 4.25% (which doesn't seem too bad).

 

Thanks for the info Caulyne!

So is the clearbra something that is visible? Or is it some thin layer of protection that goes over the front of your car that is not visible to the naked eye. And is that price negotiable? If not, how much does it cost? THANKS!

 

Unless my car is dirty, you can't tell that the clearbra is on unless you're looking for it. Think of it as clear vinyl that goes over the front end of your car to protect it from rock chips. Mine was $795, which seems average for dealer installed.

 

I have the crappiest negotiation skills. I went to SB Mini and this is how the conversation went:

Me: Are you willing to negotiate below MSRP?
SBMA: No we only do MSRP.
Me: Any dealer incentives to order the car through you?
SBMA: No. But we do give loaners when the car is in service. Many don't.
Me: Can you check with the manager?
SBMA: The manager will say the same thing. We only deal at MSRP.
Me: Thanks. See you later.

Other dealers also dealing at MSRP does not help either.

How you guys do it beats me. Maybe I will buy a book

 

SB is pretty easy to work with in my experience. Ask your MA for your out the door price, they will give it to you. I didn't go for any of the extras and the finance guy didn't push me hard on any of it. I had my own financing through my credit union which worked out great because they "cuddle" with certain lending institutions so they even took care of the paperwork.

I did get free floor mats. You do get a loaner when car is in for service. The whole experience was the least painful car buying experience ever, was even kinda of fun and I never thought i'd say that about buying a car.

Good luck!