I just ordered my Mini on saturday! I live in Redford (borders Detroit) and am obviously new to the Mini scene! How is everyone? What kind of things go on in MI for Mini owners???

 

Curious, I am in the market too and live in Ann Arbor. Obviously the only dealer in MI right now is Motor City Mini. I have test drive with them scheduled for Monday- an hour away but so far they have been snots and I am less than impressed. Is that were you got your MINI from? Experience??? All of the other dealers that are great seem to be out of state c 3-4 hours each way, trying to AVOID putting miles on my current car (and gas money) but don't want to be disapointed with Motor City or waste my time.

 

Who are you dealing with there? I had someone who treated me like crap so I found someone else there! He is ABSOLUTELY amazing! Before, I had Cliff Howard. Now I have Richard Martinelli. I ordered Saturday and had a great experience at the dealership. He showed me options in other minis that I was considering getting. He also answered EVERY question I had. (Which was a lot) He gave me prices for everything and was super nice the whole time. I even drove the mini around the loop twice because he could tell how excited I was. He also wasn't too pushy, didn't try to sell me things. I liked that a lot. I hope you have a better experience! Let me know if you need anything else!

 

Wow- thank you, I think I will be contacting Richard directly and letting him know I was recomended on NAM. Yesterday when I called to set up my appointment I spoke with "Brandy." She seemed rushed and not interested or concerned that I was a potential customer. I found her email on their site and sent her a couple questions I had yesterday c. 2 PM and still haven't heard back from her. I just really feel that as a customer or potential, we should be treated- well, the way it sounds like Richard treated you!

 

People seem to have a range of experiences with MCM. Mine went from good to horrible. I dealt with Adrian when I bought Lewis. She's gone now, but I had no complaints about her until the day I bought it. And then all the problems I had were not her fault and I sensed her frustrations as well. My experiences with the "service" department have been horrid. In their defense, Brittany is very nice, she's just not a car person and won't press the techs for information. Tiffany is very good at her job, but doesn't ever seem to asnwer the phone when I call. The sales manager and service manager ganged up to literally ***** me out for something rediculous. I called and asked Cliff a question once and he totally blew me off. Seems like a cool guy at a party, but wouldn't go farther than that. Brandi was nice at first, too, but got kind of snippy when I asked her some hard questions.
I'm sure most of them have just as low of an opinion of me and think I'm impossible to please but I assure you I am not. I expect to be treated like an intelligent human being and have my concerns addressed, not blown off. That's it. I never raise my voice or ask for anything unreasonable (which they have done) and I didn't balk at paying MSRP plus their inflated price for accessories and installation when I bought him. I had hoped to foster a good relationship with them so that if I had to deal with issues like I did it would go smoothly, but that was not the case.

Bottom line, my advice: PM me. There's a dealer opening in GR in August. You can order soon if not now to have a car when they open. I'll give you the manager's email. He usually responds within the hour. MMMC has meets all the time so you can check out all the members' cars. (www.michiganmini.org) Some of them might even let you take theirs for a spin. If you can drive a stick I'll let you take Lewis around the block - I work in Ypsi.

 

Yea I got the run around when I first started looking at MCM. Even when I first started emailing Richard, he seemed to think I wasn't serious about ordering. I sent him an email letting him know I mean business, and he took me seriously and was great after that. So just make sure Richard knows you're not just trying to screw him around. He's very young and extra smilie when you meet him! So far, he's made my experience great.

 

My experience with them went pretty well for the sale. They do seem pretty busy but still could be quicker to respond sometimes. I havent had any service work done yet but the one question I did have via phone I was pretty much blown off by whoever it was I talked to.

My plan is to have The Sharpe Collection in GR do my service once they are up and running. They have been more then happy to discuss my questions so like I said I am going to give them a shot.

 

I went to Motor City Mini a couple weeks ago, when my wife gave me the green-light to buy a Mini. I let them know I was looking for a used Mini (I have a full sized truck I'm still making payments on!), and their interest in me went from "marginal" to "oh, are you still here?". After informing me there were no used ones on the lot, I was completely left alone and no questions were answered. Luckily, I was able to figure things out for myself.

Once I found a used one, I was nicely treated and "invited" in for a $75-100 inspection to check out my used Mini because they were apparently concerned about me (ie, I had a reason to spend $ at their shop).

Anyways, congrats on the new Mini! I am still in the first week of of ownership of mine and it has put a lot of joy back in driving for me.

The cars turn on a dime and give you 4 cents in change.

Don

 

Well I may have just gotten Brandy in trouble- oops! After Richard was recomended to me I sent him an email saying someone on their team hadn't responded and seemed rushed on the phone and he didn't write me back either but aparently showed his manager my email and Brandy just called me- oops Anyway she seemed more than happy to answer my questions NOW. However, I just got a (prompt) email from Classic Mini in Ohio and the woman seems very nice -Layne (I am assuming a woman) anyway they seem willing to help me through the process and I could do everything via online and email. I'm keeping my test drive with MCM Monday (either way I still need to drive a MINI and we'll see how that goes. I wanted the car by July 12th- I go on vacation- but MCM said it probably wouldn't be here till late July- drat. I haven't even ordered and am discouraged by the wait!!!

 

I told him that cliff howard talked to me in a condescending manner too.... so o well. Maybe with enough complaints, they'll treat us like customers and not like garbage!

 

I've had nothing but good experiences (both sales and service) at Motor City MINI. The various folks that I've dealt with there have always been courteous and knowledgeable. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone.

 

Just deal with Richard. He does a great job...

 

I ordered my MY MCS on 5/24/-8 from MCM. I went there for an unscheduled test drive and did not plan to buy from them. Had a number of dealings with the dealership over the years and the last one was very sour (not the Mini end of the dealership). Anyway, they were fantastic. I dealt with Cliff and he was delightful. I wasn't going to order from them due to negative feedback from others on the dealership, but did so due to the helpfulness and knowledge of Cliff. We'll see how it continues, but he has been extremely responsive to me.

 

Nice to see Cliff was nice to SOMEONE. I'd never recommend him to anyone.

 

Heh, me either. But everyone has bad days, and I think we all deserve second chances. If he did his job well he deserves the sale. I hope you continue to receive good service during and after the sale.

 

I ordered my Mini in early May and according to the Mini site, it finally hit production this week. I also dealt with Cliff, but I knew what I wanted pretty much, so all I needed was a couple of test drives. I did not find him very responsive, however, once he realized I wasn't going to buy immediately. Even now that my car has been ordered, he does not return calls - I wanted financing info, how hard can that be?

 

I hate hearing that. As bad of an experience as I had since then, buying Lewis was at least pleasant. I told Adrian when I first walked in that I wasn't looking to buy for a few months, I just wanted to test drive and check them out so I'd know what I wanted when I was ready. She was totally accomodating, and kept checking in every few weeks to make sure I didn't have any questions or need anything. When I did have questions she got back to me within a couple days.