I just got a call from my sales rep (Joel) at Mini Peabody - my car is still waiting for its allocation slot, and they don't have a close emough match for me yet, but he did tell me that 4 5-speed MINIs are available today. This dealer has been very fair with me - they sell at retail and don't make you buy tons of other stuff, and they seem to be nice guys too. If you're in New England area, and wan't a car quick, give Joel a call at 978-536-0088.

 

That's very interesting. Even though Peabody was my "local" dealer, I passed on them due in part to poor response from their sales folks but even more due to the fact that they were quoting me a 4 month wait on a Cooper and up to a year on an S model (which is what I wanted). Anyhow, I wound up someplace else... but now I hear that Peabody has "cars available on the lot" and this seems to be the story elsewhere too. e.g., My dealer in NY had over 25 cars available last weekend when I took delivery on my car. And these are all being sold at MSRP (I believe that my dealer in NY was truthful about this...and I can only take Ik's word on the story at Peabody)....so it's not that they can't move them due to silly markups.

So what does this mean as far as people still being told that they need to wait months and months for a car? What -- if anything -- does it say about the volume of MINI sales? Thinking back to some of the posts on this site about how long it will be before MINIs sell below MSRP, I wonder if those days may be a bit closer than we would have thought several months ago?

I'll say one thing, and that's that you'd have to have half a brain (or be an eternal optimist) to be trying to sell a used MINI at MRSP or above on eBay right now

 

I think you're right about the E-Bay thing. On Peabody having cars available, I was there this morning and I think they are all 'Customer Cancellation'. I brought my S there last week and it was a cancellation, mine was the second cancellation that I looked at and it was everything I wanted down to the color. I turned the first one down as it wasn't what I wanted. But it was sold the next day. I believe each dealer has a list of people looking to buy without the wait. Also, they don't tack on $3000.- to the sticker price like Herb in Boston. From buying to service, they were great.

 

In was told at Braman Mini of Palm Beach FL also had a waiting list of 3 months for Minis ordered to your specifications. The dealer told me they also ordered different custom combinations of Minis to be sold off the lot. I picked up a MCS without waiting, however, I had no choice of color, wheels, leather, etc. So far 600 miles no problems and lots of fun.

 

Yes, they are/were? customer cancellations - I should have mentioned that in the original email. Otherwise they're still quoting 6 months on new orders. Joel has been kind enough to call me whenever a cancellation is close to the specs I have on order. Unfortunately, even though I hate the long wait, I'm holding out for either a close match or my ordered MINI.