I'm sure many of you here on NAM have their favorite vendor especially if you have been a MINI owner for several years. Since I'm a newbie to the World of MINI I am in the unenviable position of separating the good from the well... not so good. Anyway, thought I would share my experience with some vendors so far, one of which will probably become my favorite go-to for parts.

Background: I don't ever leave a car stock. I think there is always room for improvment over what the factory produces. I spent the night before buying my MINI on line searching for forums and then searching those forums for the typical mods available for the car. Car forum folks love to list their mods in their sigs. I noted a lot of common mentions such as WayMotorWorks, NM, Alta, Out Motoring, Defenders of Speed, Mini-Mania etc. So I jumped in the "deep end" and ordered a few things from some of them.

I got the chrome belt line trim black-out kit from Out Motoring. That was a straightforward experience; placed the order on-line and within minutes received the order processed e-mail. That was followed up the next day with a UPS tracking notification. My order arrived as promised exactly as described.

Yesterday I ordered a CAI and few other items from DoS. This, so far, has NOT been a straight forward experience. I'll reserve further comment until later but so far I'm NOT impressed.

Yesterday I also placed an order with WMW. Before placing the order I spent several minutes with Way asking dumb newbie questions about MINI products and parts. Way was very down to earth and patient with me, taking the time to go into great detail about mods for the car. I was really impressed. What impressed me more though was the immediate responses to either e-mail or phone call voice mail. I even made a last minute addition to my order and Way made the change without any issue. After my order was processed I got an update from the website followed shortly after with a notification from that my order was shipped and confirmed with a tracking notification from UPS.

WayMotorWorks is AWESOME and so far is my number one vendor choice for MINI mods.

YVMV

 

I've had excellent service from OutMotoring.com, and good, although not outstanding, service from Mini Madness.

I have made 2 order with OutMotoring, and the first was shipped and arrived quickly. The second order was for a DT Bypass Valve. I received a call later the same day and was informed that he was out of stock of the valve. Instead of waiting till he got more, he got in touch with Detroit Tuned and had them drop ship a valve directly to me. Excellent customer service. I anticipate many future orders going to them.

I purchased an intake from Mini Madness, and the product was quite nice. The only complaint I have is that they were rather slow about getting it shipped. It took about a week from after I ordered it for them to ship it.

 

Yah...I've met Way at AMVIV and chatted with him on the BMW forums (MINI sub section) a few times. Great guy to work with on your MINI.

So far, all this praise hasn't gotten to his head either.

I would agree with your assessments so far.

BTW...I like the color of your car.

 

I've had great customer service from OutMotoring more than once, as well as Alta, EuroSport Design, and VAC Motorsports.

TheSuspensionSource has been helpful answering my questions about coilovers, and I'm planning to order from them soon

 

I have had great experiences with the following vendors. They are listed in no particular order:

NM Engineering - I bought a ton of stuff directly from them. Everything is high quality even the boxes the products come in. I dealt with Jerry Tambayong.

Defenders of Speed (DoS) - Excellent service before and after the purchase. I spoke with Clint on the phone a few times as well as trading many emails. I am very happy with the DoS intake.

Way Motor Works (WMW) - Way is an excellent resource for MINI info. The www.wmw.com website is very well done and they ship quickly. Enough said.

Outmotoring - Aaron is a great guy too. I bought lots of little things from them over the past 3 years.

Vinyl Styles - Lyle is great. I know this first hand. He came out to NY with his wife and they stayed with me over the weekend doing a wrap/blackout gathering at my house. Lyle is a perfectionist and a great house guest.

Helix - Eric and Ralph are great. I bought the Helix intercooler from them in a group buy back in December of 2009. I drove down to Philly in January of 2010 to have them install it.

Whalen Shift Machine - Doug is another super NAM vendor. His gear shifter is an amazing upgrade to stock. He shipped very quickly as well.

Craven Speed - Kellen and company have been great to work with. I have bought from them multiple times.

Morristown MINI - A great place to buy heavily discounted OEM MINI parts online.

Prestige MINI - I bought my car from them and have had it serviced and repaired there.

Integral Audio - Kevin Bennett is a super guy and super knowledgeable about all things car audio. He installed both his sub and front speaker Soundstage upgrade in my car. He is another perfectionist.

Aesthetic Creations - Mike has gone above and beyond for me more than once.

Now for the not so good.

M7 - I have the Vortex II hood scoop in carbon fiber. I also have the C-wing in carbon fiber. I would not recommend them or their products.

Alta - I have never purchased anything from them and I never will.

You should note how I am on a first name basis with the people from these companies. I prefer to deal with great people at great companies and develop a rapport with them. I want quality products and great customer service. When you buy things from these companies and you are having a problem... pick up the phone and give them a call. They LIKE talking to their customers.

-Steve

 

I haven't been a vendor for months now.
No idea why they still have me on the vendor list.

 

This has NOT been my experience. These guys are very slow to respond to inquiries yet quick to process your order. I was frustrated to find out that the order I placed with them on-line last Friday morning was first processed then I get an auto e-mail that my order was out of stock. I immediately inquired about it and didn't get a single response until after I found Clint's email in his signature block on NAM. Late Friday I get an e-mail from him that there was a mistake in the inventory listing and that my order would ship Monday (today). So far I haven't received a FedEx tracking notice. I called Clint's number (no answer, left VM a few hours ago and so far no return call ) because my account on their website still shows my order as "out of stock". So like I mentioned above I'm not at all impressed with DoS so far.


I totally agree. I called Clint's number (no answer, left VM a few hours ago and so far no return call ) because my account on their website still shows my order as "out of stock". So like I mentioned above I'm not at all impressed with DoS so far.

Arthur

 

The best vendors for me have been Way and his team from Way Motor Works and Alex from Tire Rack. Since my dealer (Mini of Pensacola) is a Mini vendor I also give them a .

 

Arthur caught DoS during a really busy couple of days and I'll be the first to admit it. He ordered his CAI on a Friday as I was in our online inventory system doing updates and upgrades. I emailed him on Friday to let him know that his parts were in stock and his order would ship out on Monday. I personally dropped his CAI and bulkhead at FedEx on Monday morning, but I didn't get a chance to email his shipping confirmation info until Monday night.

We emailed back and forth last week and I think that he's had a chance to see that customer service is paramount to me and that he called during an atypical time for the DoS. I'm sorry that email on Friday and call on Monday were not returned as quickly as I would have liked, but I made sure that your parts shipped out promptly and that I got your questions answered the same day that they were asked.

Arthur, I appreciate your straightforward feedback and hope to serve you in the future. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to email or call.

-Clint