Went to dealer today and they had a Roadster there (crappy pics in "Color is key" thread) and the sales manager said these will be a limited production run. Anybody have any info on how "limited" limited is. Maybe it's just limited to how many people order them or are they just making them for one year or something?

 

First time I've heard that. I've heard pundits say they think it will outsell the Coupe, with no mention of any limited runs.

Could he have been referring to a specific color or something?

Don

 

Limited by how may MINI can sell and if sales out strip supply limited to how many can be produced. MINI may make limited edition models of the Roadster but the Roadster model is NOT limited. The investment in R&D, tooling, new parts & marketing means the costs must be amortized and a profit must be made. MINI isn't making the Roadster as a loss leader.

 

The Dealerships are limited to production spots.

 

Even if they factory order you one? I dont think so.

 

The dealers are only allowed so many production spots each month for the different models.

 

This applies to every car model/manufacturer. MINI can produce about 240,000 to 275,000 total cars per year and can change the model mix more easily than most manufactures (except Countryman) to accomadte demand. It's very unlikely that any MINI dealer has ran out of production slots and declined an order (bump a spec model till next month if nessasary) on any MINI models other than true Limited edition models. The Roadster is not a Limited Edition model. Examples of Limited Editions are the MINI E (electric) which there are only 450 produced or the MINI Goodwood which 1000 were produced.

 

Maybe something is being missed here, I never said that the coupes or the roadster were limited production. What I said was there was a limited number of production spots each month for each dealer which is 2 different things. As far as limited production models the first was the the Monte Carlo Rally Commemorative Edition (MC40) http://libraryofmotoring.info/2011/09/14/monte-carlo-limited-edition-mini-then-and-now/ followed by the GP in 06http://gpmini.net/wp/introduction/. The most current limited production is the Olympic Minis http://www.autoblog.com/2011/09/29/m...dition-cooper/ and the Panel edition of the clubman http://www.motoringfile.com/2012/02/...pt/#more-22737. The Mini E was never intended for sale so it really isn't really a limited production and the Goodwin is a Rolls Royce build which is really a different bird too. The 2 most current limited editions were the MINI 50 Camden and MINI 50 Mayfair http://wot.motortrend.com/mini-mayfa...ival-4494.html

 

Was it possibly a sales manager trying to encourage a sale? My MA tried giving me a line about how the JCW Coupe is a very exclusive model and limited and wanted a 3k deposit before they would order mine.

 

Yeah, that "limited" part is at best a stretch (that dealer is probably limited on how many they can order in a given period), and at worst complete BS.

I can believe the $3k deposit though. To be fair to the dealer, the JCW is a specialized model that costs a premium many customers won't pay.

Add some options and you could have a very pricey car that could potentially sit on their lot for a long time before another JCW aficionado comes along should a buyer back out of the deal.

Don

 

What Don said, I had to wait 2 1/2 months to get a JCW production spot for a JCW coupe with 1K down. Any dealer that is telling you different is blowing smoke. The simple fact is they are trading productions spots all the time to accommodate customers.

 

They are limited to the number of cars they can sell. No matter what model.

If anyone can remember-The 2009 factory JCW was supposed to be "LIMITED EDITION" but they sold so good(still do) that that went out the window.

*****They will make as many cars as they can sell no matter what.****

**********It's not a bad thing, It's just good business.*************

 

I had already spoken with 2 other dealerships that week before going to this one. (The closest to work/home) They all said they just needed $1k down for a JCW. So I was shocked when they wanted the $3k. I told them I am not writing a check for $3k to be held up for 8 to 10 weeks while waiting for it to come in when I can go 30 min down the road to two others to give them $1k. This was after they fed me the line about being exclusive and limited. Then the MA told me she would need approval from the finance manager for $2k if my credit was good. Which again, I was only going to write a check for $1k. She came back and said she could get $1k if my credit was excellent.

So then we went through all the finance stuff, which I explained I had 1.29% from my CU so I wasn't needing the BMW finance, but understand the process. She asked about my down which I explained I was paying 50% cash. She came back about 5 min later and said that the finance team is all backed up but they would take the $1k and give me a call if there were any issues.

Phone call 45 min later, everything was fine and they asked if I wanted to pick up my check because they are waiving the deposit. That floored me. Mostly annoyed based on the whole previous conversation. Told them to apply to it to the car so there was money on it.

I loath buying a car at times.

 

Wow, quite the dance they had you go through. I dislike the whole "it's worth whatever the best bargainer manages to say it's worth" aspect of car buying. It's one reason MIN has often been attractive - you could pay list and at least know that no one was getting a better deal, or at least not a much better deal.

$3k does seem high. Sounds like maybe that dealership was just being a jerk and trying to get as much "float" profit as possible from upfront money.

My point was just that if times were slow, at a dealership in a small market, and a customer was ordering a very high-end JCW, perhaps with "unusual" options I could see them wanting a pretty good deposit as protection.

My dealer has, in the past, made it clear that although they didn't need any deposit at all for our order, there would need to be one should we order a car optioned such that they felt it would be tough to find another buyer.

Don

 

I totally get the idea of them having a buyer back out or not be able to get funding especially considering the current economy. When I bought mine in 06, the process was low pressure and just smooth. This was when there was maybe 1/4 of the dealerships and they couldn't keep them on the lot. This was just the first time I felt like they were putting their hand in my pocket.

To swing back to the actual topic..

Yes, there is a demand for these and we've all had to do some waiting, but they are certainly not 'limited'.

 

Well, technically, he is correct. The old Beetle was a limited production run of over 21 million cars....

 

My dealership has been stand up from the beginning, I was on there list for a roadster back in August I changed my choice to a coupe because of weather. I waited 2 1/2 months to get my JCW production spot and it wasn't until my car was in production that my dealership asked for a good faith refundable deposit. Now one thing that comes into play here that I don't think people take into account. And that is both of the dealerships in my area support all of the Mini club members in the state and view us as a different type of consumer then the standard Joe off the street. With that said I would say it is a plus to check into your local club for help and info on all fronts.

 

Dealerships that sell more volume get more "slots" to order cars.

Even large market dealerships like those in the NYC/NJ area have trouble "moving a JCW." My car was ordered by someone sight unseen the day that you could order a factory JCW back in the summer of 2008. The car is all loaded up at 39k. So along comes July 2008 when its delivered to the dealership and the guy can't get financing.

The car sat on the lot for 4 months until late November 2008 when I came along. They added a few items and had a price of 41k on the car. They wanted to move it badly. I got a great deal on it at 38k. This was back when they were selling all MINIs for sticker and they had to be ordered.

I loath buying cars ALL the time. I wish you could buy a car like shopping at a Costco. Just pick it up put it in your shopping cart and pay for it at the register. No BS.

 

I'd be in such deep ***** if that was the case. I am always coming home with more than I need and often no place to put it all.

 

I was told only 5,000 roadsters for the whole US market.

 

My MA told me (in April, may be different now) that their dealership was getting two Roadster slots per month.

 

Fine with me, keep production low, keep values up!

 

I was told in January that only 1000 were going to be built and, like spiney said, two per dealership, but only if they were high volume. The one here in town has three sitting on their lot. I got my Reef Blue Metallic Roadster traded up from San Antonio last week.

 

Same for me, at least for July build, only 2 roadsters.

 

Production numbers to end of June:

120703_120703 BMW_Group_US_Sales_Chart_June_2012_Attachment-192308.pdf

Looks like 990 units sold in North America YTD JUNE '12, according to BMW. I don't know if they've published July yet.