I know of only two Mini dealers in Massachusetts, but there are at least five Fiat dealers , maybe more ... Why so few? They could use a few more in Mass...

 

from what I've read since day one

a core component of the MINI marketing strategy

low availability keeps demand high . . .

Is it successful?

Well, in my mind it explains the WAY over average resale value . . .

 

I'm in Oregon and there is only 1 Mini dealership here! Apparently our dealership in Portland, Oregon is also the closest for folks in Idaho and some folks in Nevada and Southern Washington so this one dealership is serving customers from at least 4 states! The service department suggests making appointments well in advance....my MA suggested at least a month in advance for planned maintenance...Yikes!! Unfortunately, the service department at Mini of Portland gets really bad reviews, partially due to long waits (apparently they consistently over promise and under deliver).

When I picked up my new Mini I off-handedly said I wished there was another Mini dealer in the state and my MA said they really love being the only dealer and the owners are hoping no more pop up.....well duh, monopoly! However, when customer service suffers as a result, there should be something done to ensure customer satisfaction.

 

According to the sales guy at my dealer he said BMW spec's that a potential dealership has to meet several criteria:

1. Must be able to sell 500 units a year,
2. City / town must have at at least one million population,

Exceptions can be made if distance to a service center is prohibitive.

 

About the same number of Fiat dealers as MINI dealers in the US. Fiat dealers are all linked in some way to Chrysler dealerships but only 130 are planned at this time. They want to penetrate urban markets. MINI is focused (in my opinion) on a slightly higher income and sophisticaled clientele -- evidence numerous MINI dealers in greater Miami, LA and DC metro area.

I'm very lucky to have a dealer less that 5 miles away and another about 30 miles away. Don't know if I'd ever have purchased a MINI if I had to travel hours to get to the dealer.

 

OMG!!! Thornphoenix....
I shouldn't complain then, being 50 miles away from the only two Mini dealers in MA. I could be living in the great Northwest...

 

I agree with you, Rev... There is a distance / time that is just too prohibitive ... I don't care how much you love the car... 50 miles, however, is still in play ....

 

Only a few FIAT dealers? But there's at least one in the two closest towns to us that have a MINI deaelrships and one in each of two even closer towns that don't have a MINI dealer. Hrm.........

But yeah, when I got my R53 it was 3 hours to the closest MINI dealer....

 

I was annoyed when MINI moved from it's old location (Four and a half city blocks from my home) to it's new, bigger location (2.5KM from home.)

I will stop complaining about that now. For what it's worth, it's the only dealership on Vancouver Island.

 

I purchased my 2003 MINI from a dealer 80 miles from my home. When I later moved there was a dealer 4 miles away. But they didn't have a good reputation so I drove 40 for service.

Now the nearby dealer has changed ownership; I will probably go there for my next purchase.

 

A three hour drive here to the nearest dealer. Now I use a great local independent shop and buy oem parts on line. MINI loses a lot of after warranty business here.

 

Fiat looks to add a 4-door and 2 Alpha Romeo models to their lineup giving them 6 models to choose from. Same as MINIs 6 model lineup. Fiat hopes to improve its sales and become a more mainstream brand, thus the large national TV ad buy. Other than during the Olymics, I don't remember ever seeing a MINI TV ad. My suspicion is that unless they beef up production capability we won't be seeing too many more dealerships in the US. Just my opinion, and I've been wrong before.

 

To the op...
You are forgetting the nh mini dealer in bedford nh...about 50 miles from boston, up rt 3.
Remember, mini is a pretty new us brand, has only 2 factories, and limited cars to sell....just a few years ago, with half the number of dealers, it was not uncommon to wait for 3+months for a car from tge order date....
comparing mini to FIAT is a real joke...lets face it, fiat is not a small company...they are giving huge incentives to other branded dealers that deal with crysler....(spelled cry on purpose). Building a quality car at a profit is hard, just as gm or crysler.....lol. 2 bailouts, sold to a forgien company 2x....that model is working for them......lol.

 

Bad attitudes about other brands, especially ones that have better world-wide sales and better reliability and ones engineered and built by the same folks who bring us the Maserati and Ferrari is part of what gives MINI owners a less than favorable reputation in the world of auto enthusiasts.

Love your MINI, but think twice before you make comments that are needlessly disparaging towards other brands.

As my late father used to say, "That's why they make chocolate and vanilla."

 

In general, are Fiats more reliable than Minis?

 

Can't say. While Fiat has gotten rave reviews in Europe, the US version (some minor differences) is new for 2012 so no ratings available. The 500 has been named "Car of the Year" in Europe.

 

My first car was a FIAT. It stands for "Fix it again, Tony."

I assume the reliability has improved since that model year (1972).

 

Not my first car, but my first roadster (which got me hooked) was a 1976 Fiat 124 Spider. Great looking car, fun to drive, but didn't want to start if it was cold and wet -- a condition pretty common in New England from October to March. Luckily my office was a block from my house because there more than a few times I was walking in the nasty weather. Oh well, what we do for our cars.

 

I live in South East Mass and I go to MINI of Warwick in Rhode Island. About the same distance as MINI of Peabody (50 miles or so). Herb Chambers is closer, but it's a royal pain to get to.