Gotta say, this was a first for me.

 

More details? Something does not sound right.

 

Not much to tell: I was shopping prices, was up front about it, and was told flat out "I don't like being shopped around."

No big. Just not what I'm used to.

 

Yeah, I had a dealer tell me he wouldn't show me invoice because they don't work that way (I asked several times). Then when I asked him to throw in some mirror caps to make me feel better about buying for sticker he told me to I should go home and have a cookie if I need to feel better because this was the best deal I was going to get... and that was the sales manager!

 

I'd hope you all both bought from other dealers then. Sometimes I think they forget that you are spending YOUR hard earned money, and that you aren't spending $5-10, it's $30-40k!

 

I was with my wife who mistakenly expressed how much she loved the car, it was only about $500 from my target price, and all the stars aligned with the right car, color, options, $$ in hand for down payment so we ended up buying Ginger. I justify it by negotiating with the finance guy getting free Extended Warranty, free ding repair, and 1% less on an already great finance rate (I did have to buy Extended Maintenance and Windshield repair which I was going to do anyways). But it still did leave a bad taste in my mouth for a few days... until the sun came out :-).

 

Yes, I've had it happen. They only sell to suckers evidentally, so it's best to walk away and never return.

 

I prefer to purchase a new car, out of state. That way they can't start to add all kinds of charges. MV, New tire tax, etc. I live in NJ and purchased a new car from California for 32,000 and that what I paid. I took care of taxes, title etc. I did not pay a cent more and got zero finance.

 

Jersey to CA ?! ......heard of "walking a mile for a Camel', but that's seriously out of state !

 

Yeah that's what I plan to do next time I'm shopping for my CM JCW.

 

I had a weird experience when purchasing my previous car. I had told the salesman that I was going to keep looking. I week later I went to another dealer to check out the same vehicle. Everything was good until the sales person at the second place learned my name. She immediately walked away without saying why. I eventually walked up to her in the showroom to ask about the car and it clear she was annoyed. I returned to the second dealership a second day and got the same treatment from a different sales person. The story continues until I learned that the salesman from the initial dealership had been calling the second dealership using my name and annoying the entire sales staff. Once the issue was resolved, I got a great deal.

Very strange (and confusing) experience.

 

That is crazy!!!!!

 

I've had a guy tell me he couldn't quote the price over the phone - like I'm going to drive two hours just to hear the price.

 

How much did it cost to ship the car to NJ? I'm in NJ looking at one on the west coast.

 

That's similar to what I was told.

 

Here in the sf Bay Area we have a competitive dealer market that benefits the consumer. To a point. All 6 dealerships usually price match, so it pays to shop around. If all goes well you can buy based on other factors ( freebies, proximity, dealer loyalty, MA service). I had the latter two so it was just about getting them to match another dealers written offer. I think for the freebie hunters you only get that in person and not in writing, for obvious reasons.

 

Never had that happen to me but, I have no problem telling some to go **** themselves. That is **** poor business practice. Then again dealers have to deal with this day in and day out with people hassling them about prices.

 

I agree Porthos.


My dealership is pretty cool. I know three of the people there personally. But I had first dips on a 12' Coupe S, they have been in touch with me about either the Coupe or CM JCW. The MSRP for the Coupe was $31k and they moved it all the way to $26.5k. I was so close to trading in my current MINI but I love it too much.

Regardless, there are some cool dealers then there are just a**hole ones!

 

Never had it happen to me but I have heard of this before. Bad sales service is really easy to handle, when the limit hits you walk out.

 

I must add also that I never again plan on purchasing a new vehicle and that my MINI is my one and only MINI. The only reason I bought my MINI at a dealer though it was not a MINI dealership was because it was a friend of mine that sold it to me.

 

Suxors in the OP's experience....

I'm within an hour of 5 MINI dealerships, had one MA tell me would not negotiate with an "empty chair" (I.e. via phone/email)...knowing full well I was dealer shopping. Then proceeded to tell me a bunch of inaccurate "facts" about the MCS, even though I clearly had done my research. My phone needed sanitizing after I hung up. Needless to say, I got my lil guy from the MA that went to the mat for me the entire time and got me a great deal!

 

I have purchased many new cars over the years I have found that the level of courtesy and cooperation varies quite a bit. Some have been obnoxious and condescending. Many have been pleasant and easy to deal with. I have had dealers, who gladly showed me the tissue and were happy to work off of that. Others have refused. I bought an Infiniti a few years back, where the dealer eagerly quoted me tissue price, over the phone, for a very hot car (Black on black G37X sport coupe), on the lot. I once had a Lincoln dealer quote me a price, in writing (email), and them shamelessly refused to honor the deal when I showed up that same day with my checkbook.

I have never purchased a car at sticker, or anything close to it. When I bought my Mini, I was told by the sales manager that they only sell cars at sticker price. When I thanked them politely and walked away, the price dropped by $1000 instantly.

The good news is that there are lots of car dealerships out there, and despite what they want you to believe, they are all desperate to sell cars. It's the buyer who is in control, 100% of the time.

 

That's seriously nuts. I hope you called the first dealership and reported that dude. Not that it probably made much difference, but that's just despicable behavior.

 

How about ordering a MINI - Do you have anyway to negotiate the price or MSRP. Can anyone shed some experience how we can same some money when ordering a MINI. The dealer is telling that if you order the car you are paying MSRP. Incentives only for the car on the lot.

 

Everything is negotiable, always, as far as I'm concerned. A dealer doesn't have to sell a BTO car at MSRP to make a profit. If Dealer A won't play, I'll go to Dealer B. I don't really care who makes money off of me.