I saw in a thread about Tom Williams. Is this a dealership in Birmingham that may soon start a MINI department? I'm in the process of maybe trading up to a 2005 very soon and it would be nice not to go out of state.

 

Yes, Tom Williams BMW has already started taking orders for MINIs, and the salesman is hoping to have a lot full of minis by febuary, when their official opening is I believe. We are in the process of ordering a new mini, and the salesman is calling about 80 times a day.

 

Sweeeeet

 

That's great news for Alabama.

 

This is just toooooo good. With all the other new dealerships opening in North Carollina and California, it is about time Tom stepped up. I know Tom is no longer the man, but the ownership. The same folks own Tom that own Nashville, so it had to happen. February is not too soon. We will have to start planning now to cover the place up on opening weekend. If anyone hears a date, please share.

 

A 45 min drive over a three hour drive. That is great but what about the really nice people and the Mini dealerships where we got our Minis. Do we turn our back on them? The service I got at Mini of Nashville when I got my car was so great. But if the ownership is the same as Nashville that is great.

The idea for the Opening is a great idea and I'm IN!!!

 

I stopped by Tom Williams today to see if there was any digging going on for a new MINI building. There was not but I did talk to one on the salesman, Julian White. He was a nice guy and confirmed that they would be selling MINIs in the Spring. He was not very knowledgeable about the 3 previously owned MCS's they had acquired over the weekend and put out for sale on the lot today. It sure would be nice if they would start servicing MINIs now. I have two recalls that need to be checked out, but I don't want to drive to Nashville (6 hours round trip) for these minor recall things. i jsut might have to call and suggest they begin servicing MINIs now if they have the technicians.

 

I spoke with Randall one of the site managers for the new store, He said they would not be breaking ground until late Jan. 05, and it probably wouldn't be until late May before it was finished. They can't
service Mini's until the new dealership is finished. So I guess we will have to wait until late may before we have any of our cuts and bruises healed.

 

I think that this is great news, but I personally have only heard horror stories from Tom Williams. On the BMWCCA webpage, all there is is pages of bad experience, one google search even showed a car being lost! I am glad that there is a dealer within a couple of miles that will start selling MINI soon (selling in march, servicing in may?) but I am going to be uptight about getting it serviced.

 

I guess the response there is to stay on their behind about getting it right the first time. If you don't have time to get it right the first time, how do you have time to do it over. They will soon find, if they don't know already, we can be a little particular about these little cars.

 

Well, it seems like the MINI dealership didn't happen so quickly after all. It's September 2006 now and it's been around 2 years since we'd first hoped there would be a Tom Williams MINI and yet, still, no such luck...

 

Nope, and it doesn't look like it is ever going to happen .

 

I talk to MIni of Nashville about this and they said at this time there will be no new dealers anywhere in the United states.

 

There is a post on NAM about a new dealership opening in Rhode Island so I would say the "no new dealerships" rule isn't holding true anymore. All I ever hear from one of the GA dealerships is that Tom Williams BWM's SA rating is too low & that's why Mini won't let them open a dealership. Of course I really don't see how the GA dealership's SA rating can be all that high. It really ticks me off that we can't get just one dealership in our whole state yet GA has 2 within a few miles of each other

https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75458

 

Mine goes out of warranty in 2 days - scr-w 'em. I'll be finding service locally if/when needed.

 

Has anyone heard word about a Mini Dealership in B'ham?
What if....and this is a BIG WHAT IF....the Tom Williams people knew exactly how many Mini's are in this town! .....and how many instant costumers they would have if they did open a dealership.

What if a Petition was drawn up for MiniUSA and Tom Williams, expressing the need we have in our fair town. Just think of the money that could make in this almost untapped market. Any thoughts or I just dreaming?

 

You're just dreaming. It's not going to happen, for a bunch of reasons.

 

 

We staged a pseudo sit-in at Tom Williams a while back & talked to the BMW manager. It all comes down to MINIUSA. Tom Will wants to open a Mini dealership & has a parcel of land set aside in his massive complex for Mini but Mini won't let him do it. We wrote letters to MINIUSA. We all got back a nice little form letter response. Bottom line it ain't gonna happen & they didn't really care MBE one day we will get a shiny new dealership but afterall this is Alabama & we are always at the bottom of the pile

 

Wow, thats cold!

'Well thats a lick on 'em cause they don't seem to have a clue just how much money IS in Alabama. Let's see we have a Mercedes, Honda, and soon more "plants" fully functioning not to mention dealerships all over our state.
But why do they have 2 in TN, 2 in GA and 1 in LA and 8 in FL! If I were a business person I would spread my product a bit wider than that. There's just no logic in their thinking.

Guess I'll stick with Nashville and make it a "mini" vacation when I have to go up there. Maybe get a room, go to dinner and a movie and make the best of it

 

The BMW dealership up here wanted one when I spoke to them in 2002. Though they weren't in the running like Tom Williams because they aren't owned by a corporation. I guess MINI, as Parrish said, does not think there is money in Alabama for a MINI dealership. Which is not the case. The dealership up here has expanded since I spoke with them to include Jaguar, Land Rover and Porsche. I doubt there will be a MINI dealer now as they have used the room they said was set aside if they were to get MINI.

 

When I got my MINI (at Global) last year and quizzed Jeff upon checkout, one of his many answers was that MINI was controlling the flow, and further dealerships weren't in the plan.

A Mini vacation does sound like a good idea. Took one to Nashville two years ago for the Finn Brothers tour, but it wasn't in such a fun ride. I Do need to get the steering wheel badge "fixed" again. Nashville could do it just as easy, right?

 

Somebody at the BMW club meeting this weekend said the Tom Williams is going to start to stock MINI parts

 

Hmmm. like OIL?

 

More than that filters also.