Well... pretty much. Well, kind of.
I went to test drive a GTI. Brandon greeted me. I told him I am interested in manual GTI's. He asked me if I have seen the new Rabbit. I told him yes and said I would like to test drive a GTI. I asked if they also had 4 door GTI's in stock. He said GTI's only come in 2-doors. He lead me to a 4 door Rabbit again.
Finally, we come to a four door GTI, which was an automatic. He asked if I would rather test drive the manual Rabbit that was right behind the GTI. I said...well....OK. Then he went inside to grab a key for the Rabbit. 5 mins later he came out and said he couldn't find the keys. During those 5 minutes, I carefully looked at the GTI and there was no way in bloody hell that I would buy that over a MINI. I didn't tell him that but I left while he went back in for the second time to look for the keys again.
Thank you guy! I guess my decision to buy a MINI was correct after all.

 

Congratulations, enjoy your new MINI!

 

Good call. Motor on.

 

why didn't you like the GTI? i test drove a 4-door GTI and actually really liked it. not as much as my MCS, of course, but i think it's a good alternative for someone needing a larger car for more people/room. it just sounds like the salesman you talked to was an idiot

 

The more I looked at it the less I liked it. I kept staring at it and it was just another forgetable car like Simon would say. MINI is not practical. I don't need a practical car. I have two little kids but I never need to drive them anywhere in my car. My wife has a 325i. I went to VW to compare handling and ergonomics but no keys = no comparison.

 

Send him an anonymous XMas card, a photo of you smiling atop a mountain pass with your Mini, thanking him for the recommendation. He'll be confused, but you'll be smiling.

 

Congrats --- good decision

 

The GTI is actually the car I would get besides a MINI....
I like em...

 

I had a somewhat similar experience, but mine included a test drive.

A friend and I drove up to Mountain View to test drive a MINI. I'd never been in one of the BMW MINIs before. I was expecting a go-cart drive. I was a little shocked at how high up I was (later found the seat was jacked up all the way), and how large the car seemed. So, I was having my doubts.

On the way home we stopped at the Salinas Auto Center and drove a VW GTI with paddle shifters. I'd been curious about paddle shifters since seeing them used in F1. Seemed like it might be fun. Definitely more efficient than a floor-mounted shift.

The salesmen at VW were hovering around out front like a family of turkey vultures. Our salesman was friendly and cheerful, but just smarmy enough to rub me the wrong way. Anyway, the three of us when for a drive in a GTI. He guided us to some windy farm roads that were very rough and encouraged me to push it hard. I did, and it handled well. Took rough corners without any skittishness. The paddles worked well and were right where you would want them. However, I did not feel connected to the road. The car was driving, I was just giving it instructions. Sort of like an executive who has his PA do everything for him. I definitely felt like I should be wearing a suit.

A later test drive of an Acura RSX (8,000 RPM readline!) and a Honda S2000 confirmed that the MINI was the best choice.

 

I am always surprised how little car salesmen know about their products.

I read 4 car magazines a month, and that doesn't actually take very much time to do, mind you. My point is, it doesn't matter what kind of dealership it is, I ALWAYS know much more about their products than they do. This includes our own beloved MINI dealer. I literally have educated sales guys about their products on more than one occasion. When they go to the brochure, or in the back to check on my facts, they are always surprised that I knew so much. I tell you, some of them are truly clueless!

It's not like I'm really even trying to be a walking encyclopedia of automotive geekdom. But I am very much a "car guy", so since I read up on cars so much, I get to learning and remembering things. I just can't believe the guys who sell these cars don't make an effort to get to know their products. ISN'T IT THEIR JOB!!! I tell them, "look, I just read Car and Driver, or Automobile; it's not like this information is classified--it's out there, published many times over, for all to read!"

For instance, my MINI motoring advisor and another one, didn't have any idea that there was such a web presence of MINI devotees browsing the online forums of NAM, or informative sites like Motoringfile. The have never heard of Whiteroofradio, and don't know what a Podcast is. They never heard of these sites! They had no idea that there's an aftermarket performance scene for MINI's! I told them that my car has a pulley, intake and exhaust, and they assumed I meant that I had the JCW kit. I listed the manufacturers, and told them Randy Webb installed my pulley, and all I got was blank stares. "Randy who?" "Alta"? "Milltek"?

I told them that they should really get on this new thing that just came onto the scene, called "THE INTERNET", and maybe get a clue as to how much of a lifestyle this MINI thing is to a lot of people.

I was amazed at their lack of knowledge of not only their products, but of what a big deal their cars are to us freaks out here in cyberspace.

Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon? Not only with MINI dealers, but any car dealer?

 

Oh, by the way, my MA also have never heard of AMVIV, (A MINI Vacation in Vegas), MINI's on the dragon, (what's the dragon), MINI's on top, (on top of what?).

Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nada. NO CLUE!!!

I was surprised they heard about MTTS, (last summer's MINI Takes The States) tour. I'm sure they only knew about it because it was an actual MINIUSA-sponsored event.

 

I think there's a small percentage of car salesmen who are car guys, but I think the problem is that they only see one type of car all day long. So they never get educated on the competition or what makes their model better. They just do the same old tired sales speak that turns people off.

I went to the Mazda dealer last week to test drive an MX-5 (keep in mind I am an RX-8 driver with a lease that is about to end.) I waited for about 20 minutes before anyone talked to me. Then the guy took about 40 minutes to find a key to one I could drive, and it turned to be an automatic. Despite the fact that there were about 20 Miatas on the lot.

Then he decides that he needs to ride with me on the test drive. I guess I look like a joyrider. Ugh Mazda really turns me off with their crappy sales rooms. I've been in a lot of them. They make great products and have no idea how to package it.

 

Man you have more patience than I do. I wouldn't have waited 5 minutes.

 

I have had three car sales people do me a favor by being so obnoxious or greedy that I went elsewhere and ended up either with a different brand, or a better price on the car I was shopping. Even jerks can do some good in the world.

Joe s

 

The sales guy I had kept showing me loaded automatic gti's after I told him I wanted a striped manual , did the whole lost key thing ,the test drive was him driving for 10 minutes until we got on strait roads with traffic ,I got one quick start enough to feel the turbo lag and one quick turn back into the lot that told me nothing about the handling.He then said he'd like to test drive cars but wouldnt want to waist salesmans time ?He went quickly back to his desk handed me his card then left me standing there.The good part, the next day I bought a R56S. For the test drive my MA put a dealer plate in the back window and handed me the key !It sold itself!

 

Good choice...

Different folks different strokes..

Me, personally, I never looked at VW and have no intention of looking at one in the near future, with the exception to R32 Golf. If I were to get a FWD 4 door sedan, I would look toward Honda/Acura camp.

Anyhow, good choice on Mini..

 

Most car salemen I have come across don't know cars. I had been using 1 dealer exclusively, back in the days when I had $$$, for 10 years. My salesman moved on. The service manager directed me to the "most knowledgible salesman" they had. He tried to tell me I could "just use those blue bulbs - they're the same as xenons," when he discovered the vehicle I wanted xenons on was not in stock. Routinely, I have found, the best way to get rid of a pesky salesman in a showroom is ask a technical question about the car. And I don't mean geek-tech, I mean something as simple as, "Does the exhaust have both resinators and mufflers?"

All that aside, if they didn't make MINIs, I'd be driving a 2007 4 dr GTI right now.

 

It is ridiculous how frequently people in the business of selling cars know little about cars, their own brand much less the competition. It seems like they are trained on some selling points on the cars and disparaging things to say about how others compare for the most part. But I will never let them sway my decision, hell I never would have bought any BMWs if it were up to that, as a bunch they were the most condescending and insulting to other cars of all, on top of the usual lack of model knowledge.

I think to do yourself the best service you drive everything that you are interested in regardless of the lameness factor of the sales people (and if need be just find another dealership) - a good real drive (or better, two) vs having a surface impression or opinion based on other people's opinions is irreplaceable. I find that you really can get a surprise that way and end up rethinking things.

 

Haha, reminds me of a time I went to a Nissan Dealership with my dad to test drive a few SUV's for another house up north. Every question he asked was met with a blank stare, I was sitting in the back with the product guide book they have in the dealership answering all his questions. Finally the salesman asked me "How do you know all of this!!!" I was like "You know, it's not really that hard, I just read the book on the car that you guys have sitting inside .

Nissan is by far the worst sales experiance ever. Back when I was debating a 350Z vs a G35 I went through 9 different people before I actually sat down with someone that could negotiate price... Everyone else just kept saying "Well the sticker is XXXX" and after I told them I would never pay sticker for any car they'd go get Salesman rank 2, rank 3, etc. Finally on rank 8 the guy just went to grab the sales manager.

On a test drive with a buddy of a BMW 335 the sales person actually asked "So lets sit down and sign the papers... you can get this exact car! (It was white with a beige interior, not to mention we had no interest in the sedan version)" My friend has a leased Audi, the lease isn't up for another 4 months or so, but he wanted to get a head start looking at cars. When he said "Not tonight, i'm just trying to get a feel for the cars, I can't do anything until my lease is up (We had already told him about 20 times that it wasn't going to happen tonight, and we were just test driving because we wanted to get a feel for a few different cars)" I heard the salesman mutter "God... I know I shouldn't have taken you kids on a test drive, this was a mistake, I knew you weren't going to do anything"

Now i'm only 20 years old, and I look a few years younger than that, but REGARDLESS of age, a salesperson should never make a comment like that... It turns out we both know the GM VERY well, as the BMW part is owned by the same company as the Audi part (Rusnak Auto Group), and my friends Mom is personal friends with the GM (To the point that they send flowers to each other on holidays and stuff ). It took quite a bit of coaxing to convince my friend that the right thing to do was just to let it go. I'm not the kind of person that dangles someone's job in front of them, and i'd feel horrible if I made someone lose their job . Honestly though... what are people on!

 

Isn't the expression "Different strokes for different folks"?

 

Just a kechnitality.

 

The "clueless" conclusion also applies to many other types of sales people, not just automotive.

 

my boss (refer back to cluless theory) owns an 06 GTI w/ 6 speed, which I have driven. Aside from gobs of right now HP/torque vs. the MINI, it is still a disconneted, kind of bumbling car to drive. I looks nice, has some nice options, but just does not feel like a car that is being "driven". Like a previous poster mentioned, it is like you just give it instructions. It was definetly a disappointment for me. Just flat to boring.

Motor Happy!

 

Seriously, at least with the Audis I've tried, you are not getting the best out of the car with some of the factory settings - the steering setting change was a huge difference in feeling more connected and improving the feedback. The A3 with the steering fixed was far from bumbling, it was connected and solid, whereas the other A3s and A4s had varying levels of boost that really did mess with the feel in terms of connectedness - made a big difference in my opinion. I don't know for sure, but I imagine the VWs are similar and can be vagged or changed by the dealer.

 

Yes. I emailed the dealer that I was dealing with a list of questions that I had, most of which he replied with "We don't have that information yet." or "I will research that and ge back to you." Neve got back to me of course.