OK, so now I live in New Jersey, about 30 miles south of MINI of Princeton. My daughter Lives across the street from MINI of Towson in Maryland. I have visited both dealers and driven MINIs there. I found both to be very accomodating. Both said 8 weeks for an order. In January or February of 2008, I plan to order an MCS coupe in preparation for retiring and moving back to my home state of Washington. A couple years later I plan to order the new version of the convertible. I'm excited about becoming a MINI owner and living in WA again.

Then I'm reading on this forum that at least two Washingtonians have ordered from MINI of the Hamptons because the Washington dealer quotes delivery times of 6 months and has an ADM of $500-600!

Then I had a personal experience last week while vacationing in WA. I was up and down I-5 for several days so decided to stop in at MINI Northwest to look around and get the answers to a couple of questions I had. It was about 2:30 pm on a Thursday. I was there about 20 minutes. I sat in several of the cars inside and out of the showroom. I walked all around at looked at the various displays. There were several people inside and outside.

No one, not a single person said a word to me in that 20 minutes. I know I could have gone up to someone and asked my questions, but after a while it became a test. Finally I left without talking to anyone. I did notice an ADM of $600 on the MCS in the showroom.

So, what's up with this dealer? Do they want to sell cars? I'm a little concerned.

 

Yeah, the delivery time is brutal. I had heard about the long delay from the forums too, so I've decided to place my order six months earlier than I planned.

I went in a couple Saturdays ago for a test drive and was told six to eight months. :( It's going to be next to impossible to wait that whole time knowing the car is on order, but my wife and I had planned on saving some extra for a good down payment and didn't plan on ordering for the next six months anyway. So instead, I'm placing the order now.

From what I understand, they don't have many production slots allotted to them- I don't know if that's based on their sales or if they just don't commit to them or what. I didn't ask why when I was there. I wouldn't expect a straight answer, honestly.

They were reasonably friendly to me before I had told them I was committed to a purchase; I was greeted at the door, asked if I had any questions, offered a drink. The MA I spoke with knew his stuff well enough, answered all of my questions and was straight forward and friendly.

I have to admit that the Mini is the first car that I've considered new, so my only past experience is with used car dealers at a significantly lower price- perhaps my scale of 'good service' is a bit skewed?

 

I like the fact that they don't descend on you when you go in there. However, I sent them an email and left a phone mesage over 2 weeks ago and no response. I am not impressed.

 

We (www.psmini.org) have had discussions about NW MINI both good and bad.

 

My experience with NW MINI has been good, even when my name ended up missing from the list. I was originally told 18 months, but I went in expecting that. And it worked out well, since it meant that my wife and I could get our finances in order. Took delivery after about 12 months. Yeah, it was a wait, but I knew that going in.

The dealership has been supportive of the PS MINI club, too. Every time I've needed to talk to them, I've come away feeling that all my questions were answered. Never felt like I had been snubbed in any way. My MA will even take a brief moment when showing someone else a car to say hi and ask how the family is doing.

I'm sorry to hear others have not had good experiences.

 

If the service there is that bad, you may want to consider a drive down to Portland, OR and visit Rasmussen Mini. http://www.rasmussenmini.com/ They've treated me very well so far.

 

I second the Portland Mini suggestion. I ordered June 4, and my Mini is on it's maiden voyage. The dealer fee was $175, there were no markups on individual items, and the waiting period was much shorter. I had tried to negotiate with NWMINI, but they said no.

I also had no phone calls returned from NW MINI, but they gave me many test drives, answered all my questions when I visited, and I pestered them half a dozen times. Hope the service dept. is good.

 

I visited NW Mini and I too wondered around the lot and store for 30 minutes and not a soul anywhere in the store or on the lot said squat. Do you think they qualify their customers by their deoderant?

 

Definitely check out Rasmussen MINI in Portland. Consistently an award winning dealer.

 

I love doing a search for RASMUSSEN on this board. Thanks for the props Scott!

 

LOL no problem Jarid.........just remember this when I need some parts !

 

On the lack of attention in the showroom, I think that's probably their style and the fact they are in a situation where they don't really have to sell the product that much. They have a full time receptionist at her desk, so it's just a matter of walking up and saying you want to speak to someone. I guess I don't view the fact they don't descend on you as a positive, but certainly they could have someone just come up and politely ask if you need help.

On the ADM/waiting-list question, that's just a matter of supply and demand in the local market when their allocation of cars is fixed. The CA markets are similar. If they have a long-waiting list, then this is obviously an indicator they could probably mark the product up further. I don't see a thing wrong with this - I'm always amazed that folks get worked up with markups over MSRP, yet think it's perfectly fine for consumers to offer less than MSRP. A free market cuts both ways, if if we can get huge discounts for slow-sellers, then we should be ready to pay a premium for high-demand models. Having said this, I bought my 2004 in Texas and drove it home; I'm planning on getting a 2009 the same way.

- Mark

 

I really like that NWMINI is not like Best Buy where I get pestered every 100ft by someone asking if I need help, like I couldn't tell them if it were so. Come to think of it we do like very large personal spaces here in the NW. :-)

I have always found NWMINI staff to be helpful and polite whenever I have spoken to them. We've bought three cars there. and fwiw I won't drive Sea to PDX to save $450 but I have friends that will.

 

That's not that far to drive, heck, that is about how far I have to drive to get to Rasmussen anyway and they are my closest dealer. But I guess it boils down to: Its a matter of personal opinion (being how far you are willing to drive, how badly you want to save some money provided there is a price difference, and your initial feelings about the dealerships. It is possible you may like the closer dealer more anyway after visiting the one further away).

It very much goes along with how personalized you make your Mini, it is a personal choice that can be different for everyone.

That being said, I'm extremely happy with them (Rasmussen). Dan (my MA) has been very thoughtful and helpful. We've also had excellent service on our '05 MSCa through them.

 

I hope that NW Mini continues to do well because if their market ever slumps, they will need all of those prospects they ignored. There is no excuse for that type of sales technique. I used to sell corporate aircraft and we never took anyone for granted when they walked on the premises. Never know who has a pocket full of money and wants to pay cash for your product. At Baron Mini in KC, they used a soft sell-attentive approach that got our business. NW should take copious notes.

 

I think every dealership has its share of people who are satisfied and those who aren't. Sometimes, those who aren't may have unreasonable expectations. If there seems to be a pattern to people's complaints, then it may be worth checking them out more completely.

 

To be honest, I would have purchased from them as I prefer to do business locally, but the additional 4-5 mo wait was a little too much for me. Plus, getting my wife to drive us down, stay a nite in downtown, great dinner, etc, and then making the 180 mi 3 hr I-5 trip into a 250+ mi backroad 5 hr trip home made it worth the trip. We'll see how service goes later. I'm hoping I get the good service many others have had.

 

When I was ready to buy my '05, NW MINI had a 12 month wait just to get on the order list. Then tack on an additional 3 to 4 months for the car to come in. I couldn't wait and ordered from MINI of Murray in Salt Lake City. 4 months from order to delivery and at MSRP.

NW MINI was very accomodating with test drives and answering all of my questions. My service experience there has always been positive and I've gotten a loaner even though I didn't purchase from them.

 

I had a great experience at NW Mini.
My wait time was less than they said it was going to be... although I can't remember exactly when I ordered it, Oops...
I remember picking it up August 12th, 06, what a happy day that was! Would have been better if I wasn't hungover LOL

 

Same owner for NW Mini, BMW, and Mercedes two blocks down the street. Same low-key selling style in each. I think it may be a style they've all adopted. If you ask anyone a question or show more than 'browsing' interest, the staff is exceptionally helpful. My wait for my (then new) 02 of 02 MC was something like 60 minutes. I was standing with check in hand when a call came in from Idaho cancelling an order for lack of financing. A very, very intense sales pitch (and the offer of a full payoff) got me the car. I moved up the list from #284 to #13, and drove the car home that day. One of the best days of my life...

 

I would have to say there was some unreasonable expectation going on with your experiance as i would have to say that NWMINI has been the best buying experiance bar none of any car I've bought new or used.Ordered the car over the phone after faxing them the build specs. I know that they tried to stick me with the $600 dollar fee but I negotiated it down to $300 which is what they charge for just the regular mini not the S model. I was kept in the loop as to where my order was and to all the paperwork and possible finaincing that was available to me before the car arrived. The most impressive part was that we had gone down to sign the order paperwork the weekend after I called and to let the wife test drive one as she hadn't yet and decided to have the windows tinted and the wheel arches painted the same color as the body to match the areo package. At 5:30 the night before we were to pick up the car on saturday I got a call from Aaron at mini that it wasn't done and that it was locked up at the body shop with the arches off the car and not painted. They had had the car since tuesday. to make a long story short . The store manager called me directly to offer me the use of one of their Demo cars if it wasn't ready and that he was waiting for a call from the owner of the dealership. All I know is that I get a call at 10:00 the next morning and the car is at the dealer getting detailed fo pick up. They even covered the $500 dollar charge for the painting of the wheel arches. I don't care what anyone says about nwmini they have my business from now on even if I don't buy another mini anytime soon.

 

Another bump for RASMUSSEN in Portland. Thats where we made our first MINI purchase back in 2006 and they have been awesome...I would definitely recommend anyone in the Pacific Northwest to take the time and drive down to visit the great people there. We have now since moved to San Antonio Texas and just took delivery of our second MINI from the MINI Center here and that too has been a great experience.

 

My MINI comes in two days! Only a ten week wait time. My husband and I walked in to browse a half hour before closing. As soon as we walked up tp the desk, someone was helping us. I told them what I wanted, no kind of upselling. Knocked a little off of Motoring accesories.

Car is here in 9 weeks. Every email I send is replied to immediately. They handled my financing great, with my own credit union. I would highly recommend them!

 

I live in Eastern WA and the nearest MINI dealers are NW in Tacoma and Rasmuson in Portland, OR. I did some forum research in 06 and found some negatives on NW but none on Rasmussen. I ordered my car through Rasmussen and have had nothing but positive experience with the dealership. A very professional and class act.

 

They are awesome! Glad to hear your experience was as great as ours! Josh W is awesome and Jarid P is just as great! Not sure who you dealt with but tell Josh hello next time your there!