Due to Mini Financial Services guidelines, PA Mini Dealers are unable to offer MINI Select financing. Fortunately, Prestige MINI has your solution! MINI Select combines the benefits of both leasing and financing into one by offering a payment as low as a lease payment but yet you still own the car with no mileage restrictions! Please feel free to PM, email, or call with any questions whatsoever.

Alan Sheynin
Motoring Advisor
(201)-267-8708 (direct)
asheynin@driveprestige.com

 

Alan, I didn't think that MINI USA encouraged it's dealers to sell out of region. Also there is probably some sort of law in PA preventing MINI Finance from offering select, which is why PA dealers can not. I am sure the same reason holds true for NY dealers selling out of region in PA. .

Steve

 

Steve,

I appreciate your concern, however, I did speak to my MINI finance rep regarding this before posting. Yes there are laws in PA preventing PA dealers from offering this but there is nothing that prevents PA residents from taking advantage of this type of financing in other states. Why should loyal MINI enthusiasts who live in PA be excluded from taking advantage of something MINI Finance is offering? My MINI Finance rep gave me his blessing to try to take full advantage of this loophole.

 

Interesting... there are a lot of sides to this discussion. I believe Mini Select would be a good deal to those in the market for that type of financing, but:

- Building a relationship with your local dealer has value
- Our Mini Club, while a completely independent entity from Mini of Pittsburgh, is extremely well supported by MoP
- In the end, getting financing on a car is the Owner's transaction, and dependent on a lot of variables, including (but not limited to) a Dealer's ability to make finance deals.

Yes, it's a free economy, and MoP is gracious enough to serve (and serve very well) Minis that are purchased anywhere. While I wish you all the best... thank you but

 

All good points and obviously everybody is entitled to their own opinion. Just because you say thanks but no thanks does not mean that there are not people in Pittsburgh or within your club that would benefit from the MINI Select program and we can help them obtain that financing. Please understand that my intention here is not to steal business away from MOP but to offer the MINI community in Pittsburgh an alternative means of financing and getting into a MINI that many NY/NJ/ CT residents are certainly taking advantage of in this unstable economy.

 

Hmm... I've no interest in directing business either way as the bulk of my recent experiences in purchasing or service with new car franchises (of all types) could be categorized as deceptive or incompetent. I like to avoid dealers where possible but I know others have had better experiences.

I do know that, for a while, the typical leasing arrangement was not available in NY due to the vicarious liability laws there. While that has changed, NY and a handful of other states regulate and tax leases different than most of the rest. I'm not in the market for a MINI lease but, based on conversations with a friend exploring leasing (another make) in the NY market, I don't think *Select* is really better than MINI's traditional leasing. It's just tailored to the requirements of those states with different leasing regulations that can't offer the more typical lease.

I think it has more to do with the way the lease is structured, to satisfy the state, in terms of balloon payments, etc. I could be wrong but that's what I picked up from the info I got from another make with a similar program. The lease program offered in NY was *another* lease program designed for that states unique requirements, not a *better* one.

Again, I could be wrong, but I'd expect that the leasing offerings would be limited by where the car is going to be titled, not the point of sale. Like a purchase, laws regarding taxation, etc. apply to where the car is registered, not where it's bought.

 

I am sorry to hear about your recent experiences with car dealerships. I can say that customer service, honesty, and good salesmanship are something that I pride myself on and I think that my customers would testify to that.

Although you are correct that the typical leasing arrangement was unavailable in NY for a brief period of time, the MINI Select is not a lesser substitute to the traditional lease and we are located in NJ regardless. The MINI Select keeps payments as low as a lease while the customer maintains ownership of the car like a traditional finance. There are no mileage restrictions and no prepayment penalties. At the end of the term, 4 options are available to the consumer. They can pay the balloon payment(based on residual value) and own the car free and clear, they can refinance the balloon payment and continue to make payments, they can trade the car in or sell it privately. They CANNOT just turn the car in like a traditional lease.

The MINI Select is perfect for somebody that drives a lot of mileage, does not like the concept of leasing(not owning the car), or would like to remain as liquid as possible for the next few years while our economy rebounds.

 

Thanks, Al. I purchased my MINI from a private individual so I can't really speak to that particular brand. Multiple experiences with three other brands (sales and service, one of them BMW) over the last couple of years have certainly been less than satisfying. I know there are good guys out there. I thought I found one but the service after the sale quickly overshadowed the positive sales experience.

I wasn't suggesting that the Select program was a *lesser* program. I just think it's tailored to the states that view leasing differently than most. It's *different* and probably as close to the traditional lease as can be done in those states in accordance to their respective regulatory environment. Although, dropping the car off and being done with it is one of attractive portions of a lease. That's what I've done with my leases with no issues. Without that option, I can see where Select may be a bit less appealing to some.

I know you indicated your finance representative could write a Select lease for a PA resident but I'd be really surprised if MINI didn't put the brakes on that when they noticed where the car was being titled.

Although it's been a while, I worked in the F&I end of a dealership for a spell when I was in college and provided consulting services (on the side) for an automotive business for several years after college, when I had the time for two jobs. Just so you know that it isn't all wild speculation on my part...

If it's viable and somebody from PA wants to do it, more power to them and you and thanks for bringing it up.

 

....but....

Does Prestige offer a free PittStopMINI Club membership with every new car purchase?