Has anyone been able to negotiate the dealer prep (dealer profit) when buying their Mini? I notice some dealers will sell at MSRP but tack on a dealer prep charge from $195-$299

 

I paid MSRP and my total dealer prep charge was $0 as is their policy.

raj

 

At First I was I told 120 For tank of gas and floor mats. Dearler said he would drop charge. Will have to wait an see.

 

I also paid MSRP

 

how's about a charge of $395 and $495 for interior protection package and some floor mats? i believe this includes a 5 years warranty on your seats.

 

>>how's about a charge of $395 and $495 for interior protection package and some floor mats? i believe this includes a 5 years warranty on your seats.
>>


You probably will need that warranty if you got the leather seats! As far as prep charges, 0 for me. Bought my first MCS at MSRP, and just ordered my second MCS/JCW with aero kit yesterday at MSRP.



-Barry

 

hey bcooper56,

sounds like me. i got my mc cvt in 03/03, and i'm gonna p/u my mcs today. ordered the jcw kit which will go on asap. even though i gotta pay the protection package, i still can't wait for the whole jcw/mcs experience.

 

some dealers force you to buy stuff you don't need/want, like the $395 and $495 protection packages and the dealer prep. If this happens to you call around and find another dealer if your not into getting shafted like that. there is plenty of 'dealer profit' to be made at MSRP. If it was any other car you'd be a sucker to even pay MSRP.

 

Thanks for reply's. Like most MCS buyers, I special ordered mine back in June and knew about the dealer prep charge beforehand. Maybe I can persuade them to throw in a set of floor mats on arrival. That would make me happy

 

Is anybody here in the Buffalo area? I'm ordering a MCS from Towne Mini here and when I went in to get a solid estimate on the actual cost of the car with the inclusion of the little details such as license plate frames, the little map reading light, floor mats etc., I was told that most of it was covered in what was termed "The TLC Package". I'm already getting all three packages on the car so the name intrigued me. Turns out, package number four is an incredible $595. Included is a free chrome license plate frame ($34 value), floor mats (a good $80), polymer coating on the car good for 6 months (read: waxing the car, value $10), a nifty prize from the case of Mini items (a hat or a shirt, $25), and the real prize of the package a full tank of gas (value $20). How can they give this stuff away for only $595? Easy, I'm still about $425 short.

So my question, has anybody gotten their Mini from Towne? The dealership has been great so far. Good people, good service etc, but is there something more to do with this $595 that I'm not aware of?

I'm not ordering my car until Dec. or Jan. because Buffalo tends to have something of an Armageddon winter pretty much daily until at least March. I'll stick to my old beater of a '93 Plymouth Sundance until that time. I'd like to get them to drop that little surprise of a charge, however.

 

i believe much of that stuff you can get from other sources, ie. classic mini, which i think had some accessories at a much fairer price, including floor mats. in fact, just buy those accessories yourself at the service/parts dept instead of in the tlc package.
yes, the people at many mini dealers are nice guys and gals, but they are, above all else, working at a business, where the bottom line is profit.

 

Shop around for the best deal. If you can find a dealer who will take your MCS order for MSRP + tax/lic., you got a fair deal considering the small amount of Mini's thar BMW is importing.

 

I purchased my Mini from Towne in Buffalo in July. I paid MSRP + $595 for the nebulous TLC package. I got nothing but doublespeak from the salesperson as to what the package included - only definite was that it was nonnegotiable. I did not get a hat or a Tshirt or chrome license plate frames (removed the flimsy plastic ones almost immediately) and was told nothing about polymer coating for paint- delivery was rushed - they screwed up the paperwork and my delivery time ran over into another delivery time. I was not really happy about the delivery - maybe my attitude after standing around twiddling my thumbs for 3 hours waiting for the paperwork to redone. If I had not seen the car and fallen in love with it I would have canceled the sale. Shop around - many dealers are selling at MSRP.

 

Wow. So what exactly did they say they were charging you for then? 595 is quite a bit of money for floor mats. I'm also curious if you had asked them to keep the little dealer sticker off of the car. I'm not interested in having their logo on my car. This is my first new car so I'm wondering how a dealership takes that kind of thing.

I'm kind of in the same boat. I have no interest in buying any other car, and they're the only dealer in western NY. There might be one in ohio but that's a bit far.

 

I learned a long time ago that any type of "package" added on to a car's sticker price is totally negotiable and is generally pure - EXTRA - dealer profit. Don't forget, there's dealer profit in "MSRP." While they have every right to try to ask for more profit, you have every right to refuse to pay it. If you do choose to pay for these packages, you do so knowing that you could have ordered your car from a dealer that does not have such practices. Learning about that is what MCO is all about.

Anyone remember Rusty Jones, Ziebart, and other "rustproofing" packages? Most were basically $500 you paid to have someone drill holes in your car (which let the salt in).

 

I was basically told that it was a mandatory charge for dealer prep - there was no negotiation and I never got a straight answer as to what it included - their attitude was take it or leave it - Regarding the dealer stickers - the salesperson told me that the stickers were already on the car - that it would damage the paint if they were removed - I promptly removed them along with the cheesey license plate frames as soon as I got the car home - it looked like a rolling billboard for the dealer. I have really enjoyed the car and just figure its part of purchasing a car that is in such high demand - in the grand scheme of things I guess it doesn't matter but it still pisses me off. Several others have mentioned that they got numerous things from the same dealer - get what you can from them!!

 

Paid $900 under invoice, no dealer prep charges and a free tank of gas.

Still loving my 2003 CR/W MC