Paid a visit to Bob Smith Mini in Calabassas. They had at least 6-8 MCS's on the lot in various incarnations. Alas, most had additional dealer MU of $3000.00 tacked on!
Too bad, since there was a dark silver MCS equipped just like the one I have scheduled for delivery in February.

 

lets hope for better things from the service dept.

 

May be too early to tell. Looked as if they were still sweeping up construction leftovers. The dealership looked to be about 80% dedicated to BMW with the Mini portion tucked in a corner.

 

Why do you say only most had the dealer add-on? Does that mean some did not?

 

My guess is that applies to all of the MCS's in stock. They were in the process of re-applying the sticker to a PW/S when I was in the showroom. The salesperson I spoke with, after asking where I had ordered my car, stated that they were not selling any S's at MSRP.
I am curious about their service dept. though, since it is closer to me than Long Beach.

 

>>My guess is that applies to all of the MCS's in stock. They were in the process of re-applying the sticker to a PW/S when I was in the showroom. The salesperson I spoke with, after asking where I had ordered my car, stated that they were not selling any S's at MSRP.


did they give you the line that they had to tack on the Market rate adjustment to pay for the newly constructed dealership?

 

Never got that far. Once they found out I'd ordered thru Long Beach they looked at me like I was crazy for waiting when they had them in stock right now! I've never felt a need to pay over MSRP for anything and don't intend to start now. It wasn't as if they were trying to mask it by bundling a bunch of add-ons you may or may not need, instead, the sticker simply read "Additional Dealer Mark-Up $3000.00".

 

>It wasn't as if they were trying to mask it by bundling a bunch of add-ons you may >or may not need, instead, the sticker simply read "Additional Dealer Mark-Up >$3000.00".

At least they're honest...

It was the fact that Universal wanted to charge me for a car alarm that I didn't want (Lo-Jack) and didn't work in my area that ticked me off. When I told them this they said that maybe we could work something else out...

Good call on waiting for one at sticker though. I mean, unless you just crashed your old car do you have to get a new one right now?

 

The sad thing is, is that people will pay that much for the car and they will sell them.

It would be funny if somehow a true boycott could be organized. And nobody bought cars from the dealership until they were $500 under MSRP. It makes me mad that dealership management sits up in their offices laughing about the suckers that buy the cars from them. It would be funny to sock it back at them in their pocket book.

 

Fortunately, I was in the position of not needing a car right away. I'm driving a 540 which I plan on keeping. The Mini is going to be my daily driver. Had a '63 Cooper in college that had numerous problems but was a blast when it worked. Always planned on getting another if and when they came back...now I will! Just not above MSRP!!!

 

I am taking my car in for its 10,000 mile service to bob smith mini on tuesday of next week based on the good things i have read about their bmw service department. i tryed assael for warranty stuff but i really dislike their attitude. i will post my impressions/experience next week.
regarding the 'over MRSP' boycott; i did boycott the southern california dealerships and bought my mini in south carolina and had a great experience. really good service and the drive home was wonderful. i saved $5500. having said that, taking 5 days out of one's daily life to buy a car is not always possible so a local, organized boycott would by very cool. unfortunately their are many people here with lots of cash so the dealers can get away with it....it seems to be an epidemic here and not in other states, no?
m.

 

>>The sad thing is, is that people will pay that much for the car and they will sell them.
>>
>>It would be funny if somehow a true boycott could be organized. And nobody bought cars from the dealership until they were $500 under MSRP. It makes me mad that dealership management sits up in their offices laughing about the suckers that buy the cars from them. It would be funny to sock it back at them in their pocket book.

Why does it make you mad? If I owned a dealership and could charge stupid people an extra $3000/car I'd do it in a heartbeat. It's stupid people that can't do an asshairs worth of research that they take advantage of, and I have no problem with that.

 

People must know they have options. I know a couple of people who've bought Cooper S's and were more than willing to pay extra to get it "now"! More power to them if it made them happy...just seems like a waste.

I remember when the Miata's first came out some guy coming up to me telling me he'd gotten one of the first one's off the boat and seemed damn proud he'd spent $45,000 to be first in line to have one. Not sure how he felt about it 3 months later but I have a pretty good idea! Nothing against Miata's, mind you!

 

>>I am taking my car in for its 10,000 mile service to bob smith mini on tuesday of next week based on the good things i have read about their bmw service department. i tryed assael for warranty stuff but i really dislike their attitude. i will post my impressions/experience next week.
>>regarding the 'over MRSP' boycott; i did boycott the southern california dealerships and bought my mini in south carolina and had a great experience. really good service and the drive home was wonderful. i saved $5500. having said that, taking 5 days out of one's daily life to buy a car is not always possible so a local, organized boycott would by very cool. unfortunately their are many people here with lots of cash so the dealers can get away with it....it seems to be an epidemic here and not in other states, no?
>>m.

Hey Manoo..please let us know how things go with you service dept visit. It would be soo much easier for me to go there for srvice work..but I want to hear some feedback first.

 

P. T. Barnum was right.