How many people have found the exact MINI they wanted without ordering. We have done this twice now and it seems odd. I see all the waiting for x month threads and wonder why we were lucky to just go get the cars. We did have to wait for a week on the MC but that was it.

The MINIS are:

MC
BRG/W
Premium
Leather CB
Heated seats
16

MCS
PW/B
Premium
Sport
Cold Weather
HK
Leather CB

 

I was lucky enough to find the exact one I wanted (but paid a small markup)

MCS
DS/B
Premium
Sport
Nav

 

I found the exact car I wanted at MINI of Hawaii. Or I should say that Minhune found the car for me.

I bought the MINI, had it shipped to Ca, and have been motorin ever since.

 

I found the exact MINI I wanted at the Dealer. Even got below sticker. Correct color and everything.

 

All depends how choosy you are, I guess ...
I did not want sunroof or auto a/c, but I did want trip computer and cruise. I wanted xenon headlights and fogs, but not 17" wheels. These "not quite package" specifications are not likely to be available without special order.

 

I wanted a CR/W MCS with just HK, anthracite, MFSW, OBC, FF but most dealers I've seen will carry MINIs with all three packages. So I had to order one.

 

Yeah, I had to order because I wanted Premium, fog lights and HK.

I think that most of the people that do find exactly what they're looking for tend to be buying cars with all three packages. It seems to me that most of the cars that are built without a specific order get a lot of options, grouped in the packages. You just don't see stripped models, or random collections of options, on un-spoken-for Coopers.

 

me.

 

The problem for me was more an issue of things I didn't want. For instance, I didn't want Auto AC and I didn't want 17" wheels... but I wanted some of the stuff in those packages. The final straw was I wanted a specific color combination. No matter what I got at that point it would never be exactly what I wanted and specifically it was going to be more expensive...

So I ordered one. I got exactly what I wanted and did pay any extra.

emerika

 

I could not find what I wanted in Dallas, but did find the perfect car at Mini of the Hamptons without any mark ups or dealer add on of any type. I had the car in a week and a half. There service is great and they had a very large selection that you can view on their website.

 

I lucked out, finding the exact one I wanted.

 

It takes a bit of luck and timing but I know several MINI owners that looked and found their first choice in MINIs and bought it. Maybe not always at the closest dealer and for the lowest price but still it was what they wanted with all the options correct.

So I would say it is possible and if you are not finding your match then broaden your search radius or keep looking.
The MINI inventory in my area changes in a few days with some ordered MINIs becoming available and some new cars arriving on a monthly basis.

 

Here in the Pacific NW, there is no inventory at the dealerships whatsoever. The wait is 1 year in WA and 9 months in OR.

I placed orders twice and cancelled both of them. Because I didn't want to wait, I ended up purchasing one that was already ordered by the dealership (Classic MINI). Fortunately, the car has most of the spec I wanted, except the auto-dim mirror and auto-sensing wiper option. :smile:

 

We TOTALLY lucked out on our MC ... wanted sunroof, a/c, leather, automatic (flame away) :smile: plus either red or gold. Found a used gold one with only 2k miles on autotrader.com on a Sunday night ... bought it the next day. Previous owner took GREAT care of it, and was as sorry to see it go as I was happy to have it.
Chzz

 

went to the dealership yesterday for some reprogramming and noticed that there were lot of used minis on the lot. it wasn't like this back in december when i picked up my car.

 

Check out the APRIL CLUB thread for details of my whole saga...

But if you're not too picky finding the right Mini in stock can be easy. My MA managed to find me one that was EXACTLY as ordered except for different seats and no H/K, both of which I can deal with.

Of course in my case my to-be-replaced Civic just got totaled, so I HAD to find something soon.

 

I did, only catch was $3000 over sticker no negotiating. Decided to order the same exact spec and waited 2 months and paid sticker.