Sad that you don't even have to say the name and I know which dealer you're talking about. I'm waiting on my job situation to stabilize and may well wait until the January build after that so I can get the LSD, but they lost my business in one phone call when they mentioned the required add-ons. Sad 'cause my best job prospect is about ten minutes from the lot.

They don't have to do anything. Northern Virginia is underserved for everything, and MINI dealerships are no different. Pick any restaurant and you'll find lousy service and indifferent management; housing is undersupplied in Fairfax county (by design, as the Post reminded us all last week), and so on. Having only a single MINI dealership, and an arrogant one at that, is par for the course.

 

Please tell us the name of this dealership...

If they are going to try to gouge cutomers, it might as well be known- fair play IMO.

Also, for what its worth, I recommend Checkered Flag MINI in Virginia Beach, strictly MSRP and they are bustin' their butts to improve MINI service.

 

It's starts with an S and ends with a G... well it COULD be worse it coudl be the ***** over in arlington, who were never a mini dealership, but somehow got them selves on the list in the very beginning (they've been removed since) they were doing things like importing old mini and trying to pass them as the new ones. or they'd purchase one from another dealer and then jack the price up ( I once heard of 100k but that was a while ago) eitherway they'd resell them to the yuppies that didn't know any better but had to have the hottest thing out there, sans the cost. The nice thing is that you can still buy your mini form antoher dealer but have it serviced anywhere. So I bought mine in MD saving close to 400 dollars total, got it a few months sooner, and get all teh repairs at my local dealer.

 

I don't understand why a thread about ridiculous dealer mark-ups and attemps to make the customer buy $3,000 in mostly useless accessories wouldn't have the name of the dealership and names of the employees involved posted all over it in GREAT BIG LETTERS!


What's the deal?

R.E.

 

It's MINI of STERLING!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Debra Sullivan is the MA that left a few months ago and was replaced by a new guy (Don't know his name). Crystal as far as I know is still there.

 

When the local dealer scams with markups, and you order from an out of town dealer, is there ever a problem with going to the local dealer for service?

 

There are no issues with buying your MINI and having it serviced at another dealership - at least THAT'S not a problem....:smile:

Christal is the Big Kahuna over there - Manager over both BMW and MINI. She moved into that position over a year ago. I think maybe everyone should make a point to stop by and have a one-on-one with her and let her know how much business they are loosing at this point. They don't read this board or any of the others for that matter...It certainly can't hurt to make her more aware of how unhappy the MINI community is at this point...

Chow!

Donna

 

Donna, I think they were talking about Crystal at Lauderdale, not Crystal at Sterling...

 

Mmmmmmaybe. In the DC area (well, for inconveniently large values of "area" if you ask me, since the nearest dealer is still 25 miles away) we've got two dealerships (Sterling, in, um, Sterling, and Tate, in Annapolis) plus another couple farther away but still doable (Towson, north of Baltimore -- probably an hour's drive if you're lucky; Crown, in Richmond -- two hours unless you get stuck on 95.). Reports are mixed.

Sterling, which is the one we're badmouthing here, has a reputation for trying as hard in the service department as they do in sales. They may or may not try even less hard if you didn't buy your car from them in the first place. The other dealers don't appear to hold anything against you, since the market itself is rather large, people move, get new jobs, etc. Tate apparently used to be pretty bad (according to old reports on MINI2) but is under new management and appears to have turned things around. A couple employees from Tate posted to a recent thread on Motoring File, and they're hosting a brunch for DC Metro Minis, so they're obviously aware of the word of mouth and working on keeping it all good.

Some people who didn't buy their cars at Sterling have still been happy with their service department, but I'd heard bad things about their BMW service before they became a MINI shop too, and what I continue to hear is consistent with older reports. I had a nice time (and test drive) at Tate and may end up buying from them when the time comes, and they'll probably be my default service center even if I don't buy there.

It's really not just MINI with dealer issues in DC, though. I'm still looking for satisfactory Honda dealer service and support after six years in the area, and I've got friends with VW horror stories. There's so much demand out here that dealers and their service departments don't have to try very hard at all and can get away with it.

 

It's not just MINI dealers, all of the GMC dealers in Fairfax and Prince William County stink too..

 

At our local dealership, Dean told me that they "can't get around the $2,500 markup" on the S, but he will LET you break up packages and order a car to your spec. He then named off a few items (like DSC) that you could de-content, and thus save money. Hmm, let me think. I can get fewer options on my car, but pay $2,500 in markup. Uh, no. Thanks.

 

As others have said before, a good alternative is to take your money elsewhere.

I was at MINI of Nashville today and spoke to my MA, Josh Buckingham, and he said he'd be happy to help someone not local to the area get a car from them. They have several MC40's on the lot as well as a Purple Haze Cooper (sweet color too!) at MSRP. The Cooper was stock except for spacecloth sport seats, the MC40's have some extra's thrown on (graphics, chrome/checkered/union jack mirrors, etc....)

They can arrange shipping or will come get you at the airport if you fly in, and I'd bet if you mentioned that you heard from me (Jeff Jenkins) they might be willing to do a special deal or something. And no, I don't work there.... just hate seeing people get taken for thousands of dollars when they could do it elsewhere.

MINI of Nashville is a MSRP/No Addons dealer....
Josh Buckingham - jbuckingham@miniofnashville.com - 615-620-6464

I am VERY happy with them, otherwise I'd not post the above contact info.

 

Although that particular dealer requires $3,000 in options (on the convertible model only), MINI has recently reported that the average MINI buyer purchases $2,000 to $3,000 in options anyway. So, this is only a problem for those who don't want to spend that much in options. And there are other MINI dealers around this area that will be more than happy to sell you the convertible with no options, apparently. I still like that dealer and am unwilling to trash them for this. The cost of living is very high here in the DC area, so I understand somewhat. They have a lot of plusses on their side that other dealers can't match, such as their willing policy on mods and upgrades. :smile:

 

Are you refering to factory install options or dealer installed options? I'd believe the average mini buyer chooses $3k in factory options, but the impression I'm getting is that this dealer wants you to buy $3k in dealer options. At least they aren't charging a straight mark up like other dealers.

 

See, I don't think the "cost of living" argument holds any water. And partly I guess the idea of requiring a certain price in accessories just rubs me the wrong way 'cause I'm from the midwest and I don't think it's a fair deal. The way I understood it was that they weren't just requiring so many dollars of any accessories, it was that they'd pre-selected their own list of accessories including things like LoJack, and again, the fact that somebody else is making decisions for me gets my dander up. Plus the way the guy explained it to me on the phone sounded very "take it or leave it." Um, since I can go to another dealer I'll be leaving it, thanks.

That said, I'm sure that plenty of people are happy with them, and I'm guessing I'll have some ironic conversion when they come through for what I want when it's time to order. The mere fact they'd have an arbitrary markup (or an arbitrary list of mandatory options) is distasteful to me, though.

 

Ok first, it's $3k in dealer add-ons, not $3k in mfg options.

This dealer has a history of charging MSRP, and they are still charging MSRP with no bogus add-ons for Coopers and Cooper S's. I'm betting they are doing this because this way they can still claim to charge MSRP. I say this because when I asked if they were charging MSRP I was told yes... It was when I dug deeper and asked further about this, I was told that this extra $3k existed on only the convertible...

I'll be at Tate MINI in Annapolis on Saturday, I plan to get the official word from them on their converible policy when I see them. I do know that they won't charge DC Metro MINI's members for mats if you buy a car from them, and that DCMM members get 10% off parts and service.

BTW... If you're in the VA/MD/DC area, come out to Tate on Saturday from 9:30 to 11:00. There will be a breakfast meet and greet, the first of a monthly event (every third Saturday of the month)

 

No Dealer mark up, but you pay $3,000 for what probably cost them $300. Looks like mark up to me.

I had my '04 shipped from Mini of the Hamptons to my door in Texas. No mark ups and they didn't even attempt to sell me anything else. Mike Ditto was great to work with.

 

ive seen lots of post about how well the mini dealer in mentor, ohio (classic mini i think) treats people, sells at MSRP, does group buys, and has discounted all their parts and accesories.

 

BARON MINI in the Kansas City, MO, area is charging $3000 markup on S Coover convertible. Even though I've purchased three BMWs from them in the last five years, there was no compromise.

No problem!

Within fifteen minutes on the MINIusa website, I had found four dealers within 500 miles asking MSRP (Memphis, Nashville, Indianapolis, Ok City). Within fifteen more minutes, I had agreed to faxing a $1000 deposit for the purchase of my new MINI Cooper S convertible.

Oklahoma City is a mere 350 miles from KC - not a bad way to save $3000!

Hmmm, I just might invest that 'savings' in the Works Package!

Mike
03 Jaguar S-Type R (supercharger)
03 Honda S2000 (for sale!)
04 BMW R1200 Montauk
05 MINI Cooper S convertible (10/04 due date)

 

Good for you!

Unfortunately, most people seem to have forgotten how to shop. In my mind, they're fair prey for the dealer gouging...

 

Here's the kicker - Mini offers everything that's in a package seperatley. You can get everything "unpackaged" if you want. The perk of the package is if you want everything offered in the package (or in my case, 2 of the 3 things, it was $25 more dollars for me to get the cold weather package instead of just heated mirrors and seats) it's cheaper than buying all of them by themselves.
Any dealership who tries to pass this off as a "special" thing is full of cow puckey.

I love Rassmussen here in Portland, Oregon. MSRP, only $130ish "dealer fee" which included the first tank of petrol, mats, a couple boxes of mini mints, and something else (it all worked out to be kosher).

They've got a waiting list, but they've got service and MA's like I've never met!

 

I think the service at Sterling is better than the service at tate, but I like my dealer over at tate way better when I purchased my 03. I hope tate is sbetter but the service lady was a real B-H and jsut plain intimidatingly mean. But Sterlign has alwasy been curtous to me, al be it beofer tehy didn't call me back promptly, but the new guy does. Also, don't let them dork you around, I buy every car form MD jsut to save a couple hundred anyway, I'd order it form classic or order it form MD anyday, over a dealer with a lousy idea on how to scalp cars

 

One thing I wouldn't like is being told to take Lojack. Although I wanted and got it on my MINI, if I get another MINI, I don't want it. I like the security, but you have to carry a big piece of plastic with you with the key that I stuff in my pocket to carry around and is ackward. Once the novelty and immediate demand for the convertible tapers off, I would think Sterling would no longer require the purchase of options.

 

As others have pointed out, there are plenty of other dealers from whom you can get competitive pricing. There's nothing inherently wrong with a dealer asking for a big markup. Have you ever noticed how much more expensive Coke is compared to generic cola? Should Coke not have the right to charge a markup?

A dealership is in business to make a profit. They can price their products whatever way they want and reap the benefits and/or consequences. That's how the free market works. It's unfortunate that it makes your life inconvenient, but if that's the biggest problem in your life then you're damn lucky!