I'm in the Seattle area and am frustrated by a 10 to 12 month delivery time being quoted by our local dealer. I'm curious where the shortest delivery times are. I saw one mention of 4 months in NY. Is that possible? Are there other dealers that can deliver a 2005 in under 6 months?

bobm................

 

I ordered mine at the beginning of August and had it by the middle of Oct via Classic MINI in Ohio.

 

Hello,

I also purchased mine, in 03, from Classic Mini in Ohio. Back then it took about 6 weeks. It was the best car buying time I have ever had. Talk with Julie.

We went back then drove it home. Great time.

By the way, I live in Wenatchee, WA.

Exposed

 

bobm,
Call Julie Saxa at Classic MINI in Ohio 440 266-6700. You can order what you want and it will be there in about 8-10 weeks. I've purchased 3 from her; and they've all arrived at the dealer as quickly as 8 weeks and as long as 11 weeks after I placed the order.

Julie can tell you which month of production she's ordering now; and everythng is at MSRP...and if you want a convertible there's even more savings (see her ad under dealer announcements)
You can email her at Julie@driveclassic.com. Build your car at MINIusa and save the configuration to a Word file, and email it to her.

There are a number of folks from Seattle and Oregon who have purchased from her. You can fly out and drive back (a little tough as winter nears---but not impossible); or ship it via Concours Transport Systems. Classic has about 4-6 cars a month coming west to WA, OR, or CA via Concours.

Call Julie and you WON'T be disappointed.

Charlie

 

Bobm,
From the time I started typing my reply until I submitted it, there were two others who mentioned Julie & Classic. See what I mean....You can't go wrong. Email Julie today. She may even have an unsold car coming in that meets your needs...and then you'll have it even sooner!
Charlie:smile: :smile:

 

I ordered mine on 10/12/04 from Classic MINI in Cleveland. The car arrived at the dealer on 11/21 - what is that? One day shy of six weeks? (But I happened to call while they still had an open slot in their October allotment.)

Check the vendor announcements thread. Classic and MINI of the Hamptons (MOTH) are both having sales till the end of the year. (The MOTH thread's title only talks about convertibles, but I think they're actually offering their special on all models.)

I haven't dealt with MOTH, but I couldn't recommend Classic more highly. I paid MSRP at Classic and they threw in a free driver's side parcel shelf (the "Euro" shelf) and floor mats as part of a special they were having at the time. Julie at Classic is unbelievable. If you talk to her, tell her Chip referred you. They also offer 20% off on parts orders to NAM members.

I'm picking up my car on Friday - six more days!!! I've got a lot of friends and family between Cleveland and Sacramento, so my wife and I are going to fly back and drive the car across the country. If you don't want to get involved in something like that, ISTR that MOH's sale is $500 to ship anywhere in the U.S. Don't know what this would normally be for NY to Seattle, but I'll bet it's a lot more!

Also, on a side note, when I ordered my car, I filled out the MINI credit app over the phone with Julie, and we got a 3.99% rate! Rates may have gone up since then, but it might be worth looking into if you're thinking of financing!

Good luck. Everybody here on the board is looking forward to helping you "spec" your car!

 

Well, four got in ahead of me, but I tend to be long-winded!

 

do what they said.

 

Julie picked him up at the airport in the middle of a snowstorm in Cleveland(very late at night) to get his car delivered and get him on the road ahead of some very bad weather. That's Service !

 

Yup. On top of that I wasn't planning on flying out (and she wasn't expecting me out there) and got a wild hair and jumped on a plane a couple days after my car arrived. I wasn't able to reach her to tell her until I got to my connection in Phoenix, so she only had a few hours warning that I was coming. She picked me up after business hours at the airport, and we ddin't leave the dealership until near midnight. Good thing too because for the first couple days I was running from one of the nasty NE snowstorms we had last year. If I had waited a day I would have been in the middle of it.

5 thumbs up for service. I would consider buying there again even if cars were available locally. Plus the home is a right of passage of sorts for new MINI owners :smile:

 

Julie picked me up from the airport, even though my plane was late. She made the whole process quite nice. I would buy from her again in a heartbeat.

 

Wow, those are awesome testimonials! I think I've found my dealer as well!

 

I placed my order on November 8th, and it's now on the way to NY due in on on Dec 3rd. MINI of Towson. My MA let me sit down with him and look at the allotments on the dealer network. They're coded red, yellow, and green. Red means that no changes can be made to the order, yellow means that changes can be made for a short time, green gives you the greatest amount of time to make changes, but the production slot is further down the line. I picked a yellow slot that was a dealer ordered car, he changed the order as I sat there, and gave me the sheet with the production number and my options. A few days later, the changes showed up in the OL, and after ordering on Nov 8th, my car hit production on the 12th, was finished on the 19th, and shipped out on the 24th. My car should be at the VPC less than 4 weeks after ordering it.

 

I too am in the region of 10-month waits (SF Bay Area) and I'm looking to replace the '03 MCS with a '05 MCS.

Are there any other Mini dealerships near the west coast people can recommend with low wait times (2-3 months) and good service?

I've already emailed Julie about an allocation but the more recommendations the better I always say.

TIA

 

I guess I got lucky, but I did call around and I ended up getting my loaded 05' MCS with zero wait since they had one on the lot when I called. A guy had ordered one but then got upset by the lease payment (who cares what it cost, I got my MINI!!). I bought mine from Century Mini in Greenvilee, SC.

I would suggest calling dealers up and down the west coast and further. You may be surprised. A dealer should be willing to ship the car which shouldn't run you more than $500-700.

Good luck!

Chris

 

I ordered mine from Julie as well, but if you dont want to wait south bay mini in los angeles just opened friday. They have 50 or so minis on the lot at msrp.

 

bobm, I too am in the Seattle area. I ordered my MCS from Northwest Mini in Sept 2003 with a 10-12 month expected wait. It's on a boat right now and I'll get it just after xmas...15 months after I ordered. Try one of the routes others have suggested unless you really want a 2007 Mini

 

Northwest MINI is the worst! I avoid using them when I can. They mark up all parts 15-20% since they are the only dealer in the PNW. Mini has denied all applications for another puget sound dealer until after 2007.....yikes

 

I think I've heard people mention a dealer in Salt Lake City and another in Las Vegas. Not sure, but try using the forum's search facility. (Is there a "rate your dealer" sticky somewhere?)

I also second CustomAV's suggestion that you start calling dealers in an ever-widening circle and asking what they've got in their inventory. Also ask them what's due to arrive. I would guess that this is a pretty slow time for dealers right now. (Isn't this why the "new models" used to come out in the fall - to wake up flagging car sales this time of year?)

 

Desert MINI in Las Vegas tacks on markups, hard to negotiate. For MSRP try Albuquerque (new dealer, Sandia MINI) or Oklahoma City, last I heard there it was 9-12 weeks. Denver is still around 7-9 months for an S, SLC about the same. Forget Snotsdale: they're not even taking orders anymore, after their current customer order list is fulfilled, it's dealer stock only!

Personally, I think it's a shame that folks in allocation-challenged parts of the US--or places where those ripoff markups still exist--have to go to Mentor Ohio or some other locale to get their cars (I should talk: I get OEM parts from Classic) Jimbo

 

Got my 04 MCS this past spring in Oklahoma at Jackie Cooper MINI. Great experience, no markup, no BS, no add ons. MA was Chad. Took about 10 weeks from order to driving it home.

 

was just told today, 6-8 weeks in nj

 

When I was looking at the begining of August, Julie at Classic and Moth were unable to give me a production date for a S convertible. I found the best time for delivery at Moritz Mini in Arlington Texas(Dallas/ Fort Worth) I flew out and had a very good experience.

 

bobm,

Aloha and welcome to NAM!

Fastest delivery for new ordered MINI is with Classic in Ohio or MINI of the Hamptons to start with but you can always call around to other dealers.

Fastest time to get yourself into a MINI would be if you can find one in stock at any of the above dealers but often you will have to pay a slightly higher price or the shipping cost. Still, it's only a few weeks and you don't have to wait as long-
You wouldn't happen to be a little impatient??

Hey I bought one in stock rather than wait 6 months.
Check back daily if nothing turns up. I was shopping then found one in stock and bought it the next day. Total shopping time= one week.
6 months? Bah Humbug.

 

bobm,

I Agree with all those guys. Usually Dealers in the Midwest are the best.
I live in California where mark-ups were running high (not to mention the attitudes) so I bought my car from Baron MINI in Kansas City. No wait, no mark-up, great service and they also picked me up at the Airport.
I had my car shipped with Intercity Lines in order to do a proper engine break in.
Tell you the truth, even if all those extra expenses were as much as a local dealer mark-up, I would have still done it just for the principle !!!