I went to Irvine Mini today and put down my deposit.

Here's what I'm getting:
Cooper - British Racing Green
Premium Package
DSC
16" Wheels/run flat
Cordoba Beige Leather seats

The Sport Package isn't available w/ the Leather seats, so I had to buy the DSC and the 16" wheels separate.

They took my $1,000 deposit and said that the car may arrive in September. When the order is placed, he told me he would let me know the appropriate info regarding production number, etc...

So here's my question for you guys...I haven't seen anyone write about prices in here...is it not right to talk about that? I shopped the other 3 Mini dealerships in the LA/Orange County area, and Irvine seemed to be the most fair.

Anyone else have any SoCal buying experiences?

 

In central ohio, prices were mrsp; now are mrsp and 1000$; the latter is what I paid for mine; I called s. fla. and they were in the mid to upper 20's with some dealer add-ons that were not optional.

 

Here were my experiences in Southern California:

Nick Alexander Mini - the Sales Manager started out at $4000 over MSRP. He came down $1,000 ... then I walked out... as I was leaving, he came down another $250. Total: $2,750 over list.

Crevier Mini - you have to buy all sorts of dealer added crap. My friend bought his Mini there. The wheels alone were $3,000, then the added on the cd changer also. All total, around $4,500 in mandatory options. You HAD to buy this stuff to get the car.

Long Beach Mini was very similar to Crevier. Super expensive wheels were a mandatory option.

Irvine Mini (where I ordered mine)... they add on a "Protection Package" that is mandatory. In this package you get: LoJack (which I would buy anyway), Paint Protector, and floormats....all for $1,700. Super pricey markup for this stuff, but it's the most reasonable fleecing of all the SoCal dealers.

 

I live in San Diego, and went to the trouble of visiting ALL the dealers in the LA area, because the Escondido dealer is still not open. I had a poor experience at Assael - an ungodly mark-up foisted on me AFTER driving all the way up there with the re-assurence that that very thing wouldn't happen! No sale there. Alexander, apart from being in the most un-accessible area in LA! - was very indifferent, didn't seem to give a damn, I wasn't high enough on their list. They went off MY list. UC was willing to sell a Cooper with ONLY a few added items, which they would charge me for whether I wanted 'em or not, and then I would have to drive BACK to get them installed, plus they wanted to hose me on my trade-in. No joy there. Crevier had no MINIs to sell, just to look at, a long list, and began loading up a MINI right away, it seemed. No MSRP sales at all. I was getting discouraged. Dropped in to Irvine, had a nice test drive, a pleasant experience, but the only MINIs not spoken for were loaded up as well. They were going as much by their list as possible, and unless I wanted a floor model with dealer added extras I was in for a long wait. The modus operandi seems to be load up the non-list assigned MINIs to make as much as possible. 29 grand is an awful lot, when as much as a quarter to a third of the sell price is add-ons.

Down to Long Beach - where we had been once before. We were actually ther to look at the Silk Green car which is now their tester, but they were honest with me. They had added a lot to it and expected to make money on a few cars that they selectively upgraded. No removal of expensive wheels, or other items. If you really were willing to pay that much, the'd take your check just like anyone else. But their policy was to sell most every other MINI at MSRP. Their list was as long as anybody's, but they always save a few sales of MSRP cars ton non-listers if you caught one at the right time. Alli & Tony were very helpful, and found a BRG CVT that wasn't spoken for, said " Your name's on it, do want anything added now? - otherwise it will be at MSRP when you come to pick it up." We added one thing - floor mats, and that was it. I asked if they wanted a deposit, and Tony said "No, your name's already enough." 3 weeks or so to wait, and then I would have my car. They actually got it in a few days early, held it for me until we could drive up, and the deal was done. At MSRP. Matt was on duty the nite we went up, and he and the rest of the crew at Long Beach were very nice. All in all I beat the list wait, I got a great car with a few FACTORY options that were more than I would have ordered, but, hey, I'm drivin' , not waitin'. And it was still cheaper than the the variuos floor models thrown at me!! I normally don't pay MSRP on new cars, but as we know, this is an intro season and like many other specialty cars, no deals. I knew that going in.

I have heard of other MINI owners getting good experieces with Irvine, but now I've got mine, so my days of hanging around dealers is over for now. It took alot of driving, but well worth the effort!

BRG & White Cooper, Cordoba Beige, Premium pkg, 16" 5-spokes, DSC,...Saayy...that sounds familiar! XCPT Mine's got CVT, too.

You'll love the leather seats, they have lumbar support and feel great! The automatic air is fantastic! The sunroof actually wasn't on my list, but hey. I'll take it.

BCNU,
Rob in Dago



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Darnell at Irvine MINI took my deposit. Then I waited. He originally told me 2 or 3 days. 3 weeks later he called me. Overall, experience was good. I LOVE MY MINI!

I think I have the first one with the roof rack installed in Orange County...then I moved it to central Cali (outside of Fresno). It is one of only 2 confirmed cars within 100 miles!!!

I had contacted Assael, too. Whoa, too much "market adjustment". I am now waiting for a MINI service center at the local (Fresno) BMW dealer.

Larry

 

IndiBlue2002,
Do you have any pics of that MINI you could share?
I would love to see some pics of the roof rack. So far the only pics I've seen of it were at the MINIUSA site and the MINI Motoring Accessories catalog. I'd love to see some real pics. If you've got them please post them in the Member MINIs gallery.
I would love to see it.
SW
:smile:

 

Meanwhile... on the other side of the country..... Towne Mini in Western New York is selling for MSRP... They actually use the make a mini function on the miniusa website for their price quote... Pretty nice of them I think... So, needless to say, I was quite fine with the optional 'dealer package' (yes, even the package was optional). Also including the fact that they give un-escorted test drives, a great experience all around...

Rocketboy_X

 

>>Meanwhile... on the other side of the country..... Towne Mini in Western New York is selling for MSRP... They actually use the make a mini function on the miniusa website for their price quote... Pretty nice of them I think... So, needless to say, I was quite fine with the optional 'dealer package' (yes, even the package was optional). Also including the fact that they give un-escorted test drives, a great experience all around...
>>
>>Rocketboy_X


While Towne is indeed selling at MSRP, I (and others on this and other sites) ordered our Minis from Towne and were told that the 'dealer package' (they call it the 'TLC', consisting of paint sealant, a wax job, tank of gas, and choice of rubber or cloth floor maps, all for the amazingly low price of $595) was included on all their cars and was NOT optional. They would not budge on this and believe me a number of us tried to negotiate this away.

Could you please verify that Towne told you the package is optional.

Otherwise our experience at Towne was not at all bad. Asked if we wanted to take a test drive and handed the keys over and said have fun. No pressure during the sales experience.

 

st240,

We got the sport package and the profile leather seats. Why did they say you couldn't get the 2 together?

While our Maxine has more options than we would have ordered, it wasn't ridiculous, and we took what they had on rolling off the truck rather than waiting 6 months for a custorm order. We just couldn't wait until the end of summer to get the sunroof! The leather seats, xenon headlights, sport package, and the $995 floor mats and wax job just seemed like a fair cost to have one of the first ones in town.

In Northern Cal, there's only one dealer selling at MSRP, and they--not surprisingly--have the longest waiting list. The four have $1000 or $2000 markups. But I actually was glad to not have to worry about shopping around and my (lack of) negotiating skills. [um....hello, Sir, will you please take my money and give my that cutey in the corner? ]

hehehe.... motoring on!

 

Nerdgirl,

Apparently, you can get Profile leather with Premium/Sport chosen, but you can't choose the Cordoba Beige leather if you choose both Premium/Sport. It has something to do with the fact that they don't do the Sport Seats in the two tone beige/black treatment. When you go to the miniusa.com website and build one, you can't choose the cordoba beige leather if you choose both prem/sport.

No big deal.

Anyways....24 hours since I ordered it. Um...how much longer!!!

I read that Mini added a 3rd shift to the plant in England. Production this year may jump to 150,000 units from an original projection of 100,000. So does that mean I dont' have to wait as long???

 

>>Could you please verify that Towne told you the package is optional.
>>
>>Otherwise our experience at Towne was not at all bad. Asked if we wanted to take a test drive and handed the keys over and said have fun. No pressure during the sales experience.
>>

Well, when I first went to buy when the MINI's first came out, they just threw it in, no questions asked. I then re-thought about buying one that was in transit, and decided against buying the model that was offered. Last week I ordered a 'custom' Cooper S, and the woman there specifically asked me if I wanted the package. It looks like they changed the pratice. Either that, or the guy wants you to buy the package, but the gal sells it as optional (as I had the guy the first time, and the gal the second...)


Rocketboy_X

 

>> Last week I ordered a 'custom' Cooper S, and the woman there specifically asked me if I wanted the package. It looks like they changed the pratice. Either that, or the guy wants you to buy the package, but the gal sells it as optional (as I had the guy the first time, and the gal the second...)
>>
>>
>>Rocketboy_X

Very interesting.

We dealt with the guy (Greg) - I'm sure he wants us to get the package (all I want is the floor mats).

It looks like I need to make a telephone call.

Thanks for the information.

 

>>I went to Irvine Mini today and put down my deposit.
>>
>>Here's what I'm getting:
>>Cooper - British Racing Green
>>Premium Package
>>DSC
>>16" Wheels/run flat
>>Cordoba Beige Leather seats
>>
>>The Sport Package isn't available w/ the Leather seats, so I had to buy the DSC and the 16" wheels separate.
>>
>>They took my $1,000 deposit and said that the car may arrive in September. When the order is placed, he told me he would let me know the appropriate info regarding production number, etc...


>>
>>So here's my question for you guys...I haven't seen anyone write about prices in here...is it not right to talk about that? I shopped the other 3 Mini dealerships in the LA/Orange County area, and Irvine seemed to be the most fair.
>>
>>Anyone else have any SoCal buying experiences?


In the East, in Annapolis, I paid list for the same appointed car, 2 months wait, cold weather package also....21,400...94.50 for mats.........

:smile:

 

I live in Westchester NY, about 25 miles from Manhattan, the first thing I asked the dealer at Westchester BMW?MINI was "HOW MUCH?" FULLY LOADED MINI S (all options!!) $23,950 I signed, we shoke I gave him a $500 deposit, and he took me for another test drive for about 45 minutes.

 

>>
>>>>Could you please verify that Towne told you the package is optional.
>>>>
>>>>Otherwise our experience at Towne was not at all bad. Asked if we wanted to take a test drive and handed the keys over and said have fun. No pressure during the sales experience.
>>>>
>>
>>Well, when I first went to buy when the MINI's first came out, they just threw it in, no questions asked. I then re-thought about buying one that was in transit, and decided against buying the model that was offered. Last week I ordered a 'custom' Cooper S, and the woman there specifically asked me if I wanted the package. It looks like they changed the pratice. Either that, or the guy wants you to buy the package, but the gal sells it as optional (as I had the guy the first time, and the gal the second...)


I've been following up on the issue of whether or not the 'TLC package' (floor mats, paint sealant, wax job) is an option from Towne Mini (Buffalo, NY). The word directly form the Operations Manager is that the package is not optional and wll be included with every Mini. Congratulations if you were able to place the order without the package.

On the positive side Towne does indeed sell at MSRP and has been very easy to deal with.

 

The dealership in Peabody MA was great. I didn't even bother checking out the Boston one because it's difficult to drive aggresively around Boston, which would've been a disappointing test drive.
They used to website too. I brought up my saved Mini S, and then we re-looked over everything to make sure my options were correct. I then put a $500 deposit down, and scheduled a test drive for Saturday. I was told my deposit is refundable until the order is placed, which is in 9 months or more

 

Hey dave, I put my deposit down at Herb Chambers in Boston, and i must say, you would have enjoyed the test drive there! Can't explain the feeling of zipping through traffic on commonwealth ave, at 70 mph!