OK, so BMW is famous (infamous) for killing you with options/accessories prices. Which is why I currently drive a Passat and not a 3 Series ($500 "optional" fold-down rear seats??? No thanks, VW gives me that for free...).

Some things are commonly accepted by others (upcharge for metallic paint, for example) but hard to swallow for some (like me, who opted for solid paint and put the $$$ toward LSD instead). That's all fine and good. I can live with that. Pay if you want to pay, don't if you don't.

We won't even get into "dealer markup," which unfortunately some of you have to swallow (or choose to). That's another issue.

But some things are just downright insulting. The $400+ wind deflector for the convertible instantly springs to mind. The $400+ for a full set of seat covers is another. But here's a small one that really got under my skin. Funny how, when you're anxiously awaiting the delivery of your car, it's the little things that push you over the edge.

Why is it, exactly, that I have to pay $15 extra bucks to get the 5-cent piece of plastic that says "S" on my rubber floor mats rather than the 5-cent piece of plastic that says "MINI?" The floor mats are otherwise the same, no? Does MINI assume that, since I'm paying more for the higher-performance car, then by darn I can afford to shell out a little extra for the same floor mats? Or do the "S" rubber floormats somehow increase the performance of my car? Lighter weight? More aerodynamic? Carbon-fiber reinforced for added rigidity? Is the "S" badge hand painted? What am I missing here?

OK, it's $15, but geez, a buck here, a buck there, suddenly we're talking about real money.

I'm happy to spend my dough, but at least make me feel like I'm getting something for it. Geez.

You're bleeding me dry here, MINI, you're bleeding me dry...

I feel better now. That rant should get me through another week of waiting. Thanks for listening.

P.S. My Passat even included free floormats as standard equipment (whoa!), but I will admit they are the cheapest, crappiest floormats ever created by modern man. I could swear my heel wore through the driver side mat within the first week.

 

My poor pitiful MCS runs around town with plain old MINI logos on the floor mats. I think they make the car slower!

 

Is good to let your feeling out. heheheh

 

I hear ya! And totally agree with your beefs. I feel the same way. But if you REALLY want some of these things, they know you will pay for them. Unfortunately, we all know that's the way it works...

The ONLY thing I really wanted for our Cabrio was the Wind Blocker. Yeah - a bit on the expensive side!!!! We bit the bullet and ordered it through MINI of Sterling Parts (on Roadfly) and got it for $299 (if I remember correctly). Wowza! Nice discount but still a chunk of change... It was my Christmas present....and I must admit, I love it...

Donna
02' CR/W MCS (gone to MINI heaven)
05' Cool Blue MCSC

 

Ebay, Classic Mini, & Ralph Shomph (sp?) will become good resources. Dont't pay retail. A little leg work will save you a bunch.

 

I resent having to pay anything for floormats, regardless of what logo they have on them!

Oh well, at least they have velcro patches on the bottom to keep them in place.

 

Laguna,


How funny, my wife and I also drive a Passat and just added the MINI to our stable. The mat price beef I understand. It absolutely makes no sense. I got the all S mats and they should be the same price. But they're not. I bought them because dammit I got an S and I want to show off in as many places as possible that I got the S. The mats are really nice though. Thick, solid rubber which slides into place perfectly. There isn't a square inch of carpet visible beneath these things. They fit that well. You also don't need to use the anchors they provide. How these things could move is beyond me.

What year is your Passat?

 

Yep, that's what I'm working on, my accessory order list for Classic MINI. But discount or no, I'm still paying extra for that plastic red "S".

Actually, I'm not. I'll stick with the "lowbrow" MINI logo and save the $$$ for gas. Sometimes you gotta make a stand on principle.

 

Actually if you bought the front and rear mats its $30 more.

 

You guys had money left to spend on floormats!!! I vowed never to buy floormats from a company/dealership if I ever bought a new car. Stuck to my guns

 

2000, 1.8T, Blue Anthracite, black leather, 5-spd. I love that car. Even more now that I gave it the Klasse treatment/full detail over the weekend to get it ready to sell. I don't think the car looked that good the day I drove it off the dealer's lot 5 years ago. In fact, I know it didn't.

The MCSC will replace my Passat and '94 Miata. The wife & kids have the Honda Pilot. In return for two cars and a bucket of $$$, I'll have a 4-seat front-drive convertible I can drive year-round and go on family outings in. But I'll truly miss the blue instrumentation and my switchblade key.

Speaking of Pilot, my wife put a new ding in my Passat door last night with the Pilot door. Aargh! Why now??? And that Klasse shine makes that door ding stand out like a beacon of imperfection.

 

That's why my car currently has a set of $15 (that's total cost ) floor mats from AutoZone. If anyone thinks less of me or my car for that, well then...

I still think the biggest ripoff option (other than paying for floor mats) is $1100 for leather seats.

 

Hehehe, but now she owes you one. No?

 

Heh, yeah right. I wish. The incident became "my fault" because the Passat was parked "too close" to the Pilot.

A husband's job, I've learned, is to accept blame with a pained smile, and silence.

 

I hear ya!!! My wife backed our Audi A6 into a boat. (Don't ask, long story). Called me at work and started yelling at me and telling me it's my fault.
All I had to say was: "Yes, dear. I am sorry dear."

 

I would not bother buying the rear rubber mats for the convertible. They are ridiculously small. Since they are only about 7" long they do not protect much. I plan on replacing them with something else that I can custom cut to fit farther up underneath the front seats. They are not easily seen anyway so if they are not perfectly matched MINI mats no one will notice.

The front ones however are very nice because of the two hooks just under the seat that holds them in place. Even the super heavy thick rubber mats I bought for my truck slide forward. The MINI ones really stay in place well.

In the first two days of driving our new MINI the rubber mats got filthy because of all the rain we are having. So I am really glad I have them.

 

Ooohhh - the WORST thing I can do is to say "Yes, dear." She HATES that more than anything I could have done!


Laguna, I feel your pain on some of the accessory items, especially the S upcharge. Fortunately we have Classic MINI that makes the pain 20% less.
What I find even more egregious are the 'aftermarket' companies that charge more than dealer list for MINI accessories. That's just wrong.

 

You're PAYING for floormats? My car came with carpetted floormats as standard and I told the dealer (since it was snowing when I placed my order) to toss in a set of rubber floormats too, and he did.

 

WOW
$30.00 for floor mats! That's a steal.

I paid a tad over $26,000 for mine (but they did throw in a nice LY MCS to make the deal sweeter).

It really kills me the way dealers will nickel and dime you to death.

 

Try sweet talking the dealer into giving you the floor mats for free. My dealer threw in my rubber mats (just plain mini logo) if I agreed to buy the boot organizer. Since the organizer was $20 cheaper than the mats, I thought that was a pretty good deal.

I do agree on a lot of the option charges. (A surcharge for paint? No thanks, I'll go non-metallic.) But, that's what we deal with for buying such highly customizable cars.

 

Yes, I've asked my dealer if any freebies are thrown in with the car. Response = a free key ring. Yes!!!! <sarcasm>

I guess if you're "lucky" enough to get the car for MSRP, you shouldn't expect any free goodies?

The metallic paint thing bugged me because I've bought other cars with metallic paint and have never been charged extra. Does the metallic paint on a MINI cost the manufacturer more than the metallic paint on my Passat (which had no upcharge)? $420 more? On such a tiny car? Where half the body surface is a canvas soft top? Is BMW metallic paint magical in nature or of such high quality to deserve a premium? Is it hand rubbed by skilled artisans to get a special metallic sheen? Who knows. (Not to knock anyone who paid extra for metallic paint on their MINI, BTW. I was going to get Dark Silver until I saw the killer sweet Chili Red dash/door panel option).

When I bought my Passat, I was intrigued by the Bimmer 323i that "started" at $26k. "Hmmm," thought I, "that's not much more than the Passat."

When I visited the dealership and asked to see a $26k "base" 323i, the salesman laughed at me. "No one wants the base car" sez he. "We never get them."

"Can your order one?"

"I doubt it."

Hmmm. OK. Perhaps being in South Orange County at the time didn't help...

Then I specced the car equivalent to the Passat. After adding the metallic paint, sunroof, folding rear seats, seat warmers, etc. etc., the BMW was around $34k. The Passat was $24k. OK, one is a VW and one is a BMW, but still...

Talk about teaser pricing. Get 'em in the door, kill 'em with the upselling.

Now back to that $15 "S" badge on the rubber floormats...

 

My MINI Logo floor matts in my S provide me that all important stealth advantage

 

It's called suppy and demand. Very little of what you pay is dependant on the cost of production, it is based on how many of an item there are versus how many people want them. Since MINI dealers are pressured not to markup the car over MSRP (I know some do anyway) they make money in other places. Before I bought my MINI, I looked at a Chevrolet SSR. I thought "It is a little pricier than a MINI, but I may get a discount, and I can use my GM dollars that I earned from my credit card". Here is what the dealer told me:
I'll have one in in a couple of weeks.
The MSRP is about $45K.
I could probably let you have it for $57K.
I laughed and said, never mind, I'll go next door and buy three MINIs!

Personally I can buy alot of overpriced floormats for $12K! But the MINI dealer did give me a nice set of carpeted mats at "no charge".

 

As with anything it's a matter of demand. I did get my floormats for $40 total off ebay. We all understand (and feel your pain) Fortunately the dealer I purchased from had no dealer mark up but wouldn't budge on anything. The same happened when I bought my previous vehicle. The salesman said something like, "why would we adjust the prices when we can easily sell it to someone else?" This statement upset me but he was right...everywhere I called was selling the car for more. Now when I bought my Honda about 8 years ago the dealer gave multiple discounts.