Does Mini usa offer its dealerships incentives for making sales goals on a monthly basis? I am asking because my girlfriend is considering a mini purchase. I know that with other manufacturers the buyer often has more sway at the end of a month if a stealership is struggling to make its sales goals (or is close to a bonus). I know mini has a policy of selling for MSRP but every price is negotiable. We plan on dealing with several dealerships in the area hoping to find one that is willing to sacrifice some profit for a quick no work sale. I just need to know if the end of the month will be important to the dealers or not. Thanks in advance.

 

I don't think there's much to sway at MINI dealers these days. They seem to have little problem moving their cars and don't seem to get desperate over sales, based on what I've seen. The best you can do is to resign yourself to pay MSRP (not more!) and just get the car. MINIs...unlike many vehicles on the road...are SO worth it!!

 

I suspect you will not meet your objective. The MINI market is a perfect example of supply and demand. You may best buy the car at MSRP. I have been through all this and suggest you call Aka DeMesa at MINI of the Woodlands [Houston, TX]. Tell him I sent you. Ask him to search for an unsold car in production that meets yuour criteria. He will sell at MSRP. he can deliver a factory order in 6 weeks.

 

Part of me actually enjoyed the fact that I knew I wouldn't have to haggle over price...I accepted the fact that I paid MSRP graciously, and the resale value will reward you in years to come.

 

I'm about to put my MCS up for sale next week and was suprised at the NADA value. The car is definately worth MSRP. One reason I am selling it right now is probably another reason you will not get below MSRP. Cars that get good gas mileage are in demand now because of gas prices. I figured I may as well take advantage of the gas prices now since I was planning on ordering an 06 soon anyway.

You do know that if she buys a MINI you'll have the pleasure of washing two. If my wife had one and it got dirty like her current car, I know I would wash it. Seeing a dirty MINI is like seeing an sad dog. It makes you cry.

 

Mini dealerships are limited as to how many Minis they can sell a year. Which probably equates as to how many they can sell per month or quarter. Maybe a Motoring Advisor can shed some light on how the dealerships work as far as quotas and amounts of cars they can sell.

 

I was also curious about MA compensation...they have to be structured in a different way than most other manufacturers/dealerships, since they pride themselves in "team" sales and not the individual, or so I was told. Another thing I quite enjoy, I might add. No weird territoriality over buyers between motoring advisors.

 

I heard that each dealership has a limited number of cars to sell a month but wasnt sure if this was true or not. If it was true and a dealership was short selling a few cars then maybe they would sell at a discount instead of loosing the car. I know most people pay msrp (or over) but I'm sure if we find a motivated dealership we can hopefully find a small deal.

Oh and I will only have one MINI to wash as I don't own one. I recently picked up a saab 92x when they were giving them away. But you are right that I will end up washing the mini.

 

The biggest discount I've ever heard of with Mini's (by someone not affiliated with Mini/BMW) was by someone here saying something along the lines of 'I only got $350 off MSRP'.

The most common thing I know of people getting as a deal is free floormats, and you get to choose between rubber/cloth.

 

You could try, and if you do, good luck with that, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

BTW, what area of the country are you in? If you're in Cali, just consider yourself lucky if you can find a dealer that sells at MSRP. Otherwise, it is my understanding that, while the dealerships all get allocations of how many cars they can order every month, what many of them do if they don't have enough orders to fill their allocation, is just order them anyway so they have a couple on the lot for those folks that just can't wait for a custom ordered one. Most of these "on the lot" cars also get dealer installed options put on them to make the dealer more money. So, any way you look at it, they are selling all of their allocation for the asking price. It can be a hard pill to swallow, but as long as they do this, then our resale stays nice and high too

 

Good luck to you, that ain't gonna happen

 

Another aspect no one has touched on... The profit margin sales on each new MINI is very low, like $1,500 per car. This is yet another reason why no MINI dealer will give you a big discount, because by asking for it you are eating right into their profits. The MINI has no factory to dealer incentives and it does not have any "Back" money either. So sorry, but you will be out of luck even trying to haggle down the price by $1

If you want discounts and rebates, buy domestic and watch your resale plummet like a heavy brick the minute you drive your "fire sale" car out the dealer's lot

I have bought 3 brand new MINIs in the past 3 years from the same MINI dealer and on each instance I have had to pay full MSRP. I send people to their dealership all the time and they also pay full retail. I do get a ton of frebbies because of loyalty and repeat business.

 

i either visited or called every dealer in southern california towards the end of the month hoping to "get a deal" below msrp. ...just wasn't going to happen. this was in feb when we were getting alot of rain and the best offer i got was "hey, we can talk about selling AT msrp if you'd like to take this convertible on the lot".

i ended up paying 2500 OVER msrp and just waiting just under 2 months for the mini i really wanted.

 

The biggest discounts I have ever seen on MINIs are when a car is ordered (usually loaded) and then the person doesn't want it. Then they get major deals.

I got the stealer to deal big time on accessories included on the car.

 

This is exactly what I did actually. I picked up a Saab 92x aero for a little over $8K off sticker (which came out to be about $1.5K less than a stock MCS). I tried to convince the gf to do the same since this is an amazing car for the money but no dice she is sold on getting a MINI. It doesn't sound like the end of the month is going to be much extra leverage which is a bummer.

 

From what I understand, MA's are salaried, so they're paid whether they sell one or ten. Which is nice--I didn't feel any pressure to buy the car, like I would have if I'd gone anywhere else.

 

But probably they still need to meet a minimum sales quota.

 

I doubt that is hard to do with current demand and people nationwide scouting dealerships that may not be in such metropolitan areas :smile:

 

I think I got more than that ... in thrown in stuff ... not line item on the purchase order. For example, I calmly explained that it was Illegal to charge Sales Tax on installation charges ... which they were doing.

I think a large part is bonuses in that they have to get their 5 star ratings. That is huge with them. Want to hurt your MA or when going in for service, give them a low rating.

I know that the last time I was in for service, my SA said he was one of the top 10 SA in the country and MINI was rewarding them with a trip to London. He was scheduled to leave just before the Terrorist bombings .... dont know if they ever went. Maybe thats like a bonus for good rating.

 

Since the price is not negotiable, its kind of like CARMAX. No haggling, the price is the price (except you leave CARMAX with the car!)

 

I always thought the haggling was half the fun of buying a car.

 

Bought my 2002 and 2005 MCS at Roadshow in Memphis. Great service, easy to deal with, MSRP no questions asked. They have people all over the country buy from them, give them a shot!

MINI of St. Louis is also selling for MSRP and will treat you great!

Aaron

 

That was me, I also got free floor mats. I didn't know you weren't suppose to get a discount, so I insisted on one and they gave it to me. To be precise I looked at the $350 discount as preventing me from paying more than MSRP. There was a $249 documentation charge and a $58 city tax. Without the $350 discount I would have paid more than MSRP, something I could not do.

 

Anyone get a discount on accessories you bought with your Mini?

 

MA pay structure varies from dealership to dealership. Some get salary, some get salary +commission, and some get commission only. The dealerships determine this - not MINIUSA.

It's true there is very little profit built into the MSRP of a MINI. Each dealership is allocated only a certain number of MINI's each month.. Since most dealers can easily sell out each month don't expect them to come down on whatever the price is set at. The one poster who got it at 350 under MSRP is a VERY rare exception. The best you can really hope for is MSRP but don't count on it. Even $1000 over MSRP is pretty decent but ask for free floor mats =)

Look at www.cars.com to see what type of resale value the MINIs have. It's one of the highest out of all car lines in the US.