I'm looking forward to making my first MINI purchase, but I'm wondering if there is a best or worst time of year to buy a cabrio? My wife wants to wait until we get our hopefully sizeable tax return to use as the downpayment. My thinking is that April in Southern California might not be the best time to buy a cabrio, as spring is just starting and the perfect cabrio weather is on its way. Does it really make a difference?

 

If you are buying it new, the time doesn't matter, you'll pay full price no matter when you buy it. If you are buying used, then winter is definitely a better time to buy.

Good luck!

 

If the date exists on the calendar it's a perfect day to buy a convertible!

 

I hear that Feb 30th is the best

 

I live in SoCal and I would say buy it now ,unless you are thinking '07 model . The prices are dropping like crazy because of the 07s are coming out and dealers need to get rid of old inventory before they get their allotment of new '07s ... Do your home work... contact dealers from all over the country and search for the best price... South Bay Mini advertise MSRP but you may even get below sticker on a cabrio from eastern states now with free shipping...but as an advice ,get the exact MCc or MCSc that you want,do not settle for what the dealers have...

 

Thanks for the tip! Is there a more efficient way to search for used cars in the North/East than by checking each craigslist?

 

Try www.autotrader.com or check http://autos.yahoo.com/ or see if your local newspaper has an online classifieds listing

 

If you're buying new, order now then in 2+ months you can take delivery and put the $$ down. You only need a deposit right now, not the complete financing package.

If you're looking to buy new, and want to check dealer inventories, you can do that from the MINIUSA site. I know Classic in Mentor has a bunch of cars sitting on the lot. I'm not sure that you're looking to come from Cali to Ohio in the dead of winter, but it's a good place to look. I'm pretty sure that the Cabrio's aren't flying off their lot with weather being in the 20's.

 

The best advise is to find a dealer that will only charge MSRP. I have read that a number of dealerships in Ca charge above MSRP.

 

O RLY? That's good news. How much of a deposit do they require? Is it non-refundable?

 

I've seen tons of good deals on e-bay for MCSc .There was a thread here,someone wanted to sell their MCSc and the dealer lowballed him pretty drastically . Keep your eyes open(e-mail) .I'm pretty sure some one on NAM is going make you a private offer...
I got mine from Alexander MINI and I took bought their demo MCSc dark silver and got it below sticker but it had 800 miles on it. They told me if I got the MINI from them ,they would provide a loaner car or free up and delivery when I need to do any repairs. I thought that was a good thing.. My MCSc had a paint chip when I got it and I took it back to Alexander to get the whole door re-painted and they gave me a MCSc to drive for a week during the work being done...If you fo to Alexander and get it there give me the referral maybe they will send me a key chain or something
If you are not too picky on your MCc or MCSc I'd get it used...the new cars take a big hit on depreciation ... go test drive some and take a real long test if you can and feel the MCSc with auto and stick and MCc with stick ... The 'S auto' is nice if want the extra speed but the MPG is not too good...

 

Thanks for all the help. I forgot to mention that I'm looking for a MCSC with navigation. That seriously handicaps my search. No dealers seem to have navs in stock.

At this point I really think I want to go new and order it. I like the idea of ordering in February and taking delivery in April so I can use my tax refund. But does anyone know if the deposit to order is refundable or not? I'm hoping its refundable because they should easily be able to sell the car to someone else (I think).

 

South Bay MINI says that your deposit is refundable ,go check them out...plus they advertise on NAM that they sell MSRP ...good luck....

 

I think most deposits are refundable. I guess you'd have a problem if you ordered something with BRGreen paint and a blue top, because if you backed out of the deal, the dealer is now stuck with a car they probably cannot sell.

Classic only made me put $500.00 down (most want $1000.00) then just before delivery they let us put more down and get financing.

 

Oh and as for NAV. My TomTom 700 is much cheaper than the factory Nav. and is a hard-drive unit that only cost me $50.00 or so to update maps on. I couldn't see spending $1500+ for factory Nav. that uses CD's.

 

Just for giggles I went to Classic MINI and found:

1. A $1000.00 certificate for any "In Stock" MINI's.
and
These 3 pages of MINI's http://driveclassicmini.com/New-Inventory.aspx

 

Per your advice, I called South Bay Mini and spoke with Donna. She told me that there is a $1,000 fully refundable deposit to order a MINI. And, if I order today, production would begin in March, with delivery expected in May. So I could still use my tax refund for the downpayment.