Sadly wilks you are at the mercy of the "market." MINIs are in high demand and dealers can sell as many as they can get from the factory. VW is having a very difficult time in the US selling cars and so the better deal there. I don't know about Acuras. As long as the MINI (or any car for that matter) is selling like hotcakes you will rarely get a cut in price. This is Economics 101. In my opinion, I would have swallowed my pride and bought the MINI. What's more important, having the MINI or savings the bucks?

 

I guess I'm fortunate in that I have a good dealer--easy to work with, no inflated documentation fees, etc. I bought from MINI of The Woodlands, and they support the local MINI club, too.

I also had a great MA, but unfortunately he's gone on to greener pastures. I suspect there are some happy Saturn buyers on the other side of Houston.

 

Maybe because the new VWs (and Audis, too), are so hard on the eyes?

Sorry if this offends you VW and Audi owners. Of course this is just my opinion...

 

i don't know if you can say that. for european cars, vw is a volume seller. granted, most of the cars they sell are jettas and passats. they might not be too abundant in middle america, but in major cities, especially the coastal ones, they're everywhere. they may not be selling as many as they used to, but i wouldn't say they're having a *very difficult* time selling cars. they have lots of incentives 'cuz their major models compete in the mass market, ie accords, camrys, civics, entry-level cheap acuras and audis, so they have to aggressively push their products. it's a very competitive segment. their cars are not niche cars that sell themselves, whereas minis have a bit of that status. just look how many people are willing to pay msrp (or above), custom-order, and wait for their minis. you don't really do that w/ vw's, or hondas or toyotas

 

According to many articles in the Wall St. Journal over the past couple of years VW is/was not selling near the amount of cars they predicted they could. They are making a bit of a comeback but they sure aren't selling at the rate Minis are. I encourage you to get on the internet see what you can find on VW sales over the last two years.

 

That article, though, was about used car values and depreciation. The point is that although people pay MSRP for Minis and there is a good demand as a new car, that doesn't necessarily apply when it comes to selling them used later. The old market of few cars avail leading to high resale has changed and will continue to since BMW/Mini has set high production and predicted sales numbers expectation for Minis now and into the future.

 

Yes but the numbers for MINI will likely remain higher than those of brand like VW because dealers are, for the foreseeable future, unlikely the start offering deals that are basically wholesale + a few thousand dollars.
I know if I brought a VW today I could likely bargin down the price considerably and that is going to have an effect on the price that someone is willing to pay a few years down the line.

My major issue with that article is how can you project the 5 year resale on the Rabbit when it barely has a year of sales?

 

FWIW, I am a new car manager at a chevy, cadillac store and got my 06 mcs new from the local mini store. so I knew the game, I called different dealers to get a invoice price on the mcs and told the local that I will pay this amount out the door, I then worked them on the rate to match what I was getting at my credit union, which they actually beat by a 1/4 of a point. I wound up paying the invoice price including taxes. the invoice is a 7% of msrp. as far as your trade is you have to realize that the average dealer only grosses $1600-$1800 on a used car sale, they have to clean the car up, change the fluids, do a quality check of the mechanicals in order to make it ready for sale on the lot. take your trade to the dealer with nothing in the car, take out all personal stuff, detail it out like you were to put it in a show, you will be surprised that you will get more money for it. also a little secret, take the car to different dealers and get the salesman to write the figures on the back of a card or dealer paper, leave that in the car with a print out of the Kelly blue book evaluation for good condition trade in value, when the manager gets in the car to drive it he will see this and step up in the value in order to sale you a new car.

 

I don't know, but I guess the same goes for the R56

 

resale values aside, in the past 10 months, vw sold 273,000 cars in the usa. miniusa sells *roughly* about 33,000-ish cars in a 10-month period

for comparison, bmw sold 240,000 cars in the past 10 months. i guess ~30,000 more cars isn't that much more, but vw is still a relatively big seller

 

So far mini of the woodlands has been great. I just hope I dont have to haggle too many figures when the car arrives and they try to stick me for too much labor.

 

How did you get the car for invoice????

I want to be able to get a few things a little cheaper like the invisible bra and tint. How can I haggle these when the car is already on order?

 

My advice is to do those things directly yourself and you will save money over what the dealer can offer anyway as they simply use outside services for that and mark it up. Just check with your local NAM members, other car enthusiasts, or quality body shop for referrals (and be sure whoever you choose has a warranty).

The things the dealer can most easily do deals on are things in their inventory (for example the alarm, or driving lights, etc) and/or labor for installing said things. Since you have already ordered the car and, in essence, made your deal if you have a contract I'm not sure what you can work but it can't hurt to try Go for free mats at least

(Also, check with Classic Mini on any parts prices beforehand; many dealers won't match them anyway and it might be best to get items from Classic and then just haggle on install prices with your dealer letting them know that you will supply the parts.)

 

To the author of the original post, and to bring the topic back to the subject--The title "Tried to buy a Cooper S and gave up" implies that you were a victim in the process. The fact is you made a choice based on the information as you understood it. I agree with the feedback that one is almost always better off to sell your vehicle privately than to trade. You are also attempting to compare sales of two/three very different commodities. I say buck up chap--you made a "decision." Be happy with it and enjoy your new ride, lower interest rates, invoice pricing, and the rest, and you can be smug in the knowledge that you did not get taken in by the ultimate cuteness, uniqueness, relative exclusiveness, awesome handlingness of the tiny car that people line up to pay MSRP and take bath on their trades. I feel better now.

ps: I sold (not traded) my BMW 528t to purchase my MINI--an 07 w 2100 miles for $4500 below MSRP and 100k certification

 

What prompted the change to the cooper after only 2100 miles on the beemer?

 

The 07 Cooper had 2100 miles on it when I purchased it. It was driven by someone at MINI USA and not titled. The Touring had 105,000 miles. Why--another life transformation and I wanted a Cooper.

 

I thought those were specs for the beemer...

You stole the cooper for sure!!!

Wonder why people trade them in so young

 

Hey, going--be sure to join MINI Club of the Woodlands (MCOW), and/or Houston MINI Motoring Society (HMMS) when your baby arrives! When is s/he due?

 

I don't think I was a victim at all - just frustrated at the process with MINI specifically.....i.e. poor trade in value in comparison to the other dealers I visited and poor apr rates - no big deal - I'll live! and I will enjoy my loaded VW GLI 6 speed manual that I got for a hair over invoice with 2.9% financing...- I'll let you guys know what it's worth in 5 years! (like you all care)

 

wilks,

I am sure your last statement was made tongue in cheek, but, speaking for myself, I enjoy cars in general, and car talk in general. I think it would be an elitist attitude to say that everyone wouldnt care what your car was worth in 5 years just because it wasnt a MINI. Someone asked me after my first post why I bought a Mini. I told them that for me it was the only car on the market with a soul that didnt require me to win Powerball to own. But there are still other cars that intrigue me or that I enjoy looking at, just not enough to want to own one. As well as a few cars I might buy simply because they are practical, like the Honda Element. Talk about an ugly car. But I digress. Thanks for starting the post, it has been a fun discussion. Plus as an ex car salesman I enjoy hearing the tales associated with the old job. In many ways considering my love of cars it was my perfect job but the BS that comes from the management in regards to selling cars was too much for me to handle.

 

The GLI was one of the cars on my short list which I cross-shopped the MCS with (the GTI, MS3 and G35s being the others - apples to oranges I know) so I actually am interested to hear of your experience with it. Especially compared to your (limited) time/impressions with/of the MCS.

 

The difference is between being happy with the deal, or happy with the car

 

well i called different mini stores throughout the country and started telling what i was looking at and where i am and what should be the invoice price, took me a while but i got someone to let me know. plus being in the car business i know the lingo so that helps.
come to find out my 06 mcs (coopon) was a extra allocation that had been sitting for a while, so i told the ma what i would pay for it without tax. they said no so i waited for the call, got the call and coopon! you have to remember the longer the car sits the more it costs the dealer. on ordered units good luck getting discount, might get some gimmes (floor mats, etc) that is it.

 

It really depends on the dealer. I was able to get $300 off my first ordered MINI + full mats. I bought my second MINI off the lot (sat there for less than a week) and was able to get it for $750 off + full mats again and bonnet stripes with installation. Making it just over $1000 off since my dealer charges $200 for the stripes and $70 for the mats.

Regardless though, that's one hell of a deal you got. I haven't heard of anyone else on here getting it for invoice exactly.

 

It comes right down to one thing.
Perception is everything.
If you perceived it to be a good deal and you really wanted the MINI.
Then you got a great deal.
That's all there is to it.


I got $500 off plus free mats.
I wanted this great car, and just needed to feel like I got something in addition and some cash off.
I feel (perceive) like I got a great deal.
I am happy and enjoy the feeling everytime I drive SuperMINI.