OK, folks, please forgive me if these questions have been answered, but here goes:
I have narrowed my choices down and am looking at two new MC's at Mini of Fairfield County (CT). I am in Mass and realize that I will pay my sales tax at time of registration of vehicle for Mass. My question is such:
when I negotiate the final price, what should I expect....doc fees (which of course I will negotiate fiercely), but in CT do I need to pay anything else as a purchaser from out of state? Additionally, do I have to do the running for Mass plates, etc? Or does the dealer handle that.....I am sure I am not the first person to purchase out of state.
Now, you are all probably wondering about my choice to go to CT...but I assure you, there are several good reasons. I do not want to order a vehicle particularly for convenience since I live on an island and travelling back and forth is difficult. I also am quite annoyed in all honestly with two of my closer dealerships....very rude and abrupt.
And we were not even close to negotiations....I was asking for details about certain of their vehicles. "Check our website" is not what I consider good customer service.
NOw if I could only decide between two colors I will be a happy girl...

 

I'm in Mass also, I went to Inskip in Warwick, RI, heard bad things about Herb C. and Peabody is just too far !! As far as I've heard, it is what it is as far as the price is, per MINI USA Inskip is doing everything for me as far as reg. and all that other stuff. Hope that helped, and the best color BY FAR is BRG !! by the way, where are you going to motor around? those are some small islands for sure !!

 

You know, I checked out inventory at INskip and it is limited right now.....
I am pretty sure I want CR with black roof. Your BRG must be gorgeous.
I am not being too particular really, just want Premium and manual tran. I thought I really wanted Xenons but not that important.
Thus, I felt like ordering and dealing with that hassle, particularly since my phone conversations with two nearby dealers have been less than favorable.
I am more than willing to travel to CT or NY to get the car I want and the customer service that we all deserve when plunking down several thousands.
I think I have figured things out...I will go through my INS company first, try to get most done at the RMV here in Mass before even going over the line...

 

Inskip had the cold package on most of there cars, I wanted premium package and not much else,so they built one for me cause I am a rock star !!I made one on the web site, e mailed it to Inskip, went in, tweaked some things and .....5 weeks later, that was 4 weeks ago, she'll be here on Sat !!! There doing all the foot work at the DMV, and at the Insur. co. If going to CT. works for ya, than go for it !!! if you ever make it to the main land let me know, I'd love to motor with ya !!!

 

Usually there are doc fees (stuff like this is also "dealer markup"). There should be no additional dealer prep charge, etc. Not on a new one. Bear in mind that their $650 destination charge is also nicely marked up.

Just keep in mind that margin is margin. Keep your eye on the true bottom line, regardless of where the numbers are. Also - if you are financing w/ them they DO get at least 30%, perhaps more of the finance package - that gives you more leverage. If you buy an extended warranty (I woulnd't), they get 50% of that. If you buy GAP insurance, they get a piece. And so on.

It seems from what you have written that you are pretty flexible as to color, stripes, leather etc - just so long as you get Premium and 6-speed. That gives you MANY options. You may even wish to consider a 2007 w/ low miles. You could probably get a 2007 mcs for the same price as a new 2008 mc - along w/ Premium, Cold, and some other good stuff.

You might do the MA plates yourself - otherwise they pay a service to do it, and charge you a premium. But this can vary by dealer. And it can be worth a little money to avoid the hassle of dmv. You'd get temporary CT plates and get the full one's in the mail.

That's truly obnoxious. I'm in sales and that's atrocious behavior. The customer is the CUSTOMER. Period. Were you working w/ a salesperson or the manager? If the former, please don't do that anymore - negotiate only directly with the manager.

This will (I hope) help you a bit. Take some time to know EXACTLY what you want (if you want a custom build). If you truly only want colors X, Y, Z w/ Premium, Cold (I'd recommend it), and 6-speed. Then print that up, call the sales mgrs at several dealers, then have them wait to get the fax. Let them know that you are READY TO BUY (say this coming Sat, or you could wait to do this next Monday and be ready for their 'end of month'). Tell them that you already have an offer in hand well below msrp (they do not need to know the number - it's none of their business), and you are willing to give them the opportunity to compete for your business. Have them give you the final "walk out the door" figure with all doc fees, blah blah.

There should be someone here on NAM that lives near you and has a decent relationship w/ one of those dealers - a name drop of an existing customer can also work.

And please be totally prepared to walk out the door - but do it nicely. Put your checkbook back in your bag, smile, stand up and shake and say, "sorry that we won't be able to do business today". Then start walking. I'd be shocked if they let you get out the door without a counter. In sales, we LOVE it when a customer is serious, knows their bottom line, what they want and just takes an order.

If your schedule permits, April 28-30 are the best days to do this - they are at end of month and will have no more weekends to sell on.

Good luck!

 

I live in Maryland but ordered my MINI in Virginia. The dealership was still able to do all of my paperwork, including tags without me having to go to the MVA (Maryland's DMV). Just tell then when you order that you live out of state. I'm sure they sell to people out of town a decent bit too, so they'll know what to do.

**Make sure you get free floor mats: carpet or rubber. That, at the very least (w/ a tank of gas) is what you should get free on delivery. If you're interested in other freebies that have been given away, there is a thread here on NAM for that
Good luck.

 

I'd be surprised if a non-MA dealer takes care of all the paperwork for you. It's a royal PITA for MA dealers to do it, let alone anyone else.

If you do end up doing the paperwork yourself, you're going to need the title before you can even think about getting plates and getting the car back to MA. You'll need to take the title to your insurance company/agent along with an RMV-1 form to be stamped (proof of insurance), then enjoy a long wait at an MA RMV office to pay sales tax, registration and get plates. Some insurance companies have RMV services in house (Amica, for one) that will take care of all the registration requirements including sales tax and plates, but they only do it on certain days of the week. That allows you to bring the title directly to them, pay sales tax, registration fees, etc and walk out the door with registration and plates.

MA does not have "temp plates" like some other states, however, they do have a 7 day registration transfer period. If you are transferring a registration from a previously titled/insured MA car to the Mini, you can operate the new car with the old plates and old registration for seven days. However, that only applies if you are getting rid of the old car (trade in, donation, scrap, completed private sale, etc).

Good luck!

 

Thanks everyone for all your help!
To make matters a bit more complicated, I have now found a 2006 MC fitted the way I would like at a decent price with 10K miles.......warranty still good, is a certified vehicle. Now the bargaining begins.......I was never really thrilled with getting a brand new one....I have a vehicle already that I am keeping (big beast of a Tahoe), but wanted this to be my little toy. Don't plan on putting a ton of mileage on it....so I feel that saving a few bucks with a low mileage car is probably a good idea. ANy thoughts, suggestions?

 

I know many people from MA that have purchased at Inskip and the dealer handled all the RMV paperwork/registration.

 

Have your peeps had good service after the sale with Inskip ? Sales was great, but don't really know anyone that's had any dealings with them post sale . I'm hoping that after sale service is as good as the pre sale service, and overall attitude of the staff. thanks

 

If you're looking at Coopers, the '07-'08 will get much better fuel economy, the engine has more low-end torque, and the manual tranny has a nice 6th-gear that improves highway cruising. Add to that a host of other small improvements that really add up. There are many differences between the '07-'08 and the '06 so watch for that. Which ever you choose, though, you will thoroughly enjoy.

 

Thanks so much everyone for all your help. I finally got some good sales help here in Massachusetts and with my insistence (they claimed such a vehicle did not exist) they located exactly what I was looking for, and she (Penelope)
should be at the dealer tomorrow. I plan on picking her up on Monday.
After all was said and done, the used one I had seen had already been sold, so I had to be forced (yeah right) into purchasing a new one. What a drag (tee-hheeee). 2008 MC CR manual tran....can't even sleep I am so excited!

 

Sounds about right on the sleep loss...Penelope will be absolutely great!!!! Expect some very nice mpg #s from her, too!!!

Try to get your proper car-wash supplies lined up over the weekend...it may take a bit of research to find the best stuff. She will thank you!!!

 

That's good to hear. A few of the CT and RI dealers I went to (non-MINI) didn't want anything to do with MA paperwork, oddly enough.

 

Have not had to service the MINI yet, but I hear that the service department is great. I've been very happy with the BMW service department at Inskip over the years if that means anything.

 

It does thanks !!

 

Your after sale service at Inskip MINI will be great. The service department will do everything in their power to make sure your MINI is done right. Feel free to stop by anytime and talk with Geoff(the service advisor)and the techs.
Check this thread...
http://massmotoringclub.com/index.php?topic=395.0


We just won Center of Excellence, again.

 

Thanks Partsman