That's insane. I changed my mind half-way through production and my first config already hit the dealer (interesting thing is that it hit a different dealer than the one that ordered the car for me). But in any case I didn't get a single annoyed remark about the re-order, just "no problem".

And yes, I'm going to haggle until I get $1K under MSRP and elimination of the BS $500 doc fee. I don't care if it was a reorder. It's my money and I worked for it.

 

Guess it all depends on the dealership; under MSRP you can probably do, but what's with the $500 of the doc fee? Typically it is like $329 or $349, but there is no way of getting around that one. Maybe get them to throw in free labor on any accessories or some other small items like floor mats.

 

$500 doc fee is Atlanta dealer "trademark". Pure markup, but by being adamant about it they get away with it. I don't mind paying a $100 doc fee (that's what Carmax charges), maybe even a $200 doc fee (some of the more reasonable dealers), but if they want $500 doc fee - they can keep it as long as they discount MSRP further down to compensate for it. What's the worst thing that can happen? I don't get the car? Bah.

 

$500 does sound like an inflated price; figure typically $349 or so. What they would probably do if you are so determined to not pay a Doc Fee is start there and then take off another $500 from the MSRP. For me, I don't really car how you look at it as it all comes up the same in the end. However, trying to get them to waive the Doc Fee and take $1,000 off the MSRP is highly unlikely. Can see them doing one or the other, but remember many parts of the country are still and will continue to stick with MSRP. Like it, buy it, if you don't someone else will.

 

Thanks for the comments. The PW S I ordered was not a weirdo---basically just w/ the premium and convenience pkg sans sunroof. I do feel bad about what happened but I am just trying to follow the rules of the game as it is. I am entitled to walk away with my deposit which I intend to do, with apologies, but still walk away. I am kind of taken aback that the sales manager wants to throw away a reasonable sale on a reorder. If the deposit had to be nonrefundable on the reorder, I'd do that. I guess my previous 25 years of BMW purchases and loyalty didn't mean much to this MINI manager!

 

Y, I was somewhat taken aback when asked to place a deposit for my mini.

I have custom ordered MBs & BMWs and never paid a nickel until the cars arrived (except for euro-delivery which I do understand).

 

It seems odd that they were so offended, some people have reordered when they come to pick up there car and decide they don't like that color or some other reason. And yeah it is annoying but the dealer is still going to sell a car, so are willing to work with the person.

 

Really? Haven't heard of it working any other way.

 

A MINI without a sunroof is harder for a dealer to sell. I'm actually surprised the dealer is giving your back you deposit without any type of penalty. You committed to a custom order and the deposit should be considered a form of earnest money.

IMO it'd be good business for the dealer to find a way to work with you on a revised order, but they may be wary of you at this point.

 

Y're right LB, having to fork over a deposit is normal. And any doc/prep fee above 10-15% of the destination charge is pure dealer profit. that's the point of the dest charge, to help underwrite the majority of dealer vehicle prep and paperwork costs. after all, destination charge means mfgr to consumer, not mfgr to dealer.

Oh and I checked with my dealer yesterday: still MSRP on orders, and itty-bitty discounts on dealer stock. But then my dealer charges NO doc/prep fees.

 

No dis intended, but why? Do U expect the dealer, out of their own goodwill, to make an exception for you, considering the rising number of customer-rejected orders? After all, the deposit applies to the downpayment, so what's the issue?

My gawd the stuff I read on this forum anymore...

 

 

Mini Fireman, I don't disagree with anything you said, but an unconditional refund policy should be exactly that. If it was stated upfront as a non-refundable deposit, then I'd have no gripes about losing it. I'd be willing to make the deposit on the reorder non-refundable but that wasn't even broached! BTW, the dealership person in charge of all sales (THE sales manager, I suppose) was approached by my MA and agreed to dismiss the bs $2000 markup. SO we are close to a deal again (+/- $500-600). Also, in the past when ordering BMWs, MBZs, and Porsches (sorry about the name dropping)every deposit had been refundable for any reason. And one salesman at BMW said they expect a certain number to fall through. One final thing you guys can help me out on. 16 v. 17 inch wheels. I am inclined to get the 16 purely as insurance against a choppy ride. Those of you with the 17s, do you regret it?

 

closer88 - take a look at my other thread on questions about ordering which is more in line about your concern with wheels. Overall feedback I got was it all depends on what you like. For racing and so forth, there are those that only want 16". For us daily drivers and prefer the look of the 17", the 17" is the only way to go.

 

Other than Euro Delivery, I have never put down a deposit when custom ordering a MB or BMW, but I have dealt the same dealerships for over 20 years. And it doesn't matter really, just something I was not accustomed to doing.
I suppose the surprise to me is people that reject their MINI orders.

 

The auto industry has changed a great deal in the past 20+ years, especially in the past 6 months.

Can understand why it may not be required on a MB or BMW, but given the configurations involved with the MINI and the current state of the auto industry, completely understand the need for the MA asking for a deposit.

 

Thanks, LB. Happy motoring.

 

Looks like I found the right place, I placed an order on 01/06/09, as you can see from my sig... but now I find that I like the same car but want the JCW (I fell into a little money so now I can afford it) but I have a question. If I chose to go with the JCW would my $1,000 deposit switch over to the new order?

Also, I couldn't see the dealer having that hard of a time selling my first car the way I designed it aside from it being manual

 

I ordered my 2008 MCS in May and had to wait almost 3 months for delivery. The vehicle and all options were at full price, no discounts at all. I did get some free floor mats though. At that time Mini of the Woodlands pre-sold every car they could get. Deposits were required but refundable because they knew they could sell it immediately if you backed out. They never had more than 5 or 6 cars on the lot and 3 of those were testers.

Guess what? I went in about 3 weeks ago for some minor service and there must have been 40 cars on the lot. There were also NO customers in the showroom and the sales guys were looking very bored. I can absolutely guarantee they would take $1500-2000 off most cars on that lot, depending on model and options. You might only get $500 off a base Cooper which stickers at $19K, but a Cooper S with lots of options like mine that stickered at $26,500 would surely be discounted much more heavily.

As a previous poster said, the dealers aren't in business to keep resale values up. If they don't move those cars, they don't stay in business. What sucks for me is that the planned dealership that was going to open in Austin this year almost certainly won't happen. I may be driving for service for the life of my vehicle.

 

I was able to get $1,000 off MSRP on an ORDERED Clubman! Check around. Be prepared to travel to other dealers. I'm going 200 miles to save my grand. My local dealers refused to match the deal.

Keep looking. Good luck!

 

LOL; $1,500 - $2,000??? All I can say is good luck!

 

I got 1000 off an order but it was my second car in 6 months. A 26k MINI only has 2500 of mark up so dont know about 2000 off at least not untill BWM gives the dealer rebates. My MINI dealer actuall had quite a bit of traffic today when I placed my order.

 

Just saying, in the online inventory list for my local MINI dealer in the east bay of California, are listed nearly ONE HUNDRED 2009 Coopers and Cooper S in stock and ready to go. Looks like the recession has hit full blast.

 

My local dealer won't take anything off of an order, its still MSRP, but they will take 1,500 - 2,000 off most of the stuff in inventory (higher end stuff like S models, probably less on a base Cooper).

Mine is one of those dealers that has gonzo amounts of inventory it can't move, and MINI keeps sending them more.

 

Seems to vary really depending on the part of the country. The one new me is still 100% at MSRP and they are moving vehicles. Seems they have been getting a number of them allocated from other dealerships on the East coast where sales are slower.

Should be interesting though as gas prices continue to rise.