I was at East Bay MINI in Pleasanton, CA last week having some warranty/maintenance work done, and when I was wandering through their showroom, I saw that they seemed to have a $2000 "market adjustment" surcharge on all of their new MINIs. I've seen this before on JCW cars, but they even had the same surcharge on a very lightly-optioned Cooper coupe.

In today's market, is anyone actually still paying these surcharges, especially on the base models?

 

Unless gas prices skyrocket again (which is possible) there may be a negative in front of that "market adjustment" in the near future. Sure MINI's doing better than most of the major manufacturers, but even they aren't immune to their customers not having the same type of cash and credit as they did years ago.

 

Yeah, I was thinking that was a discount sign!

Although, unless BMW/MINI contributes, I don't think there's that much profit in a base "Justa".

$2K over is a bit optimistic, maybe they use that so they can show a $1500 "discount", make people feel like they're getting a deal?

Sillyness...........

 

I know that locals can get that surcharge removed, I did. They are essentially trying to prevent people from out of the area from buying the car at MSRP and not giving them the service business. But in light of the current economy, that mark-up may not fly too much longer.

 

Seems odd considering some of the overloaded MINI lots that I have seen lately and the discounts and financing being offered by some dealers.

 

A surcharge is very odd. Almost all the cars at my dealer are discounted. But they are pretty high volume with a lot of comptetion w/ 3 or 4 other mini dealers within 60 minutes of them.

 

Sounds like they want people to buy used instead of new. Maybe better profit margins on used vehicles?

 

If memory serves correct (you can probably search the forums to find out for sure) around July 2008 I remember people in Southern and Northern Cal saying that MINI dealers were tacking on market adjustments in the range of $2K to $5K to all MINIs. In Texas they tacked on $3k to the sticker of my JCW when I ordered it in July 2008...when it was delivered in October 2008 I told them I wouldn't buy it unless I could get it from them below sticker price.

They sold it to me at MSRP and gave me an additional $1,500 over their original quote on my trade-in...that was the only way they would sell it to me below MSRP, so they could essentially still sell it at MSRP while still giving me $1,500 off MSRP price. Did I want to walk away and order from another dealer and wait another 3 months for my dream JCW to be built again when it was sitting right in front of me at the dealer?? Absolutely not!! But I was prepared to do that if that is what it took to get the best deal...and it worked great for me!

I was pretty happy considering that this last minute deal reduced my overall sales price by $4,500! (not to mention the extra tax savings on my trade-in, since you only pay tax on the difference between the cost of the new car and the trade-in...instead of paying tax on the cost of the new car)

The bottom line is that the economy sucks right now and car dealers (and home sellers) have pretty much been hit the hardest of everyone. Make no mistake about it, this is a buyer's market for cars right now. MINI dealers and enthusiasts want you to believe that they are no deals to be had out there, but learn how to play hardball and you will get your way.

 

Come here to the Midwest, they'll give ya a discount! By the time you get back to Cali, you've already broken in your engine!
No "Mark-Ups" here!

 

So you agreed to the price when you ordered it and reneged when it came in.

Imagine if the dealership tried the reverse on you.

 

Thank You MotorMouth
I am sure they are willing to drop their salary range or hourly wage as well..
.......not.
I am in a union, and we agreed to a smaller increase this contract negotiation.
We are not happy, but it is necessary to keep the work.
Don't try that tactic with my contractor friends..

 

love the idea

 

That is some serious BS. I also saw that when on the west coast. It is not done everywhere.

Just done where they feel that can get away with gouging the consumer, like California.

 

I think everyone in cali is either rich or a movie star

 

motormouth, it wasn't something i had planned on doing.....as with most other americans who have money invested in the stock market, my portfolio did a huge nose dive from the time i placed the order for the car to the time it came to the dealer. i went from thinking i was paying all cash from my stock portfolio to ending up making payments on a mini (when my previous car was already paid off and owned). so i wasn't trying to pull a fast one on them, i just wasn't about to pay $3k over sticker, when i had just talked to a dealer in oklahoma that week who offered me $1,500 off an ordered JCW....and that was before I ever even walked in their door!

you also have to realize when i ordered my car they had about 20 cars on the lot....when my car came in they had about 50 cars on the lot...now they have about 80 cars on the lot. i bet the story is the same with many other mini dealers across the nation. they will learn soon enough that they aren't immune and need to start discounting their cars more if they want to make sales.

easy....i would say f-you and go to another dealer who was willing to give me a deal! ...it's not rocket science.

 

I for one would not worry about what the dealer would think. Having just been screwed by a BMW dealer! Bought a "Certified Pre-Owned" BMW, what a freakin joke, upcharge for being Certified and it's no better than if I would have bought it from a private person