I'm selling my 2 current vehicles with the desire to get a 2012 MCS. I'm very specific with what I want, and if I'm paying up to $30k, I'm not settling for anything less. My question is...is there any haggle room with a new car? Or is sticker price what you pay, flat out?

With the exception of my first car (a 2003 Cavalier on super-clearance), I've only bought used cars. Usually there's a lot of haggle room. I got my high school best friend a Focus with a sticker price of $13k for $6700. I even got $500 knocked off my 2009 MC, which was already marked down dirt low. I got my own Red Line for $12,999 when it had a sticker price of $15,999. I like to haggle. I'll play the dance for hours to get a price I want.

Is there any hope on making a deal? And what if I have to order my car, if that is the only way to get the options I want? How long do you have to order a 2012 MCS before all you have to chose from is dealer inventory?

Thanks for your time!

 

BTOs usually don't get much of a discount (if the vehicle is a really weird combo of options) since you can back out at any time and the dealer is stuck with the car.

There is a promotion running right now that'll get you $750 off the MSRP, but you need to attend an event at your dealer to get a certificate.

Unfortunately the MINI is a premium small car that is low volume by choice (just look at some of the dealer lots right now... empty). That usually doesn't add up to heavy discounts, and with the upward trend in petrol prices there is even less incentive to discount (know that most drivers of big, gas-guzzling cars will be looking for something soon).

Bullet point is - Make friends with your dealer and have a chat and see how much wiggle room you have.

 

Good advice.

The tough part is when you have very specific needs. If you were very flexible, then I'd suggest checking the stock (via websites) of every MINI dealer within a 500 miles radius.

If you find a model that comes close, give them a call and name your price (you'll have to do some research, but $1000 under MSRP is a good start).

That's how we saved $850 on ours (mind you, it was a justa)

Good luck!

 

My demands aren't over the top. I want Sport package, Cold Weather package, and dual sunroofs. And I want there exterior to be hot chocolate, laser blue, or spice orange. I guess I'll just have to wait until I get money in hand, then see what I can do. I already found a dealer I really like. I bought my 09 Justa there, and have had all positive experiences after.

 

I was in your position earlier this year. I was having a hard time stomaching paying MSRP for any car or even plain 'ole asking price for a used car much less.

I decided that I needed to just get over that and if I wanted to get the car I desired, then I would just bite the bullet. For me, I told the dealer my concerns and they gave me $500 off the sticker. Not much, but it made me feel better and I ordered mine.

And you know what? I couldn't be happier. I LOVE my MINI. Of all the cars I've owned, the MINI is my favorite. I've only owned mine 3 months, but every time I get in it, look at it, or drive it, I just smile.

So for me, it was worth it to pay sticker or close to sticker because I have everything in my car that I wanted. I didn't hold back, I ordered EVERYTHING that I wanted. As a result, my car was expensive, BUT, I'm so completely satisfied that I would do it again.

 

My MA told me outright, "You're ordering it, so you pay the sticker price".

There's a lot more room to haggle on any cars they already have on the lot, but your selection is much more limited.

The 2012s just came out--many or most of the cars at the dealer will be 2011s, and anything you'll be ordering for the next 10 months or more will be a 2012.

 

No dealership withing 100 miles of me has any 2011s left in stock that are anything close to what I want. :(

 

I was able to negotiate a small discount ($600) on a custom-order. I did this by taking a production slot that was going to enter production within the next 48 hours, which was currently filled with an unsold inventory car. The sales manager was motivated to replace an unsold prodution slot with a sold one. It also had the nice side effect of getting my car very quickly from the order date.

 

In our case, we were just about to give up since we couldn't find what we wanted (and we only insisted on it being a Pepper White with a pana roof).

But then, after weeks of looking and calling and just when we were about to place an order, we found one at a dealership 5 hours away.

Bought it sight unseen and we're lucky to get it (a 2012 in August 2011!)

Dealers are constantly getting in new cars, so you need to keep checking (and don't count on them calling you - they don't)

 

Usually dealerships negotiate prices more on cars that have been sitting for a while rather than a car that just came off the truck, saying this, you may be able to get a better deal on a 2012 MCS that came in september than one that came in October,

 

I ordered mine in late January 2011 and negotiated $1000 off MSRP and also received the benefit of any BMW/MINI finance packages that were in place at the time of delivery, which worked out to be free Premium Package ($1750 value) and 0.9% financing for 60 mo. I thought I worked a good deal, but after I took deliver, I heard of others that did even better. Of course, that was January and not October.

I'd send the desired build list to a variety of dealers within a distance you are willing to travel to pick it up and bring it home, requesting their best deal. Once you have that info, you can use it to possibly leverage your preferred dealer. Best of luck in finding your MINI.

 

If you order one, how long does it take it get it? Are there any extra costs tacked on?

 

As I recall, I placed my order on 1/29/11 and took delivery on 3/4/11. There were no extra costs added on for ordering. It was a straight-forward process. I did most of my negotiation via email and phone calls and was in the dealership for less than an hour placing the order and leaving a $1K deposit and less than an hour signing paperwork and picking it up.

If you look at it this way, the "special order" is a piece of cake for a dealership. They don't have to worry about "floor planning" the vehicle. They don't have to worry about it sitting on the lot, needing to be washed periodically, being test driven, taking up space. It's easy money in their pocket. Yes, they want to sell the vehicles on their lot, but there a plenty of folks walking into their doors that will buy what's available. You can be someone who gets exactly what you want with a special order. My sense is MINI is one of he few brands that sells more special ordered vehicles than dealer ordered vehicles.

 

Same here, and I'm only 40 miles from you.

We did find one 500 miles away though.
It was a leftover, Novemeber build, from the previous model year.
The price was $2500.00 less than any Mini Dealer here, and another $1000.00 was taken off for arranging all of our financing ahead of time. We then got $500.00 in Mini Cooper Accessories. This was before any haggling started
MSRP at at he time on that car was $32K. Out the door for us was $27,500. (Still had to pay Connecticut Taxes at the DMV. )
Everything was negotiated over the phone. My wife flew out, took a cab to the dealer, and drove the car back.
We've done this twice now.

PS.
There are some really nice cars available on the West Coast, San Francisco and Seattle. Get a deal in place and beat the winter driving back.

 

I ordered mine the Friday before Memorial day and it arrived 4th of July week. No extra charges and I got everything I wanted

 

It seems to take about five to eight weeks (sometimes more) depending on where your build slot is, what equipment you order on it, which port it goes to, and which ship your MINI gets on.

I was lucky, it was just under six weeks for me. I got a slot that was just about to enter production, my build was simple (little or no port- or dealer-installed equipment), and my car got on a ship right away that was heading straight to the port used for my area. (Port Hueneme is used for all West Coast cars, as far as I know.)

 

You're right. An ordered car represents the greatest profit for the dealer. The dealership has no carrying charges on an ordered car. On cars on the lot they're paying interest for the money used to buy the car from MINI. An ordered car is in the door and out the door. I placed my order (second order - see my signature below) yesterday. I got $1150 off MSRP AND the $750 Motor-tober discount - total of $1,850 off. MSRP = $32,500 Negotiated price = $30,650. AND I got a production slot of next week. It definitely pays to shop and deal. In fact, I had two dealers offering that price.

 

No extrta costs for ordering although the finance guy will always try to get you to buy all the stuff he sells (bra, tire warranty, extended warranty and maintenance, paint sealant, etc.) You're lucky that you're on the East Coast because it saves you about two weeks of sailing time as compared to the West Coast and the there are many more ships going to the East Coast so your car shouldn't sit on the dock very long. It's two weeks between ships to the West Coast and a three week sail compared to 8 days to the East Coast. If I were you, I would order and get everything you want. Why settle if all it take is waiting about 6 weeks to get what you really want? Make sure when you order that you ask for a Dealer Modification on an existing order (car ordered by the dealer for their inventory that they go in and change to your specs) so you can push up your production date. They do this by week. For example, this week is week 43 (of 2011) so if you're ordering a car this week, tel them you want a week 44 production slot.

 

Thanks so much! This is all so helpful!

 

I didn't see anyone mention truecar.com but I highly recommend at least optioning out your car and seeing the prices. It's a no haggle price and if you take a car off of the dealers lot you can save big.

But if you like me and ordering a car the savings aren't going to be much, but their there. My MSRP is $28,750 before tax and my OTD is $30,142. Not huge savings but at least it's some and using truecar.com it took me a 7 minute phone call to get my car ordered. Several of my friends and family used it and my brother saved 19% on his tundra.

Best of luck
Cheers

 

Dannigurrl: I am on my seciond MINI and you should get at least $1000 off plus incentives on any deal. I am in the NY area, so there is more competition, but I believe MA has a few dealers also to compete with.

 

New Country Mini and Mini of Warwick are two biggies around here. (CT and RI) I plan on playing them against each other. I dislike New Country a lot though... so we'll see.


What's incentives? Special financing?

 

Go to the MINIUSA website and find out what incentives are being offered (ex.cash back, package, etc.) and then subtract those incentives including $1000. Unfortunately, my wife thought about buying the Countryman back in March, but the dealers were offering very little off the on that model and there are no incentives on the Countryman right now. (Probably because it was a new model.) We didn't purchase the Countryman.

 

You're going to have a hard time finding a sports package and cold weather package on the same one. I cought mine when they were giving out amazing incentives and also the $1000 for the Rock the Rivals tour. I paid about $4000 below msrp in June. That said, I was dealing with the dealer for a month and they knew I wasn't budging on what I wanted. I didn't order one, magically found one on the ship over going to a different dealership. Traded for that one and I got what I wanted.

You might have a harder time right now getting money off the 2012, if you wait a few months, like in the dead of winter, dealers will be willing to make deals and you can save some money then. But from the research I've done, its pretty difficult to get a lot off if they aren't running factory incentives.

 

I would LOVE $4000 below MSRP...I'd buy it today. lol

I'm doing the motor-tober thing, but you have to take delivery by Jan 2, 2012 to use the $750 voucher...so I need to order soon if I want to use that.

Another dealership has a car VERY similar to what I want...but it has ugly wheels and all-season tires (I want the summer tires, since I have a set of winters already.) This car also has 517 miles on it already (from whenever the ad was put online)... which I feel is way too many for a $30k car. I also really hate this partcular dealership, and the idea of giving them $ makes me ill.


I suppose I could wait until better incentives come around...I guess I'll just have to keep working with the dealership (the one I like...but it's 2 hours away from me. :( ) Either way, I'm probably going to have to order the car I want. I'm too particular...especially if I'm dropping $30k on a vehicle...I want it as close to perfect as possible.

My MUST-HAVES are: Cold weather pkg, sports pkg (or at least the Xenons), Black star bullet wheels, summer tires, driving lights (which is a dealer add-on,so that's easy), Automatic A/C, rear fog light, and Sunroofs.

I haven't decide if I want the regular Xenons with the adaptive feature...or the black Xenons. I think the black Xenons look better, but I'd really like that adaptive option.


edit: basically what I want is in my signature. lol