Like daffodildeb, I used Art at Mini of the Woodlands. No dealer markup. Only $50 for document prep. Everything else was state-mandated (tax, registration, inspection, etc.). Free floormats, of course, discount on invisibra, and free tinting, including the sunroof. Oh, and he found a jack for me as well (thanks for the heads up, deb.) All in all, a fantastic experience. Here's to the second tank of gas!

 

Free tinting? Did I miss something, or was it already done for me?

 

Windows all around are now darkly tinted.

 

Did you do the sunroof?

 

Art tinted everything except the front windshield. ;-) Since I didn't get in the car before taking delivery, I have no idea what the tint was on the sunroof before. Now it matches the rest. I love the look of the darker windows. Goes well with the black parts of the car and is a nice band between the red body and white roof.

 

Doc prep fee only. Seems all dealers do that now. It seems kind of a rip off, but in one case it was actually welcome. I was selling someone a car and purchasing a new Honda. I had lost the title. I traded the car to Honda at the sale cost of the car, they turned around and sold the car to the buyer for the same cost and filed all the paper work for a lost title. Actually saved my a** that day.

 

VERY COOL TO SEE WHATS HAPPENING AROUND THE STATES

 

Dealer tried to rip me off $2.50 on a $12.50 ($2.50 x 5) dollar fee for recycling tires in NY on my Cooper S, except I pointed it out to my MA that my cooper only has four tires and no spare!

MY DMV doc fees were $110. I inquired about doing the DMV registering myself but I was told I couldn't beacuse I was financing the car and didn't have the title to bring to the DMV. He told me the lien alone wouldn't work. Don't know if it's true but I it sucks either way!

 

I purchased my MINI (ordered, week 34) at Baron in the Kansas City area. MRSP $28850. Paid $28500. Included all mats (boot as well). The day before pick up, I was emailed a invoice that included $350 "document fee". I shot back that the $28500 was an "out the door agreement" (we pay sales tax, etc at the dmv). They told me the added fee was pre-printed on the sales form (ha-ha) and they couldn't remove it, but they lowered the price of the car the same amount (duh!). The fees are clearly nothing but ADP-esp in MO when the customer has to file all the documents with the state dmv. The only thing the dealer does is type the info in a sales form and sent you the MSO to title the car. The owner keeps the title in MO even if you have a lien (I paid cash). These fees are just a way to pad profits (add $200-300 per unit moved and that is pretty good money). If one was getting a car an dealer invoice, that might be semi-acceptable, but at mrsp or nearly so, it is quite the gimmick that dealers have slowly made the standard of doing business. Now, don't think that I am naive-this is not illegal or immoral, but everything is negotiable. It's your money.

 

Woo! Old thread!

I got the same thing from them, and was told it was non-negotiable and regulated by the state. My MA said 'I had to pay it, my wife had to pay it...'. The registration fee was pretty reasonable too, especially compared to what my gf got charged when she bought a used Honda Civic a few weeks prior.