Hi Everybody,
I got my mini about 3 weeks ago and wanted to write something about my purchase experience.

First, thanks to everybody on NAM. I have been lurking around this site for four years now and have read countless posts about people and their experience with their Mini(s). You have all been great. It is really great that I can be part of this site with a mini in my garage rather than just lusting after one.

Next, thanks to my big brother. He got the mini bug and brought one home during the holidays and encouraged, informed and guided me in many ways (not just relating to the Mini).

Once I decided that I was going to get the mini (it was always a question of when rather than an if question), I called around pretty much all the dealerships in Los Angeles. I was busy at work, long commute, and two small kids with different pick up and drop off schedules etc, so I really wanted to narrow down the car I wanted with the right options so that the only time I needed to go to the dealership is to take delivery of the car.

These are the dealerships I contacted (in no particular order).
1. Nick Alexander Mini
2. Crevier Mini
3. Bob Smith Mini
4. Universal Mini
5. Mini of Ontario
6. Long Beach Mini
7. Mini of Monrovia
8. Irvine Mini
9. Mini of Escondido (ok – I wasn’t serious about this one) and
10. South Bay Mini

I got my Mini from South Bay. From the moment I reached out to them to this day, we have experienced nothing but great service. My special thanks to Chris Yuseco. I also want to thank Drew, the sales manager and Wade at the dealership.

Chris was extremely prompt right from the first email. Once he learnt what I wanted, he would email the configuration of the right cars in inventory. When I liked one, he was happy to provide a price over the phone or email. During this process I changed my mind at least twice. First I was open about Manual tranny then decided against it. Then I wanted add either the mini connect option or if it wasn’t available, the blue tooth option. At one point in time, Chris came back and said he doesn’t have any auto in inventory with Mini connect but they could get something from the port with Bluetooth but wasn’t sure on the delivery date. The next day he contacted me and said that he was able to have the car delivered to the dealership that weekend and the moment the car arrived, he called and said it was available. We agreed on a (great) price. I appreciated how frank he was about what is possible and not possible and was never pushy. I emailed the credit app and half hour later, it was approved and we went to pick it up at the dealership with my entire family.

I found out that Chris is also a mini fan. He has a few minis in his family and the day I picked up my clubman, he was taking delivery of his wife’s Countryman (Employee pricing?!).Chris also explained everything about the mini, set up my Ipod, synced my Bluetooth, and activated my Sirius amongst other things. I can honestly recommend South Bay if you are in the LA area.

I really got a lot of help from Mini of Ontario as well. Brian Jenks was very cooperative, appreciative of the distance I would have to travel to come into the dealership to negotiate. He kept me well informed and once we narrowed down a few cars for me to evaluate and he was actually able to provide pricing even before the credit check. Too bad, I couldn’t get the price on a particular configuration I was after. I will definitely recommend that you all take Brian and Mini of Ontario in to consideration if you are getting a mini in the LA area.

Mark Saavedra of Long beach mini had a car in the right configuration but not in the right color and he was also very helpful, gave me a price on the phone eventually and was ok to work remotely and get documents via email. But since the car wasn’t in the color we (wife and kids) wanted, I told them that if I couldn’t get the right color anywhere else, I would definitely get back to him with my credit app and buy the car from them.


Crevier mini and Irvine mini were happy to work with me via email and do the transaction remotely. Thanks to Kirk and Trisha respectively was working with me on this. What I noticed was that all of crevier’s cars that I was presented with had loads of options on them. They told me that they add lo jack to every car they have in the dealership. Although, they were able to offer great service, I just didn’t feel the need for a number of options especially, Lojack and various different interior options.


Universal Mini would not give pricing over the phone. They insisted that that I would have to go to the the dealership before they would talk about it . The first few times I called, they didn’t get back to me promptly and weren’t great in responding to emails either.


Bob Smith Mini informed me that they do not sell below MSRP. I wasn’t going to pay MSRP. Although, they were the closest to me in terms of miles, there was no point going into the dealership, if they weren’t willing to sell below MSRP.


Mini of Monrovia – I called them 3 or 4 times and always left a voice mail. They did not respond to my email either. They called me back a week after I bought the car. May be something fell though the cracks in their phone system or the CRM or both.


It is quite possible that your experience was very different than mine. I am not suggesting one dealership is better than the others but all potential buyers should really explore all their choices in the area if you want to find the right car (from the lot) and get a great price on this..

Lets (all) motor on!

 

Really helpful post, thanks!