Fuel crisis and I went from my truck to an 08 Mazda6. I could kick myself, what I really wanted was the MCS! I am going to have to bite the proverbial bullet and put about 8K down with my trade to get out of the Mazda and into something that looks FUN!

I have heard some bad things about Autohaus in Clayton and kinda reluctant to go in there for that reason. Can anyone dispel that rumor, or should I just look for a gently used 08 MCS?

BTW, if anyone knows someone looking for an 08 Harley Davidson, I have one with a clear title I am going to sell.

Hope to be motoring about in an awesome MCS within the next month, guys! In the mean time, please know you are driving me crazy when I see one of you in St Louis roll by be!!!

 

What have you heard that was bad? I've bought 3 MINIs from them since 2002 and have not had any problems that couldn't be worked out.

I was just over there and test drove the JCW Coupe demo and people who are ordering cars now aren't getting them until October.

 

I read one post on here and one other person told me that the sales staff is not very enthusiastic; I suppose that if your product sells itself you need not be.

Orders today looking at October!? WOW! I guess that explains why they only show 4-5 Mini Cooper S vehicles on their website.

 

That's hardly been my experience. They've all seemed to have the appropriate level of enthusiasm (whatever that is).

 

Their service department is great. Don't know about the sales aspect though

 

I went there and test drove an MCS when I was first looking. The MA was great, really knew his stuff, very friendly, seemed to really want to sell me a car. It came down to the deal...I had a trade-in. They wanted to give me $2K under bluebook for my trade-in (an immaculate RX-8 with very very low mileage). I just couldn't do it. I ended up calling the dealer in KC. They agreed to give me what I wanted for my trade-in. So, it seemed the management at Autohaus wasn't very motivated to sell me the car but the MA did a really good job. I ended up selling my car to another individual for more than my trade-in offer, so it all worked out. The dealership in KC (Baron) is also top-notch. Can't comment on the service department, haven't had the pleasure of taking my MCS in yet.

 

Anyone who has had problems in the past with MINI of St. Louis service may want to consider trying them again. Since the BMW people moved to their new location it's gotten a lot better.

 

I couldn't have said it better myself I took Maxine in last Monday to have her engine mount replaced and I couldn't believe the difference in the ease of scheduling my appt and how fast they actually fixed my car (+ a car wash) - less than an hour It actually took me longer to drive to the service department than it took for the repair.

Going back Saturday to order an 09 JCW, so hopefully that will be a pleasant experience as well

MsBrit

 

I took Moe in this morning for yearly service (first one!) and I was in and out in about an hour and half total including oil, tire rotation and tightening of the rear window (it was oddly loose). They have been GREAT to me in service and the purchase last year was a breeze!

I wanted to add that I had an odd rattling sound early on and it ended up being two screws left in the floor boards during build, this service was excellent as well.

 

I've had good and bad experiences with them. In my opinion you are going to have good and bad experiences everywhere. You just have to know what you are doing enough not to be taken advantage of. The sales people are sales people, at least with MINI there isn't a lot of haggling, you know going in you're going to pay msrp. Service is hit or miss and I'm hoping with mini and bmw now being separated there won't be as much arrogance in the air towards mini owners. They really aren't bad enough to intentionally go somewhere else.

 

I just picked up my 08 Clubman S from them last week. I had a great buying experience with them. Mark was my salesman and he was great. They have a very foxy blonde as well. Mark seems to know his stuff, not sure about the blonde. I think there are two other MA's on staff.

They just got a new finance manager as well, Jeff. He is nice and did not pressure me with add ons. It should be noted that he showed me a list of standard financing rates that were ridiculously high, so make sure you go in with what you want to pay for a rate. I got 4.99% with top tier credit.

I can tell you more if you have specific questions.

 

Mark is our MA as well. Congrats on the new Clubman. Show us some pics. We need some pics!!!!!!!!

 

^^^
Mark is the MA I saw as well. Really great guy. Wish I could have purchased through him. However, my MA in Kansas City was just superb.

 

I've gotten 4 BMWs from Autohaus and the JCW that I have on order now. I've not had any prior problems with them, and the service dept. has been stellar.

I do have one issue with my MINI order. I ordered the enhanced convenience package and told my MA I have an iPhone and wanted to integrate it with the car. She told me it would work. Now I find out I needed to order the Smartphone prep, an additional feature tucked away in the options list I didn't notice until too late. Now I won't be able to use my iPhone as I wanted, one of the big reasons I ordered the expensive convenience package. My MA should have been better informed. They still don't even understand the problem after I explained it.

 

The phone should still work via Bluetooth correct? Does the hard connection allow phone and music integration simultaneously?

 

The iPhone does work via BT. If it sits in the armrest cradle it will charge and use the car antenna. If you have Smartphone prep it will also integrate with the stereo to play iPod tunes. Without Smartphone prep you have to remove it from the armrest cradle and attach it to the normal iPod adapter cable. I think the Smartphone Prep option is a really cheap shot by MINI to get an extra $100 after charging $1750 for the enhanced convenience package (and you still have to purchase the iPhone cradle for $100+). It should just do everything from the armrest cradle. In any case the MA should have known and understood this option. I learned of it too late.

 

To be fair I need to amend my statements.

The sales manager did call me today. He told me they tried an iPhone a customer brought in on a new MINI and discovered it will not work to put it in the armrest and use it for BT phone and iPod duties. That requires the Smartphone prep.

He offered to order me a new car and would request special priority to get the build bumped up, for an October delivery. That would delay getting it by about three weeks. I probably should have accepted, but I declined -- I want it in time to drive to Petit Le Mans. I'll just look into doing an DIY later, as I suspect it may be a matter of running a cable to the armrest and perhaps using a different adapter.

Bottom line is MINI of St. Louis offered to make it right for me, without question, once they realized my problem was as I stated. That's a good mark for them.

 

That was very good of them. A whole new car is a nice way to make it right. My only complaint with the dealership is they do very little (that I am aware of) to promote the brand within the community. They should really hold customer appreciation days and MINI events. I thought it would be cool if they shut down that street to their repair and parts facility and have a mini block party.

 

Autohaus has been supportive of the St. Louis BMW CCA chapter, and has sponsored DEs and Street Survival School in the past. I'll bet they start getting more involved in the MINI community sooner or later.

If nothing else, they do give parts/service discounts to St. Louis MINI club members.