I called Richmond Mini about getting an oem alarm for my 06 MCS. They quoted me slightly over $800 after parts, labour, and taxes. They were reluctant to give me a breakdown for parts vs labour but after a bit of persuasion, they told me about $300 for the parts...meaning $500 for labour and taxes. A little math tells me that it works out to approx 4 hrs of labour they are billing. I then decided to do my research on this forum and after reading some DIY threads, I ordered the parts from Classic Mini. What shocked me the most was that the Mini factory instructions have a suggested install time (including programming) of 0.75 hrs. So for Richmond Mini to charge almost 6 times more in labour is not only greedy but downright theft. Unfortunately I still have to go to a dealer to get the programming done which I believe takes a max of 10 minutes. Hopefully I won't have to pay more than 1/2 hour for that.

 

Wow, i'm surprised, (not). Thanks for posting. Information like this is crucial for consumers so they can make an informed decision about where they want to do their business.

 

I often think that if dealers doubled their hourly rates but charged the actual time they worked on a customer's car, the consumer would be better off.

 

Your OEM MINI should be prewired for the alarm already. It's just a matter of fitting the parts and programming. Likely, MR was quoting you the price of cars not prewired.

Let us know how you like the alarm.

 

I bought my MCS in Mini Richmond but Yaletown charges cheaper when I had my springs and injectors installed. To the OP, you probably had your alarm installed already but give Yaletown a call next time you want other services done. I think that I was even able to bargain less labour time.