Most liked posts in thread: A renewed appreciation of MINI dealers.

I was about to place my R53 order back in 2004 when I was hit by a 20% corporate 'reduction in force'... AKA: I was laid off. It took me a few years to recover from the unemployed time after that event, but in late 2005 I was ready to write the check and place my order.

I went to a dealership where I had done a test drive a few weeks earlier... it was a Saturday afternoon at 2:30pm. When I got to the front door of the dealership, I was surprised to see that it was locked. I could see a receptionist inside, sitting at a desk. I tapped on the glass, tugged on the door and gave her a pantomime shrug to ask nicely "WTF"? She shook her head "no" and tapped her watch. I pointed to the "Hours of Operation" sign on the door (it said they close at 6pm) and nodded "Yes" back to her. She just shrugged and went back to her computer.

Funny... I was there with my checkbook in hand and my order specification. I drove 30 minutes to another dealership and ordered my MINI. The admin had cost them a sale without even getting out of her chair.

Lucky for me... I had a GREAT MA at my new dealership. He knew that I was a 'sneezer' (a viral marketing term for someone who spreads the word of the brand) and treated me well. I had a stack of his business cards in the glove box and got a thank you note from him every time (over 10 times) that I sent him a referral. I know that I sold at least 3 cars for him. Anytime I was in the dealership, he would toss me a set of keys for whatever fun car they had outside for test drives and would tell me to go out and flog it. In for an oil change? Take the new JCW out for some lunch! I sure miss Neil!

Recently, I bought a new car (a non-MINI). I went to my local dealership, and test drove with a very nice sales guy. They only had 2 cars on the lot that were near my specification... neither one a huge favorite. I sent him an email the next morning saying "Thanks for your time and the test drive. I don't really like your 2 in stock cars. Here are 2 cars located at another dealership in-state that I'd like to make a deal on... please provide pricing on a dealer trade for these 2 cars... If needed, I can fly down and pick it up myself." I did the research, manually looking at every California dealer's inventory... I served the sale up to him on a silver platter. He came back with "Here's a deal on the white one in my showroom right now". Really? Were you not listening? I did all of the work for you and you still couldn't be bothered to do what I wanted? I picked up the phone and 10 min later had a deal done directly with the other dealership. They picked me up at the airport, took me to sign the papers and I was driving home in the new car about 1 hour after the plane landed.

My lesson to car sales guys: The world is much smaller than it used to be. There are LOTS of new car dealers and I can very easily go to another one. I can see their inventory on-line, see average sale prices in my zip code and transmit docs via emails. I don't want to be an ass... I just want you to listen to me, respect my wishes and then work a deal honestly with me that makes us both happy (you get a fair profit and I get a fair price on the car). Is it that complicated?

 

"A common myth about Alcantara is that it's made from the skin of the wild Alcantar — a llama/ostrich hybrid from the borderlands between Peru and Greece whose massive thigh haunches are used to make those huge cones of gyro meat."

 

I prefer to think of it as "90's Grunge" edition.

I looked at the Driver's Edition when I bought mine, but it being my first time owning a VW I wanted the iconic plaid seats. That and I didn't want a sunroof (which is massive on the MK VII!). I look at the plaid seats and golf ball shifter as being the GTI version of the dinner plate center mount speedo on the R53 and R56.

 

I took a negotiations class once from a guy who made a living being a professional negotiator for large companies. Here is a recap of his story:

His neighbor saw him out working in the lawn and stopped to chat, as neighbors do. The neighbor mentioned that he was buying a new car and was off to sign the papers in a few hours. The gaming instinct in the negotiator kicked in and he said "Want some help?" "Sure!" the guy said, so they both went to the dealership.

The salesman meets 'em at the door and says "Got the paperwork ready to sign" and is introduced to the negotiator. "What brings you in today?" and the negotiator replies "I'm here to check out the car and to bring the price down. Nice to meet you." Sales guy: "Well... we have a mostly agreed upon price" Negotiator: "We will see about that. Lets go for a test drive!"

So the 3 of them hop in the Chevy and start driving, the potential owner behind the wheel. They get several miles down the road and the negotiator swaps into the drivers position. A few miles more and the negotiator starts working the sales guy on pricing. "Can't go down any more?" "Nope", says the sales guy... "The car is in high demand... that's as low as we can go" and it cycles like that for 5-10 minutes. After getting no movement, the negotiator sees his target up ahead: a rival Chevy dealership! He says "Well... I wonder if those guys could give us a better price? Lets stop and ask 'em!". He whips the car into the rival dealership's lot and parks the new car with dealer plates and window sticker in the 'customers' parking spot. The sales guy is starting to freak out. The negotiator asks again if he wants to make another offer... if they even needed to talk to the 2 sales guys walking over to say 'hi'. Magically, without even picking up the phone, he found another $800 of discounts.

Payback, for all of the hardball tactics ever used on consumers.

 

What is it about "Customer Service" that these sales people don't understand today.
I heard the same story from a guy back in 2005 when I bought my MINI. He wanted to test drive a Mustang, no dice. He walked out the door and down the street to the MINI dealer and bought a MINI.
Even at Sams Club they let you sample the food.
Free samples at the Ice Cream counter.
Even a hooker will let you.........na, I better not go there.

 

I'd put money on your becoming a GTI owner.

 

I notice now that there are a lot more MINI dealers than back in 2006 even their attitude has changed somewhat, still better than most but none the less. A few months after getting my 06 the R56 came out and I just wanted to compare, so we went to MINI of Morristown for a test drive. The sales manager knew I had no intension of buying it but we went out for a ride, of course not as long as when I bought the R53 but still. Now when you wanna test drive a few they say "oh, your thinking if either this model or that one?" Eh, no I just want to drive both. Kinda takes the fun it of it. Bottom line yes they have to sell cars but don't become just another car dealer....

 

The plaid seats are classic GTI, but best of all they're cloth. I hate leather seats in cars at this price level; they're slippery, cold in the winter and hot in the summer - and usually look like they're made out of the same stuff as Band-Aids.

The new GTI only has plaid seats in the base S model; the mid-line SE and top Autobahn model have leather. The S and SE come in 2- and 4-door models, but the Autobahn is 4-doors only.

I'm waiting for VW to wise up and make the SE available with the plaid cloth seats, and my order will be in.

 

We can hope … :fingerscrossed:

 

My Motoring Advisor was Brian at Checkered Flag MINI and he is fantastic. We went in to just check the cars out. I told him that I wasn't even certain if I wanted new or used. Brian's answer?

Well just let me know what you want to look at I will get the keys, then you can take it for a drive.

So what did I do?

We wound up driving 3 different used ones plus a brand new one over the course of an 1.5 hours. Each time I came back Brian just tossed me a new set of keys and my wife and I went off again. Saga ended when I decided that a MINI was the car for me and I bought my awesome little Merlin with one month left on his original warranty.

I now am a very big advocate for the dealership overall since their Porsche store has also treated me wonderfully and I did not even buy my Porsche from them.

 

Sorry, I should have said 2-doors, like some of the packages, aren't in production yet. Hopefully within a month...

 

They have plaid Alcantara? I never knew....

 

No, I would replace the silly plaid with Alcantara inserts. :crazy::lol:

 

Alcantara = "the bridge".

I'm guessing you mean suede?

 

I thought Alcantara was a small town in Pennsylvania.:biggrin5: