So, I’m in the market for a new car, and I’m strongly considering buying a Mini Cooper S (or an Acura RSX, but that’s besides the point). Using the car builder on the Mini site – way too much fun, by the way – I “built” the car I want for $26,139. Now, is that price as good as it gets?
I’ve been told that because of the supply and demand of and for Minis, that there is very little room to negotiate (especially in California, apparently). I suppose that if nothing else, they’ll try and get a little extra profit out of the financing terms or the value of my trade-in. Does this sound about right, and is there anything I can do to save myself some money?
(FWIW, my trade-in is a 96 Accord, ~92k miles, with a couple dents and scratches, but mechanically fine.)
Have you checked Edmund’s Automobile Buyers Guides? (I don’t have the URL available here, sorry) They provide not only information on the invoice and list prices for the car you’re interested in (spec’d out with options, etc.,), but also a ‘what people are paying’ in your area price.
That ought to at least give you a feel for whether there’s any negotiating room on price.
Of course, if you walk onto the lot and all the cars have dealer-added sticker with additional profit on it (as was the case with the Acura dealership we visited this weekend), then you know the answer is probably “no”.
Hm, looks like everyone in my area is paying the sticker price (at least it’s not sticker + profit). Too bad, though like don’t ask said, I suppose I could still try. Maybe I can get some floor mats thrown in or something.
So other than selling my car separately (probably to Carmax) and getting my loan from a/my bank (BofA), is there anything else I should be thinking of doing?
Exactly right. Figure out how much the dealer paid for the car you want and add in a reasonable profit margin. That’s the price you’re willing to pay… nothing more. Then walk in on the last day of the month and tell them you are ready to buy a car if they can meet your price. Don’t worry if they don’t have the exact car on the lot, they can get any color or options you want by trading with another dealer. They will hem and haw and the salesperson will tell you that he’s not going to make a cent, but sooner or later they will either agree to your price or not. At that point, depending on how close you are to your price, you can walk or give in. My advice would be to start by talking with the fleet manager since they don’t do the normal dickering that the salespeople do. If you have a Costco nearby you can go through them… I have found that the dealers that work with Costco are on their best behavior and I have been able to get the car I want at the price I want. And don’t let them BS you about how rare these cars are… look around… there are hundreds of them for sale in almost any city in the US.
I got my Mini Cooper S last year, and I paid the exact price the Mini-builder on the site said it would cost. I did get a free set of floor mats and MINI USA sends out a neat little new owners kit about six weeks after buying it, but most people pay sticker price on MINIs. That seems to be the standard practice at all MINI dealers.
Gozu Tashoya and Boscibo you need to get on over to the Ask the high-performance driving instructor thread. The guy driving the Mini in the course I took kicked ass! That is a sweet lil ride
You can try to negotiate, but right now you pay list. My day job gives me access to a lot of data about this particular question, and the vast vast majority are paying list.
When I bought my little darling last year, there were only a few used Minis on the lot, and really no one to haggle with.
They sit you down at a terminal and you pick your options - the same program you can access at home. That’s it.
Mine took 8 weeks, and you get to track it through the factory (your Mini was just out at the paint shop- it’s sleeping now) and on it’s trip across the Atlantic. I was obsessed, I checked on it 80 times a day.
Get one, you won’t regret it. I have a somewhat unhealthy love for mine. (Red, white top, sunroof. Whee!)
If you want to know what you can expect to pay for a car, carsdirect.com claims to have information on the price to expect in your market for a new car.
I can’t vouch, but it seems to know that low-demand cars can negotiate for well under invoice, while its “target price” for the MINI was the MSRP.
Shh! That’s the kind of review that does bad things to my willpower.
So tell me, a first-time car buyer, how the waiting/build period works WRT my trade-in? I’m assuming/hoping I don’t need to turn over my car at the time we negotiate the price, but if we agree on a trade-in value from the get-go, they’re kinda taking it on faith that my current car’s value isn’t going to suddenly depreciate in price (accident, cross-country road trip, etc.).
Best.car.ever. One year later and I still get a big smile when I look at it. It is my Precious ::strokes her MINI::