So I'm browsing the MCS inventory at the nearest Mini dealer...

[TD]

I'm thinking about actually starting the process of looking for a new "commuter" and figure it'll come down to the Focus ST, the VW GTI and the MCS.

Unfortunately, it looks like I can't buy from the closest Mini dealer.

Every car they have has a supplemental window sticker.



LoJack?! Really?! And the $200 pure bullshit charge? And that much for wheel locks?

I expected better from a dealership in the Passport group. This is slimy shit. And I will not go there.

[JST]

Originally Posted by TD

I'm thinking about actually starting the process of looking for a new "commuter" and figure it'll come down to the Focus ST, the VW GTI and the MCS.

Unfortunately, it looks like I can't buy from the closest Mini dealer.

Every car they have has a supplemental window sticker.



LoJack?! Really?! And the $200 pure bullshit charge? And that much for wheel locks?

I expected better from a dealership in the Passport group. This is slimy shit. And I will not go there.

Wouldn't you order it, anyway? I can't recall if Passport in AX put those charges on their inventory cars, but they may have. They didn't give me any hassle when I ordered the car, though.

The one thing that did bug me about Passport in Alexandria is that they were always kind of squirrelly about loaner cars. I always ended up getting one, but their online scheduling tool didn't provide for that as an option and I had at least one occasion where I had to fight with the scheduler about it (and I bought the Countryman there).

[dan]

Wow, minis are expensive now

[TD]

If I bought new, I'd order. Still thinking used, though.

I was noting this find more as an observation about their practices. Stuff like this really leaves a strong bad impression with me.

I just imagine the BS of negotiating a price and then having them try to slap $200 on top of that that.

[ff]

$33K for a Mini? Seriously? At that price, why not a 1 Series?

[RMR]

Originally Posted by ff

$33K for a Mini? Seriously? At that price, why not a 1 Series?

Or a Golf R.

[clyde]

Originally Posted by RMR

Or a Golf R.

Or an ST and a trip to disneyLand. Oh? Never mind.

When I bought the wagon a million years ago in Dec 2001, the F&I guy at Tischer BMW really did a hard sale on LoJack. Made a number of pitches, dropping the price every time. Can't remember if I told him I would walk if he asked once more.

[TD]

Originally Posted by RMR

Or a Golf R.

Just noticed VW is running what seems to be a pretty solid lease deal on the Golf R at the moment.

I need to go drive one.

[JST]

Originally Posted by TD

Just noticed VW is running what seems to be a pretty solid lease deal on the Golf R at the moment.

I need to go drive one.

I know where you can find one, if you want to take one for a spin.

[SARAFIL]

Well the $200 pure bullshit charge looks like the doc fee I assume. But if that is in addition to the doc fee, then wow.

As for LoJack? Wow, that brings back memories. In 2008 just as sales were taking off, our LoJack rep convinced my GM that we should do "LoJack preinstalls" which meant we would have them install it on every new car as part of new car prep. In exchange, we got a sweet price per install. I reluctantly gave in except I gave myself 2 "outs"-- I'd only preinstall on stock units, not sold orders, and any unsold units would be charged back to F&I rather than to the cost of the car. At the time MINIs were in VERY short supply and high demand, so fortunately for me it only lasted 2-3 months as we were soon selling out of all of our allocation for customer orders and we had few cars actually coming in as stock units. That and the F&I manager got tired of eating the cost when I was giving it away (I didn't care since it was coming out of my pocket either way, but I wanted the F&I guy to pay instead of the salespeople because the GM would respond quicker to his bitching).

I don't recall the exact number, but I think our cost was in the $175 range for preinstalls. So they're making a killing on it.