[Captain Randy]

Ahoy group

Have an 06 pepper white convertible S in production - suppose to be finish on the 20th.


What started out as a good experience has me wondering. The salesman insisted that they (Ferman of Tampa Bay) would not sell the car unless they put the invisishield option (plastic stick on for the front & mirror) on for $900. We have since seen this installed & dont like the way it shows dirt around the edges, finally had to go to the manager & he agreeded to selling the car with a $500 MARKET ADJUSTMENT instead. Yesterday when the salesman faxed the new paperwork I noticed he had added in a ["Dealer Prep[" charge of $499.95 in addition to the Mini Handling and Destination charge of $500. He said it was to cover cleaning & preping the car plus cover administrative fees for paperwork.

Am I wrong in beliving that the Handling & Destination charge should take care of this, at least getting the car ready??????

So far I have been asked to buy a dealer installed option I did not want for $900, when that failed they stuck a $500 Market Adjustment fee at me , now they want a $500 prep fee in addition to the Market Adjustment fee. I called two other dealers in Flordia & neither one of them charge a "Prep Fee". My belief is that except for the MINI H&D charge the rest is just plain old "Dealer Markup"

Is this kind of stuff common for MINI dealers or did I just find a gem????????

What would you do???? I put a $1,000 deposit down because the salesman said we could not get a car unless we ordered the plastic shield option.

Our excitement is dashed to say the least.






Captain Randy
Currently anchored at St Petersburg, FL