For what reasons did you chose your dealer?

[billy.batson]

I just ordered my new Cooper Clubman from Preston Hall Motors in Stockton-on-Tees. They are my nearest dealer (28 miles) and I had also been recommended to them by another MINI owner. But I very nearly didn't - I downloaded their location map from the internet as we had never been to Stockton before - and the map was wrong!

We spent over half an hour searching for their showroom. There were Jaguar and Vauxhall showrooms nearby, we went in the Vauxhall one and looked at the new Astra (very nice), but they were busy and nobody spoke to us. So we left and decided to go home - then by sheer chance found the MINI showroom, nowhere near where the map showed.

By then it was approaching closing time, but a very nice sales lady (Rebecca) showed us the Clubman - the showroom seemed to be full of Clubmans! - and although she was about to go home, and it was a Saturday evening, she took my wife and I for test drives.

We liked a silver Cooper Clubman with black roof and Pepper pack (£16,800) and after a little haggling we got £4300 trade-in for our 2005 MG ZR. I was perfectly happy with this, because although the MG was mint with only 21,000 miles on the clock, it had been vandalised on the near side by some pond life who scratched it deeply with a key from end to end, every panel damaged.

That was in October. I bought one of those Quixx scratch removal kits (rubbish, did not work) and so was resigned to a repair bill of several hundred pounds.

Anyhow when Becky checked out the MG of course she saw the scratching and guessed it would cost about £800 to repair it. Their first offer was £3200 for the MG to allow for the repair. We came away and on the Monday Becky phoned us and we negotiated a new deal of £12500 plus the MG, equivalent to a trade-in price of £4300. Did I get a good deal I wonder? Anyhow I was satisfied, and ordered the car for March 1st delivery, to get the 08 registration plate.

I must say that we were impressed by Becky, she was knowledgeable, answered all questions to our satisfaction, was pleasant and not pushy. She is a credit to Preston Hall Motors.

We did not bother to shop around, apart from the distance to other dealers I doubted whether we could have saved more than the odd £100 or two elsewhere and I didn't want the trouble.

So we are looking forward to being MINI owners again in March. The last one we had was a 1275GT with Clubman-type front end, back in the 1970s.

By the way I noticed that Preston Hall is one of a group of MINI dealers known as the Cooper Group. Does anyone know if this is the same as, or connected with, John Cooper Garages?

[owenwill]

Picked up my 56reg Cooper R56 from Williams Mini in Liverpool this afternoon, it's 50miles from me whereas my nearest dealer (Halliwell Jones Llandudno) is 20 miles, at the end of the day it's down to the bottom line, my local dealer couldn't match the deal or the finance rate so I looked further afield

[r50uk]

Quote: Originally Posted by billy.batson (original)

By then it was approaching closing time, but a very nice sales lady (Rebecca) showed us the Clubman - the showroom seemed to be full of Clubmans! - and although she was about to go home, and it was a Saturday evening, she took my wife and I for test drives.

Well, I always thought that is nothing unusual. You don't let a customer go! It makes a difference between an order taker and a sales person ;-)
With a bit of mutual respect, you can go very far... there are customers I'd do (almost) anything for.... and I have so many customers that wave at me every time they drive past... it's nice..... I always look after customers and they understand we need to make money to stay in business and earn a living, as long as we don't rip them off and we're there to help, they will be glad to give us their business!

[MNCooperS]

Basically lack of choice. There is only ONE dealer in Perth so they basically have a monopoly. Boooooo where is the competition!

[lorna]

local dealer that had good prices and the salesman was fab not pushy and could have a good laugh

[ledfrog]

I chose my dealer because they had the car I wanted at the price I liked. And believe me, I searched many different dealers websites and visited many locations.

[Kev50027]

I chose Louisville (KY) MINI because they were the nearest dealership, and offered me the best price by far. They gave me $2,000 off a 2011 custom built MCS, while Cincinnati MINI said they could not come anywhere near that deal.

[Galen10]

Ordered a Countryman Cooper D from this dealer, although it isn't the closest to home, for a number of reasons. They offered me a better price for my part-exchange than other dealers I'd visited; they were sure they could get me a vehicle pre-Xmas to beat the VAT increase; their finance deal was competitive; when they could see we were serious about placing an order they threw in £250 of freebies; lastly, and altho it's a bit subjective I suppose, they just came across as easier to deal with overall!

Justine Jones in sales was very helpful, and keen to do a deal. I'd thoroughly recommend anyone to contact them if they are shopping around.

Since placing my order a few people I know with Mini's have also said they thought Scothall were superior to other local dealers in Hants and Sussex.

[LittleBrit]

I ordered my Countryman S ALL4 from Morristown(USA). The best service and the best price. Ed(GSM) and Bryan(MA) promised me that I will be the first to get the countryman. My car is in the production status and should be completed November 2nd with maybe delivery date to dealer first/second week in December. This is the first Countryman coming into Morristown. I got an early built allocation. Morristown promised me the first one and they delivered.

I can't wait to drive this around New Jersey.

Ed and Bryan.....you rock!!!!

p.s. Morristown has the best prices for OEM parts too with great discounts!

[minigirl4life]

I ordered mine from Sandia Mini (the only dealership in Albuquerque) - but I had started off looking at Scottsdale Mini in Arizona. Needless to say, Michael at Sandia won our business due to price matching, great service and attention to detail and didn't talk down to me since it was clear I was going to be the owner and not my husband. Not pushy, gave me good advice on what options would be best for me with what I was looking to get out of the car and of course patiently answered what must have felt like a million questions from a first time Mini owner.

[Mini4Always]

I went to the dealer that I live closest to, which is Mini of Alexandria in VA. I remember it being a particularly hot day when I was going to go shop for a Mini, and the day was already not going well. I was prepared to get my "mean, aggressive" face on to match that of the sales reps . But to my pleasant surprise, they were surprisingly laid back and friendly. When I asked them questions they actually were competent and knew what they were talking about. With their attitude, I could feel myself relax, and yes, even trust them. Took an awesome test drive, and ended up buying my blue Mini Cooper S.

[David Webb]

i went to the dealer that i live closest to. To go to any other dealer involved a tedious and expensive boat trip

[Keys]

Choice of 2 dealers, price and availability of car for me when i was purchasing

[VINNOCENTI]

Still Trawling Through The Cherished Mini Site For My First MCC,So No Preference At The Moment I,ll Go Wherever The Perfect/Car/Deal Is.