[coopergirl]

After reading the boards here and seeing pros/cons of various Southern California MINI dealers, I headed out last weekend to see for myself. Here are my experiences:

- Universal City MINI: some cool, hip staff but also some older, not so with-it sales guys. Small selection but a small dealership so that's ok. A couple S models on the lot. Selling the Coopers for sticker, but adding on $3000 Motoring Package which might as well be a markup. $3000 markup on S models.

- Long Beach MINI: fun, friendly staff. Had just got in their cars from the East Coast. All Cooper 5 spd. I think they had one, maybe two S. If I wanted a stick I would have had (I'm sure now that a week has passed several of them have sold already) a great selection of colors and packages, all at sticker price. But no CVTs on the lot. But if you want custom, wait was 6-9 mos. for a Cooper and 12 mos. for an S. Ack.

- Assael MINI: Older BMW salesmen. A rich folks' dealership, so they can sell for markup and know that someone out there will put down for it. I had wanted a BRG w/white roof, black leatherette, and sport + premium packages and they were the only dealer in SoCal that had one. They had it at $3000 markup (and claimed they normally sold for $6000 over but they had a "special" on the Cooper...whatever...they did keep the $6K markup on the S's in stock) -- I got them down to $2K but the sales guy wouldn't budge on that ("our manager won't let us," he said), so I said "sorry, I can find a Chili Red in what exactly what I want for sticker" and left.

(Side note: I did call the Crevier and Escondido MINI dealerships too but they didn't have either the BRG or Chili Red that I wanted, unless I was willing to order and wait at least 3 mos. Irvine MINI said they had the Chili Red coming in by the end of the month. Irvine also told me that for the month of January they were selling all their regular Coopers at sticker price, which was cool. Crevier had no deals that I knew of.)

Which led me finally to...

- Nick Alexander MINI: When I first went to Alexander they had just got a big order of Cooper and Cooper S's. And lo, they had the exact config I wanted in Chili Red. Their motoring advisor Jerod was very cool, friendly and willing to negotiate. I told him I needed to make sure no other dealership had the BRG in stock before I decided on the Chili Red, but that if I couldn't find it would definitely be back the following morning. I also mentioned that I wanted white rims(the Chili Red they had had silver rims) and could he switch them out. He said sure that could be arranged...

Anyway sure enough I called him up the next day and said I would come in to buy the Chili Red right then and there if I could get it at sticker price. Jerod got the thumbs up from their sales manager Shep (another great guy over at Alexander) and I went in to seal the deal. All in all it was a great experience and I highly recommend them! They switched out the rims, gave the car a great wash and ordered me some rubber mats (I didn't want the carpeted ones). I took the MINI financing and got an excellent interest rate of 4.54% (better than my credit union) through Chase Manhattan, so no complaints there either! Besides getting a discount on MINI accessories purchased at their dealership, they also told me of their pick-up service when I need to get my first tuneup and oil change. Basically they will come to my house with a flat-bed, pick up my MINI and give me a loaner for the day while they service my car. That is SO cool :-)

Jerod called me up a couple days later to check on how I was doing with my new MINI, and to let me know that he had got the mats in and was shipping them to me UPS. Got them yesterday and they look great!

Anyway that's my story -- I am SO pleased with the Chili Red and have no regrets not getting the BRG. Besides, having the red *and* being Canadian...well they just go together! So yay for Alexander MINI a really great buying experience!

coopergirl
los angeles, ca
______________________________________________
2003 Cooper CVT, Chili Red w/white roof, white 16" alloy run-flats, black leatherette, Premium + Sport packagesChili Red

[BillK]

Good review of the local dealers. Thanks Coopergirl!

Happy Motoring!!

[MiniG]

You did a lot of legwork for your MINI, glad you are enjoying it!
Great that you wrote that all up here for everyone -- it's a very subjective process (dealing with car dealers) and seeing/hearing which ones offer extra amenities and sell at MSRP is great!
BCNU - G

[OctaneGuy]

So Coopergirl, tell me now that's it's been 6 months since you made this post. Was Nick Alexander still a great dealer to get your MINI from? Has the servicing promise lived up?

I almost was going to order my MC from them. My sales rep had assured me I could get it at "almost" sticker, but it turned it they still wanted $1,500 over sticker--this was for a fully loaded MC (option 1 & 2), Leather, Sat/Nav system.

Just curious if you're still happy with them.

[hockeydad]

Whats the secret of dealing with Nick? They have a MINI Cooper coming in with the color I want. It already is loaded with options (and has a high MSRP), They want $2000 over sticker! Its not even an S. They don't seem to want to negotiate. I could use your skills to get the car

[bdog]

hey everyone,

this is my first post on this board. We're a brand new owner of a Chili Red CooperS. We got our Mini from Alexander Imports and Jerod Pederson also helped us with the sale. He is a very friendly, no nonsense type of guy. Very easy to talk to and very eager to answer any questions we had on the car. Yes, there was a markup on the S but we ended paying $2k of markup. We ended getting the carpet and rubber mats for the front and the trunk thrown in along w/ the chrome grille/bonnet for the front of the car. We financed our Mini thru the BMW financing dept. (3.99%). I'm not sure if we got an excellent deal on the car or not, but we paid just a tad over $30k for the "out the door" price. Our Mini had the premium & spork pkg, leather seats, rain sensors, and the harmon kardon upgrade.

So if anyone else is in the market for a Mini from So. Cal. I would definitely recommend Alexander Imports and ask for Jerod.

[miniscar]

I'm in the market for a mini and had a very similar experience at assael as did coppergirl. I susspect that market demand has a great deal to do with the mark-up. I'm looking for a basic model with a white body and black top. What do you think my chances are of getting it for sticker price. I've got great credit and I'm glad to hear about the low interest rates available.

[BillK]

Miniscar,

I don't know what the current market is, since I bought my Mini in 2002 But I would check Crevier in Santa Ana (Just cruse down the 605) and while you are here, Irvine Mini where I bought mine. Both dealers have had good reports in my experiance.