[lotatoys]

I’m interested in hearing from anyone who is on the wait list at Niello BMW/Mini in Sacramento, California. I put my name on their list less than a week after their selection as a Mini dealership and have been extremely frustrated with the way they’ve handled everything.
First, I’m told that the wait list is more of a contact list. Nobody has a “place” on the list, rather; everyone on the list will be contacted via a mass e-mail when cars arrive. From then on it’s first come, first served! So what’s the advantage of being on their list?
Second, has anyone else been treated terribly by Niello’s temporary point of contact for the Mini, Demi LeMarquand? He tells me that he will be staying on the BMW side of the house and is just handling the Mini customers until the new dealers are in place. As a result, he doesn’t seem to care about keeping customers up to date or even answering questions. He rarely returns e-mails or phone calls and seldom gives direct answers to questions. As an example, here are excerpts of a conversation from a recent visit to Mr. LeMarquand by a friend and myself.
Q: Any idea when the new Mini building will be ready to open?
A: Take a look; it’s still under construction. We’re waiting on inspectors, but your best bet would be to drive by regularly until you see it open.
Q: I live about 45 miles away so I’m worried about being able to get here in time once the big e-mail goes out to everyone on the wait list that says the cars have arrived. Is there any way of being sure to get one ahead of someone not on the list that happens to come in before me?
A: Hey, I have people on the list from out of state, so you’re in a better position than them.
Q: We noticed you have 5 M3’s on the lot with $10k “market adjustments” added to them; will you be doing that with the Mini?
A: Well, if someone can afford a fifty thousand dollar car, then another ten thousand isn’t very much. It’s only another $150 or so a month in a payment. I mean, we’re only allotted six M3’s a year and we have to go out and pay sticker to other dealers to get more. So we have to make money somehow. I doubt we’ll be able to get that much from the Mini but there are things like “undercoating” or other ways we can charge more than sticker.
Q: Is there anyone I can talk to who will actually be in the new dealership?
A: Well, we know who will be hired, but there’s no sense in paying someone until the actual showroom opens up.
Q: Nobody is going through any kind of product training right now?
A: No. The day the new showroom opens, we’ll just hand them a brochure and tell them to sell cars.
Q: So there’s no way I can make sure I get a car over someone not on the list, if I don’t happen to see the big e-mail when it is sent out?
A: Well, you could pay me a thousand dollars and that may get you one a little quicker.

Needless to say, my friend and I both walked away from that conversation very frustrated and angry. Mr. LeMarquand shed new light on the dealership as a whole and made me thankful I had added my name to an out of state dealership. I have no confidence that I’ll be able to purchase a Mini from Niello in the next 6 months, or that they would be selling anywhere near sticker. Unfortunately, there are plenty of fools out there who will jump at the chance to pay top dollar for the first Mini’s and Niello Mini of Sacramento will gladly rake them over the coals!

[Sejanus]

Well you had a longer conversation with Mr. Marquand than I did, but basically my experience was similar. Actually, I think he is being relatively forthcoming with the info he has, it is just he doesn't have much and doesn't really seem to care. As you said, its going to be someone else's problem, he sells BMWs.
They've got the glass in and the walls up as of Thursday so they may make it to be open on time, but it looks like it'll be close. Like you I was told it was just a contact list, first come, first served and that we probably wouldn't be able to order, just take what they've got. Since I work nearby I'll go over and take a look when they open, but I don't have much faith in my ability to get a car at a reasonable price there either.
Instead of looking out of state, you might want to look down in the Bay Area. Concord MINI seemed much more helpful, and I've read good things about the dealership in Pleasanton here at MINI2. Come 3/22 I'm heading to the Bay if Niello doesn't come through.

[lotatoys]

I did try the bay area dealers but was told that they were already sold out or were not adding any more to their lists. I ended up contacting Debbie Horton at Salt Lake Mini and she has been great. She was honest about the list and gave me a good guestimate of when I may see a Cooper S of my own. I realize now that I won't be among the first to have one, but Debbie has given me a more secure feeling. So unless something unexpected happens at Niello or the bay area dealers, I at least know that I'll be taken care of at Salt Lake Mini.

[Sejanus]

Salt Lake, wow, that's a bit of a haul, but hey, if it gets you in a MINI eventually its worth it. The Concord dealer was a little reluctant to put me on his list, but eventually did after admitting that he had heard unfavorable comments from others regarding Niello's unresponsiveness. Overall though I'm still somewhat hopeful about local dealerships because I'm going for the Cooper not the S and from what I've read here it sounds like dealers are going to have 20 or so Coopers each to start. Of course, I still may not get there in time, but I'm more worried about being gouged on the cost. As I said if Niello doesn't work out I'm crashing at the folks place in The City and doing the circuit of all 4 Bay Area MINI dealers next weekend.

[lotatoys]

Well I wish you the best of luck. When you find any regional dealerships open, please post them here so I can check them out as well. I know I'm not on any of the Bay area lists but I'd love to check them out so I can at least get a feel for the car.

[Sejanus]

Quote:

Originally posted by lotatoys
When you find any regional dealerships open, please post them here so I can check them out as well.

Will do.

[edlfrey]

I received this e-mail today from Niello MINI of Sacramento. Although it leaves many questions open for me it does answer the most important one. Will I buy a MINI Cooper? NO! Niello is my closest dealer at about 110 miles and the servicing issue has alwaws been a deterent to my buying but now the buying is also almost impossible. If I were buying a second car then maybe but I am now carless and can not hassel with a dealer 100+ miles away. Good luck to you all and especially those of you buying from Niello!
From: "PeterM"
Subject: The MINI is Finaslly Here! Let's Motor
Date: Thu, 21 Mar 2002 18:00:47 -0800
Dear Customer:
Thank you for your interest in the MINI. We are very excited and working hard to meet our scheduled opening date of March 22. The following information should help answer some of the questions regarding MINI availability.

We will be receiving our first allocation of MINI Coopers sometime very soon. We are selling MINI's on a first come first serve basis only. We will not be accepting deposits for future shipments of the automobiles,nor will there be any orders taken at this time. These policies may change
in the future, however, at this time it is strictly first come first serve and you must be ready, willing and able to purchase or lease your new MINI at that time.

The MINI Cooper S will not be available to the public until sometime in June. We will be receiving approximately 30 automobiles each month of which 35% will be the MINI Cooper S. We will be notifying everyone via e-mail of the dates the new MINI's will be arriving each month and we will do our best to keep advising you of any other information we feel you may want to know as it comes available.

If you haven't already, log on to MINIUSA.COM and register with them for additional fun while you wait for your turn to experience the Motoring Mania of the New Millennium.

Niello MINI Motoring Advisors are Mike our Sales Manager, Tracy, Paul, Monica and Eva. We are almost ready to raise the roof in Sacramento introducing the infamous and exhilarating MINI Cooper and MINI Cooper S. LET'S MOTOR.
Earnestly Yours,
Niello MINI of Sacramento
Motoring Advisors

[sdmidget]

It appears that BMW's idea to limit the number of cars imported and the number of dealerships across the USA is going to make for a good deal of price gouging - with the resultant hard feelings and turning of potential MINI enthusiasts away from purchasing one!!

The American Free Market System at its finest!

[mixdman]

I also think Niello MINI / BMW has handled this whole release poorly. I too was on the supposed "waiting list" only to find out via this hastily written e-mail that it was going to be a free-for-all, first-come-first-served event. This is really not a good thing. Neither were the non-informative e-mails and one voicemail I also received from Demi Le Marquand. No help whatsover. I went to the Grand Opening today in the pouring rain and there were about 25 people there to test drive. I just wanted to buy the damn car, I don't have to test drive it! I could get one person to help me. All the BMW suits were smirking, the MINI people were frantic with only 25 customers milling about, the showroom was not even done yet, etc. I think it sucks that they have totally ignored customers that signed up for this "list" and are obvioulsy serious about buying this car. Crap, you can't even order one with the specs you want! I hope this does not become another PT Cruiser fiasco and I hope Niello gets a clue on how to sell this car.

[Sejanus]

I was also at Niello today, standing around in our very English like weather. It was pretty frantic, although I thought the MINI staff were a vast improvement on Mr. Lemarquand. They spent a fair amount of time answering my questions despite the disorganization. The problem seems to lie further up the Niello food chain in making very little effort to be ready on time. Also I was there before 2 when they were supposed to open and they had already committed all their cars to people who had been there since 5:30am. (One guy and his kid spent the night in their truck) Doesn't really seem fair to give those people cars for showing up before they were supposed to, but since none of the few cars in question were what I wanted I didn't see a point in making it an issue. Niello is charging a $699 paint protection, mat, etc. package which ticked me off at first, but then I confirmed that the next nearest dealer was going with a straight $2000 markup (Concord MINI). If Niello sticks with the current pricing I can live with it. I'm not convinced they will stick with it though. I did go for a test drive in the one CVT model they had there. Very cool. I still one want so I guess I will put up with all this for at least awhile longer before getting something else. I thought the staff I talked to were all pretty helpful and pleasant. I do not really understand why they have this no ordering policy. I could live with the wait as long as I knew there was a definant date I'd be getting a car. I want the CVT model so I can't really be too upset with Niello since MINI (I just found out) isn't sending any over for another 6 weeks. I mean the day wasn't a total write off, I did get to drive a MINI after all. Now at least I'm sure this is the car I want.

[Sejanus]

Quote:

Originally posted by mixdman
Yeah, I saw those dealer add-ons and read about them on other posts. I really don't think we need to pay for paint protection or mats if we don't want them. The paint is already "protected' and all they put on it ( if anything at all! ) is polyglycoat. They are making money selling at MSRP and I am not going to lie back and take it. If everybody does, they just keep slapping on more of these add-ons. As for the help at Niello today, I was there at 3:00 and I could not get a question answered. And as for the waiting list, why did I get the e-mail the same day the Grand Opening was held and I've been on the damn list for at least 6 months! I'm kind of not wanting the car now too. I saw way too many fat women hauling their butts out of mini vans exclaiming "What a cute car! I have to have one!"

Apparently we were there at the same time. I was the one wearing the Rivercats cap (not that it matters). I agree in principle about the extras, but when you hear what other dealers are demanding in our area and down in SoCal Niello starts to look pretty reasonable. Check out the mandatory dealer extras thread. There's some sleazy place down south that is charging $4-5000 extra and won't even give you a test drive if you aren't willing to pay. Niello's extra $700 is annoying and it is about as high as I'm willing to go above MSRP, but lets face it, it is a seller's market. As for women of, shall we say, comfortable dimensions, hey, it is a great looking car, why shouldn't they feel the same way as us beer gutted males?

By the way I went by again today (another family member was looking at BMWs). It was still busy and rather disorganized. The showroom still isn't complete. Mike, the apparent head guy was friendly and helpful though.

[Sejanus]

I just noticed that as of today Niello MINI finally has its own website.(mini.niello.com) Not much there we don't already know, but it might be worth keeping an eye on it for future announcements.

[batman]

When the new M3, all car maz said that it is a great car at a reasonable price. Many new car maz said the same about the new Mini. However, they were only half right. M3 and Mini are both great driver's car, but they will never be sold at the reasonable price for the first 6 to 12 months. All the BMW dealers in Southern Cal added at least $5000 markup when the M3 came out. Guess what ! History repeats itself. The same thing is happening to Mini. Basically, BMW has no control over its dealers, and it dealers have no respect to the manufacturer. When great cars are NOT been sold with manufacturer's intented price, they are no longer great cars. They become exotic cars for the rich. The reason BMW build Mini is because it wants to enter a different market. I guess that is not going to happen. Just like any other BMWs, Mini will still remain a luxury car at least for another year.

[minirossa]

Lotatoys,
I would suggest you check out East Bay Mini in Pleasanton.
Sounds like Niello is playing the same song & dance as
San Francisco Mini. SF Mini has sent me similar e-mails
that are long on hype & short on facts.
Jarid at East Bay has been very up front & polite.
$1,000 depoist, fully refundable. They are selling at MSRP;
no add-ons or markups.
I live in SF & know several other Mini2 fans who are also
in the city that are going out to East Bay.

[Sejanus]

Minirossa,
Is East Bay MINI taking orders or is it first come first served there as well?

[MINIAC]

East Bay MINI is selling at MSRP in waiting list order

[Sejanus]

Quote:

Originally posted by MINIAC
East Bay MINI is selling at MSRP in waiting list order

I assume that is on pre-specced cars? Anyone know how long is the list? Its probably a bit late for me.

[minirossa]

Sejanus,
As of Friday morning, March 22nd. they had 140 people on
the S waiting list (for 100 cars!) & 46 on the Cooper list
(for 200 cars).
Sign up soon. When I went back Sat. morning to get on the Cooper list there were 4-5 people already in line to put down a depoist.
Good Luck.
Minirossa

[Sejanus]

Quote:

Originally posted by minirossa
Sejanus,
As of Friday morning, March 22nd. they had 140 people on
the S waiting list (for 100 cars!) & 46 on the Cooper list
(for 200 cars).
Sign up soon. When I went back Sat. morning to get on the Cooper list there were 4-5 people already in line to put down a depoist.
Good Luck.
Minirossa

Thanks, I guess I know where I'll take a drive tomorrow.

[lotatoys]

I dropped by around 5 PM yesterday (Monday) and the dealership was locked up while workers tried to make it presentable. I wasn't ablt to talk to any salespeople, as the two I saw were on test drives or locking themselves inside the unfinished showroom with customers. All the Mini's I saw had sold signs on them and even the Cooper S had it's Touch of Class touch-up bottle in the glove box. But after sitting in the S and kicking the tires I left convinved I'll get one someday. I still feel better about traveling to Salt Lake Mini where I'll get a Cooper S at MSRP, be able to actually place my order and be kept informed of the latest by a very helpful Debbie Horton. Sejanus, I hope you are having luck in your quest!