Just about to order - urgent advice needed!

[landroverstormer]

Dear experts!

I'm just about to order our 3rd Mini (54 plate Cooper HB then 09 plate Cooper Conv) which is another Cooper HB. We are being quoted March delivery which is good, and the car runs to £19,070 list price.

I wondered what the opinion of the forum would be regarding.....

Discount?....... How many ££££££'s off is the current going rate?
APR?......... For a 48 month PCP on Select Plus

We are being offered free TLC and insurance which I'm guessing is standard issue at the moment?

Any advice on the above from anyone 'in the know' would be appreciated as I need to make sure that in these current economic times that I don't cough up too much dosh unnecessarily.

James

[CosmicBear]

i've ordered mine today
from my experience:

talk to your bank and see what they offer you as APR on the same amount of money. Mini is most likely going to match it.

i've tried my best but didn't get two dealers to lower the price of the car itself. to be fair i've ordered a roadster and both said the same thing "we can't give a discount on a car that's not even on the market yet" second dealer upped the price on my part exchange mini though, that's why i chose him.

i managed to "squeeze" 2 years GAP out of them though and got the addional 2 years at a discount as well.

free tlc and insurance is standard on all coopers at the moment.

also if you do a part exchange mini itself (not the dealer, but headquarters) is giving you £500 loyalty bonus (first dealer i went to tried to sell this to me as "we give you a discount on the car")

[KissmyS]

I wouldn't class myself as 'in the know' but while buying my used mini last week could not believe how busy the dealership was, seemingly with people ordering new cars, and all trying to drive a hard bargain!

Talking to the sales guy who dealt with me, the dealership is struggling to keep up with demand, and has had a bumper December and January, as far as he could see it was set to continue! In the hour or so we were completing paperwork and the official handover of the car, a good dozen or so people walked in off the street without appointments and wanted to look at cars.

A close friend runs a number of Nissan dealerships, and despite the gloomy economic outlook is also having a bumper time, but only with Qashqai's and Micra's - all of the big stuff is staying on the shelves. He acknowledged Mini as one of the other strong brands in the marketplace at the moment but said that other dealers on the same estates as his Nissan dealerships were having a torrid time (Renault, Vauxhall, Alfa to name a few).

My personal opinion (and thats all it is), would be to focus less on the window price which they might shave a couple of % off and try to get a better deal on the 'extra's'.

Good luck, and enjoy the new toy!