Buying my first S - advice needed!

[chewymylegoff]

Ok, so I'm about to order my first Mini Cooper S - been wanting one for a while - I hired one for 4 days in 2007 (was a 2nd gen model) and loved it. i figure that I might as well spend some money now as the govt seems intent on devaluing my savings to the point where they become worthless!

So, I'd appreciate some thoughts on the specification that I want:

The following extras are what I actually want:
LSD (didn't appreciate the torque steer on the one I hired)
Multifunction steering wheel
Leather/cloth interior
Auto air-con
Dark Silver Metallic paint
Floor mats
Bi-Xenon headlights
On board computer
Interior light pack

List price for this would be £18,735. Presumably I can get it for a bit less due to current conditions, but i wouldn't be too upset paying list price tbh.

I'm not bothered about getting bigger wheels - a few reviews i have read have suggested that 16" standard wheels offer a significantly better ride than the 17" chili pack wheels, and for that reason i have not picked the chili pack, in order to retain the 16" wheels.

is this going to hit the second hand price i would get for it significantly, i am likely to have to offload it in about 2.5 years due to emigration plans.

to get the above spec with the chili pack would cost £19,340 - so not significantly more as far as i am concerned. i could afford it, but it will mean 17" wheels - will this make much difference to ride?

i would appreciate feedback on the extras i have picked, whether i should go with the chili pack, and if i should think about any other extras. thanks in advance!

[Scrogg]

Unfortunately MINI dealerships generally have the same mentality as their parent BMW dealerships, in that certain cars must have certain options (all 5 Series must have leather and Nav being the best example) to be desirable, so most would say the CHILI Pack is essential on an S.

The reality is that yes, the car is worth less without it, but it cost less to start with, so the difference is negligible.

I've always been a firm believer that you should buy what you want, not what the next owner wants, and you've listed what you want so go for it.

[brett.iom.r56]

TBH 95% of all MINIs sold have CHILI specced. A few of the options you've listed are standard with the pack. Try working it out with/without the pack and see if it makes much difference as to me the only option you've listed that isn't part of the CHILI is LSD.

Sounds like a great choice to me either way, and I wish you all the best!

[chewymylegoff]

thanks for the feedback.

went into a dealership today: got offered a stock car in dark silver with chili pack but no LSD (with road tax and tlc) for £18,000, without even asking for a discount. only slight drawback was that it was a 2008 build so didn't have the new chili pack with auto aircon.

will have to give it a bit of thought, they had plenty of choice of stock cars, looks like factory overdid it. said that if i want something built then i would get it mid-feb, not much of an order pipeline either!

[jords]

Quote: Originally Posted by Scrogg (original)

I've always been a firm believer that you should buy what you want, not what the next owner wants, and you've listed what you want so go for it.

As you are only keeping the MINI short term (relatively) then I suggest getting the Chilli pack as it would help the resale in 2.5 years time. If you were planning on keeping it long term, then yes, I would agree with Scrogg and spec it as you want it.

IMO, with regards to the 17inch wheels, the difference they make to look of the car far outweighs the slight increase in the harshness of the ride.

[ladhartley]

Current conditions bering what they are, Chewy, If you can find a car already on the dealer's lot that you really like I would recommend that you make a low but reasonable offer for it. It may not have every option that you want but it is important that you are happy with the one you choose.

There are so many more cars on dealers' lots now that they have to be discounting some off the list price. You could certainly get your Chili Pack and more for the same money or less than you'd be paying for ordering one specced entriley to your liking.

As an expample my dealer had zero MINIs available for sale on his lot in late Septermber when I ordered my MCs. According to his internet site he currently has 63 cars. All but one, a Cabrio, are 2009 models. I'm sure I could have found one among those 63 that I liked as well as the one I ordered if I were getting a healthy discount off list. I'd say find one you like, make an offer and see what happens. If you can't find one you like a lot or if the dealer won't come down on the price enough to make you happy, place your order.

Oh, and one comment on your spec list. Think about heated seats.

[chewymylegoff]

they've offered me £1,600 off a stock car, not exactly the spec I wanted, but it's got everything except LSD, plus some other extras that i'm not bothered about, but still enough to make me seriously think about it, seems a pretty good deal!

[ladhartley]

Seems like a good deal to me, too. Do you think they will go any lower or throw in any freebies? It's a whole new world, isn't it? Four months ago I had to stand on my head to get them to thow in floor mats.

[chewymylegoff]

Quote: Originally Posted by ladhartley (original)

Seems like a good deal to me, too. Do you think they will go any lower or throw in any freebies? It's a whole new world, isn't it? Four months ago I had to stand on my head to get them to thow in floor mats.

well, finalised it today and put a deposit down

spec was:
dark silver, white roof and mirror caps (had them remove the bonnet stripes)
leather punch carbon black
chili pack (old - i.e. manual aircon)
multifunction steering wheel
interior trim piano black
basic bluetooth
tlc

got £1,680 discount off the on the road price in the end, which worked out at around 9%. i think i could have probably got some free stuff as well, but the deal was good enough for me and i wanted to get on with it so i could get my hands on the car as early as possible next week. should be able to pick it up next wednesday! happy days!

only bad thing was that they only had a choice of 4 reg plates and i didn't like any of them!

[ladhartley]

9% sounds great. Best of luck with it. Post pictures as soon as you can.

[Matt@mini]

Hi well done on your new car, that must have been a MINI that was built in 2008, MINI have an offer at the moment, any MINI which is already built but unregistered has a discount of upto £1000 so if you are looking for a MINI, wih the VAT drop now is never a better time to buy.

[chewymylegoff]

Quote: Originally Posted by Matt@mini (original)

Hi well done on your new car, that must have been a MINI that was built in 2008, MINI have an offer at the moment, any MINI which is already built but unregistered has a discount of upto £1000 so if you are looking for a MINI, wih the VAT drop now is never a better time to buy.

yep that's exactly what it was, car was already at the dealership. £950 or £980 was the MINI discount and the rest was from the dealer.

[JohnWB]

Sounds like a good deal, I prefer the manual aircon to the auto one as it is much quieter. The auto one tends to start flat out if the car is to hot etc. Enjoy the ride

[Jaydash]

Congrats and thanks chewy. This is helpful to someone like myself who has been offered around £1200 off a new S, so that's about £300 discount from the dealer. It seems that they may have another few hundred 'quid available that they're trying to hang on to! (and I'm the sort of person who needs to be offered a too-good-to-miss deal, which hasn't happened yet tbh)

PS. John, arrggh... don't say that about auto aircon; I'm still deliberating over that and Sports susp. Was erring towards aa for the gadget factor, but wonder whether I'll be fiddling all the time, which is against the point. Will have to do some more research.

[caesar]

A good spec' but no LSD This is a low cost extra that you will need ........stops torque steer and improves the grip and handling. Contact the Dealer and order it, you will not regret and it add's to the residual value