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Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences MINI Cooper Prices Paid and Buying Experience
1305 messages, Last post on Nov 27, 2009 at 5:44 PM
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Replying to: Don_C (Jan 17, 2009 9:47 am) Good luck with it! |
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Replying to: Don_C (Jan 17, 2009 9:47 am) 1. There isn't a San Diego dealer so I was faced with driving through rush hour to get out of the city for service. 2. I called the dealer and they told me I could bring the car in but they had no idea when it would get looked at or if I could get a loaner (even though I bought from them). I wasn't real thrilled with losing a day of work because my car had warning lights telling me ABs/traction control was disabled/broken. Also, when I take the car in for planned service (4 service appointments in 22 months of ownership), this pretty much slaughters half a Saturday. The drive up, the wait to get the car processed and get the loaner (always the cheapest, lowest form of cooper with an automatic) and drive home = 2.5 hours gone. Then the eventual drive back up, re-gas the loaner, return it, go through the brouhahah with with the SA, wait for the car to get returned (always 20 minutes after I finish with the SA) and the drive home. This is one big reason why the Cooper S Clubman won't be replacing my Cooper S. I do not like having to waste huge amounts of time getting to and from a dealer. And with only one dealer locally, they have zero interest in providing good customer service. There's no competition and that's always bad for customers. Just something to keep in mind. After years with BMWs and access to several dealers within 10 minutes of my home, I find I do not relish another dealer network that's so sparse (our audi has the same problem). |
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Couple of other things to note about Cincinnati.. 1) Loaners: For scheduled service at least one week out are almost always available... Unscheduled could be an issue.. 2) The dealer charges $0.15 per mile on loaners to cover fuel... .That way, you don't have to fuel up near the dealer.. If you happen to fuel up, they will reimburse you... 3) Great lease deals on 135i coupes and convertibles right now, if you wanted to go that way, instead... that way you have a local dealership (Louisville). Of course, if you've had your current car since '97, then leasing probably isn't for you.. I have to agree with blueguy... Not sure I'd risk buying a car where the closest dealer is two hours away... but, that's easy to say, when my local area has everything but Ferrari, Lambo and Aston.. |
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Brain burp there. Indy and Cincy are 120 miles, 2 HOURS away. Don't know why I got that 2 working wrong! My wife would like a Mini and another strong advocate is my mechanic who has and LOVES his convertible. I've only had the Z3 for a couple of years, but it at 94000 miles it is showing some wear and tear with the possibility of needing some work. Plus, it's just an old car now (features). There is a shop in town who specializes in BMW and MINIs but would probably not be able to do warranty work. Thanks for the comments. I have the advantage of not really needing a replacement right now, so I can go up and do a test drive with no pressure at all on deciding whether to buy something. When I do make the change, it will be my drive around in retirement car (late 2009!) which will be cheaper to run than the wife's Quest. If we could just get a dealer HERE!
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Replying to: Don_C (Jan 17, 2009 2:10 pm) |
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| Saw on the Global Imports Mini website that they are running 2009 Mini Coopers at $500 below MSRP. I guess the market has slowed even for them! | |
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Decided to see what the excitement was about, so on Monday, drove the two hours up to Indy to look over the Clubmans. Kinda wanted a Clubman S manual, but they had none. We drove a manual coupe, a basic Clubman auto and an S Clubman automatic. They did have a basic automatic in Nightfire Red with cream interior accents and black top and stripes. Sport seats and bluetooth were nice additions. We decided that we REALLY liked that car. The new car bug bit real hard. The rational, "This is too far for service" and "The features we really want ..." and "I really should buy American to help OUR economy" all went by the wayside when I compared the thought of driving home in that sparkling red Clubman vs driving home in the 97 Z3. I'm not a high performance kind of driver so I think the basic will serve me well. Worst case warranty issues seem to be addressed by both MINI and the dealer. I would still be pretty inconvenienced for less than critical problems but I guess I'll just gamble that I won't have those. So I'm a member of the club. Gonna pull out the manual and go through the feature list again to be sure I know what all the buttons are for and how to use the hands free phone system. Much to learn! Next is checking the forum for any discussions about grade of gas.
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Replying to: Don_C (Jan 20, 2009 11:46 am) The MINI sport seats are awesome! Plus, it sounds like maybe you've got regular tires with a spare... can't beat that! |
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The manual of the new base Clubman says that AKI91 gas is preferred but the car can take as low as 87. Being more of a "commuter driver" than a "sport driver" would I notice any difference between 91 and 89 gas? I know that some sources claim that 91 is a waste of money, other say that the car performs noticeably better using the higher grade. It is possible that the latter comment refers only to the higher performance engines than what I have. The last comments about gas that I found on a search here are a couple of years old and thought I'd see what the opinions are for the more current engines. My first refill is a few days away so I thought I'd be ready. TIA
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Replying to: Don_C (Jan 21, 2009 2:24 pm) I fill up my Cooper S 3 times a month. Always with premium. Then again, I find the power in my Cooper S to be adequate - but I push it to 4-5k rpm on most shifts. I would notice less HP.
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