ZERO information from sales person

don't be stick to only one dealer, shop around and find the most helpful one. when i made my order, i put deposits at 4 dealers within 100 miles, and i'm staying with one now, the other 3 have refunded the deposit.

 

I had a similar experience. My dealer claimed they had a production slot reserved and it was just a matter of customizing it to my liking. After placing an order and getting a production number, I checked the progress daily. When things didn't happen I called the dealer who couldn't really provide any updates. Along the way I was switched from one salesperson to another multiple times. I called ask-mini, and they were much friendlier and were able to provide dates, but they just kept getting later and later. At one point my order seemed to have switched to a totally different configuration, as if my dealer had sold my slot to someone else. It was pretty awful.

After five months of bullshit I just started calling other dealers until I found one that had a car in production that wasn't claimed. This meant going with a dealer in Los Angeles, while I'm in San Francisco. I also had to pay above MSRP, and had to fly down and get it, but after all that I just wanted the car. (I had no car previously and actually needed one for me and my family.)

In the end I'm feeling lucky, the config I got is even better than the one I ordered, and I didn't miss out on any features due to supply chain deletions.

Two weeks after getting it home, the original dealer called and said "your car is here" even though I had cancelled with them. Whatever.

My only advice for you is to improve your odds by going with multiple dealers.

 

I am 100% in the exact same boat. My dealer seems to have no idea how the process works and can give me zero status in about eight weeks.

So I called every Mini dealer in North America, well I got about half way through them, about 50 or so, until I found a car in transit good enough for my money. I'm flying to Iowa tonight to pick it up in the morning !

 

I will add, having called 50 or so dealers that MOST sales people simply don't know or seem to care.

You know what ... here is my dealer spreadsheet ... https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aiTw4FyIXwCu8s3ym0JIZa8t1AC9zSRV4cSsHuvwDUM/edit?usp=sharing. Make yourself a copy, delete what you don't need and start from there.

My salesperson in Des Moines is great, the Flow dealerships in NC seem great, Shawn at Hendrick is outstanding ...

 

I don't know how useful this is unless you're local, but our sales guy here in Plano, TX was very good. He called us weekly with updates just as promised. That said they've been taken over by a larger group now so who knows... We got our production number within 10 days (early September_) and the car arrived the last day of November, and he had originally estimated end of November so he was on the money... Of course, times have also changed but this was still during parts shortage time so I Was happy.
But you could try calling Doug at Mini of Plano (I wouldn't speak to anyone else, they didn't strike me as having his attention to service), although I don't know where you are and how you'd deal with any necessary shipping...

 

@endquote Which dealer in the Bay was that? I ordered from Stevens Creek and haven't heard anything ~3 weeks in.

 

That's the one! Not a fan. Though I was in touch with another driver who had a good experience with them, so ymmv.

I ended up purchasing through Nick Alexander in LA.

Through all the drama I was in touch with Mini of Marin and they were quite friendly and helpful, so I'll probably go there for service and such.

 

My experience with Stevens Creek MINI was fine. It is true that I did not get any updates from them for six weeks after ordering. In hindsight, it is likely they had not placed the order due to lack of allocation. But I did end up getting my MINI within four months, and more importantly, they helped expedite delivery on Dec 31 so I could qualify for the federal tax credit this year. So I do not have any complaints.

 

That is reassuring, but the quote I got from my salesperson was 6~8 months, presumably because they don't have any allocations left. I'm calling around SoCal and dealers down south seem to quote 4 months, saying allocation shouldn't be an issue. I'll just have to wait and see

 

My experience with SC Mini was also fine. If you are not picky on color like I am, you might to be able to get one earlier from a cancelled order. I had three to pick from in February! Although my heart still skips a beat when I see a BRG with white top, I have come to love my silver metallic Evie.

 

Out of curiosity, did you have to pay any markup for that cancelled one? I passed on a couple offers from them in hopes that I'll get a completed build from them.

 

Even if they do offer information about “allocations,” it’s often meaningless. I was told in March that if I booked before the end of March, I was going to be in their “April allocation” but my car was still built at the end of May and sat at the port for at least a month (if it isn’t still there).

 

It looks like a number of SF Bay Area SE people are here, we should arrange a rally.

 

That's how it works, the dealers get an allocation to place orders in, then the orders flow to the factory and suppliers for purchasing for the future production. Sitting at the port is a different story, but just in time manufacturing drives the rest of it.

 

Not sure if Stevens Creek marks up, but I called Santa Monica and they have a $10k markup on cars on the lot that were not picked up, Bob Smith Mini has a $5k markup.

 

There was no mark up on my purchase. I was shock because a week earlier I was offer the only Signature SE in NorCal in Sac for $3K over invoice. I was told that their dealer network didn't do markups. I don't know if they have changed policies since.

 

Stevens creek has no mark up. MSRP base on what I was told.


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