Ordering mini se from multiple dealerships with same deposit

anshulankush

New Member
Hi Folks,
Wanted to get your thoughts on if its possible to order a mini se from multiple dealerships using same 250$ online deposit confirmation? And pick the first one that comes and cancel the others later.

Every dealership is quoting different timelines so want to see if this is an option to speed up my chances.
 
I've seen some folks claim that SE orders are based off reservations nationally, so they don't go through normal dealership allocations. No idea if that's true...

So long as you get confirmation that they'd have no problem with you cancelling, I don't see why not.
 
My dealer says the deposit is good towards the purchase of any car from them. They wont order a car, then give you your money back if you change your mind on a whim.
 
Dealer told us if we put a deposit down and back out that we won't get refunded until they sell the car the deposit was initially for.

Yes, I know my dealer sucks.
 
Dealer told us if we put a deposit down and back out that we won't get refunded until they sell the car the deposit was initially for.

Yes, I know my dealer sucks.
Why does your dealer suck? Because you are half colorblind, and when you were half drunk and a quarter stoned, you ordered a car in a hideous color combination with options nobody wants. Then when the car comes in and you are sober, you go to the dealer and say in your best David Byrne "My god this is not my beautiful car." and your beautiful wife says "what have you done?" and then tell you there is no way will that thing ever sit in your garage and if you bring it home you wont sleep in the same house as her.

But the dealer is supposed to give you back your deposit, or they suck?

I guess there is a reason Mini limits how you can option the car.
 
Why does your dealer suck? Because you are half colorblind, and when you were half drunk and a quarter stoned, you ordered a car in a hideous color combination with options nobody wants. Then when the car comes in and you are sober, you go to the dealer and say in your best David Byrne "My god this is not my beautiful car." and your beautiful wife says "what have you done?" and then tell you there is no way will that thing ever sit in your garage and if you bring it home you wont sleep in the same house as her.

But the dealer is supposed to give you back your deposit, or they suck?

I guess there is a reason Mini limits how you can option the car.

Let me clarify.

We had the opportunity to purchase an in-transit 2022 SE and at the time the 2023 preorder was not open until the following week. Dealer had no information on the 2023. We asked if we put the $1,000 deposit they asked for on the 2022 first and when the 2023 reservations open up if we could move our deposit over if we decided we liked the 2023 build better. Their answer was no, they could not move the deposit over to the 2023 preorder but we could get the $1,000 back from the 2022 once someone actually purchases it.
 
We asked if we put the $1,000 deposit they asked for on the 2022 first and when the 2023 reservations open up if we could move our deposit over if we decided we liked the 2023 build better. Their answer was no, they could not move the deposit over to the 2023 preorder but we could get the $1,000 back from the 2022 once someone actually purchases it.

I would ask your dealer for documented proof of those conditions. That not only sounds wrong, I question if it's legal.

The web page for reserving a MINI SE shows this:
Screen Shot 2022-03-04 at 12.29.51 PM.webp
 
I would ask your dealer for documented proof of those conditions. That not only sounds wrong, I question if it's legal.

The web page for reserving a MINI SE shows this:
View attachment 15525


The $1,000 deposit we can understand since it was built and in-transit. It was not being able to move over the deposit when the 2023 reservations opened up the following week that didn't make sense to us since we were committed to buying a Mini SE anyways just a toss up between a 2022/2023.

We would've had our initial deposit held until that in-transit was sold and would've had to put down another $250 deposit for the 2023.

At the end it worked out, the 2023 had no changes and we were able to get a state rebate quicker.

Side note:
I told my sales guy about the possibility of scratching on the B-pillar from the door trim and emailed him the TSB Monday when he told us the car just came in on the transport.

I took the SE in for service to address this issue today. I already noticed light surface scratches on both the driver and passenger side. There were also two interior trim pieces that were loose that I am having them address as well.

When I was describing the issues to the service advisor and even took a print out of the TSB for the scratches, the SA rudely says 'we can't just go by what you print out online.' I told him this is known issues and the TSB was issued by BMW, not something someone online wrote up.

He said that he has to verify the issue and is keeping the car until next week Tuesday. I then asked if there were any loaners available since they were going to keep it for 4 days and he says 'Have you not seen the news and not know what's going on in the world? There's a car shortage! So yea there isn't any loaners for Mini customers.'

Thank god the SE doesn't have regular maintenance intervals.
 
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My dealer told me that those cars are really not in inventory. The system pick up cars in transit, just in, etc. that have been earmarked.

Car dealers will tell you anything to get you to buy from them rather than another dealer.

I bought my car off the lot 800 miles away from me and they shipped it to me. I called 3-4 dealerships to find one. A couple of dealers said they wouldn't sell their inventory so they could let people test drive the car. Mini of Alexandria, for example, had cars on the lot but wouldn't sell anything except for orders.

I bought mine from Mini of Ft. Meyers. At the time, Mini of Mt. Laurel had one that they would sell.

Oh, I also just used the Autotrader email link to contact the dealers. Super fast and easy.
 
Once again, I am SO HAPPY that my closest Mini dealer has been exceptional in every department. The motoring advisors are very helpful, the sales manager is more than accomodating, the service advisor is always cheerful and helpful, and the chief mechanic went with me on a test ride in an SE (encouraging me - "try it in Sport Mode", "no, drive a little further"). The dealer regularly has "clean up" days, where customers can use the car wash, and "talk to the experts" days where we can ask any question of the service folks. I've leased three Mini's from them and bought my SE. Easy to get the car I wanted, no extra deals, perfect. SO HAPPY!
 
Once again, I am SO HAPPY that my closest Mini dealer has been exceptional in every department. The motoring advisors are very helpful, the sales manager is more than accomodating, the service advisor is always cheerful and helpful, and the chief mechanic went with me on a test ride in an SE (encouraging me - "try it in Sport Mode", "no, drive a little further"). The dealer regularly has "clean up" days, where customers can use the car wash, and "talk to the experts" days where we can ask any question of the service folks. I've leased three Mini's from them and bought my SE. Easy to get the car I wanted, no extra deals, perfect. SO HAPPY!

And where is this unicorn?
 
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