I have to make a stop at my local Micro Center tonight before starting my lame ass commute. Micro Center is very close to the dealer where I bought Roxy, so I thought I’d swing by and see what they had.
There was a GP in the show room. Yea, don’t ask.
There were about 20 MINIs otherwise on the lot. A nice mix of Cabrios, MCSs and MCs.
Here is where the friends don’t let friends part comes in.
Each and everyone one of the cars on the lot was marked up $4K – $5K. But, instead of calling it market adjustment or whatever, they actually had it listed (like a selling point):
- 4 year/50K mile service
- Something like seemed like car washes
- Mats
Ok, here’s the thing you need to warn your friends about.
50K service includes 1, maybe 2, service stops above and beyond the factory 36K. I can say, without question, that those 2 visits (even if you have to do brakes) do not add up to 3900. I’ve already argued that I think the service increase is a HUGE waste of money, but if you are one that is slow to rack up the miles, maybe not so much. Definitely not for $4K, but maybe $500.
Just make sure you let your peeps know to keep an eye out. Besides, there are a ton of dealers selling at MSRP. Heck, some are even offering free shipping now!
My dealer charges $595 for the extended year in maintenance warranty (still a rip-off), and $150 for mats. So maybe the extra four grand is for weekly details by OctaneGuy? ;)
BMW’s “free” service is a scam. There’s a great rant on it in the letters section of the newest issue of Roundel penned by a supposed BMW service rep (name withheld of course) . amazing how the free service plan upped the lifespan of motor oil by about 10000 miles.
as if i’m going to run 12k miles without changing my oil in the first place. I had already changed the oil myself when i brought the MINI in for its first service. i did get new windshield wipers though…and that was good as the ones that came on the car from the factory were complete crap. the Richmond, VA dealership does not add the mark up, that i noticed, though. they did charge a destination fee, however.
It’s nice to see that some GPs are recently being sold at MSRP – I assume dealerships that tried and failed to get big mark-ups … the only way to educate these “mark-up queens” is not to pay them what they’re trying to get.