Who is the Best Dealer?

[KenL]

Hi All,

Although I'm not ordering my next MINI for a few months yet I am very interested to hear who the best MINI dealer is in Scotland.

I'm particularly interested in who offers the best trade-ins which since there is virtually no discount to be had on the new car is the way to get the cheapest deal.

Also what was the dealer like in terms of delivery times and keeping you informed whenever you asked any questions or changed spec.

When ordering my next MINI I plan on taking a couple of days off work and visiting as many dealers in Scotland as possible and ordering from the one who offers the best deal.

I look forward to reading everyone's opinions.

Thanks,
Ken.

[KenL]

I'll go first :)

I ordered my ONE in May 02 and took delivery in July 02.

I visited two dealers, Dunedin & Eastern in Edinburgh. I had a three year old Punto 85SX with 35k on the clock in good condition. I was looking for about £3.25k as a trade in.

DUNEDIN:
Offered me a pathetic £2.2k for my car :disapprove: so this was enough to put me off ordering from them. Sales guy was polite but not interested in haggling so off I went. Their delivery date was similar to Eastern as they could get me a car by July.

EASTERN:
Their sales guy (Bill) was very honest about how they would deal with my car. As there was no Fiat dealership in the group they would offer the car around to other traders. He phoned several while I sat there and the best he could get me guaranteed for when I was trading in was £2.7k. Although this was less than I wanted I ordered the car but advised that I would try and sell privately, this I did and got £3.75k for the car ;)

Bill was very good at answering my queries and kept me up to speed on when the car would be delivered. In the end the car came a few days early.

Overall I thought the sales experience at Eastern was good apart from not getting anything thrown in for free except a bunch of flooers :D

[Julz]

I would definately recommend John Clarks in Dundee, their before, during and after sales assistance is excellent!!:D:p

[Big Gordy]

I would definately recommend Iain Brown at Menzies, Stirling. He know's his mini stuff inside out as he used to work in the parts department. Don't know about trade ins as I didn't have one. Much to Big Col's annoyance I got the TLC, rubber mats and 2 mini keyrings flung in :p:D:approve: Being a good guy I gave Colin one of the keyrings;) Linda and Wullie have both delt with Iain as well. Oh and when I couldn't make it in to collect the car he delivered it to the door and went through what everything did to my wife and son in the driveway. Top bloke :approve:

[Wul]

Interesting Ken! What are you thinking of getting this time?

Well - I emailed all the central scotland dealers via the MINI website and got their expected delivery dates for an order placed at the start of june 02 - both eastern and dunedin came back with septmeber - douglas park in hamilton came back with july.

So at the start of june i ordered my coop with nearly 3k worth of extras - tried to haggle for discount, extras, anything at all really and all i got was a polite - sorry but because of the demand we can't offer anything at all - as i had no car to trade in and was paying cash(biggest switch transaction ever :p) i still got nowt!

Anyway Margaret at DP was very helpful with my enquiries during the order process including adding the cd prep as i was still wet behind the ears at that point so i had no complaints then.

Come delivery time dates were kept pretty well and went through to collect the car on a tuesday night after 6 - they stayed back to go over the pdi with me. Got a huge bunch of flooers and that was it.

Gripes at this point - they polished the car and got white residue all over the skooshers, trim and bonnet vents - not chuffed at that - also car arrived with squint steering wheel and pdi never picked it up!

Anyway - most of you know the down hill spiral of faults on my car from there so won't bore you with that :blackeye: but needless to say DP's service was no better or worse than Dunedins - they did pick it up from work (bonnyrigg) once and promise to drop it back that night - however that failed to happen so i had to borrow a work car for a night to get home. Gave up on them and started taking it to Dunedins.

Finally - as i'm on the mailing list for DP they are now sending me offers - latest one was to trade-in for a new MCS and get £1000 off and free TLC. Not bad really.

So Ken....the decision is yours!:)

[Bazthemod]

John Clarks in Dundee is excellant cant fault them!:approve:

[KenL]

Wul,

I'm planning on either MC or MCS (lightly specced) depending on how much dosh I've got, how much I can get as a trade in for the ONE and how much the prices go up after the slight facelift next year. Defo waiting for that now.

I like the sound of £1k off an MCS from DP.

Please keep the experiences coming.

[GAJ]

I was wet behind the ears too but seemed to fair the same as most other folk.

I only went to one dealer - Dunedin. I had no trade-in and was paying cash and knew that there was high demand so I reckoned that discounts were non-existent so couldn't be bothered trying other dealers. Also I was promised a car five weeks after I orderd it! (ordered in middle of Oct. 02 - took delivery middle of Nov. 02)

I too ordered about £3000 worth of options. I would have haggled for 'mats and flaps' but mats were included with the Chilli pack and the flaps are mingin' (IMO!)
I feel that I wasn't given the best of advice about options when I was ordering, I was a stranger to MINI2 at this time. I knew nothing about CD Changer prep. and this was not mentioned to me, I was told that the MFSW only gave you CC, nothing was mentioned about the audio controls (big regrets here!)and I wish I had known that if I didn't order DSC or ASC&T I would have a gap in the switch panel.

I changed the spec. once during the wait (added trip computer, took the options to over £3000!!) without any problem and tried later to change the interior trim but was too late as my chassis no. had been allocated. Quite glad now though cos I was going to change to Alloy Patina but now think I prefer the silver.

Dunedin also sorted out my 'GAJ' number plate for me which was easier for me than them registering it and me having to transfer the number later.

The car was ready on time and the hand over was as it should be. I was in the showroom for over an hour that day and couldn't wait to get away! The car was spotlessly clean and the only wee fault I found was that the footwell lights didn't work. I made my first of what has proven to be many visits to the service department the next day and the lights were sorted.

As for freebies, I got a couple of keyrings and a wee presentation case of whisky miniatures, which Cheryl's dad scoffed!
Overall Dunedin aren't too bad - with the exception of the arrogant bu%%er on the service desk!

YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!

[Big Col]

My mate Dave is a quality dealer. No dodgy gear from him, decent weights. :D

Note to any police who may frequent the site in order to investigate Wille M's pimping, I have no mate called Dave, I don't do drugs and my tax is in the post!

[KenL]

Gaj - I didn't know about the CD prep either but Bill at Eastern put it on for me 'cause it was FOC.

[KenL]

quote:Originally posted by Big Col
My mate Dave is a quality dealer. No dodgy gear from him, decent weights. :D

Note to any police who may frequent the site in order to investigate Wille M's pimping, I have no mate called Dave, I don't do drugs and my tax is in the post!


OK Big Col, now give us your experience buying MINIs not just gange :p:D

[GAJ]

quote:Originally posted by KenL

Gaj - I didn't know about the CD prep either but Bill at Eastern put it on for me 'cause it was FOC.


That's the most annoying thing! Why is it an option? Why isn't it just fitted!

[Big Gordy]

He was crap at it Ken ;) He didn't get the free TLC and I did na na na nana :p:D:approve:

[KenL]

quote:Originally posted by GAJ


quote:Originally posted by KenL

Gaj - I didn't know about the CD prep either but Bill at Eastern put it on for me 'cause it was FOC.


That's the most annoying thing! Why is it an option? Why isn't it just fitted!


No idea. It's a £30 option from December though not FOC :(

[Big Gordy]

have I missed something here :I What's CD prep :p

[KenL]

They run the wires in at the factory so that if you ever want to add a CD changer to the boot you just plug it in.

So, how did you get on at your dealer (and which was it) when buying your car?

[Gismo]

quote:Originally posted by Big Gordy

have I missed something here :I What's CD prep :p
It's the wiring for the installation of a CD Changer, you don't have to select the changer, but putting the wiring in saves a lot of hassle if you decide later that you want one :)

Bonnie Scotland

[Big Gordy]

Funnily enough I was thinking of putting my sony changer in the mini :cool: I don't know if I've got the cabling or not so its a good job I took all the cabling out of my last car along with the head and changer then isn't it:p:D:approve:

[KenL]

Can we get back on topic now please ;)

[Linda M]

For me, Menzies in Stirling are brilliant. Too many reasons why to list :)

[Big Col]

As much as I hate to admit it, Big Gordy has a point. I went into Menzies, went all doe eyed about getting a MINI and basically got nowt but the motor. This is despite the fact that when I first enquired about the car the sales guy (who shall remain nameless) was still pi$$ed from a night out the day before and was about as much use as a condom machine in the vatican, so I said "No problem I'll come back next weekend", was patient and accomodating and was still done out of the £100 for TLC despite asking if it could be given. They never even threw in mats. But hey. I'm NOT BITTER! <grinds teeth>

[euan]

OK, my tuppence worth on my two MINI purchases.

Cooper purchase
Dunedin - saleswoman was very good, trade-in was shocking. On my GTi is was offered a really pitiful amount, however, this was a recurring theme through the previous year no matter what dealer I went to. Never believe that a Golf GTi holds it's value...the delivery date was really bad.

Eastern - Bill was very helpful, took me for a short drive and I loved it. Delivery was great, they dealt with my private plate transfer, no probs with the car on delivery. I got rid of my car through the finance company, handed it back as it was the most cost effective way, so no trade in. Still got nothing, but then it was only 6 months after the car was out.

2nd time.

Dunedin - Salesman knew his stuff, but went on a bit. Still offered me a crappy trade in my MINI (about 9k on a 14.5K Mini about 14 months old).
eastern - Bill again, very helpful, offered 11K for my car, which was really good. Offered me the next demo car, got it in 6 weeks to my spec.

On both occasions I got the impression I knew more about the MINI than any of the dealers due to the obbsessive Mini2 fan that I am. Got nothing off either car, nice flowers and wine the first time.

servicing - no worries from eastern, round the corner from my flat so never went anywhere else. I've dealt with Andrew a few times as well at eastern, seems very helpful, phoned back when he said he would (a huge bug bear of mine).

Now Ken, can the speccing thread for you car equal the never ending thread on MINI2????

[Gismo]

John Clark's in Dundee get my vote :)

Absolute hassle free every time i've been in and are very considerate to us mod maniacs :cool:

Bonnie Scotland

[KenL]

quote:Originally posted by euan

Now Ken, can the speccing thread for you car equal the never ending thread on MINI2????


I do not want any help on speccing as I am well aware that it will bankrupt me :eek::)

[euan]

Ken, speccing can bankrupt you - it did with my S - the thing cost me a fortune! I mean, who really needs R90s? but they do look GREAT! And I'm really pleased with everything I got fitted to mine, but I do sometimes wish I had sat nav as driving in London is murder and my other half is not as good a navigator as MINI is. Mind you, when my brother was down, his navigation skills were awful. You can tell he drives and doesn't navigate! But had I got Sat nav i would not have got the R90's, and that would be hard to live with as I LOVE my R90's.

[Tahra]

John here, hijacking my dear wife's account as per normal...

Dunedin - Used them in April or May 2002, traded 2001 yellow MX5 with 4.5k, reasonable trade-in but no discount on ex-demo, fully loaded Cooper. Lousy after-care - they WD40'd our sunroof without bothering to put covers over the seats, and managed to 'not mention' a small scrape on the side of the car which unfortunately we didn't spot on collection due to the car being outside in the rain - small dings being easily hidden by large droplets of rain.

Started taking T2 to Eastern, who were good up unto a point until they fraudulently tried to claim T2's discs were shot (at 15k!) - missing the real problem, which was that the run-flats were under-inflated (not so easy to spot with run-flats being what they are, but does go to show lack of skill and care on the part of the service department there). Took T2 to a competent, experienced mechanic who verified discs as having at least 30k miles left. Experienced mechanic happens to not be a Mini dealer, though I'd trust him over Eastern ten times out of ten, as Eastern's servicing struck me as rather incompetent and the fact that they tried to con me into new discs and pads when neither were needed shows them to be rather dishonest and unethical. Bear that in mind, YMMV.

Lastly, traded MC up to current MCS - Morrisons in Kirkcaldy. Good trade-in - £11k on the 20k+ Cooper against a brand new MCS which was slightly cheaper than list (as it was 'in stock' - fine by me!). One small minor glitch on the roof moulding was noted on collection but I've yet to find time to pop it in for repair. Before trading in the Cooper we had it serviced at Morrisons as well and they did a far better, more comprehensive job than the Eastern lot managed, fixing a few niggles that had always evaded the rather anthill-mob-like Eastern servicing department.

So, thus far, three Mini dealers and only one I'd recommend - Morrisons - based on our own experiences and not necessarily a measure of others' experiences in general. Fingers crossed that Morrisons continue the good work without lapsing into the rather sub-standard after-sales lack-of-service that the Edinburgh dealers offered us.

John (rant mode: off, have to lie down now... ;) )

[KenL]

Thanks Tahra-John, very interesting report.

That story about the disks STINKS. How does under-inflated tyres point to disks being shot? What symptoms did the car have?

[Duncan Stewart]

I bought my Cooper from Morrisons in Kirkcaldy - selling service was fine,trade in acceptable, 6 weeks wait to get the car, I was annoyed when the car had no glove box - I had not been told it was an extra but have since learned to live with the trays (The new mini has a dreadful lack of storage space & cubbys!). First service was awful - collected & delivered car from my work - I had complained about poor stereo - They claimed to have fitted a new one but the radio crackles and the CDs skip just the same but now I have a big scratch on the heater control panel and the cigarette lighter does not work (bit of a problem as I don't use runflat tyres!). I've not had time to visit them to complain yet. Otherwise the car has been great.
Rant over. Good luck with your new purchase.

[KenL]

I would not accept (and have had to complain in the past) damage done to car trim when doing repairs.

[weefossy]

After a disaster with first Cooper at Dunedin, finally dealt with Brian Smith who was and has been excellent. Couple of points to note. I was told by another Dunedin employeee that the MCS has a bigger profit margin for the dealer than the Cooper, so there should be more room to negotiate. We were given a g'teed trade in for the first car, but had the opportunity during delivery period to sell it for more privately. In the end we settled for their trade in as it was fair and they did give us a very good discount on the new car because of previous problems. So in the end Dunedin turned a disaster round and we ended up "Happy" customers.

[knaone]

I personally havent had a problem with Grassicks of Perth, sales were fine, the car has had one service, they dropped me into town, phoned me when it was ready and picked me up...

it was also in getting some warrenty work, not a problem :D

[euan]

I have to admit, getting dropped off and picked up in easterns chauffeur driven 7 series was quite nice :)

[sh@z]

My vote definately goes to Malcom Rae at Henry Bros in Glasgow.

Guy knows his stuff, is a genuine miniac i reckon (he's got a lovely JCW S company car [;p] .. and took me out for a spin in it and drove it as it should be driven.

He is always totally straight with me, and always tells me to pop in whenever im in glasgow and so on.

I think martyn has spoken to malcolm aswell when he wanted a test of the JCW ;)

Henry bro's also did the repairs on my car, and the bodyshop is 1st class aswell and all the guys in there are superb.

My dad gets his BMW's from henry bro's also and we all get on rly well with the dealership as a whole.

Try them out folks ... Plug plug plug plug :D

sh@z

[RedMini2902]

I have to go for another Glasgow Dealership and thats Harry Fairbairns out in Giffnock, Duncan and Penny are both very nice, no bull**** type of people and thats why I have purchased 2 Minis there. My first the One, was by Trade in of a 2 year old Corsa C SXi and I got a fair price for it at the time. The second my Cooper was trading in my six month old One which again I got a fair price for, actually gave me more than the projected value as I told them whatever I get above X I'm spending on options so swings and roundabouts I suppose for them and :) for me. Service has been excellent both times with follow on calls etc and with my cooper I had to work late on the Delivery date so they brought it to my work. Good job all round x 2.

[richardwatson]

ive just ordered my mini cooper s.
the smart way to go about is like this-
1. go to mini.co.uk and note down every dealer in scotlands phone number.
2. call every dealer and give them your required spec. (best time to do this is the day u want to order!! make them aware of this!!).
3. basically tell them - whoever gives u the best price you will buy the car from them (dont be tempted to buy until youve called every1).
4. sum dealer wont be interested, but others will price beat.
5. make sure the price includes delivery (unless u want 2 travel to pick it up).

i managed to save over £300, not alot but better than nuthin.

[KenL]

quote:Originally posted by richardwatson

ive just ordered my mini cooper s.
the smart way to go about is like this-
1. go to mini.co.uk and note down every dealer in scotlands phone number.
2. call every dealer and give them your required spec. (best time to do this is the day u want to order!! make them aware of this!!).
3. basically tell them - whoever gives u the best price you will buy the car from them (dont be tempted to buy until youve called every1).
4. sum dealer wont be interested, but others will price beat.
5. make sure the price includes delivery (unless u want 2 travel to pick it up).

i managed to save over £300, not alot but better than nuthin.


Good tips Richard, thanks.

Were you looking to trade in a car when you ordered your S?

[AngusK]

I managed to do a bit of haggling with Dunedin for my MCS. Started off being offered 4,200 for my Punto Sporting and got them up to 5750. (would have taken 4,500 so it was worth haggling). While speaking to the guy I would fiddle with my cash card and tell him if I got the right price he could have the 500 deposit there and then, if not I was off elsewhere - it did the trick. I also got a blue furry Mini Cooper worth a whopping 20-odd quid.

[Quik_Mini]

Yea I would say the 3 best salespeople are

Alan (Henry Bros) Glasgow
Malcolm (Henry Bros) Glasgow
Penny (Harry Fairbairns) Glasgow

But even though the 2 best salespeople are at Henry Bros and they are both really nice guys, I would say best go with Harry Fairbairns because the Henry Bros service is absolute nonsense.

Heres my 1st Mini's list of faults

Driveshaft went twice
Gear Linkage cable went twice, henry bros stuck it on with superglue
ECU went twice
Balancing kept going off
Strip between roof and windscreen came off 4 times, henry bros put it back on every time.
They put a big tear in my window tint while fixing a door panel
the new door panel was covered in paint so got them to replace it again and the new one was covered in paint as well. So had to be replaced again.

And I still have a list of about another 20 problems.... Might jst have been the car, it was the 1st one sold to public obviously it had all the problems, so may not have been Henry Bros fault but I would say the service I recieved was pants..... Got my new cooper from there as well, and the service has been crap still.. Been waiting for them to phone me back witha date for a resray (their fault) for about 3 months now

[Tony]

well, id love to say it is john clark in aberdeen,
but im not going to be the first one 2!

they are ok, but after reading the feedback on JC in dundee, they appear to be SO much friendlier and willing to help.
we still have the odd problem with our new car, but kinda feel that they dont want us to go over there and annoy them anymore.
how can a dealer make you feel like that after spending £14,000.00??

and they seem to be hard on modifications. everyone over there seems to have a different line to say, but basically, since ive asked if i can modify the car, they have told me if they find a filter or an exhaust on the car that aint standard, they wont honour the warranty.

b*ggers, huh?

[Quik_Mini]

yea but pretty much any company will say that to you. If I got the works pack and it wasn't put on by Henry Brothers it would invalidate my warranty (and thats the mini pack) but if henry bros did it, my warranty would be fine. Bit of a pain in the arse, but I think when I get my S the warranty is going to be thrown out the door the 1st week i have the car

[KenL]

quote:Originally posted by Quik_Mini

yea but pretty much any company will say that to you. If I got the works pack and it wasn't put on by Henry Brothers it would invalidate my warranty (and thats the mini pack) but if henry bros did it, my warranty would be fine. Bit of a pain in the arse, but I think when I get my S the warranty is going to be thrown out the door the 1st week i have the car


Surely that's bollox? Your MINI warranty is valid anywhere within the MINI dealership network. Given that the JCW kit is approved then it too should be covered.

Say you got the work done in Glasgow and then sold the car to someone from London - they wouldn't be happy to find out they had no warranty unless they drove 400 miles.

Think the dealer might just be trying to force your hand to get them to do it since there is a healthy profit in fitting the kit for them.

[Wul]

Also they can't invalidate the whole warranty - ie your dashboard creaking isn't caused by you fitting a playmini exhaust (although it does make it harder to hear the creaks :D) it only affects areas or parts directly associated with the modifications. Ie you hole a piston because you have a modded ecu and race exhaust on!

[Quik_Mini]

To be honest I am not sure about the guarantee within the Mini network, I was meaning if you got it done by a company that were nothing to do with mini, my apologies if this wasn't clear.

[Tony]

my point again was that in aberdeen (JC) some of the employees have the attitude of, 'yeah, ok, whatever,..no problems' and others have the atitude of 'no way,..do it and invalidate your whole warranty'.
this seems to be common place with mini dealerships across the land.
like i said, dundee, no problems, aberdeen, a bit risky.
i know lots of aberdeen jc owbers with mods, and they have no problems, so why should i be treated differently.

so because of this,..and other wee issues, i dont think that jc aberdeen can get my full vote of confidence,.,.......yet..

[KenL]

Eastern drew my attention to the clause in one of the books that come with the car basically pointing out that modding the car could void the warranty.

[Julz]

Well, I would recommend JC's in Dundee to anyone!!:D All the staff are excellent, from Scott the salesman to Douglas the after-sales mannie!! And everyone in between! I've only had one problem with them, and that's the last time my car was in, I asked for an oil service after the cylinder head went, and all I got was an oil change, no engine clean out, no new filter:(, I also asked for the drivers door wondow to be re-aligned and the rattles behind the wee door reflctors to be fixed, neither of these were done, but maybe they didn't have time or forgot!! But the oil service was my one complaint, cause it cost a fortune for new dirty oil!!:evil::D But everything else is excellent!!:D:D

[KenL]

What, they changed your oil without changing the filter?

If you go for a £10 oil change at Kwik-Fit they change filter & the oil ;)

[Wul]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!:eek::eek::eek::eek:

Never go to Kwik-Fit for an oil change!

My brother went once - they changed his oil and filter and on his way he went.

Next time he went to do it himself - discovered a stripped sump plug held in with thread tape!:eek::mad:

BAD IDEA!

[KenL]

I wouldn't take the MINI to kwik-fit although I used to take my old beaters there.

I was just pointing out that even in a super cheapo oil change you get the oil filter changed.

[Quik_Mini]

Na, I don't usually really bother much about even taking my mini to the dealers, if it needs an oil service, I will generaly do it myself.

[Julz]

She's getting fresh oil and a filter on monday!! I used to generally change oil myself too, but I like the idea of someone else having to bother about getting rid of the used oil, plus, jacking fatty up is a bloomin' nightmare!! Inflatable jack is on my list to Santa!!:p