Washington MINI Car Dealers

I just signed a lease for an '08 Chili red S Coupe - 24 months, 12K miles/yr WA Dealer selling at MSRP - $25,350 (Incl Cold Weather & Convenience Pkgs, DSC, Xenon, speaker upgrade, 6spd) + Dealer Prep $595 + Addl Cap Cost (lease origination fee?) $825 So Adj Cap cost = $26,770 MF = 0.00295 Residual = 78% Tax = 9.1% Monthly Payment = $467.86 So up front payment = $1,154.61 ($467.80 1st month pmt + 500 security + $136.75 DMV + $50 Doc fee) What do you folks think? Can't wait the 70 or so days before I get the car :) Thx!

Looking to lease an '08 Chili red S Coupe - 24 months, 12K miles/yr WA Dealer selling at MSRP - $25,350 (Incl Cold Weather & Convenience Pkgs, DSC, Xenon, speaker upgrade, 6spd) + Dealer Prep $595 + Addl Cap Cost (lease origination fee?) $825 So Adj Cap cost = $26,770 MF = 0.00250 Residual = 75% Tax = 9.1% Monthly Payment = $477.50 So up front payment = $1,164.25 ($477.50 1st month pmt + 500 security + $136.75 DMV + $50 Doc fee) What do you think? Good Deal? Anything I could negotiate? Thx!

For routine oil change services, I've waited on the car - it usually takes a couple hours all tolled, from the time I arrive until I'm back on the freeway going to work. There's a bfast cafe across the street. You can easily anticipate when the oil change will come due by the countdown timer, so delays in routine servicing scheduling are a non-issue. But for a warranty problem that needs immediate fixing, it could be an annoyance. I never pressed them - nothing I've needed has been urgent. For the power steering leak, they wanted the car all day and gave me a loaner. Again, whether I bought the car from them never came up. - Mark

I've had no issues with having Fife work on the car. I'm not sure they've ever asked whether I bought the car there or not. Scheduling isn't very prompt (I'm waiting about three weeks now for a regular service visit), but the work has always been fine. Of course, I've had virtually no issues with mine (only warranty repair has been for a power steering leak), so I don't know how things would go if you have a lot of problems. Enjoy your new car! - Mark

For a NJ commuter car with bad weather and worse roads, I'd never recommend a Mini Cooper of any sort. Their ride is quite punishing over rough roads, they get fairly lousy gas mileage for their size, and they're fairly low slung so they don't handle snow very well even with good all-season or snow tires. (They're proverbial hockey pucks with performance tires.) Finally, I'd always place stone axe reliability and ease of servicing as a #1 priority in a commuter, and Mini's are average at best in both of these areas. I'd recommend a Mazda 3 which can be had brand new for MUCH less than you're going to pay for either of these used Minis. - Mark