MC40 on Ebay

Scott May 20th, 2004 Link

That's a greedy dealer… I could understand it from a private party, but a dealer selling a brand spanking new car?!? They'd definitely sell it without e-bay.

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Tom May 20th, 2004 Link

That is wild! My dealership has one on their website and the first week posted a retail of $38K! To own one of these cars would be great, but to suffer at the hands of greedy dealerships that is something a company like MINI and BMW should regulate.

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matt May 20th, 2004 Link

sounds like they've had little luck moving from their dealership. considering they're not offered in Europe, why doesn't the dealership sell it grey market through a specialist importer in the UK? heck, I'd do it if I knew what I was doing.

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chris May 20th, 2004 Link

Sat in that exact car yesterday. Brought my Sworks in for service. They were alloted two. The dash is something to behold, it really has a great look. What caught me were the wheels – really nice finish.

What also surprised me were the tires, they were Goodyears, couldn't tell if they were runflat's or not.

Cool Stuff.

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chris May 20th, 2004 Link

I also think they are trying to clean off the lot. They have no cars left to sell for 2004. It was a ghost town there. I think this is the case with most dealers. MC40 was the only car they really had there!!!! Funny stuff.

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George Hovis May 20th, 2004 Link

I was at one of the local Mini dealerships (I won't name names…) and their MC40 had “additional dealer markup” of $2700 listed. The funny thing was what I heard from the one other customer in the showroom looking at the car. He was saying he really liked it, but wanted to know if he could change the wheels, remove the decals and extra lights…. That's sort of the whole flaw with the concept in a nutshell isn't it? :)

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Ian Cull May 20th, 2004 Link

To disagree with Scott. I do not consider MINI Peabody to be “a greedy dealership”. They do not mark up their cars. They have two MC40s and only one has an interested buyer so they are experimenting with eBay to see if they can sell it that way. I do not know the reserve, but I do not think it is above sticker price (perhaps it is not below either).

As Gabe says, it will be interesting to see what the final price is. You will see my prediction from a few days ago on my web site …

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Gabriel Bridger May 20th, 2004 Link

Everything I've ever heard about MINI Peabody would lead me to agree with Ian on this one. They seem to be a stand up place that doesn't typically deal in mark-ups.

Now what are the odds this thing goes above 27K? Anyone?

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R May 20th, 2004 Link

I bought my 2002 MCS on ebay. Got a great price and the sellar flew my wife and I to Florida, put us up in a nice hotel plus gave us a Jag S type to drive while they detailed the car. It had 3000 miles on it. I saw that car and was tempted to bid on it but prefer the auto air set up…R

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chris May 20th, 2004 Link

Considering that I picked up my CooperS at Peabody, and had the works installed, I would also agree with Ian and Gabe. Very reasonable people for matience, parts, and labor. Crap check out their website online parts site:

http://www.peabodyminisports.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=PMS

Great prices on some of their parts…

I can sympathise with Scott, their are a great many dealers that are lined up ready to abuse, and the M40 that looks not all too diff from a standard MINI to the naked eye, can seem to be outrageously priced.

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Chuck May 20th, 2004 Link

Global Imports in Atlanta, GA. has one they are having trouble moving…I asked about it last week and Diana W said to send any friends I had that wanted one her way. She could make them a deal…

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Tim in MD May 20th, 2004 Link

MINI of Towson has two on their lot that aren't moving anywhere…of course there's a couple grand “dealer premium” on 'em too…

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Scott May 20th, 2004 Link

Wasn't trying to slam Peabody – but c'mon, how long has the car been available for delivery? a month or so? It can't be much more than that. I'm at my dealer at least every other week and Prestige only recently got one.

Does anyone believe that 1000 of these can't be sold through normal distribution channels? A brand new car – from a dealer – posted on e-bay. There's only one thing the dealer is looking to do – make a bigger profit than they would by selling it through normal channels.

Gee, I wonder what the reserve is?

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Jon deMont May 28th, 2004 Link

As the used car manager at MINI of peabody I want to dispell any thoughts that we are trying to sell the car over list price. The reserve was set at list price and I would have ended the auction had it reached the reserve. We have never charged over list price for a MINI since we opened and are not planning to do it either. My thoughts in putting this MINI on line nationally was a response to all the “greedy dealers” who are charging over list price.

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Gabe May 28th, 2004 Link

Thanks Jon for chiming in on this – I figured that's how you guys were running it.

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Ian Feb 23rd, 2005 Link

Interesting to re-visit this page and comments by Scott … 9 months later, there are still unsold MC40s around.

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