How come there are hardly any mini dealerships anymore?
Posted by cbcarguy@reddit | askcarguys | View on Reddit | 11 comments
Around me in Florida and even back home in KY there’s no mini dealerships anywhere close to me , let alone minis in general, I hardly see them when I used to see them more in the early 2010s
My brother had a clubman and once the warranty went out it was a big pile of shit, but aside from the unreliability they used to be a lot more common
Tangboy50000@reddit
There was no reason to keep standalone dealerships once the novelty of owning a Mini evaporated. They’ve just been folded into your local BMW dealership.
stu54@reddit
Mini's target buyers, young people, can't afford new cars.
Older people have too many kids, then later too stiff joints to want a Mini.
MortimerDongle@reddit
Newer MINIs are fairly reliable. They share almost all parts and platforms with the compact BMWs
My area has several MINI dealerships, but ultimately they don't sell in huge numbers so there are probably some areas where they aren't popular. I live in the northeast and see a few every day
ekib@reddit
Same reason VW doesn’t make beetles anymore. The old ones were great and they gained a cult following, then they slowly lost sight of everything that made people love them and made them bigger, heavier, more mechanically complex, and more refined/less raw. But to be fair, some of that was forced upon them by crash standards.
EarthOk2418@reddit
“…they slowly lost sight of everything that made people love them…”
BINGO! The latest iteration of Mini Cooper is only available with an automatic transmission and doesn’t even offer steering wheel mounted paddles. It’s great to look at, but absolutely zero fun to drive. What’s the point of a Mini if it’s not fun to drive? 🤷🏻♂️
SoNerdy@reddit
The newer Mini JCW have paddles.
They feel absolutely fucking useless because the automatic transmission likes to take over anyway, but they do exist
EarthOk2418@reddit
Right but the JCW starts at $40k. That’s an awful lot of coin and a good 25% more than other options like the Civic Si and Toyota GR86, both of which have true manual transmissions.
SoNerdy@reddit
For sure, in the price point they just aren’t competitive for enthusiasts anymore.
Long time mini owner here (2011 r56) I’ve driven the new ones as loaners enough time that I’m thinking my next car will be an MX-5 RF.
LimeDry7124@reddit
🤣🤣🤣
Talentless_Cooking@reddit
Most of the problem is the market, people want large vehicles so everyone knows how important they are. It's hard to look down your nose at the peasants if you're below the bumper of any new truck.
ChicknParmMafia@reddit
Mini is a pretty niche brand, most of their dealerships are attached to BMW dealers