MINI of South Atlanta

Beware: They’ll sell you a Mini, but you’ll have to drive to Kennesaw for service!
I can’t believe Mini USA has allowed them to close down their service department to Minis, but apparently it has. The owner of these two dealerships’ decision means that their customers will have to choose between driving an extra 40 miles through Atlanta traffic for service or buying a different car. I love my Mini, but when it’s time for a new car I’ll definitely be buying something else from a more customer-​friendly dealership.

horrible. I waited and waited and waited — what was supposed to be a two hour maintenance appointment took FIVE hours, and they said they were washing my car and it wasn’t even clean! when I complained about it, they said they didn’t have any water right now due to plumbing problems. I hate getting service here. the only bright side was that the woman communicating to me was sweeter than sugar, and very hard to get upset with. last time I came here I had to return twice for the same problem for a total of THREE trips OTP. My warranty gives free maintenance for the first 3 years — and for that reason alone, I will have to look for another mini dealership to service my car.

For years mini coopers have been my all time favorite car. So for my first time as a car buyer, buying my favorite car I thought that maybe my time with this dealership should be pleasant. But that was nothing what I was given! The service was good up until a week after I took the car home. Seems like their sales people only want the commission and they are done with you. I’ve constantly contacted my sales guy to discuss a few things which should be their job to answer but instead id get a «I’ll call you tomorrow» with no call. Or «I’ll have to ask and get back to you» with no promise of that ever happening. Or a read message with no reply. As a new car owner of course I will have plenty of questions that need to be answered. Instead I was left figuring things out on my own having to bother the BMW side to get answers. So in conclusion I was extremely irritated and received very bad customer service.
Not that this review will matter since they are moving to Kennesaw.

Paid for the extended warranty (around $ 2K) on my Mini that covers everything bumper to bumper up to 100K miles or 6 years. Around 45K miles I drove through a bad storm in south Georgia and stopped off to grab some better wiper blades so I could see. Next service appointment Mini of South Atlanta stiffed me on replacing my blades b/​c I didn’t have genuine Mini blades but after market installed. $ 2K in extended warranty and they stiffed me on ~$ 30 worth of wiper blades. Customer service oriented, they are not.

I could be making this review a few weeks early, as I am awaiting my custom build, but thus far my experience warrants a review. I was interested in the MINI S Countryman AWD, before actually driving one (I am on my 4^th BMW — the most recent a 335). I spoke with a few dealerships before deciding with whom I’d even invest the time to visit for a test drive. From the beginning Rob Collini set himself apart from the rest. His communication was professional and consistent, while other dealerships did not respond with answers in the time frame they promised (sometimes DAYS later) and passed me off to different sales reps (3 at «the other MINI dealer in Atlanta» and 2 at MINI across AL/​GA the state line). Rob worked with my custom build and quoted pricing for a Memorial Day promotion that the others couldn’t match. I recommend working with MINI of South ATL and Rob for these reasons: he knows his product/​MINIs, he was upfront, consistent communication/​responsive, and best pricing; all which showed he WANTED my business. I am simply floored that a motivated buyer, excellent credit, and BMW loyal client had such a terrible experience (2^nd time in a row!) with «the other MINI dealer in Atlanta», but that made my decision that much easier.
If my experience or opinion changes between now and receiving my car, i will update this post.

I have nothing but positive things to say about this location. I actually live down the street from another Mini dealership, but I chose to drive 45 miles out if my way to visit this location because of their stellar customer service.
I’ve only owned my car for a year, but every time I’ve visited since I purchased the vehicle I’ve received nothing but amazing customer service. When I bought the car they treated me like royalty and even did multiple check ups to ensure everything was great.
I just had more maintenance done and everyone was professional and friendly. I guess it all depends on an individual’s experience, but so far mine have been very pleasant here at BMW and Mini of South Atlanta.

I contacted the Mini of South Atlanta service department on July 16^th to arrange a roof rack install on a Mini. I had to fly to Atlanta to pick up the car that was given to me by a family member, and needed a rack installed so I could drive the car back up to Massachusetts where I live with my kayak on top. I explained this situation almost two months before the date that I needed the car ready by, 8÷30÷13. The service department told me to contact the parts department and see what parts would be needed. I was told to wait to order them until two weeks before I needed the car ready so I reluctantly heeded their advice. I called the parts department on several occasions over the course of the next few weeks and was given a different part number and different price quote each time. I actually had to figure out the part number for the base roof rack system because the service department could not figure it out without my help!
When I called to order the parts two weeks before 8/​30, I was told that parts would have to be ordered from Germany and this could take 2 weeks +. That timeline put the installation in jeopardy. Initially, they couldn’t figure out a solution but they found a way to get a roof rack locally from another source. Fast forward to 8/​26, when I called to touch base with the service department, and I was told everything was all set for the installation to occur on ⁸⁄₂₈. Then I got a call on ⁸⁄₂₉ stating that one small part had not come in and they weren’t sure it would come in time to be installed by 8/​30, the day I told them almost two months in advance that it needed to be installed.
Initially the service department tried to back out even trying to wait on the part for the installation. I was told by the service department that I should just go to Bass Pro Shops and get a cheap foam block carrier from Bass Pro Shops and strap it to the top of my car. I thought this was insane for a 18 hour trip from Georgia to Massachusetts. Then I got a call on ⁸⁄₃₁ saying that the part had been delivered but the wrong part was in the box. I had to scramble since I planned to start the drive back to MA on 9/​1, so I took the advice of service and bought the foam block kit which caused damage to my paint. What a nightmare!

When I showed up to test drive a mini countryman and negotiate price, I told our sales associate two things: that I would be sharing my experience with others whether it was good or bad and that I did not want any BS about price. I guess he didn’t believe me.
It started with the threat — our SA told us that mini dealers don’t negotiate against each other. This was enough to send me walking, because I have no interest in dealing with someone who threatens me, but I decided to give him another chance. He did not follow up with me on my test drive (strike one), did not promptly return phone calls or e-​mails (strike two) and did not seem at all interested in getting my business. I suspect this is probably a manipulation tactic they use — maybe they think that if they seem uninterested, you will pursue them. Kind of like an abusive relationship. Instead, because our SA seemed uninterested, we went elsewhere.
But it doesn’t end there. There was so much misleading information about price that I walked. We told our SA that we would go with the dealership that gave us the lowest price, that we weren’t going to tolerate a bunch of, «Let me talk to my manager» garbage. He told us he could go 2 – 3 percent below sticker price. When we proposed this, he balked. We told him thanks but no thanks, and that we were going to leave. He told us he could not go any lower. When we called him back, he went lower. I don’t appreciate being lied to, and this was the final thing that did me in. Car dealers are supposed to be sleazy, yes, but I’m not going to give my business to one that engages in sleazy tactics.

Wow, I really can’t say enough about what a great experience I had here. My SA at Mini of Nashville was a complete ass (I hope they’ve since fired him, because everyone else there is awesome). My SA at South Atlanta was great. I just went in for scheduled maintenance, and made a new friend! Haha.
The MA’s there were also very courteous and friendly while I walked around the lot, and at least one of them knew the cars as well as I did. Other than that there’s not much to say. I liked South Atlanta waaaay better than Global Imports. Global’s folks just aren’t as «down to earth» to put it politely.

I got ripped off here in a major way and have been occasionally seething with rage since last summer…
I bought my car here at Mini South Atlanta and received free maintenance for a few years. I chose the South Atlanta dealership because the dealership downtown (which would have been way more convenient for me) was condescending and aloof on the phone.
Anyhow, as my free maintenance was about to expire, I used their airport service for a check-​up. I told them that upon returning I would be leaving for a long drive immediately and wanted to make sure everything was ready to go. They called me and said i needed a new tire (and recommended I get two). We went back and forth for a while, me growing incredibly frustrated because taking the car elsewhere was not an option because I had to be in NY.
In short, they overcharged me by several hundred dollars. By the end I was so worn out with arguing the price that i just ate it. I felt like they took advantage of the fact that I had to go out of town. What sucked the hardest was that when I called Marty (the service guy who is a dishonest suck-​up) to ask about the price, he laughed into the phone and wouldn’t give me anything more than «that’s just how much they cost” – despite the fact that any google search provided direct counter-​evidence to his lazy reply.
I do not recommend this place. They are superficially «really great» when you are buying a car but they will screw you at this dealership on the service and then act like a bunch of rednecks.