MINI of Escondido

I needed a new car fast, as my first Mini had been totaled by an ignorant driver in a parking lot. I stopped by before I knew my car was totaled and Jerry was on the lot and showed me some of the cars I saw online. He checked in with me every now and again, without being pushy like most other car salesmen, until I was ready to purchase.
I debated trying another car make, but as soon as I got back in the Mini, I couldn’t resist. Jerry worked with me to get a price range I could afford, on a car that I wanted. Dan in the finance office didn’t push me into buying extra packages that I didn’t want, which I greatly appreciate. Because I had a rental to return, I asked if they could keep my Mini so I could take the rental back in the morning (it was 8:30pm at this point) but Jerry offered to keep the rental there and call them in the morning to pick it up for me, then he waited even later while I left to fill the rental with gas. After that he still took the time to go over the features of the car with me! And on top of that responded to my frantic text when I got home and the interior lights wouldn’t go off! Jerry texted me the next day to make sure everything was working and to make sure I was happy. Best salesman ever! :)
Couldn’t have asked for a better car buying experience, especially when I wasn’t planning on buying a new car. I think I’m part of the Mini family for life! And I will continue to go back to Mini of Escondido for many years to come.

First time buying a new car and Mike made it more painless than I expected. He is a nice guy and I would definitely recommend him to anyone if you are considering buying a mini. I am so happy to come home with the car I wanted and I have enjoyed every second of my new car — there’s never a dull drive in a Mini and this is my second one :)
I didn’t get a S model as i got up to super high speeds in the one I test drove without a hint of drama which can seriously get you a stack of tickets quickly! The non S has a growling turbo charged 3l with plenty of pep and power for me without getting into too much trouble. ;)
Minor complaints — their coffee isn’t as good as the San Diego one. Just K cups and SD has a whole Starbucks machine. Buying a car took the half day even when paying cash as they want you to get a loan as I imagine they make more money from you with a loan. Mini of SD gave me a 1% better rate than Mini of Escondido which didn’t matter to me as I paid it off immediately but to those getting loans, maybe consider Mini Of SD as 1% of $ 30,000 every year extra interest does add up. Minus one star for that.
Tips — don’t be afraid to negotiate. I do feel like I could’ve been tougher but my desire to end the whole process of buying a car out grew my desire to save money!

I bought my car at MINI of Irvine because they had better deals unfortunately and I honestly did not really have the best time with the sales people (it was partly because they sold out all the cars I wanted and their deals were based on the cars that were sold out). My sister and I felt as if we were being rushed on a sale, so it definitely turned us off. We do get our maintenance/​service at the Escondido location. I initially had Bernie, who always greeted me with kindness and great service — He also assured me that even though I didn’t buy my car down at the Escondido location, doesn’t mean we will give you bad service in the future (that was really cool and comforting because I was a little nervous the first time!). He was always the person I requested and I didn’t want anyone else… until he went on vacation — I needed to get another oil change and they set me up to be serviced by Allison, who I IMMEDIATELY clicked with!!! She paid a lot of attention to my needs, she is very communicative and better yet, she is also a TWIN (I have a twin as well). Not only did I feel comfortable with her, my sister loved her as well, so we always want to make appointments with her! When I talk to her, I feel like I am at home, talking to a friend I have known for a really long time. Their service department is the real reason I give the MINI of Escondido 5 stars, and I will continue to go here in the future!

I am very grateful to bring my Mini into the service department with Brandon. He is very honest and always communicates with me. I highly recommend Mini of Escondido. Thank you for always taking such good care of my Mini!!!

For sales, avoid Iyshia. The other sales people should be okay. Iyshia is either misinformed on their cars, or she’ll say anything to make a sale. Really, avoid her, find another sales person.
Service Department is very good. Note that I’ve had numerous mechanical issues with the car. Maybe not the best car to buy. Cute, but underpowered, and so so handling. Over rated cars in my opinion.

I am so grateful for Allison in the Service Department. I was having my car towed in, and I called ahead to reserve a loner to get to a wedding. She quickly took my info, and reserved the last car for me.
When I arrived, Allison went over all of the details. I stressed that I had to head back to LA after the wedding because my cousin had to work in the AM. She said I could take the loner until my car was fixed — even to LA! I was in and out of there in less than 30 minutes, and made it just in time to the wedding.
I received a follow up call from Allison just a few hours later. They found out what the issue was. Worked out a way to come get my car in a few days, even offered a late pick up through Sales if needed.
I am so amazed at the level of customer service. The staff here are so genuine and so friendly. It really made an awful situation for me so much more bearable.

Recently bought my second Mini from this dealer. Great service and no hassle transaction. E document signing was awesome, so much less of an ordeal than the paper crap that a lot of dealers still use. No hard sell on extras, just an inquiry if I was interested. Financing was simple and they gave me the rate I wanted without flinching. It helps to have a high credit score I’m sure. Service department is also excellent. Allison has been my service adviser for years now and I trust her without reservations. The loaner car program is fantastic as well. Even if it’s only for a few hours they will give you a FREE loaner. Incredible.

LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS PLACE !!!
Always friendly Always take care of you !
I love coming here on the weekend to have the Mini washed its kinda like going to church for me, everyone is nice and i get piece of mind !!!

Awesome experience. Jerry helped me through all the options when picking out our new Cooper S hardtop. We absolutely love it. Drives great and is super fun and quick. The entire sales process there is efficient and friendly. I don’t have a single negative thing to say about them. This is our 3^rd car from Brecht and we have yet to be disappointed with either the people or the product. If you are thinking about a mini… go there and drive one!

I went to Mini expecting a great experience, the sales person was rude, showed little interest in helping me and seemed like he wanted me out of his way so he could help someone else. I was surprised since I’ve bought cars from the BMW dealership they own in the past and the experience was completely the opposite. I ended up buying a Mini elsewhere the same day. Will not be going back, not even for service or accessories. I’d rather drive the extra miles to another Mini just so I don’t give them my money.

I dealt with Mini of Escondido over the course of the past week looking to purchase a Mini Cooper (either a Hardtop S or a regular Hardtop). My experience started off with with Amy Dobbin via email. We had discussed my potential interest in purchasing a car. Last Sunday, I went in to see her but she was on a test drive with another customer. At this point Mike, took me to test drive both models I was interested in. Mike explained to me the difference between the 3 and 4 Cylinder engines (for Cooper Hardtops), but he did it in a way that didn’t make feel as though I had to absolutely go for the 4 cylinder Hardtop (the more expensive one).
I work as an analyst that conducts pricing studies and strategies for some of the most recognizable brands in the world, so I entered my car purchasing journey with a skeptical mind, glossing over pricing data on comps as much as possible online. This in itself was an exhausting process. As a result, I placed offers down on two Cooper S Hardtops, which were out of my budget at their current listing price. I made some low offers for the cars (which were really low offers), and I didn’t get the price point I wanted. So I decided to look at other Mini Coopers from dealerships in the surrounding area.
This brought me to deal with a Mini dealership in the South Los Angeles metro area/​Orange County area. Let me tell you, that was a horrible experience. I had made an offer on a 2014 Hardtop, which was accepted, and then cancelled (by one of their managers) that same day. They called me back the next day to say that the original deal was on, but for $ 500 more. I agreed (again) and sent this dealership all of my due diligence paperwork thinking that they were going to be placing the car on hold for a Saturday morning pickup. The salesperson from this dealership sends me a text message at 11:00PM the night before I was scheduled to pick up my car to tell me that the ‘general manager’ had cancelled my deal! Reading between the lines, I now think he had a higher offer on the car that came through, even though he agreed to place the car on hold for me. I cancelled the sale and told that dealer to never call me back again.
I’m so glad I did not go with the car from that Mini dealer. How could anyone trust a product sold by a dealer like that?
Interestingly, I found the same car on Mini of Escondido’s website, but the Mini (Hardtop), was one year newer (2015), and had was certified pre-​owned. It only had a little over 2000 miles on it, so it was practically brand new.
I made an appointment with Amy to see the car and we were able to finally make a deal that was right ‘for everyone’ involved. I had a price, they had a price, and we met right in the middle. Much to my delight (and unexpectedly) I qualified for the low 1.9% financing, which saved me another several hundred dollars over the term of the loan. The total amount of the car with financing ended up being less than what I was planning to pay, which made me really happy.
Even though I bought a base model Hardtop, Amy and her team treated me like a human being. They treated me the same way as they would have treated someone buying the most expensive car on the lot. Amy and her team treated me with respect. I would have purchased another car (or a more expensive car) from her if I could have.
Additionally, the financing department didn’t try to pressure me into extra adds ons. They did a good job of explaining these things to me as options to consider for the future. They were patient as I read through the financing documents, and answered all of my questions.
Once the financing went through, Amy gave me a tour of my new car. She didn’t ‘rush’ me out the door just so she could start the sales process over with a new customer. She took her time explaining as many features as she could. As for myself in this moment, I wanted to figure out these features for myself, but at the same time, I did not want this enjoyable experience to end.
There is no doubt I made the right choice going back to Mini of Escondido and dealing with Amy Dobbin. Please ask for her when you go in to buy your new Mini. Amy and her crew deserve the opportunity to earn your business.

An absolutely stellar car buying experience. Jerry was my sales guy and he was great! I’ve purchased many cars in my life and this was absolutely the greatest buying experience ever. At this point I can’t imagine buying a car from anyone else.
Drove by during the evening to just browse the vehicles on the lot and Jerry came out just to check on me. Not pushy like you expect from any dealership. He gave me space and answered questions as I had them. I even apologized since I knew it was late and I was afraid I was keeping him but he reassured me all was good. We took one car out just so I could get a feel for it to see if Mini is a car for me. Anyway I got his card and said I’d think on it and come by the next day to test drive some cars.
To my surprise I didn’t get any phone calls the next morning… As with any dealership that has my phone number I was expecting some hassling calls encouraging me to hurry and come down before some made up deal is over. I was very happy this didn’t happen! I came by the dealership and Jerry came out to greet me as I arrived.
We ended up test driving about 6 different cars. I really wanted to get a feel for the different models. Jerry was very knowledgable on all of them and would go through the pros and cons as they pertain to my needs for each car. He was very patient and really let me experience each model. We found one that had really everything I wanted and the right price. Only problem was the color. So we headed inside to browse the inventory. I was impressed as the sheer amount of cars available and even more impressed that Jerry was even searching inventory that was coming later (not even on the lot yet). That’s a bold move considering I’d have to wait and could change my mind. That shows me though that he was truly vested in making sure I got exactly what I wanted.
As we scrolled through the inventory on his computer I spotted one that looked just right. To my surprise it was literally the Mini that was parked behind me in the show room. I didn’t want to be a pain so I asked Jerry to find a similar one just so I could test drive it (mind you we had already test driven several other cars). He said how about we take this one out. I was happily surprised when he said it wouldn’t be a problem pulling it out of the showroom.
Fast forward… I could immediately tell this was MY car… Everything about it was perfection. The paperwork process was quick and easy. I had a trade in that they gave me a great deal on. People will dissuade you from trading in saying that you can make better money selling it. That may be true but honestly I felt like they more than adequately compensated me for my trade in.
We had one little minor miscommunication on the paperwork and add ons that I won’t go into detail about here but I’ll say this. The paperwork was done and I was off the lot. They could have easily blown me off but they totally made everything right and even went above and beyond to make sure that I’m happy with the experience. That totally gives me confidence that these guys are above board and will take care of me.
I’ll close this out by reiterating that this was quite frankly the greatest car buying experience of my life. This is probably the first car that I’ve ever bought that I can say is 100% exactly what I want. There was ZERO compromise on my part and I can’t thank Jerry enough for the spectacular service.
Oh… btw… You get free car washes for life as long as you have the car. That’s no joke… seriously an amazing benefit of buying from them. You can’t go wrong.

Thank you for my car wash. I appreciated the extra mile with the tire dressing. It’s tough to make it up since I’m in East County. I try to stop by when I’m in the neighborhood.

Where to start? Well first of all, this is my first Unilocal review EVER! But I felt it necessary to rave about Mini of Escondido (MOE) for multiple reasons. This dealership really puts the ‘FAMILY’ in Family-​Owned business!
Last summer, my (then) girlfriend Lindsay was in the market for a new car so we went to the usual slew of dealerships over a few days. Our last stop of the final day was Mini of Escondido. Iyshia Hernandez greeted us right away and from the moment we met her, we clicked. As our ‘motoring advisor’, she showed us a variety of Mini’s and let us test drive them all. She was extremely knowledgeable about each car, the interior and exterior features, the models, the difference in the engines… essentially the ‘good the bad and the ugly’ of each Mini. In the end, Lindsay settled on a beautiful Ice Blue Convertible Mini dream car.
Iyshia walked us through the options for purchasing versus leasing and was extremely helpful throughout the entire process. She and the Sales Manager Mario Gomes worked with us on the numbers and we ended up with a great deal on the convertible. Dan Chappelle, the finance manager walked us through signing all of the Finance paperwork. He was extremely patient, helpful and answered all of our questions thoroughly. It was truly an experience in PREMIER customer service. They all really treated us like family.
Since her first purchase, Lindsay and I have been back almost every other week to get her car washed or serviced as necessary and Laura in the Service department always greets us with a smile like old friends. Brandon Martinez, the Service advisor is equally friendly and treats us like family as well, always tending to our questions and needs even providing a loaner car on those occasions that we need one. Everyone else in the Service department is the same way, friendly, courteous and extremely helpful.
Fast forward one year and this time I am the one in the market for a car. My (now) fiancé, had been ‘encouraging’ me for months to get a Mini Countrymen. We went back to Mini of Escondido and was again greeted with a warm smile by Iyshia. Again, she walked us through everything like it was our first time showing us all the new ‘bells and whistles’ for the new models. Eventually, I settled on a sweet Silver Mini Cooper S with black trim and matching black rims. It gets better…
Not to be outdone, Lindsay got the itch to swap out her convertible. She had been eyeing the four door hardtop (which is roomier and more practical for a family than the convertible) but still a ton of fun. Iyshia did a tremendous job of not just getting me taken care of, but got Lindsay into a sick Black four door Mini hardtop with black and alloy rims that set the car off just right! We were both sitting pretty now!
Iyshia and Sean Sunda (the other Sales Manager) put together the numbers and worked out great deals for the both of us. Because we were asking for a variety of financing scenarios, at one point, my fiancé made a comment to Sean «I hope we aren’t being too much trouble» and Sean’s response encapsulates why we love Mini. He said «This is why I come to work here every day, I love what I do». Working with Iyshia and Sean was nothing short of AMAZING from start to finish.
If you are in the market for a car, do yourself a favor and stop by Mini of Escondido. They go above and beyond the call of duty to make things right and make you feel like you made a great decision.
Thank you Iyshia, Mario, Sean, Laura, Brandon, Dan, Moe (general manager) and all of you guys who helped Lindsay and I get into our Minis! You all treat us like family and we will continue to buy cars from Mini of Escondido for years to come!

Great service experience! I had a used Mini Cooper in our inventory that had a bad O2 sensor… I called and spoke with Brandon who told me to bring it in with no issues because it was still under warranty.
I dropped it off the next day, and received a call the following day from one of his co-​workers letting me know the vehicle was done and ready for pick-​up.
There’s nothing better than when service advisors actually communicate with each other to make sure their customers are taken care of even on their day off!

Great sales team, quick no pressure buying experience. Jerry hill was our motoring advisor, he is very energetic and works hard to find the car you would like and also gave us a good deal. He follows up with their customers to make sure if they are really happy. With us we bought a car and afterwards we realize we whould like little add-​ons and he took care of it without any charges… haven’t seen many people doing this after finalizing the deal. Really good experience compared to miniofsandiego.

I have been to this location multiple times and every single time I have been completely disappointed. They never seem to be interested in what I have to say and take FOREVER TO ANSWER ME BACK. The service center is atrocious. I now go to the San Diego location and it’s the polar opposite. Courteous, prompt, and caring. Something this location should definitely work on. Having worked in customer service for various years, it is hard to understand why this place continues to give such horrible care to its customers. I hope that something is done about this because it is such a hassle to have to drive 40 minutes to a different location JUST to get away from the horrible experiences that these people have given me. The only good thing that has come out of this place is my car, anything after that is trash. Xoxo

Service department is the worst at this location. They never pick up calls. They don’t reply to emails. I honestly just gave up and started going to the San Diego location for all my car needs.

I’ve bought 3 MINIs so far and Jerry is probably the best sales guy I’ve ever dealt with. He makes the process really easy and I think he is genuinely excited for the customer. You can tell he loves his job.

Very impressed with the Service Dept at the Escondido Mini, friendly staff, on time and a very nice facility.
I personally live downtown, work in Vista and Escondido is definitely out of my way. I knew I needed to come in for my first service and originally called the Kearny Mesa location, I needed a Saturday appt as I work full-​time and they were close by so it seemed perfect. They didn’t have an appt for 5 weeks out and I knew I wouldn’t be able to bring it in during the work hours, no loaner car was even mentioned at this point, I was so frustrated I was even going to take it to a non mini dealership.
That’s when I called Escondido, within minutes the gal asked me if I needed a loaner car for the day, this now worked out perfect. I dropped it off at 7am, went to work and picked it up at 6pm, it was great. My appt accidentally got scheduled for the next week, that could have been my fault but either way they took my car and within 15 minutes enterprise was there with the rental car for me.
Bernie helped me out and he was great. He walked me through everything they were going to do, I had let him know about one problem and that got fixed. He called me in the middle of my appt to let me know the status of the car and when I picked it up it was running smoothly and they had even washed it! I was really excited about the wash, apparently you always get that when a service is performed but this is also the first brand new car I’ve ever bought.
A few days later I received an email to see how everything was going, I had responded that I couldn’t figure out how to change the colored lighting in the car, very important for a girl :). Within minutes Bernie called me, I swung by last night, he showed me what I needed to do and I’m so happy my pink lights are back! He even offered a car wash to me but I had to be somewhere otherwise I would have taken him up in that offer, thank you.
The facility itself is very nice, good coffee while you wait, the store is really nice, I bought a travel mini mug and everyone was very friendly, helpful and extremely accommodating to my busy schedule.
Only negative, I was hoping the loaner car would have been a faster cooler mini than what I already have!