Hi,
I have had 2 minis prior to this, which I loved and had to get rid of due to divorce. I have been dying to get another one and may be able to do so. The only problem I will have is that I have an 08 Dodge Caliber to trade in, and I am thinking that they will give me nothing for it. Has anyone else traded in a "non" mini towards the purchase of a new mini?

 

I'm from Texas but I had some extras installed at Scottsdale MINI a couple of weeks ago. While I was there, I wanted to see if I could take advantage of the 3.9% interest rate for 60 months promotion they were doing and I was going to use my 2008 Clubman Cooper as a trade for a Coupe S or Clubbie S. My Clubbie is in excellent condition and had somewhere around 12,000 miles on it after having it for a year and 4 months. They offered me a little over $1,000.00 less than Kelly BB and they wouldn't deal at all on the price of their lot cars. As most of you know, most of the lot cars have few packages and are pretty stripped. I ordered my Clubbie just as I wanted it so I was happy with it anyway and I didn't want to be $4,000.00 upside down. MINI's supposedly having great resale value may be true but I thought I would get at least KBB value from a MINI dealer. With all of the above nonsense said, I would assume you aren't going to get anything for your Caliber....at least not would you would think. Especially with the government bailout fiasco looming overhead.

 

I have taken it to other dealers and know that I am not going to get what I paid for it. I will be something like $4500 upside down, just wondering if mini will be in the same range in their offer as lets say, chevy or dodge.

 

And what year did they do that to the stereo? I like the one that my older mini had in it...

 

And yes, I too like the earlier design. FWIW, my wife and I got a 2008 clubbie that was pretty much a stripper for $22,650....

Matt

 

I wish that they had left the stereo area alone, looks alot better from 02-06 IMO!! Seems to be the only drawback really to the new design that I can see. I have a trade in, so how would that work if we ordered one since we have a trade in? That is IF (and big if) we can come to a reasonable trade in on my current car.

 

Find out what wholesale is. Most mini dealers don't want "foreign" cars on their lots, they call a wholesaler and give you what they get. You are better off selling it on your own. I had an '05 mcs and they really didn't want it as a trade, told me they would wholesale it. I was really mad inside when I was told they would only give me wholesaler wholesale value. The dealer is not in business to make friends just money.

 

I already know that they dont like trade-ins. The problem that I have with my car, is that it has NO power or Cruise. I dont think that even if I do sell it privately that I will get what I owe, its just not worth what I paid. As per the economy and lack of power equipment. I just hope that my credit union will allow me to put the negative equity on my new mini without any qwalms. I will try to sell it privately, but doubt it will get sold that way. We are going to go to Mini in Missouri and see what they are willing to do for us as far as my car goes. I can only hope for the best, as I trully would love to have another MINI sooner than later. I have a good price from dodge, and would still be adding $4500 to the price of what we would finance. I have never tried to sell a car to a dealer without trading in for a new car, wonder if they do that?!?

 

does anyone know of anywhere in central illinois that buys cars witout trading it in? I know about carmax, but thats about a 3 hour drive from where I live.

 

It sounds like you're gonna have to take it in the wallet , or suck it up and drive the dodge for a long time.

 

Well I wont be able to do it all....according to Mini Financial and my current Credit Union. They said that they cant hide/carry over any negative equity even if I did take the shittty offer I would most likely get from them for my current car. Which really makes me Because I was willing to do what it took to get a mini, but really looks dismall at this point. Unless I come up with the negative equity as down payment, and I dont just have $6000+ in cash.

 

but really, it's a good lesson in living within your means. When you can afford it, you'll appreciate it more. $6k is about a 20% increase in cost for the car, and that's a large premium for immediate gratification....

Matt