I'm looking to get behind the wheel of another JCW. Unless I can find an '06 exactly the way I want it loaded with 20k or fewer miles for a great price, I'm going to be getting a 2009 JCW.

I was wondering if anyone has gone to trade theirs in; or has access to the Manheim #s to see what they're bringing. Its typically been my experience with cars that the more 'niche-market' the model, the less they hold their overall resale. Don't get me wrong, I realize & appreciate the fact that MINIs have OUTSTANDING resale value overall, but the number of people who are willing to spec out & pay $35k+ for a new JCW is relatively small compared to the total number of people who purchase MINIs and that generally translate to a larger drop in resale value %. Not sure if what I'm trying to say makes sense.

Either way, I'd love to see some #s with that respect.

 

My wife and I were considering trading our '09 JCW Coupe on a new Clubman with auto (so she can drive it); we were a bit disappointed in the trade-in numbers that we got from two dealers.
We paid around $33K for the car in April '09. It now has 27K miles on it.

Dealers offered us no better than $22K in trade.
Looks like we'll be keeping the JCW.

 

That is a bit ugly. From a dealer's resale standpoint that is "above average" in the mileage department for the year, which is probably deducting a couple grand off its appraisal. I would like to think a MINI dealer would be a bit easier to work with as a returning customer. With that said, there's a '09 JCW w/16k miles, 1-owner, clean carfax sitting on a non-MINI lot near me for $24,500. Its silver, has sunroof, leatherette, xenons, HK. They've had it for nearly 6 months.

 

Yep, it's fairly high mileage for a 16-month old car.
Guess I'll just have to keep "suffering" with it, and perhaps think about something else for the wifey to drive.

 

I've seen more than a couple slightly used JCWs with less then 10,000 miles for sale at MINI Dealerships. One, that caught my attention, was a 09 JCW clubman for 28k at Prestige Mini; it was silver and looked pretty nice. Go to the miniusa and goto the dealer map and start checking each dealership's used inventory. I love my jcw but I think it was a little overpriced; although compared to an "s" I think it's an ok deal considering you are getting the JCW kit and Brembo Brakes and supposedly a better transmission and better cylinder heads I believe. I know I'll be keeping mine for a while because I'm upside down in terms of how much I owe on it compared to what its worth now. Would I buy it again now. I'm not so sure. Honestly, I would probably be driving a 2011 mustang gt or the entry level Panamera if I had to buy a car today. I think the entry level panamera with 6cylinders is twice the price of my jcw; although the performance numbers are pretty close to my JCW's except it has four doors and a better finish with better standard features.

 

I saw an 09 JCW with 12k miles for 26k at the local dealer. It's not there anymore.

 

Take a look at mine in the Marketplace. 09 JCW WITH Focals from and rear ($1K) and less than 8K in mileage. Very cherry car and am selling only to order a new BMW 535i. Clean and babied! Price is outstanding at $25,500.

 

Oh your poor, tortured soul.
That is a great price on a JCW Clubman...My local BMW dealership just sold a '09 Clubman S for $27k.

Yeah, I played around with their website a couple weeks ago & didn't find squat remotely close to me. As I broadened my search, I found a couple used JCWs, but literally for just a few grand more, I could get a brand new one. I usually avoid dealer's when purchasing a used car. They're in the business of making money and I'm in the habit of saving it.

It'll be a month or so before I'm ready to buy. I have a 2005 Mercedes C230 Kompressor sedan w/11k miles that I don't really drive anymore since buying my Z4. I'll sell it first and then start doing some serious shopping for another MINI so I can pay cash up front.

I've toyed with the idea of getting a fully loaded Cooper S and "making it my own", but I'd definitely rather have the JCW for the reasons you just listed. I do honestly think they're a bit overpriced (Its easy to spec out a hardtop JCW for over $40k & that's BMW 3-series territory) even compared to the S but you just don't see as many JCWs; especially where I live. When I had mine, I was the ONLY 1st Generation JCW in my city & now I see a single red 2nd Generation/factory JCW with a hot blond chic driving it.

Beautiful car! You shouldn't have any trouble moving it for that price - especially in your area!

Did BMW ever fix the high-pressure fuel pump issues in their twin turbo inline-6 cars? I'm a nit of a BMW enthusiast, and before I bought my C230z & Z4 I looked at a few '07 335i coupes and two '08 535i sedans but stopped after I read about the constantly failing HPFP. Obviously, they're covered under warranty, but I was a bit afraid of getting stranded in the middle of nowhere, late at night & having to wait to be towed. It seemed like more of an issue on the earlier model cars, but just curious all the same. GREAT choice though!


If I'm going to get another MINI, I have some big shoes to fill in terms of what I'm looking to get compared to my last. Around this time last year, I found a one-owner, never wrecked 2006 Space Blue JCW w/22k miles, navi, back-up sensors, cordoba beige leather and EVERY SINGLE option that I would have ordered new; all for under $20k (the window sticker was $37k & it came with around $3k in additional accessories.) I kick myself in the butt for selling it 5k miles later, simply out of habit; so if I'm going to drop more coinage on another MINI, its going to be loaded the way I want it (Navi & either blue, green, or red).

 

The problem is simply numbers. There were not many cars (498 2009's in the US out of a total of 45,000+) and not many have changed hands. That makes it hard to set a price with so little data.

 

I've seen several for sale myself, but I'll agree, that's still a rather small # when dealing with the larger scheme of things. There's a nicely loaded one near me for $24,500 w/16k and there's NOTHING wrong with the car. That's along the lines of what I'd expect to pay for a fully loaded one with navi, true leather, etc from a dealer auction.

I'm going to start watching the Manheim auctions and see if I can spot and JCWs coming off of lease.

 

Prices can also be position sensitive. There may be more demand, and therefore higher prices, on the east coast than in the midwest...

 

I'll definitely agree that cars in your area [in general] are going to bring more than here. I think what I've been seeing is typical depreciation as seen in any 2-year old car. JCW MINIs, while special to us, aren't going to be exempt from depreciation.

 

Yes, and that's what makes it weird to pin down. You have limited numbers, how MINIs depreciate normally and the possibility of how prospective MINI owners might pay a bit over market. Tough to figure out...

 

I've never paid book value for a car before and I won't be starting now. There are always excellent deals to be had and to be honest, that's half the fun of car shopping!

I gave less than $15k my JCW pictured above and I'd stumble over my own feet to find another deal like that.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2009-...item2a0a16ba4d

Needs pictures, but that seems like a good price.

 

I wonder if that isn't something quirky about Ebay Motors because it shouldn't be listed as a "Cooper S".

Yes, that's not a bad price. Don't know what's up with wanting to trade it on an M/B, but there is no accounting for taste...

 

That's how they've all been listed.


As for wanting a M/B: Apparently, its his wife's car and I'm guessing she doesn't like the way it rides. I have a lower-end M/B has a second vehicle. Nothing wrong with them.

 

Sounds like Ebay never updated how their database was set up for MINIs. Many of the tire companies that have interactive software on their sites are similarly screwed up.

No, there isn't anything inherently wrong with owning a Benz. I might be careful about WHICH one I had, but that's just me. I think my thought was that isn't only a different car, but it's also a whole different thought process. Underneath it all, and regardless of which MINI that you have, it is a serious FUN Car. Not sure if you can say that about any Benz. Well, my favorites, the 230-250-280SL's are fun, but in a very different way...

 

2009 MCS around 7500-12000k miles in above condition are running around 21k in Manheim... That's before auction fees and such...

 

I get what you're saying, and I don't disagree. I've had 3 SLKs, a 2002 C230 Kompressor Coupe, 2 '05 C230 Kompressor sedans (my first one was totaled on the day I got it after putting less than 35 miles on it. I was rear-ended by 'witch' in a SUV), and a '96 E300 diesel. <--That would be the one I'd avoid!

Good stuff! Thank you!

 

I was offered $21,000 from every single dealership I went to. I eventually just traded it in on a 335d.

 

That sounds 'bout right. After it was mentioned earlier in this thread that '09 Cooper Ss were bringing $21k @ manheim (+ fees) I've seen several several sell on Ebay for way less than that.

How's the 335d treatin' ya? I'm a HUGE diesel fan & if they offered that in a manual transmission, I'd definitely own one.

 

Yep - with the first-gen cars, the factory JCW models (except the GP) shared the same VIN code as a regular 'S' (RH33 or RE33, depending on whether it was a hardtop or convertible.) With the second-gen cars, JCWs have their own separate VIN coding, but it sounds like eBay doesn't know that yet.

 

What you're saying makes perfect sense. MINIs pricing scheme is unusual compared to most brands in that they have a low base price but a HUGE option list. As a result, you'll see new MINI prices ranging from $19k up to over $50k depending on the model/options selected. This can make it hard for a buyer to understand why one MINI is $10k more than a different MINI, even when they're the same model and year. You really have to have an educated buyer that knows what the options originally cost AND wants the exact options your have to get the best price on an optioned-up MINI, and since that doesn't happen very often, used prices suffer on the highly-optioned versions.

As a result of al this, the base car itself has a great resale value, but any options you add don't hold their individual values as well over time. So, in the time it takes a "stripper" $19k Cooper to lose 20% of its original value, a $40k loaded JCW might have lost 30-40% of its original value.

 

It's the BMW way...
They like for you to order a car and they have developed their scheduling systems to allow changing the configuration up to very close to the build date. This gives you plenty of time to change your mind and add something.

Hard to do if you live in the hinterlands. My closest dealer (and where I bought my car) is 2.5 hours away. The next is 3.5 and the next 4.5. Makes it hard to play one dealer against another. However, it is a different story if you live in or near a big city.