I'm having a hard time seeing any trade in value at all on my JCW. After two years and .09APR I'm still way upside down on my car according to everydealer I've talked to - BMW/MINI included. Yes, NADA and Kelly Blue Book shoe impressive numbers but no dealer will come close to those. With a MSRP of 37k+, after two years and less then 11500 miles my car it is worth only half of what i paid for it. HALF!!! Funny thing is that when I bought it the dealer was touting the high resale values of their minis, I feel taken for a ride. Anyone else have any luck trading in their JCW?

 

Do you think it has anything to do with yours being a convertible?

I'm looking to trade mine around October 2012 (a MINI out of warranty makes me uncomfortable) and curious to hear some responses as well. I got what I considered a fair price on my R53 when I traded up for the JCW. I did, however, assume it would be tough to sell a JCW privately. No one even knows what a JCW is when I tell them.

 

Yep, a convertible may be the issue. I only drive convertibles though, and I wanted to trade it in for another convertible. But no deal. Looks like I'm stuck with it.

 

You drive a very niche car. There's got to be the right buyer for it and surely they are out there. Just a thought, why don't you try selling it online? Wouldn't hurt to try.

 

Try another dealer......

 

Thanks guys. It is a niche car. I'll wait it out. Next year I might be on the right side of my loan if that's even possible - we'll see. I would probably have better luck if I lived in a warm state. I do regret buying this car at such a premium price. It was fun for about a year but the go-cart ride is starting to wear thin. I love my 135 and frankly it was my JCW CAB that lead me to the 1 so there is that to be grateful for. Would love to hear from other JCW owners who tried or did sell their car or traded it in.

 

This thread is scaring me a little I just ordered a 2012 Lightning Blue JCW hardtop on Monday now I'm thinking of canceling my order what have others got when selling a 2 to 3 year old JCW

 

Sad to say but the economy and the fact that there are a lot more MINIs out there means that the resale rate is not going to hold like it used to.

 

If your getting a JCW then you didn't buy it for any type of "investment", I have to assume you bought it to have an exciting car to drive? Have fun with it! If your worried about resale you should never never by new period...It doesn't matter what kind of car your buying.

 

If you are planning on selling in a couple years, why are you financing? Wouldn't leasing be a better option? You would have a fixed residual value and let MINI take the risk of lower resale value at the end of the lease.

 

But I bet when they go to sell it they would use the value listed in Blue Book.....

 

Exactly. Anyone not planning on holding on to a car until well after it's paid off should lease. I'm leasing mine and the residual after 3 years, 15K miles/year is 61% of MSRP plus the loan origination/bank fee. Therefore, I'm only paying for the 39% of the depreciation that I'm using.

 

I am curious how ugly it is on my car now. Paid 35K and put 5K into it. I will stop by the dealer soon to see what he will give me for it. I figure it is worth about 30K with 5K on it. I think dealer will be Mid 20's maybe higher if they give me anything for the mods. Tint, Black Out, Stripes, Full front end + clear bra, windscreen protection. I know it wont be much. I found a 2008 Lotus Exige with 3K I am lusting for.

 

Hope you enjoy your new car soon!

I will have a very healthy down payment and hope to keep the car for more than 4 years. But I guess we'll see what happens when/if I decide to sell!

 

In case anybody is curious, the residuals for Canadian JCWs seem to be pretty low when compared to a MCS... This is based on Hatch:

2012 JCW Hatch MSRP CAD$36,900
With 16000km/yr allowance
24 month residual CAD$18,819
36 month residual CAD$15,867
39 month residual CAD$15,498
48 month residual CAD$13,284

2012 MCS Hatch MSRP CAD$28,950
With 16000km/yr allowance
24 month residual CAD$16,212
36 month residual CAD$13,896
39 month residual CAD$13,606
48 month residual CAD$11,869

2012 MC Hatch MSRP CAD$23,950
With 16000km/yr allowance
24 month residual CAD$14,130
36 month residual CAD$12,214
39 month residual CAD$11,975
48 month residual CAD$10,538


As a comparison, my current 2008 lease (based on MSRP/no discount figures like above w/ my configured options):
2008 MC Hatch MSRP CAD$28,950
With 16000km/yr allowance
39 month residual CAD$16,640


Anyways, I think you can see that all of the hatch Coopers have significantly lower residuals compared to a few years ago. But the JCW looses quite a lot more value. Anyways, I don't have 2008 JCW residuals to compare.


Does anyone have 2008 JCW residuals to compare? How do the current Cooper residuals compare to other manufacturers? Have their resale values dropped significantly the last several years?

 

in Australia the JCW is a real niche car too. i had to sell my r53 jcw for the same price as an S just because most people have no idea what a JCW is and would be happy with just an S because they like the looks and don't care for the bigger engine. I Knew that but still bought my current JCW haha.

 

Just piping in on the leasing comments above. I would be a perfect candidate for leasing...I get a new car every two years at most. But, I don't lease because the number of miles I drive is unpredictable, but often higher than what leases allow. (I put 23,000 on my Honda last year, 20,000 on my 3 series in 9 months prior to that). I've consistently done pretty well by buying my new car at year-end, getting a few grand off MSRP, and taking advantage of low interest rates. In my state, our sales tax on cars is capped at $300 and license and reg fees are likewise low, so the "extra" costs that come with a new car in other states arent a problem for me.

 

I know that this subject is top of mind for most people. I always lease. But for some strange reason I bought my JCW. And I am glad I did. I would have never done any of the mods that I did to this car if it was leased.

I am planning to keep this car for another 5 or 6 or 7 years. My fear is reliability not trade in value.

 

Springtime might be a better time of year to sell a convertible than winter too.

 

I hope this low trade in value thing turns around next year... I've been looking at buying a used Exige S or a new 135i. A low priced sale would really kill that idea.

 

Try Auto trader online or e-bay to reach a larger audience.

 

Looking at a used Exige too. 2008 S Sport Racer. Love the different color. I need more garage space.

 

Part of the reason for the low resale value on the JCW is that your resale value (as a percentage of original MSRP) starts to drop like a rock the more options you add to the base configuration.

While the JCW is technically a different model than the Cooper or the 'S', the used-car market doesn't really treat it that way - it basically treats a JCW like a heavily-optioned 'S', so you really take it in the shorts when it comes to resale.

If the OP was trying to sell a two-year old base model Cooper instead of a JCW, I bet that they'd be offering closer to 75-85% of the original MSRP, instead of 50%.

 

Is this your first rag top ?

No matter who makes it, they always bring in lower $ for trade in than expected.

 

So just to give some guys a general idea, I just picked up my 09 R56 JCW with 28k miles from the local mini dealer. They gave the previous owner 23k on a trade in.