What have you folks been doing when you are ordering a MINI but also trading in a vehicle in support of the deal? The lag for delivery seems awkward for negotiations. Once the car has arrived, a dealer might try to use your eagerness to his advantage when valuing your trade-in. So what have you folks done, or think you would do, to correct the balance of power?

My initial thoughts are to try to get an offer for my trade-in at the time of ordering, with some built-in allowance for the additional miles my trade-in will collect while waiting for delivery. And perhaps a carmax quote in hand also when I show up on the delivery day.. what else?

I really don't want to still have my trade-in at the end of the day, and that's to the dealer's advantage.

 

In my experience, they won't guarantee anything until you're closing the deal.

 

I just went through this, but didn't I end up ordering a new MINI (their trade in offer was too low) They appraised my trade but told me if I waited until my new car was in, they'd have to re-appraise; since they were so low to begin with there was no way I was going to take even less in 6 weeks.

They do allow pre-trades, but then you'd be without a car until your new car came in.

 

Most dealers will give you a quote for the trade-in that's valid until your new MINI arrives, and some also put an additional mileage limit on the offer.
It may be worthwhile to try to sell your old car on your own, with the dealer offer as a backup, because a private sale usually get you a better deal.

 

I know some one who lost over 2000 dollars waiting for there MINI order to come in vs trading the car at the time of ordering(granted this was at the end of last year when the S--t was hitting the fan in the car industry). I would be very suprised if any dealer would give you a value that is good untill you MINI comes in since used car values are all over the pace at this time. Remember that if you trade you car vs selling it your self you pay sales tax on the trade difference(in ga at least) so a 20,000 trade in value is worth 21200 private sale(in GA at 6%)I would up selling my car to a person because I got a lot more for it vs the dealer trade. So we have been with 1 car for the last month now. Not much fun but better that a 1 or 2 thousand dollar suprise when my car comes in.

 

Dealers give firm prices on trade-ins all the time. It's part of doing business with customers who special order a car, like many MINI owners. Whether that price is the best price you can get is another issue, as most dealers offer well under the private sale price.
When I ordered my Clubman I offered my '02 BMW wagon as a trade, and was given a firm price good until my Clubman was delivered. I ended up selling the wagon privately, but the offer was legitimate, and served as a backup offer in case a private sale fell through.

 

My MINI dealer was not willing to value our trade for more than a week. If we wanted what they had appraised it at when we ordered, we were told we'd need to drop it off within the week. They told us if we waited until the order came in, they'd need to re-appraise our trade. So it must vary dealer to dealer.

 

All good info folks, thanks for the replies.

 

I ordered and traded in. The offered price didn't change from the time I ordered the car to when I picked my new one up-kinda sucked since I spent a lot of extra time making look nice and spiffy, AND it had a nice aftermarket stereo and Sirius installation. Oh well that's the way it goes.

 

My experience is that things are changing fast in the industry. I had a dealer two years ago offer to give trade-in value and hold firm trade value until delivery date. I don't know, but I assume they estimated mileage (say 3,000 miles more) for trade in date and gave offer based on that. I ended up selling private party (E46 330) during interim.

Recently, I went in to discuss Euro delivery purchase on a new BMW and was told that I had to give them the car within a week in order to negotiate trade-in value or else they would revalue at the time of turn in.

I believe with the prices falling, dealers aren't willing to take on the additional market risk.

I would be surprised if they give you a firm offer, unless it was really low (which wouldn't surpise me).

Your Carmax offer in hand is a good idea. I would also try to do a private party sale during the wait period. Start higher at beginning and drop price as you get closer to delivery date. Worst case scenario, don't put any money down on order and if the price they quote is too far from what they give you on delivery date, walk away. Given the market, they should pull whatever money they can find on the deal to get it done.

It's a great time to buy something new and a horrible time to sell what you have. Best of luck!

 

[quote=miniclubman;2703557]Dealers give firm prices on trade-ins all the time. It's part of doing business with customers who special order a car, like many MINI owners. Whether that price is the best price you can get is another issue, as most dealers offer well under the private sale price.
When I ordered my Clubman I offered my '02 BMW wagon as a trade, and was given a firm price good until my Clubman was delivered. I ended up selling the wagon privately, but the offer was legitimate, and served as a backup offer in case a private sale fell through.[/quote

I did exactly the same thing. Sold an 05 Toyota Corolla S and an 07 Mazda 3 as private sales and recieved much more than the dealer offered. But I had their offer in my back pocket in case the worst happened. I actually sold both cars very rapidly. And this was just 2 months ago with softer used car prices due to low cost fuel and new car incentives. I wouldn't have done it any other way.
Selling yourself is the way to go.

Pat

 

Pat and Golfnut, I agree.

One thing I'll keep in mind is the impact of a trade-in's reduction upon a new MINI's sales tax. That gives a break-even point for Maryland of 6% or higher in private sale over trade-in. That's ignoring the extra math involved with the impact of recent legislation allowing tax deductions on new cars.

For personal taste, related to the extra effort, I will set my private sale minimum a bit higher. For a small amount of extra money it's not worth the annoyances (test-drive no-shows, "temporary" cash-flow problems, other excuses)..

I've got some cleaning to do, the trade's taking me to see a motoring advisor today!