Hey guys, just looking for any input and opinions. I bought my '06 Cooper four months ago, and it's great. I would like the extra boost of the S though. Right now I am financed through a bank at around 4%. I also have a third-party extended warranty rolled into the purchase price.

Does anyone have experience trading in a vehicle that is mostly not paid for, or with a warranty? In theory, if I can get the 1.9% financing my dealer is pushing on a few '07 S models they have on the lot, I could actually save money by trading up, if I get a good trade-in value. I paid around $6000 less than MINI is selling models comparable to mine with higher mileage. The S models they have are right around what I paid for my Cooper AND the extended warranty.

Any experiences or thoughts on trading in/trading up, particularly with a warranty involved, would be very helpful. Thanks!

 

Without seeing the actual numbers, can't tell you anything.

 

Yeah, I guess that is pretty vague.. when I have them in front of me i will post. I suppose I'd just like to hear of what kind of trade values people have gotten compared with dealer pricing on the lot, primarily.

 

Your best bet if you want to see what the trade in value would be on the Cooper, check out KBB.com. You could always bring that value in with you, and if you don't think you're getting what KBB says the car is worth, you could always walk away. But I'm betting they would honor that value regardless.

 

One thing...folks usually like the idea of a newer car, but have you driven gen2 mini? It is a radically different experance...before you kill youself with the numbers, go drive it....they handle/feel very differently.
Just remember, most of the hit on a new car is as you drive it off the lot, even with a great deal, with the used mini you got, the loss of value from deprecation is very low...so be sure to look at the Length of the loan...not just the monthly amount due....be sure to compare apples to apples, and not to oranges....the differance between 1% and 5% interest is a bit, but surely not enough to even cover the depreciation of driving the new car off the lot, nevermind the cost of the warrenty (usually not transferable) that you will loose.
Remember, your monthly payment may drop by $20, but if you extented the loan by 5 years, what have you gained...another 5 years of car payments!!

 

Negitive equity is a B!#@#, I have finaly got out from under the $15,000 I payed for my EVO that it wasn't worth, but it has been 4 years and 3 cars ago since I had to get rid of it.

A little valuable advice that my old boss at a dealership where I worked,
Sometimes when your down that much money, it is better to GET RID OF IT by other meens and let your GAP insurance take care of it.
Not that that is what I am suggesting but...

 

Thanks for the advice guys! I have not driven a 2nd Gen, maybe I will go talk to someone at the dealership and book a test drive to see if I like the feel of it. What kind of differences are there between the two? Or is it just a "feel" issue?

I definitely don't want to extend the terms of my loan at all, so it would have to save me money monthly and end at the same time for me to even consider it. I am just sort of kicking myself for not looking for an S initially, but it certainly makes sense to drive one before I get myself worked up.

The Trade-In Value according to Canadian Black Book is about $15k, which is $1k less than I paid for it.

 

Let me see if I understand this....

You want to trade from an '06 Justa to an '07 Cooper S and not put any money down and have you loan terms either stay the same or improve?

Don't get your hopes up, the financials on this do not make a lick of sense....

 

MINIDave, I was wondering if I could do it with a few thousand down. You are probably right though, I just thought it might be possible since they have a few S models on the lot (one '06 actually.) priced within a few thousand of the Coopers. For example, I believe the '06 S they have on the lot is $22,000 and they have a few Coopers for $19000.

I thought that since i paid $16K for a car they will probably put on the lot for around $19-20K, I might break even on the trade and then just have to pay $2-3K to get into the S, but save money on the interest rate (1.9% compared to the 5% on my current loan.)

 

One word of advise...the first year of any car can have "issues", and the "prince" motor on tge gen2 has had it's fair share....
If you could do an even trade, and get a lower interest rate, would you!?
That means the dealer is desperate to dump the gen2 to get a gen1 in trade...that should tell you something....Maybe there is a reason they are having trouble moving the '07?

 

After trading up 3 times it is all about are you going to have a car that is significantly more valuable then what you owe. Plus you have to be able to afford it too. Plus going from an 06 Cooper to an 07 Cooper S is a big deal. They are completely different cars.

 

That's a good point about the first year of the second gen. The only other one I'm curious about is a 2006 Cooper S "Rally Edition" they are asking $22k for.

 

Why would they put it on the lot for $19K if they sold it to you for $16K?
Did your ownership somehow improve the resale value?

My thinking is they sold the car for what it was worth, and they will buy it back (take it in trade) for a whole lot less, leaving you with a substantial difference to pay. Not to mention (depending on where you live) there will be tax and lic due on the new purchase.

Bottom line, you'll either need to come up with quite a bit of money or you're going to increase your loan amount and/or term considerably.

Of course, there's only one way you'll ever know for sure and that's to sit down and work a deal with them and see what they come up with.

Why did you buy the Justa in the first place instead of an S? My guess is that it what what you felt you could afford. Probably still is........

 

I should clarify, I did not buy my MINI at the MINI Dealership. I got a good price on it at a different dealership. The MINI Dealership is selling '06 Coopers with a few thousand KM more than mine, and the same trim, for $6k more than I paid at an independent dealer.

I bought the Cooper because I liked it over the preludes and mustangs, etc I was test driving prior. I hadn't even considered a MINI until a salesman talked me into test driving one.. I didn't even know what the S was until I'd bought the Cooper.

 

My buddy got his on a reduced sale. They wanted 18k and marketed it down to 15,500.

 

So, sounds like your next move is to go to the dealer and see if you can work a deal then, right?