What's wrong with my Mini? Seriously?
 

My Mini has been for sale for over 3 months...under blue book/Nada. I need to sell it so I can get a CM All4. Which I really don't even want to do, but necessary as my baby's car seat doesn't fit in the back rear facing. But I've barely had a bite. Are R56s still selling? Or are they not as popular anymore due to the new designs (CM, Coupe, etc).

I'm getting disillusioned. :sad:

Looking for feedback, advice, etc.

Thanks in advance!

MINI not selling
 

Marketing a car is an elusive art. It may stay as it is for weeks for quite a while before the buyer who wants it and contacts you. Many times it depends on the price you are asking. If it is too little then shoppers think it has probelms. If it is too high then shoppers think you're trying to take advantage of them. You can't ask retail as a private seller. Heck, you can't ask retail as a retailer. It can also depend on where you are advertising. If you have put all your eggs in the Craigslist basket and it is not working then pay a little bit of money and put it on AutoTrader or eBay. Like so many things in sales, if something doesn't work, change it. That can include everything from the venue of advertising to the actual price of the car.
Good Luck.
:thumbsup:

I think it's all those oil leaks under your mini shown in the photo! :eek2:....:wink:

Seriously... it'll sell. The mini has a "classical" look, so no matter what year you have, it will always be desirable.

For what it's worth, I would never advertise a car like the mini under blue book. Mini is a car that either you want or don't - but if you want it, you'll pay big for it! Having dealers in the U.S. so far away from each other makes the vehicle a little more in demand for the private sales car market.

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Thanks WeaverNH for the insight. I've got it on both Craigslist and Autotrader. Admittedly I haven't made any changes to my ads since I initially posted them. I guess it's time to lower the price a little although I thought it was competitively listed.

MBU, Those aren't oil leaks! Do they really look like oil leaks??? :confused: Yikes! It's water from me having just hand washed the car.

I get a lot of compliments/comments on it so I really thought it would sell quickly with my competitive pricing. But as WeaverNH said, maybe pricing it under blue book makes it look as if something's wrong with it.

Just teasing... hence the "seriously".

OH! :lol: Sorry, I should have totally picked up on that!

No, raise the price!

Where I live a used car dealer can't keep a mini on their lot. They sell well over blue book and some are in very poor condition!

Do you have a link to your ad? Maybe someone on here could help with the wording, etc. I'd list it for sale in the NAM marketplace as well.

Good luck! :-)

Wow, that's incredible! Mine is in excellent condition...so I'm feeling encouraged to at the very least keep the price the same. Thanks, MBU!

Try eBay classifieds - that's how I sold my TDI (after wasting weeks on Craigslist and newspaper classifieds). I've never sold a car on Autotrader, but every car I tried to buy (four or so) turned out to be a scam.

I'd also consider putting the factory wheels back on, and remove the window film. Where I live, not many cars have film, and it's usually a turn off. Some places, like Florida, are different, and I obviously don't know your area. People that want film know it's between $100-200 to have done, so they don't go looking for cars with it. People who don't want it, would stay away from a car with it, I imagine.

Blackbomber, I actually wondered about the tint...weather or not it could/would be a deterrent for a possible buyer. I couldn't put the factory wheels back on though because the tread on those tires are rather worn. Ebay is definitely a thought. I sold a Honda Prelude on Ebay years ago...I didn't want to deal with the sellers fees this time around.

If you're going to buy a Mini CM for a replacement what did/will the dealer offer you for it on a trade-in?

Link to my ad...advice, critiques welcome:
 

They use this Black Book online thing where you put in your car's info and they email you what they'll offer you for your trade...it was insultingly low. IMO. It was lower than kbb/nada's Trade numbers. Then they'd turn around and sell it for about $5K more.

Instead of "Upgraded sound" I would put Factory installed Harmon and Kardon Premium Sound System"

Definitely change the 1st picture. The water underneath is bad. Nice looking car. I'd also change your reference to the maintenance. The recommended intervals aren't good enough for a lot of people. I typically look for frequent oil changes <7, 500 miles.

Thanks JohnW94! I will change that. :)

MCDawg, yeah, ever since MBU joked about the oil leaks, I can see how that could look bad. I'm going to change out those pics with water on the ground.

And I agree about the maintenance.

Thanks so much for your help and the compliment! :)

The tint would turn me off but maybe that's because I'm a crotchety New Englander who wouldn't go that dark. That said it may be a draw in your area.

I would take off the peace sticker and mention something about being adult owned and driven. Unless you're really young and that isn't the case. Psychologically that affects me personally.

eBay seller fees are only $125 for a car in your price range - maybe less and almost the price of the best AutoTrader ad. eBay classifieds are free. FWIW.

Also not sure which book values you are referring to (retail, wholesale, trade in, etc), but places like Carmax are paying $3k under KBB wholesale trade in for most MINIs, again FWIW.

Ok, I can appreciate that. I'm 35. :wink: I have the peace and Staind decals, but they're vinyl and I just assumed people would know they're easily removed. Better to just alleviate the guessing and assumptions though, right?

Thanks, PJD.

Having just purchased a 2010 MC and spent hours looking through online listings, I'd suggest:

• finally, the peace sign could bother people looking for a more pristine look.

Oxygen blue is an unusual, lovely color and I wonder if some can't really appreciate its specialness online. I didn't until I saw one in-person.

Here's another 2008 Autotrader private seller example to consider: http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...17381136&Log=0

Ultimately, purchasing a MC is a very personal decision, and it's hard to know what will be attractive to any specific buyer. Best of luck!

Just saw your ad and the first thing I would do is drop it to $15,900 or even $15,800. I know it's mumbo jumbo but how often do you see car dealers selling something at $16,000? How about never. There is a REASON that people that do this for a living, do that. ;)

There are two things I see that may deter buyers, first it is not an S, second it is an automatic. A 2008 Cooper in my area is only going to bring about 14,500.
I looked for 4 months before I found what I was looking for at a price I was willing to pay, so there are people looking at it you just haven't found the right one, they will come.
Just my 2 cents..