Has anyone else gotten one of these letters from MINI?

I can't be bothered to type it all out at the moment, but it targets "specific in-demand vehicle years as models, many of which are being sourced to fulfill consumer requests" and they would like to buy back my car "Above Market Value" and offer me a $1,500 voucher towards a 2011/2012 MINI.

Of course this whole "Your six year old car is in high demand, so we'll pay you more than it's worth" thing sounds bogus, but $1,500 off a new car with 0.9% sounds okay

I hope I haven't voided it, as it specifies I shouldn't show this to anyone but my family or others close to me.

Just wondering how widespread this particular promotion is.

When I saw the logo on the envelope, I thought it was a recall for the Airbag Sensor or the Power Steering.

 

I have a nice bridge to sell.

 

I've gotten a few of those, and have gotten them from other car manufacturers. They are a common ploy to get you into the dealership. I've never tried to use one, but I'd be curious to find out if people actually get the money they offer for your current vehicle.

 

I got a similar email from my local VW dealer (minus the financing offer). When I brought my car in for them to appraise, they offered me ~30% less than the current KBB/Edmunds trade-in value.

 

We got this on our trashed Expedition. We got above market for it. They were sending them to China for some purpose. We didn't take the bait and buy another Ford. Took the money and went to Jeep.

 

Was your mileage close to or over 100k?

Many dealers don't want to sell the car they buy from you - they want to sell it at auction, so they offer you less than the auction price so they can turn a quick buck. Auction price is probably close to the 'trade-in' value, but I'm not entirely certain.

As for places like CarMax, they'll make an offer, but will immediately send all >100k vehicles to auction. One of their salesmen I was talking with told me this flat-out, and I can't blame them.

I'd rather sell the car private party for trade-in value than to trade one in for less.

 

Just a way to get you in the door....
Virtually every dealer in every make runs a program like this...Toyota sends us a letter like this for out 200,000+ highlander....and a few cars we don't own anymore to boot!!

 

Fair 'nuff but then why waste the money bringing in someone with a 2004 vehicle? I'm over it but it's left me leery of "we want your used car" campaigns.

 

I have a dealer in Cheyenne Wyoming that sends out letters that look like they are a rebate check from the government. Then you open it and it is just a "this is what you can save" check. If I dealer has to resort to social engineering and trickery, then what else are they up to. It gives me a good indicator of the dealership, and I will not step on their property!

 

Good for you!!!

 

Oh, I wasn't defending them, just trying to explain what I believe the disparity is in the offers and a vehicle's true value. If it's difficult selling a car private party, one can at least resort to one of these places to get at least a little money out of it - but it should be just that (I will take my Caliber to CarMax to get a baseline value for it before attempting to sell PP).

 

Its a marketing strategy since the used car market is doing better then new cars.

 

Used cars are also vastly more profitable.