It's not just Mini. I have purchased and traded several high optioned cars. It seems to me when you are paying $40K for a car that starts at $25K from a resell perspective, everything over the average price people by that model for, say $32K, is gone.

There are of course some exceptions but unfortunately the Mini isn't one. And whom ever said about the JCW not being recognized is true. I was searching for a used JCW car and had trouble finding one. Mostly because using autotrader I found I had to look at the pictures of cars since when I bought mine there were three lists within 50 miles but the write-ups didn't even mention they were JCW cars.

 

Stated exactly what I was thinking, though, much more elegantly than I could have.

 

O/P I see you're in CA - have you listed your car with local or semi-local Mini clubs? The car might catch the eye of an enthusiast who would recognize value in the add-ons.

 

It does appear that parts for MINIs are expensive. In part I think the reason is related to the uniqueness of the brand. As for for aging, there are always more to fix as a car ages and the fixes become more expensive. I have a 14 yo A4 that I just know will cost me $1500 per year in repairs. It is still fun to drive even with 150k miles and repair cost is cheaper than the replacement cost.

 

Our cars are really quite rare for a serially produced MINI. In 2009, there were 498 factory JCWs imported to the US out of 45,000+ MINIs for the year.

 

Dealers often make this point but the reverse is also true. As a couple of others have done - I bought a used 2009 Clubman last May and I went looking specifically for a JCW with NAV and was not interested in an S or a Justa. I think you are the same type of a buyer as you also mention AMG's a 996TT. There is a market for enthusiasts cars but it is small so you need to be patient. I for one knew the JCW and NAV options were expensive add-on's so I was willing to pay a premium. Interestingly, I ran into an enthusiast seller on NAM who was also frustrated so I got lucky and was able to buy a pristine and nicely equipped car with 29K miles for under $21K but I was anticipating I would need spend closer to $25K. In my opinion a fully loaded JCW with 50K miles should sell well above $20K - depending on condition of course.

 

I would be interested in buying your car so I wouldn't say there are no bites, but like anything else, price is the factor.

 

Give me your reasonable offer...

 

24k miles 09 Clubman JCW with pretty much every option except nav was purchased for 21k last month in WI. I was thinking I'd have to spend closer to 25k. Seller said no bites for 4 months.