I have a 2006 R53 that I need to sell. I have a neighbor who is interested in it, but I am not sure what a reasonable price is. The KBB/NADA prices are just crazy low, considering the market for cars these days and the condition of my car. Please let me know what you think a reasonable price is. Here are some of the details of my car:

2006 Cooper S hardtop w/sunroof

The good:
60500 miles
Garaged
Exceptionally clean and well kept (looks almost new)
Full factory-installed JCW kit
New brakes (pads & Centric rotors)
New Pilot Sport 4S tires
Panther black English leather interior (excellent condition)
Nearly all options. The only that I recall it doesn't have are heated seats, Alcantera headliner, and parking sensors.
Dealer accessory oil temp and battery gauges in the console.
No aftermarket parts besides the brake rotors & pads.

The bad:
The clip that holds the center armrest in place is broken. This isn't a big issue, but the armrest will move forward and backward when you put your elbow on it.
The navigation system has developed a parasitic current draw. This will drain the battery in a day or two if you don't drive drive the car or keep it on a charger. I just leave the fuse pulled for the NAV/computer.
The checkerboard mirror caps have yellowed somewhat.
The rear JCW emblem is missing (presumed stolen).

 

It has the 6-speed manual transmission.

 

It might be worth a lot more than you realize, especially being a well taken care of Factory JCW with low miles. What kind of deal do you you want to give your neighbor, ok, good, or great?

To me, the bad seems pretty minor, except for the parasitic draw from the NAV. If it’s the NAV unit under the seat, it might not be too bad, but it’s not a trivial fix if the center NAV cluster needs to be replaced. The center cluster in a MINI is programmed with the VIN, mileage, and many(all?) of the options, and is pretty much locked to a particular car unless you really know what you’re doing and have the right equipment and programs.

Not sure how familiar you are with the Factory installed JCW’s, but it should also have a limited slip differential and the upgraded JCW brake kit, both of which did not come on the Dealer installed JCW’s. The brake kit was available as an accessory, but the LSD was not.

Also, have you run the VIN on the MINI site to see if there are any open recalls? It might be included in the power steering pump or the passenger seat occupancy sensor recall.

 

Thanks for the response, RB-MINI.

As far as the deal is concerned, I am looking for a fair price -- something that neither of us will feel bad about.

Yes, it has the upgraded brakes and LSD.

When I was diagnosing the parasitic draw, I measured the current at the battery. I noticed that the car would go to sleep and the current was within spec. But occasionally, the DVD/NAV unit under the seat would wake up and run for a while. It was these seemingly random wakes that would draw down the battery. I am not sure whether the issue was with the box under the seat, or the head unit telling the box to wake up. I searched forums, but I did not find a solution to the problem besides pulling the fuse.

It does suck that I have an unusable screen on the dash now. But in practical terms, it was not really providing much benefit. The maps are so out of date now, that the NAV was not very useful. Someone would be much better off using their phone for navigation. The computer functions were somewhat useful. It was kind of interesting to see my average speed and average fuel mileage. But even that feature is not a huge loss.

Thanks for the tip on checking recalls. I'll do that.

A couple more things to mention... It has the chrome-line interior trim package, auto-AC, and rear fog light (all the toggle switches are populated in the console).

 

Go to an auction site bringatrailer dot com. You can put in 2006 mini cooper s and see what cars were sold.
.

 

When I've decided to sell cars I owned many years and really enjoyed, my objective was for a buyer wherein I wouldn't see it again. Enough regrets later having sold but worse yet if the car wasn't being properly cared for or maintained as before would drive me nuts.

 

A few tips to consider if you were looking to sell which would help:

1) you can replace the armrest cover. They are sold separately. It’s a common issue

2) you can replace the mirror caps if they detract from the car due fo fade. The checker ones are somewhat specific taste. Could get a used set of black ones, new chrome ones, etc, to appeal to a wider audience.

3) the car is right at the age/miles where it starts to need a lot of common repairs. This can effect the value. It’s fairly common to have gasket leaks, power steering lines, upper engine mount, fluids/filters due, lower control arm bushings and more. Not sure the status of these on the car, just mentioning as it’s easy to drop $2-3k into a car this age fairly quickly.

Looking at comps can help, but there are a lot of factors. You definitely have a highly desirable year/model/miles overall.