Hi guys, well im looking to buy a cooper, and there is this cooper that im looking to buy from someone close to me, i dont want to rip him off so i would like to know how much this cooper is likely worth.

THe cooper is a 2006 cooper S with 12000 miles on it. it has been modified with m7 strut bar, m7 intercooler, m7 scoop, koni suspension and some other springs i forgot, it also has 16% pulley i think, its got ram air short intake and the manifold has been ported and polished, also, the car recieved tuned or modified ECU and the sway bar has been upgraded to handel better. Thats all i can think of from the top of my head. The car is full cloth interior and does not have sunroof in order to save weight.

THe car is gun metal and although the car paint is not perfect, its not that bad. the car does have a bit from rock chips on the front bumper as well as hood. the racing stripes will have to be replaced due to bugs hitting on them.

Im wondering what you guys think the car is worth? the car has extended warentee up to 50000 miles. Thanks in advance guys!

 

by the way, the car also has the factory aero bodykit.

 

Probably not much more than $20k would be my guess for a minimally spec'd S. If you feel the mods are worth something, then you can add their value, but many people consider mods to bring down the value.

 

woow these coopers depreciate in value fast huh? he bought it for quite a bit more than that brand new, and also the upgrades cost quite abit according to him, its only got 12000 on it too. oh well i guess minis dont hold their value? thanks for the input

 

50,000 mile warranty is standard. you might want to look into if the mods have affected the warranty at all. like already said, mods don't really add value; lots of people return their cars to as stock as possible when selling for that reason. in this case however, the m7 strut bar might've been good 'cuz it prevents mushrooming. but what counts is the service record, has the car been well maintained and taken care of, was it *abused*, etc. for me, mechanical condition is way more important than cosmetics. you said it's someone close to you, so you should be able to find out if the car was well maintained and in good shape. plug the specs and miles into edmunds, they give a pretty good/realistic used car price

 

the car has been well maintained. it has been driven hard (redlined) from time to time on the highway but the car has always been maintained at BMW dealer. as far as i know, with the mods, he was still able to get service done from the dealer

 

yeah i just bought my mini for 23k and i cant even sell it for 19. sucks.

 

With the new generation cars out there and plenty of used first gen cars on the market, the days of super high resale value are sadly over.

But if you have $20k or so and want a modified MINI, this sounds like a great one to get.

In general, "upgrades" do not add value to a used car and may scare off potential buyers.

 

so whats a fair value for the car? 20k?

 

See
http://www.kbb.com/

You have to use your zipcode for an accurate estimate

For private party value in my area with manual transmission

Any DSC option? Any Factory LSD?
Any stereo upgrade? Harmon Kardon?
Any Nav on center of dash?
Any multifunction steering wheel? Cruise control?
Which wheels and tires?
Which exhaust system? Cat back or upgraded header?

Price for base MCS without the above options in "Good" condition about-
$22,500 in Good shape
$20,800 in Fair shape

There was no allowance for aerokit (front bumper, side skirts, rear bumper)
Often owners will paint the wheel arches and trim in addition. Rough cost of the aero kit installed and painted $2000+.

With so many upgrades I would say you have to be careful about potential problems. Do you get Service Engine Soon dash lights and Computer codes on a regular basis? What kind of gas mileage is he reporting? At least 25 mpg would be good. What is the condition of the clutch? The brakes?

The price will vary from region to region and what the market can bear. If someone wants those upgrades then they might be more willing to pay for them but otherwise most buyers are not interested in that level of upgrades.

 

KBB says $21,515 for fair condition.. but most people here said 20k with all the mods, which one is the right price?

 

There has been much discussion on different threads about the accuracy of kbb . . . bottom line is that I don't think any of the cars have been bought/sold for kbb.
I got mine for almost 6k below kbb -- that may be a little extreme, but truth is that most start out by asking for kbb . . . and then negotiate down from there.
As someone noted above, edmunds.com tends to be a little closer to reality.

 

They hold their value well relative to other cars on the market, but even MINIs do lose some value! Also, keep in mind that modifications and accessories return a much smaller percentage of their cost (and some items return little or no value) than the vehicle itself does.

Any car (no matter what it is, unless it is something unobtainable) is going to take its biggest depreciation hit the second it drives off the lot, because at this point it is now used and there has to be some price differentiation for someone to buy the used car and not just buy a new one. If you've bought (or been in the market for) a new MINI recently, ask yourself how much less a used 2006 or 2007 would have had to have been for you to seriously consider it.

After this initial hit, the depreciation levels off a bit but the car will lose more in the first year than it will in the second year, more in the second year than in the third year, etc.

Relatively speaking, you're going to lose a lot less with a MINI than you will with other cars.

 

The right price is the price agreed to by the buyer and seller. It is highly variable based on your desire to get that car.

It's likely that it is somewhere between $19,999 and 21,000. It's up to the seller to decide if that is good enough.

In my area a similarly modded 2003 MCS sold for $14,000 with about 30,000 miles on it.