I really enjoyed checking out the new Clubman at this Saturday. I am thinking about getting one, but I was disappointed by the $18,000 trade in the dealer was offering. Does anyone have any recent experience with buying or selling a Cooper S convertible? In my case I have 39,000 miles and all the goodies on my car. Josh was telling me that stick shift is harder to sell in the LA market.
Is there a private party demand for this type of car?
Are sellers having to sell at prices similar to what the dealer is offering?
That trade in value just seems a little hard to swallow on top of paying a several thousand dollar premium on the Clubman.

I still may get a SideWalk edition cooper s Conv. as well. is anyone dealing on these?

I'm in Southern California.

 

That is low, especially when dealers around my area (midwest) ask almost $20k for a non S version. Probably closer to $23k for yours, and that's a pretty hefty profit imo.

I don't know about your area, but manual cars are aparently the hot ticket around here. I don't see many autos showing up for service or in the car lot. So, I would say you are probably better off selling your privately. Man, I really wish I knew you were selling before I bought mine on wednesday, I would've definitely made you a better offer than the dealer.

Best luck on your sale and upgrade,

Daniel

 

Just one data point, but back in June we bought our '05 MCSc from a private party in Northern California (found on Craigs List) for $21000. Car was in gorgeous shape inside and out, is cool blue, had 31,000 miles on it, and was totally loaded with options (pretty much every non-JCW option EXCEPT the rear foglight and self-dimming mirror. Included the factory nav.)

I think we got a good deal ... this was just the car we were looking for, with all the extras we wanted, at a great price. The owner originally tried to sell for $24K, and had it listed at $21K for two weeks before we came along.

I still keep an eye on Craigs List to see what is selling locally. I've not yet seen a deal as good as what we got ... then again, I tend to see the same high priced cabrios listed over and over and over again ... not selling.

I'm thinking the "absurdly high resale value" is a myth ... sure, people ask for the big $$$, but is anyone paying?

I was also told (by the seller) that at the time the wholesale market for MINIs was "very soft" in the area, and that dealers were offering quite a bit less for the cars.

 

Another data point, bought mine a year ago with 12k miles (see sig for options) from private party at $23,750.

Although admittedly that was a great deal (sometimes the eBay gamble pays off), I think expecting $23k from dealer (knowing trade-in is always going to yield less than private sale) is very unrealistic for a car that's now a year older and has 3 times the miles. Having said that $18k does seem low, and I would check other sources like edmunds.com.

 

I'm sure you can sell to a private party for more than the dealer offers. They'll sell it easily for $2k or $3k more than they pay you, and it's not pure profit. Even if you think it's in perfect condition, the dealer will have to invest a bit in the car to resell it - probably do the CPO thing.

Another resource to check out is Kelly Blue Book.

 

You definitely should get more than what the dealer is offering. But you may have to wait for that buyer that is looking for what you have.

Besides all the magic books dealers use to come up with a trade value they also look at what the car brings at wholesale auctions. That's a good barometer for the local markets.

 

i just bought mine in early january, for a bit more than the dealer is offering you. 44k miles, every option but JCW junk. An S, with most option packages with that mileage should be right around 20-22 I would think

Try ebay. You can have the buyer cover/pay for all the shipping.
Mine was shipped up to Michigan from Nevada!

 

I shopped around for 6 months before buying mine -- and can assure you that there is a seasonal market fluctuation in prices (especially cabrios). Prices tend to be about $1k or 2k higher in late-spring / summer than right now.
Something else to consider.

 

Stick it on autotrader.com. It'll cost around $50 to get a run-til-it-sells ad. Start with an optimistic price and gradually bring it down every couple of weeks. Be patient.

You're in just about the best resale market in the US for a Mini. Don't blow it by trading it in!

 

Definitely try to sell it yourself. We've sold 2 MINIs over the past 2 years - one from a Craigs list ad and the other from an Auto Trader ad.

Give yourself plenty of time for the sale though. It may take several weeks. We sold our Cabrio at the worst time of the year - November - and still got what we were asking.

Donna

 

Sorry about hijack -- but love the new sig ^ D/M

 

Why thank you very much..!!

Donna

 

Dealers primarily/solely use Galves for wholesale values. Galves values usually comes in 5-30% lower.

 

True -- what they like to do is use Galves when pricing your trade in but kbb when trying to sell you a car at max price

 

I suppose if I were looking to sell my 06 I would start considering offers around 25k so for an 05 with more miles than me I would think around 22k. Of course that all depends on what "all the goodies" means and of course the local market. In my case, being 4+ hours from any dealer could either help (rarity) or hurt (hassle) my MINI's value.

 

True.....and we've all seen $tealers price even higher than that.....

 

If you truly have "all the goodies" then this is not enough trade in value.

as I understand it is possible to pay about 50K for a Mini equipped with everything.

I have a 2005 MCS convertable that I paid 36K for new (out the door). I probably paid more than I should have but it was worth it to me.

You probably would do much better with a private sale. Sounds like the dealer is low-balling you to me.

 

I paid 24500 last July for a 2005 Cooper S with 7K miles on it from a Toyota Dealer. Many features, but not everything. I thought that was a very good deal.

 

We thought about trading our MINI when the struts went bad (whole other thread). We went to a Honda dealer to check out the new Accord Coupe (a very nice car).

We have an '05 Cooper S Cabrio (6 spd, leather, chrome, computer, but no nav or heated seats) with 48K miles. They offered us only $16! When we got up to leave, they came back with a better offer: $16500

We said thank you and left.

 

A little late responding but since I've checked out about every mini from the US to the UK, I've definitely checked out some prices...

18K from a dealer for a trade-in is about right. You figure the dealer is going to make 3-5K (at least try) profit. If they gave you 21-23K, they wouldn't make any money.

I just purchased my '05 S convertible with 15K miles for 22K from a non mini dealer which is in agreeance with what private individuals are asking....

I'm with the rest of the guys... sell it yourself and make the profit the dealer would make.

Good Luck.


Mark