I'd like to hear from those people that traded in a car when you bought your Mini. If possible I'd like to know if you got a reasonable price for the trade-in and what make, model and year did you trade.

 

i actually have never traded in a car and will not do so. however i worked at acura for two years, and i will tell you, you WILL get screwed on your trade in. they either screw you on the trade in or the car you buy.

my personal recommendation would be sell your car in the private market, that is the best deal you will get.

good luck, and happy motoring.

 

>>i actually have never traded in a car and will not do so. however i worked at acura for two years, and i will tell you, you WILL get screwed on your trade in. they either screw you on the trade in or the car you buy.
>>
>>my personal recommendation would be sell your car in the private market, that is the best deal you will get.
>>
>>good luck, and happy motoring.

He's right. I couldn't manage to sell my previous vehicle on the open market, so I had to trade it in as I couldn't manage two car payments. I will say I got a reasonable value on what I gave them, but it certainly wasn't anywhere near what I could have gotten had I managed to sell the car privately.

 

Yes, i understand what you are saying about the private market being a better way to get a price for the trade-in, and I know dealers rip you, but my question is really this.

"Did they offer you at least wholesale blue book value on the trade or did they discount even that low price?"

 

I traded in a '99 VW GTI (not the VR6) and got above book for it. I bought it in 2000, so it had less mileage than it should have. I got lucky though.

 

>>Yes, i understand what you are saying about the private market being a better way to get a price for the trade-in, and I know dealers rip you, but my question is really this.
>>
>>"Did they offer you at least wholesale blue book value on the trade or did they discount even that low price?"

TYPICAL dealer practice (i have worked for acura/honda only, so take it for what its worth)...is we find low bluebook, and try to give you less than that. once your in love with the new car on floor, people will do anything for it.

ex: we had a RN come in to our dealership and traded in a 2001 X5 4.6 with 6K miles on it for a MDX..she should have gotten the mdx + cash back. we sold her the mdx, kept the x5, and charged her 5K more. we turned around and sold the x5 at a huge profit a week later.

 

I explored trading in my MCS for a new 330csi.....the response from BMW sales in so many words was "BEND OVER"....:smile:

 

>>Yes, i understand what you are saying about the private market being a better way to get a price for the trade-in, and I know dealers rip you, but my question is really this.
>>
>>"Did they offer you at least wholesale blue book value on the trade or did they discount even that low price?"

Yes, my dealer did offer in the wholesale price range. I did a little homework before I went in to give the trade. At the time I traded it in, the going rate for my old car on trade was between $6,800 and about $10,500, depending on options and condition. I got $8,200 for it. It was in superior condition but had higher than average miles and wasn't an in-demand vehicle on the used market. My opinion was that if I would have been able to sell it on my own, I should have gotten 10K.

 

well you see it was kind of like this... I was driving by the Mercedes dealership when I saw my future love sitting in the lot. I took it for a spin and knew I had to have this car. My choices were to trade in my 2002 Toyata Echo or walk away and hope that no one else saw this beauty. Easy choice, since my wife was there and said: buy it, now! I figure I lost about $1500 over what I could have gotten in a private sale... but I drove away with the Mini. The joy was PRICELESS. No regrets, not a one.

 

Most dealers pay what the car would bring at a wholesale auction. There are so many variables to valuing a car that it's really hard to go to a website and get a value for it. How are the tires? How's the paint? Any accidents or body work done?

You will always get more for a car if you try to sell it on the open market. But don't expect a dealer to give you more money for your car than it would cost him or her if they went to an dealer auction to buy it.

 

I traded a 13-year-old Honda and got $1000 to $1500 less than I would have had I sold it privately. By the book, I absolutely got screwed on the trade. However, the dealer appraised it by staring at it for 30 seconds. Never opened the hood. Had that happened they might have learned that the car was drinking a quart of oil every 300 miles and eating cylinder valve heads like popcorn -- it barely made it to MINI delivery day. I wasn't comfortable selling it privately, and I didn't want to drop $1500 on a new engine, so... the dealer screwed me, I screwed them, we're even.

 

I traded in my '00 Jetta with 56K on the clock, and numerous broken handles and such. They gave me more than the NADA trade-in value, and almost as much as I could have probably made if I had sold it the way it was. I paid sticker for my MC, and didn't get any of those ridiculous dealer add-ons.

S

 

bear xx220-- the highest of honda motors (excluding the nsx) costs about 450 bucks

 

I was going to trade in my '95 Jetta when I got the MINI. The first dealership I went to only wanted to give me $1000. The one I wound up leasing the MINI at was going to give me $1700 (still nothing near what I owed on the car), but I wound up selling the Jetta the day before I picked up the MINI. Good luck I guess. But if at all possible I would recommend selling the car privately.

 

As difficult as it may seem to be, do everything you can to sell the car yourself. Unless your car is a pure junnker, that would be the only scenario under which trading the car in might be a good idea. Never, and I mean never trade your car in, the dealer will screw you coming and going, they are there to make money on every transaction and unless you understand the intricacies of the numbers involved and most of don't, myself included, you will loose out. I am sure you have a friend that has sold a car before, talk to them to see if they can help you out.

 

I would like to slightly ammend what I just wrote above. The dealer doesn't want to 'screw you', but he has to make money on every deal whether its a sale or a trade in and they will manipulate the numbers so you don't feel the pain and they get all the gain.

 

Sell the car on your own.You will not pay tax on the trade price, but you should be able to get more for it if you sell it yourself.
We wanted to trade a mint 97 chevy Tahoe. It was loaded and had average miles. The dealer trade-in price was $9200.I almost fell on the floor.I thought the guy was kidding.The listed price in all the classified adds was between $9500 to 14,000,depending on the mileage and options.It took us 4 months to sell it,but we got $10,000 on a private sale.With all the snow we had last Jan-Feb. it was nice to still have the truck around.My bet, sell it on your own.Luck to ya.Jaydawg.

 

I have both sold a car on my own and traded in:

In 1993 sold on my own a 1985 Honda Accord (from Calif) in MN. Also I had the time to sell and the Minnesotans love a car with no rust. Back in the 1980s I traded in a Ford Escort, because it had something wrong with it that was later recalled (but was never diagnosed when I owned it, but it sure stalled alot). I took the loss, because I did not want to rip somebody off.

When I ordered my Mini, I had planned to sell on my own and the dealer knew that. Then had to wait for 12 weeks for delivery Around 4 weeks in, I went to the Dealer to find what they would give for trade-in as a bottom line for selling.

1993 Acura Integra, 9 years old, 98K miles, very good condition.
Blue book trade-in was listed at $3,500, retail around $5K or so.
My Mini dealer offered me $4,000, plus saved $240 on sales tax, as it lowered the price of the Mini. I was quite stunned at the offer. The dealer's comment was 'She is already buying a car from us and obviously took great care with the car'

I changed my mind and traded it in. Back in 1993, I had spent a lot of time waiting for people to see my car back that never showed.

Another reason I looked into trading in, is at that time, here in CT, a young man, around 20 - 25 was selling a used vehicle on his own. He went with the potential owners for a test drive and was murdered. In the past when I sold my other car, I never went with anyone, I would ask for their license and/or keys of the car they came in as an exchange. But so many of my friends were telling me to not sell on my own.

I feel with my recent trade-in for my Mini, I was very fortunate and received a very good deal. Most experiences are not like that though.

One should also consider registration issues. I could not sell my old car until I had my new one, and would have had to pay for two registrations, which in CT can be expensive, plus a trip to DMV, which can be time consuming.

One should do what they are comfortable with. Not everyone wants to sell a car. It is your own money, nobody has the right to say it is right or wrong.

 

I would have ordered my cooper s the day I test drove one, but was insulted at what they offered me for my BMW.It had 160k on it, and was 10 years old, but it was still a nice bmw, not a chevy cavalier.I probably wouldn't have even traded in a cavalier for what they offered me.So I advertised it and sold it 2 months later for $5250.While waiting for a ride (sold the car while I was at work) I found my used cooper s on autotrader.So I saved 5 grand over the price of a new cooper s, didn't have to wait for it, and had to finance 5 grand less.Worked out wonderfully. Also a few months back my brother in law and I were out car shopping and they offered him 300 bucks for his sweet running, non-rusty 89 toyota 4x4 pickup, but with tons of miles of course.So I started talking to the sales manager and talked him down over a grand (with no trade)over the already discounted price on the new matrix he was buying.So he GAVE me the truck.So the mini and the landcruiser both get to sit under covers this winter.

 

>>I traded a 13-year-old Honda and got $1000 to $1500 less than I would have had I sold it privately. By the book, I absolutely got screwed on the trade. However, the dealer appraised it by staring at it for 30 seconds. Never opened the hood. Had that happened they might have learned that the car was drinking a quart of oil every 300 miles and eating cylinder valve heads like popcorn -- it barely made it to MINI delivery day. I wasn't comfortable selling it privately, and I didn't want to drop $1500 on a new engine, so... the dealer screwed me, I screwed them, we're even.

A classic story. I LOVE IT. I had a similiar situation many years ago.
IT FELT GREAT.

 

>>
>>A classic story. I LOVE IT. I had a similiar situation many years ago.
>> IT FELT GREAT.

 

Mine is a similar story to BearX220.

Went to the dealership driving a friend's car because mine was sitting at an auto repair shop waiting for me to make a decision. Was given an estimate on trade-in by the saleperson for my '93 Honda Civic DX, w/ 108,000 miles, bare bones for options, w/out her seeing the car. Blue book value was $2,000-$2,200...she offered me $1,800.

In the end, another $400 was deducted because of body damage once they actually saw the car.

Although I probably could have gotten more selling privately (and even the salesperson told me I would probably get more that way), I could not in good conscience sell the car to anyone. Like BearX220, my Civic barely made it to the dealership when it came time for me to pick up my MINI....sadly, I was praying the whole time driving to the dealership that Civic would just make it and therefore, forgot to say goodbye to a car that served me well for the seven years I had her.

 

>>I explored trading in my MCS for a new 330csi.....the response from BMW sales in so many words was "BEND OVER"....:smile:

NoNoNo, You keep the MCS and get the 2004 330ci !!

 

Great thread! If we had more of these financial discussions surrounding car buying tactics & solutions, we may all be faring a bit better. :smile:
Ok.
So...

1) IMO, MINI dealers can't get you 2 ways, -as you both know you're paying MSRP.

2) Be still. Sit there longer, ready to sign the papers to buy your MINI. Take-up all the MA manager's time as possible, wiggling about the trade-in price offered & the offer may get better. I say "may" 'cause you both know how much you want it & if it's an MCS, they know you have limited chances of finding another one readily available.

3) IMO, no MA wants to get that close to a sale, only to see you stammer at the poor trade-in offer they made. Know what separates your willingness, desire & time-taking ability to sell your trade privately in dollars. If they're $2500 off can you live with that? Or is your absolute lowest line more like $1600 difference.

4) Today's economy is a used car market. A great time to get much more, for much less. Why? Folks everywhere are taking big hits on trade-ins to get into newer rides with *advertised* lower interest rates.


===> Red03miniS, [Open to everyone's suggestions as well! :smile: ]

Given your keen dealership experience, what does one do about selling a dented-up car? [Dents on front quarter panel, driver's door,- scratches on rear door/bumper of minor consequence compared to obvious dents.]

MINI offered my brother $4k in trade so I kindly told 'em to stick-it on his behalf!

I know they should keep it forever, - yet, it isn't up to their Safety Standards (for a child), but I feel like fixing it will make it easier for him to sell, but net no ROI for the work done.

Whatdoyouthink?!???

Thanks Red03miniS & All!
- S.B.

_________________
MINI: Best horse for the buck!