Just wanted to get some input! I have a stunningly clean/well-maintained 2003 MINI Cooper S (Dark Silver, White roof, S-lites, 20% tint) with only 41,000 miles on it.

I have had the car on ebay 4 times, with a reserve of $18,500.00 and starting at $15,000.00. I have the car listed on Craigslist 3 times (Craigslist Akron/Canton, Columbus and Columbus), Facebook, vwvortex.com and NAM.

I keep a For Sale sign in the car at all times and even had vinyl cut for the rear windows advertising the price and contact info.

I realize the market is tough right now, but I'm not even getting offers! I let those who show interest know that the price is negotiable, but no serious bites!

Does anyone have any advice for me? Have you done something in the past that worked especially well to sell a car?

Can you even imagine selling a V8 SUV right now?!

Thanks!

 

I never had any luck with my 06 MCS a year ago. I had it for sale for 3 months and never had an offer, i ended up trading it in and getting raped on the price they gave me, i only got 18k for a 06 MCS last year.

 

I would think these cars should be easier to sell! 4 cylinder- good on gas. Safe, reasonably reliable...

That's what I'm afraid of... I still owe $11K on it and am buying an A4 for $8K... I hope I can get somewhere CLOSE to what I need!

 

Why can't you sell? My guess would be price. $18.5k sounds fairly high for a 2003 MCS with 41k miles. My 2003 MCS (xenons, panoramic roof, 73k miles) sold for $12k privately in the Boston area. I don't know all the specs on your car but if you car was say $25-26k when new, it is now almost 5 years old, out-of-warranty, and less-desirable than a 05-06. MINI resale depreciation is low, but it sounds like you're asking for too much. You may be able to sell your car for what you're looking for but only if you keep it on the market long-enough and are lucky. There were 2005 MCSs well-spec'd with 30k miles here in Boston that I watched being sold in only a few days at $18-20k. The sold immediately because they were priced to sell. If IrishCooper is an example whereas his 2006 traded for $18k and you're trying to sell your 2003 for $18.5 I'd suggest lowering the price by $1-1.5k and relisting.

 

15K? If you were here In California, I could probably help you out.

Good Luck man.

 

I paid 17k for my 03 MCS 46,000 miles only because i knew it had been taken care of and i wanted a all black MCS. I'd say your price is high.

 

For comparison, take a look at these two other 2003 MCSs on NAM. One is similar to your reserve price set in the eBay auction you mentioned with significantly fewer miles and more options, the other has about the same number of miles with the same if not fewer features and is listed at lower than your starting bid price. I wish you luck and I have to say the paint on your 2003 does look beautiful as you have some nice shots on the eBay site, but I'm sticking to my original comment that the price is just a little high.

2003 15k miles, Navi, Premium pkg, Sport pkg, H/K audio, asking $19,000
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ct/1769/cat/12

2003 47k miles, Cold weather pkg, Sport pkg asking $14,000
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ct/1571/cat/12

 

TBH, you may be a tad high on the price. I bought mine about a year and seven months ago for 14,995.00 from a (non MINI) dealership. I Only have heated leatherette seats, non-auto AC, Xenon Headlights, DSC, and my mileage was at 50,800 MI, but had I the 18,500 to spend, I would have been able to afford an '04 or an '05 rather than my '03.

Best of luck selling, however, I am not sure you will be able to get what you are asking for it!

-Chase

 

IMO, you are priced to high. Maybe 2-3k to high.

I paid $19,750 for my loaded mint Pepper White 05 MCS w/ 36k that included 4 runflat snow tires on alloy rims and a Sport Link hitch.

My bet is banks are pretty tight about lending top dollar on a vehicle right now as well.

 

As much as I wish a 2003 MCS was worth 18.5k, its way too high. I think even $16000 would be a great deal for the owner. I bought my 2003 with 30,000 miles on the clock for $18.5k and that was almost 3 years ago. If I were selling and could get 16,000 that would be awesome. Probably price it around 16,000 and expect to get lower?

 

Hmm... well thank you all for your honesty! It was brutal... but that's what I was looking for! haha

I ran the Kelley Blue Book and N.A.D.A. price for my area, and it showed $18,500 as the value of my car, so that's why I have it priced like I do. What I'm confused about is the fact that I offer people the price and then tell them that I'm willing to talk price... make an offer, I counteroffer, etc. Which is why I've been hesitant to lower the price...

Thank you all for your input- I appreciate it!

I'm going to go sell myself on the corner to make up the difference! haha

 

I agree with these guys. I bought my '03 MCS w/$48K, loaded, one owner, a few months ago from a dealer and paid almost 1500 less than your reserve. You must be looking at retail value, not resale or trade in.

I just looked it up on KBB (using my Zip) for a Private Sale and Excellent condition comes in at $16,9; Good at 16,0: and Fair at 14,8. Everyone thinks theirs is excellent, but in KBB that means not only well-maintained but factory condition and only about 5% of cars are in that condition. Yours has engine mods with the pulley and that makes some wary.

I have sold and bought many used cars and use the yardstick of somewhere between the Trade-in price and the Private sale price when I buy or sell privately and between the Private and the Retail when I am buying retail.

BTW, Trade in for an '03 MCS is 14,8; 14,0; and 12,6 respectively.

 

Do you have a Carmax within driving distance...take it there and see what kinda offer they will make you.

 

I believe there is one in Columbus.

I definitely looked at private party value- both on KBB and at the dealership I work at using their own program. I wonder (optimistically) if perhaps since there are less MINI's in my area, the value is higher?

Here's my car and zip code all plugged in to KBB:

http://www.kbb.com/KBB/UsedCars/Pric...QuizConditions=

 

Try pricing at Edmunds: http://www.edmunds.com

KBB often seems a bit optimistic on prices compared to Edmunds.

 

Performance mods will always lower the market value of a car.

The average buys either doesn't want the mods, or they aren't the mods they're comfortable with.

 

Carmax just bought my 20k mile '06 MCS for $19k. I hate the place but I ran as fast as I could to the bank with their check They are selling for $22800 and list the MSRP on the car at $26k. Funny, I paid far less than that new.

 

Well, you are in Ohio. All the news is of how bad it is there. No seriously, I think timing is very important. From the people I've talked to locally in Dallas, 6 months ago it was tough and what you are saying now. Then fast forward to 3 months ago when gas was sky high, there were no new MINIs in stock it was great. No, it was phenomenal. Maybe now it's swinging back the other way again. 3 months ago we sold out 06 MCS with 27K miles on it on trade in to the dealer for 20K, new it was 26K. I think they had 24K on it later for sale. I know several others that cashed in 3 months ago for about 18 to 19 on trade, not sell, and one was an 03 or 04 with a lot of miles. Then I know someone that had an 05 6 months ago that he was sitting on. So I think timing and location have a lot to do with it. Good luck.

 

I recently purchased, so have been following the market closely, west coast region. There seems to be a lot of cars available and few buyers, because the same cars get re-listed. New sellers look at the listings and price accordingly, but that is not what is selling. (I think you are 1.5-2k high.)

In the last 2-3 weeks, I have seen better (lower priced) deals available, and they go fast. Depends how quickly you need to sell. The good thing is smaller cars are in demand and mini prices are holding up better than larger cars.

I went to an wholesale auction a few weeks ago, and an bmw 745 sold for a price that the CRV and bmw x3 did not meet the reserve. Dealers have good inventory on larger cars.

 

Exactly. When I sold my Honda Civic to get my 05 MC, I had Tein lowering springs on it (the ex did this for my birthday. As a "surprise"). I had to have the stock springs put back on before anyone would look at it.

FWIW, I bought my 05 MC for $14,500. I thought it might be a little high for justacooper, but it does have nearly all the options.

 

ditto on price too high..
be wary of carmax, but definitely recommend going there to get a 'firmer' gauge on the 'market' price from their perspective (they supposedly use 'auction' pricing) and then if at all possible, go to your MINI dealer and get an appraisal from them and then you should have a fairly acceptable price point.... for example:
having to sell my 07 civic lx to get ready to receive my clubman (hopefully next week or so).... I had a TMV from edmunds @ $13800, carmax came in @ $11000, tried self sell price at $13500, Honda dealer #1 $13000, Honda dealer #2 $13000, KBB Private Party (Excellent category) $13200.....

so I sold it to Dealer #2, they accomdated my schedule and were more 'customer' friendly, etc....so just looking at the above facts and figures, I felt that $13K was more than fair offer for my car. I only owed $9K on it, so I have my downpayment for my mini. Done Deal, start to finish for the whole 'selling' project: Started On Friday, sold on Tuesday.
just my .02 cents....

 

It is difficult to figure out the ACV "Actual Cash Value" you received for your trade because it is bundled in with the other transaction. If I got 20k in trade for a my Mini on a vehicle I paid "sticker" for, the ACV of my trade is probably closer to 17k-18k.

I am just trying to point out that the value you receive for your trade is not black and white.

The Mini that sold to CarMax for cash is a better indicator.

Things have also changed drastically in the last three months. I bought my Mini 3 months ago, and I would not be buying it right now because I am too busy trying to figure out where 30% of my home equity and cash in the bank went!

I think it has switched from a sellers market to a buyers market.

 

Performance parts: All I have is an ALTA intake which I cleverly tell people is for better gas mileage- which it does help, but not the MAIN reason! haha

Price: I'm thinking now about being MUCH more flexible on price. Just ran my car through edmunds.com- MUCH worse than what autotrader gave me!! Closer to $15,700!

Market: I agree. And I can't blame people for not wanting to put the cash out right now- this is why I'm selling! Trying to get out of debt because of the crazy economy... and start saving.

I think what I'm going to do is talk to the sale managers at the dealership I work at and see if they'd be interested... the last MINI's we've had FLEW off the lot!

Thanks!

 

Well, 22CooperS, don't take this the wrong way but... I bought my 04 MCS in March with 28K miles for $15K, similarly equipped. Even if your ad said OBO or negotiable, I don't think I'd have bothered calling given the deal I could get from another seller on a year newer vehicle. In order to make your car attractive when I was buying, it would have to be marketed at <$15K. However, that's just me and I'm willing to travel (have gone 500 miles) to get the right car for the right price.

My car was one-owner with maintenance records but by no means a 10. Given I'll beat the tar out of it on the track, I'm wasn't going to pay for a perfect car.

I don't think the mods are really hurting or helping you. What you've done is easily reversible and by no means adversely affecting the reliability or character of the car. I don't think they're enough to turn a buyer off but don't expect to get any equity out of them either. The exhaust on my truck sold it the minute the buyer turned the key...

I did sell the 03 Dodge Ram 4x4 Quad Cab with the Hemi in August to the first guy that came to look at it for $500 less than my asking price, which was priced at over private party but below what other sellers in my market were asking for a similar truck. Yeah... I was pretty surprised at how quickly my 11mpg truck went in $4/gallon market. Maybe I should have asked more...

In my opinion, spend the the money on the top-of-the-line Autotrader.com and take well-lit, good pictures (no camera phone pics ) from every angle and multiple interior shots. Don't get into the artsy-fartsy angles and pics taken under a street lamp at night on top of an empty parking garage. I think the $59 ad allows 18 photos and will run until the car is sold. I have sold three cars in the last couple of years through Autotrader using that ad for very close to my asking price and within just a few weeks.

There are 13 2003 MCSs listed on Autotrader.com with 200 miles of you. They are priced from $15K to $22K. (That BMW dealer needs to put the pipe down.) You might be able to get $18K if you've got time on your hands. If you want to get the deal done, price accordingly.

 

just bought my 05 with sports,chrono,cold weather package with 50k miles for 16k$