I'm considering getting a new JCW Clubman or JCW Hardtop and one of the factors is how the depreciation is between the two and if one is easier to resell than the other. All other factors aside (space, looks, ride quality, etc.), I'm just wondering if the extra $3k for a new Clubman will be more of a $3k loss when it comes time to sell compared to the Hardtop.

What has been everyone's experiences and observations? Thanks!

 

I would say on a used car the price difference will be like $2k...maybe higher. I had a hard time finding a comparable clubbie to the hardtop I had for similar money.

As with any JCW though they will depreciate harder than a S will. The car could be $34-40k but in 2-3 years you might get $23-26 trade-in.

 

Try $18.4K trade-in in 3 years on a $40K car.
46% is the residual value on JCW 3-year leases.

Absurdly low, but true.

a

 

Wow, I didn't know it was that bad! I figured that the more performance-oriented JCW would take a bigger hit but that's just ridiculous. I always read that Minis had good resale values, too.

 

Don't buy a car with too much emphasis on resale value. On the other hand, it is very important to look for high residual when leasing a car. In any event, get what you want. I think the Clubman is the optimum MINI -- not awfully much bigger or heavier (like the Country and Pace variants), but so much more useful than a hatch. I was not aware that the MSRP difference is $3K for comparably equipped.

 

If I'm buying JCW whether its a Hardtop or not, I wouldn't think about selling it! I would keep it as long as I can! Just sayin...

 

I remembered my numbers wrong; it's actually a $2200 difference when looking at the JCW Clubman and Hardtop MSRP on Mini's site. I've never let resale value affect my purchasing decisions in the past but the reality is that this will be my daily driver and I don't foresee myself keeping it for the long haul. And since I'm not a fan of leasing, resale value becomes an issue.

The fact that Mini has (or had?) good resale values actually got me to reconsider them after passing up on them a few years ago. I figured the higher resale would make dropping $30k+ on a FWD car with "only" ~200 hp would make the pill easier to swallow.

Anyway, I don't mean to turn this into another "is this car worth it" type of thread. I'm just thinking aloud since I've seen plenty of other Clubman vs. Hardtop comparison threads but none really touched upon this.

On another note, the fact that I don't see too many Clubmans around might mean demand for them is less. The two dealers in my area don't have any JCW Clubmans in stock but they have a few JCW Hardtops.

 

Sooner or later we all sell the cars we thought we were going to keep forever. Usually when the new and faster "car of my dreams" catches your eye, or your bank account catches up to your old dreams.

... and that is when not thinking about resale value and depreciation comes to bite you in the rear end. Not too hard, but enough so that you do start taking these things into account the next time around this marry go round ...

a

 

Just my $0.02 - I recently traded in a car (as in YESTERDAY) and part of the dollar that you'll get is the market for potential buyers. The company buying your used car wants to sell it themselves, after all.
In the case of my Coupe, the trade-in was lower because it was a sports coupe but it was non-turbo and auto transmission. Auto can often be a plus, but in a sports car, it's a minus.
So in terms of your JCW, most folks who are willing to pony up the extra for JCW are looking for a sporty hatch - so even though the Clubbie is the same car with more room, the MARKET for a super-up station wagon is much, much smaller than for a hatch and the trade-in value is likely to reflect that.

Interesting note: the guy at Carmax (who quoted me $2K less than TxDirect Auto!) said that he doesn't value MINIs very high because "people who want a MINI want to custom-order it rather than buy it off the lot with someone else's choices, so the demand isn't there"

That makes sense, but he's wrong. I've traded in five MINIs so far and other than the last one, I always broke even - even though I traded in every two years.

 

Can you explain what you mean when you say you broke even. I'm looking at trading in my 2011 MINI and the offers are low -- well under the Kelly Blue Book trade-in value.

 

I already have a car I plan on keeping forever so I'm not really in the market for another one. Even if I was looking for one, I doubt a JCW would be it. No offense.

coasterguytx, I kind of had the same suspicion when it came to the Clubman. Even the Mini site calls the JCW Clubman out as being one of the rarest out there and I doubt it's because they're purposely limiting production on them... When it comes time to sell, which I plan on doing private party, I get the feeling I'd have a harder time with a Clubman, especially if I get a white one with a red roof like I'm thinking about. Anyway, I'd also be interested to know what you meant by breaking even on your previous trade-ins.

 

By "breaking even" I mean that I got as much on the trade-in as I owed on the loan. This is significant, since I always buy cars with zero down.

This last one, however, was a killer. I was almost $7K under on the trade-in and had to put that much down on the roadster to keep the payments from being insane. Maybe the market is turning...

In the early days, the demand for MINIs was far greater than the supply. Most dealers had a 6-month or longer waiting list for a car. Since they were all new, there weren't many used ones out there and dealers like Carmax were paying top dollar, since they could resell it at nearly full price. And if you wanted a MINI without waiting, getting a used one was your only hope.

Now, however, there are many more used ones out there, folks who want a MINI can just buy one off the lot with ease, and there are a lot more models to choose from. My Countryman still got top dollar because it was a hot commodity at the time (only a year old and there was more demand than supply still), but the Coupe was a niche market to begin with. Not much demand, and what there was wanted a turbo stick shift. Mine was a Justa with auto and a cracked windshield.

In hindsight, it was really stupid of me (financially) to go ahead and get the roadster right now because of all the above.. but honestly, I don't care. I'm driving my dream car and it's even better than I imagined it would be.

 

The above started to bore me, so... Buying a MINI with the thought that it might bore you??? Sell and buy a Honda.

 

Where did that come from? Nobody said anything like that in the thread.

 

Sorry... Been reading many posts since I've been away a bit.

 

I assure you MY Honda isn't boring. Thanks for contributing, though. /sarcasm

 

There was a rumor floating around that the Clubman was on the chopping block. Could make it a hard to find car in the future. Meaning higher value? maybe.

 

It's not just yet. MINI said it will be a part of the F platform so we should see it for at least another few years. It might go away at the mid life-cycle of the F platform at the soonest.

 

FWIW, I just did a quick check at KBB and a similar equipped 2010 JCW Clubman is worth about $1300 more at trade in than a 2010 JCW hatchback. I assumed both cars were in excellent condition and had 25K miles.

 

Well, unless you own an S2K or an NSX, your Honda _is_ boring.
Just as mine is.

Not to say that I wont be buying any more Honda's - I had and will again, they just wont be very exciting.
Comes with the territory.
Nothing to be ashamed or defensive about.

a

 

I do own an S2000.

Admittedly, Honda has lost their way for the better part of the last decade but I was addressing a comment that was clearly a jab at a company that once dominated the fun-to-drive FWD scene with cars that aren't S2000s or NSXs that Mini currently enjoys. Anyway, that's neither here nor there.

 

That's the four door hatchback. While it is stealing the "55" number from the Clubman (F55) it won't bear the Clubman name - there is supposed to be a different Clubman coming as part of the "F" lineup.

 

The Clubman is the best looking out of those abominations!!!

 

the shop is strong with those pics lol

 

I know I have read that they wanted to play up the "shooting brake" aspect with the next Clubman, and that implies it would be a two-door wagon rather than a four-door.

Those renders are awful, and I believe and hope they're really mistaking the five-door for the Clubman.