hello. new to the forum. have been looking to purchase a hardtop cooper s. have looked at new but am a little concerned about impending depreciation, so i am also looking at lightly used. i have not purchased a used car before, only used motorcycles from folks i know. this has clean carfax, and was sold locally from local dealer. now at a land rover lot.

i have found a 2012 cooper s hardtop, one owner, with 10,600 miles, and 27 months of warranty left. its tastefully done in diamond black with white roof and has got some good options:

sport package
sport suspension
sunroof
harman kardon
auto climate
bluetooth etc.
cold weather
jcw dash (leather and alcantara)

original sticker was at $31650 incl. dest.

the dealer wants $25991. what do you think? seems high. is this appropriate depreciation on a hardtop with the new models imminent in 4 months.

cheers

 

Never pay for options because the dealer would never pay for them if they were taking the car on a trade . I would consider what the car would cost stock which is about 23K new then take money off from there. I would try to get it for 15K for a starting negotiation point and take it from there. Otherwise you can buy a new one for about 22,300 new before options. With your used car purchase budget for a downpayment your monthly payments would be very small with the .9 percent financing that is available now.

 

1 year old car, some decent option packages, low miles, factory warranty still on it, asking $26K ad you think they'll even entertain you as a serious customer offering $15k??? hahha, that's some crappy advice, squatch. They'll laugh him out of the showroom.

 

instead of taking the time on his post asking for advice to mock my crappy advice.

 

I'd say it's overpriced. I'm looking at a '11 cooper s hardtop with 42k miles. It has almost all the options. All four packages, 17" wheel, harman kardon, and all leather seats. It was a trade in from the original owner. MINI dealer wants $18,500. MSRP was $34k.

 

Ok... my advice: Negotiate reasonably keeping the car and everything on it's value in mind. Don't go in and offer $11K under their asking price if you don't want to be ignored.

And to say the dealer doesn't take any options into consideration when they take a trade in, isn't quite right. They will factor it in if it secures their sale. They will pay more for a loaded car than a base model, just ilke they will mark it up more.

For comparison, I feel I got a fair deal on my car. It's an 07 S with very minimal options and 74K miles on it at the time I bought it (this past Jan). I paid $12,500 out the door.

You really think a 12 with 10K miles and a bunch of options is only worth $2500 more? Not a chance. Not a single chance any day of the week. A dealer is going to try and pull a premium because it's hardly used. I would be inclined to get them as close to $20K as possible, but I don't see anthing lower at all coming of it, if they even go that low.

 

In your head you may justify it because you want to feel good about what you paid for your car which is not even the latest generation and doesn't have any warranty left.

To stay on the subject I personally would not pay almost 26k for a one year old car that you don't know the history of when for that price you can practically get a new one. I personally got my 2012 with heated seats , bluetooth, ipod connection and satellite radio for 26,500 and that is brandy new so I know the car's history. The options that were on the car were the ones that I really wanted which kept the price low . I also got the .9 percent financing. My point is that you can buy new for the price of the used car you are looking at.

 

this is not true... options do have value in a used car and a new car.

 

I was in no way saying the asking price was spot on. And honestly, at $12,500 from one of the most reputable and awesome to deal with dealerships in the state, with a good service history, I know I got a decent deal. No justification needed.

Anyway, for a 1 year old car still covered under warranty, a dealership is going to take the new price of that car, all options included, and only mark the used one down a few thousand. There is plenty of room to negotiate there, but I don't ee him getting them below $20K. They're going to argue it's low mileage and warranty big time.

 

I have bought over 65 cars in my life so I have some idea about negotiations. The $15k offer is not realistic. Check Edmunds, Ebay, and Autotrader. and other online sources for a better price range.
The bottom line is what the car is worth to you.
Good luck.

 

Is it a MINI dealer that you are buying from? My gut feel is that you would do good to get to 30% off MSRP. Realistically, you are getting an S with some nice options for the cost of a new, base cooper. Look at it as a used car first, as a business decision.

If you like the colors and options, then see what you can do with the price. I would think that $22/$23k would be good negotiating on your part.

It also depends on how long the dealer has had it. My 08 that I bought last october was 18,500 at the dealer. 3 months later it was 13,900. I don't know where you live, but in some areas the MINI may be considered a summer car (or at least a 2nd car). Maybe that would help you in negotiations.

Good luck,
Mike

PS. Don't drive it too soon, you may become passionate and lose your leverage....

 

Interestingly, I just bought a '12 MCS (16k miles) with just about the same options (I don't think I saw a trans stated, but mine has an automatic with steptronic). I bought it at a used BMW/VW/Mini dealer. Paid $24K out the door (included tax, registration, etc which added up to about $2k). I did my homework up front comparing asking prices prices on sites like cars.com, autotrader.com, etc. I feel comfortable that I paid a fair price. Just my 2 cents..

 

best post here I think. Definitely need to look at how long its been there. Do you need a car now? Got our CPO Explorer last summer. It was discounted because it had been on the lot >45 days. On some used cars if they don't sell in a certain time frame, they will auction them and move on to keep inventory rolling.
Price a new one with options you would want. See what kind of deals they have. 2014 models aren't that far away. And financing does play a part. If you are "well qualified" you can get great interest rates on new cars, not so much for used and payments might come out the same.

 

thanks for all the input. I cannot see 22 on this working, maybe 24. I see plenty of low miles low option cars at 22. This is one owner, and I checked the service history - no issues. I really like the options. The nearest new one I have seen is 27900 with only heated seats and roof, 16 inch wheels ... meh. Problem is this car is in a fancy meighbor hood at a JLR dealer, next to a Bentley dealer. This may be an impulse buy for someone. Thanks all.

 

The people in that neighborhood are buying themselves XKR's and their wives Land Rovers. That Mini might sit long enough for you to get a good lowball offer in on it. I would definitely give it a shot. See just how close to $20 you can get em. Once you figure out how long it's been there. If it's not been there long and you don't need a car now. Keep passively shopping and let that one sit until it's closer to your price range and offer up.

 

a carfax report should tell you when it was traded in/ sold so that would give you an idea of how long its been there.
And if its in a ritzy area, someone might just buy it for their kid...
Guess it depends on how bad you want it.

 

I don't know what to say?

I don't know you, I'm not related to you. I actually own a MINI I might want to sell some day...

So... Yea, I think what they are asking is a fair price to start. I can't tell you what YOU should pay. Nor do I want to.

As for you other guys that jump in and offer your "opinions", you aren't doing yourself or any other MINI owners any favors by telling someone to kill the resale price of your cars by lowballing the dealer...

Just saying...

 

Just a few tips for buying.

1. Go at or near end of month, to use the SA's or Sales manager's monthly quota as leverage.

2. Go on a Sunday near closing time, they will have to stay late with you and that will motivate them to close the deal so they can get outa there.

3. Don't let them make the sale an emotional decision. Those cars are commodities to them so don't get attached.

4. Mostly likely to get the best deal you will have to walk away, maybe even a few times.

Good luck and go get a great deal!

 

Ruin the resale value by offering $20-22K on a car they're asking $26k for? Might want to get your finances straight if you're worried about him getting a good deal hurting the resale value of your car (which it won't bubba).

 

thanks for all the help.

 

keep us updated.

 

Post got cut off - paid 23.5 for your records on a 2012 s with 10k miles. Had all the options I liked. msrp was 31650 so if you do the math depr is 26% in 22 mths.

more importantly I am super happy with the car. it rips.

 

Congrats on your purchase! Despite a number of the other "opinions" in this thread, I enjoyed seeing that you were successful in getting the price down to 23,500, almost 10% less than the dealer's original asking price. Good negotiating, and enjoy your 2012 S.

 

congrats! Definitely a fun car to drive. Its funny how aggressive I drive my mini and grandparent like I drive my explorer...