Hi and thanks for the wealth of info and sharing advice. Jumping on the Mini bandwagon a bit late, but I have the bug now. Found a nice low mileage (40k) 2006 MCS, red/black, panoramic roof, manual transmission, local trade-in...driving it tomorrow. Asking price is $11750, which is several thousand above KBB. I've read and searched the forums for pre-buy inspection/checklist.

If it checks out ok from an independent mechanic, I would like to query the Mini enthusiasts on a "fair to good deal" price, before I pay full price based on the test drive!

Thanks,
bshane

99MINIvan

 

You will love it. As for pricing, that seems fully priced for a retail lot, and while I haven't been following the market very closely, that feels high. I think I've read that starting at a 20% discount to asking price is a reasonable place to begin negotiation. Good luck, and let us know how it works out.

 

hope everything works out for you. depending on other options that car has, that could be a realistic price. also check and see if it has any mods done to it. such as a supercharger pulley, intake and exhaust. pulley is easy. you can see it if you look on the passenger side in the front. if the pulley is anything but black, there is an aftermarket one =)

 

Sounds a little pricey. I paid $9K for my 05 MCS with 68,000 miles.

 

That's the year and model that you want. The best piece of advice I can give is to have a pre-purchase inspection done by an experienced MINI mechanic. It'll be the best $100 you spend. Remember that any car that's 10 years old will need repair and maintenance, and if you know what that bill will look like, you'll be in a better negotiating position.

I'm not in the business of buying and selling MINIs, but that price does seem high. Remember, there are plenty of R53s in the world, so there's no pressure to buy this one if it's too steep.

 

Might want to check if there any maintenance records available. Good luck!

 

Thanks for the great input here! I will definitely need a pre-inspection and records inquiry. I'd love to talk to the previous owner too. I'll take a close look at the pulley - suspect it is stock. When I asked about the history and low mileage, the used car manager said a lady had it towed to the dealer due to a dead battery and traded it in for a BMW. Although the BMW dealer is not affiliated with the MINI dealer around the corner, they have enough of a relationship to seek assistance in getting an electrical issue corrected - as part of their pre-sale used car prep. Something about the lights not working, but no more details given. Bit of a warning sign for me, but I do like the year and model and low mileage. Not sure who else to use as an independent MINI mechanic - the proximity to the BMW dealer may be a conflict of interest. Anyway, I hope to see it in daylight today. Thanks again for the good advice. I hope to post as an owner soon. Cheers,S

 

I paid that much for my 06 R53 JCW. Those are pretty good low miles but that price is high in my opinion.

 

Eric and BillyJoel, I like your deals even better than this one! Scheduled a test drive and Mini dealer inspection for Monday, and if it passes I plan to start the negotiation at 9k, 23% off dealer asking price. Need some room to bring it up to baseline maintenance and some new accessories

 

I'd negotiate price prior to paying for inspection, and make it subject to a clean result. Once it passes inspection they assume they have you so they are less likely to meet your price. You can always adjust your offer after.

 

Thanks. Will do! Also saves the inspection cost.

 

well... private party in decent condition with roughly 100-150k miles will typically run 5.5-9k from my recent findings, at least in SoCal area(purchased mine a bit over a month ago after a month of searching).
finding one that low milage in an r53 is pretty rare, price seems about on point if it is in really good condition with documented maintenance, especially if it's at a lot, at least out here anyway.
But as most used car owners can attest to, 40k miles vs 200k doesn't REALLY matter too much if you don't know how those miles were spent.
I would take a 200k mini that was well maintained and documented and was used for mainly freeway commuting 100+ miles each way daily over a 50k mile mini with lots of track time. If it has an LSD installed I'd be a bit weary about the cars use and potential future headaches, but thats just me.


And as far as an inspection goes, if you have time to schedule one, a handful of mechanics will usually be willing to make "housecalls" of sorts to dealerships, granted you are paying a bit extra but in the end it might still be worth the unbiased opinion if the dealership is trying to pull some strings with proximity and local mechanic connections.

 

great choice, sir! i bought a 2006 R53 15 months ago with 33K miles, initially asking for 16K, talked him down to 13,9K. Prob still a bit much, but the car was in amazing condition. Clean, no prior accidents, etc. I've been extremely pleased with the 2006 model, have had no major problems (knock on wood). It's my daily driver and i commute a lot. Have racked on and addition 34K miles in that time period. The ONLY problem that slowly surfaced was the alignment. It came with brand new non-run flat tires which I used as another negotiating point bc I insisted that I would have to buy run flats since there's no spare tire space. Regardless, the tires started to wear quickly within 10K miles resulting in an annoying humming sound. The alignment was off, but only subtly and I honestly couldn't feel it. Once it was corrected, everything's been fine. I highly recommend the 2006 S.

 

slow hand clap.

 

The price seems high, but they always have room to negotiate built into the asking price. I just paid 7200 for an 05 MCS with 67,000 on it. Low ball them and see what happens. You may find out that they will move more on the price than you would think. I would have the KBB paperwork with me and just ask them what makes the one they have that special that they are asking the price they are.

 

That's a great price Troublemaker! I paid 9K for mine. same year and mileage! At an auction, too!

 

I just bought a very basic R53S for 9k put the door with 59k on it. It came with a set of RPF1s 17x7. I love it though because it has the black alcantera headliner, sports chrono, LSD, and body painted bonnet (royal grey). This car was meant to be tracked! TBH I really miss the gas mileage and torque of my R56 JCW, but I don't miss the payments, oil consumption, and hoping it didn't start rattling!

 

It was a good price, but there really wasn't a lot of haggling. It just happened to be a seller that was leaving the country and couldn't take it with him. I found it in the classifieds here. I spent a good chunk of a day paint correcting, but it was actually in pretty good shape. The black stripes have some marks impregnated into them that wouldn't buff out so the may need to be painted white to match one of my other cars since the base coat is almost identical. Finding a low mile, stock R53 was the hardest part of the whole search.

 

Yes ...i can second that motion ...Hard to find a LOW mileage R53 ...but i did after about 2 months of searching ... picked up a 2006 with 31,000 miles for 10,995 ...I thought was a fair price considering it came loaded with lots of options in amazing condition too ..so im a Happy Camper ...

 

I would consider that more than fair, considering the miles.

 

I picked up my 08 R52 1.5 years ago with 3400 miles on it. I feel i rescued it.