My sister has a 2002 Mini Cooper S that she wants to sell. She is getting frustrated as it is not as easy as she thought. I want to help her out because I don't want her to just trade it in and get screwed. Trade in is around 17,000 or so. Blue book is like 25,000 or something like that. Well she has listed the car locally for 22,500. Is this too much for an S with 26,000 miles on it? It is pretty much a basic model. It does have the Sport package, with the 17" bbs style wheels. It also has the 6 disc cd changer, but it does not have any other options, as far as I know. No sunroof, no cruise control. Here is a picture of the car:



Can any of you give me some advice? BTW, I think this forum is great. It took a while for me to find a good mini forum for the USA.

 

As I'm in the market for a MINI, I'm probably a good person to ask.

Much depends on where you are. Here in CA, people routinely ask and get near MSRP for their used cars. It's retarded, er, I mean supply and demand.:smile:
The situation is getting better for buyers and worse for sellers now that the 2005's are out, and there is more MINI inventory to choose from.

It's got a reasonable number of miles, and nice wheels, but bare bones doesn't help. In CA we like sunroofs, so it would probably sell better in the mid or northwest. Personally, I'm staying away from 2002 models due to the PS and Rad fans being on the same circuit. They fixed this in 2003. Then again, only enthusiasts know about this.

Put in on Ebay and Autotrader and you (she) should do fine. Don't see many on there for that price. Oh, and there are 'marketplace' forums both here and on mini2.com
Good luck!

 

The aero kit is not painted right. It is nice looking though. The 2002 is three model years away from the current 2005's. It has less power and tends to have more problems than new models, because of it's first year. A 2005 with sport package, can be bought for $22500. Add in $2000 for the wheels and maybe $2000 for the bodykit and you are looking at the exact same car being around $26,500 brand new. An 18% drop in price is pretty small for 3 years and 26,000 miles. I would say somewhere in the $20,000 range, but again that is my opinion. Someone in California might pay more.

 

The 17" wheels are nice, and the cd changer and sport package are pluses. Some folks will miss the sunroof and cruise control, but its just a matter of finding the right buyer. Its a 2002 model with fairly low milage, but 22,500 may be in the upper end of what you can expect. However, I'll be surprised if you don't at least get people calling and offering less, to test your price.

Let us know how it turns out. I'm in the SF bay area, and thinking of a private sale for my 2003 to roll into a 2005 model. So, I'd be interested to hear how the market for used MINIs is holding up.

Good luck.

 

Well, I know the 22,500 might be too much. We live in Washington State, and around here, dealers are advertising Mini's for crazy prices. I look on autotrader and I see just insane pricing on used Minis. Like used cooper S's advertised at 27,000 dollars! Of course no private seller is going to advertise at such an insane price. The mini dealers also charge alot. None of them even have Cooper S's in stock and when they do, it is at least 25g's. My sister called a dealer in Portland and they said "oh yeah well we would sell a new mini like yours for 20,000." This is total bs though because they advertise used ones for more than that, way more. She wants to trade it in for a wrx, so the subie dealer said they would give her 18,500. Does that sound reasonable? She would be taking a major hit though at that price. I told her just to keep the mini, but she and her husband want a bigger car. Go figure.

 

Has she actually been in a WRX? Aside from more trunk space they don't have any more useable space than a MINI. I think the MINI back seats are much more comfortable for full sized humans.

If she is near Seattle or Portland you could try posting it at www.craigslist.org or www.pdxforsale.com. I think ebay is going to be your best bet though. The used vehicle market is hell right now - I've been trying to give away a newer Ninja for a couple months now and haven't had more than a couple bites.

If she can stay patient, she'll get $20k out of it at least.