2006 (11/06 build date) Mini Cooper S
Pepper white with smoothed and painted wheel arches/rockers/bumpers John Cooper Works front bumper/grills

6 spd. 6400 miles Mint Cond. with the following modifications:

Alta 15% pulley
Alta 2.5" exhaust
OBX header with stock cat.
Alta direct flow intercooler w/water spray
Alta cold air intake
Alta adjustable short throw shifter
Polished heavyweight Razo' shifter ****

KW variant 1 coilovers
Ireland Engineering Fixed camber plates
Ireland Engineering rear control arms (upper and lower)
M7 front strut brace
Stoptech Big Brake kit w/steel lines front and rear
14mm stud kit
Team Dynamics lightweight wheels with Khumo ECSTA SPT tires

Prof. wheel alignment done twice, at suspension installation and after 2000 miles once settled.
Final specs are 2.0 negative camber with 0 toe in the front / 1.3 negative camber with .05 toe in the rear.

Car also has a sunroof, 20% tint, black leatherette interior with arm rest, stubby antenna and new Mini tapered coffee cup.

I was thinking to sell it for $28,000
Had a dealer offer me $26,000 if i bought their Nismo prepped 07 350Z so i'm thinking i ought'a be able to get more than they're offering considering i've got close to $32,000 between the car itself, all the parts and painting of the factory body kit.

Car was driven stock for 2000 miles and then everything was added.
Wife drives the car daily to work and back, suddenly she has a 'thing' for 350z's every since she saw a black Nismo packaged one and she hasn't stopped talking about it since.

Hate to take a loss on something that took some effort and running around to get it to look and perform the way it does, but...

 

Wow-why on earth would you want to do that? You have a great car!

Personally I'd take the 26 as trade and run if I were dying to get the Z. Here-if you trade, you only pay tax on the difference. If you sell outright, the car you buy you'd pay tax on the whole thing. 26K X 6.25%=1625 saved on taxes.

Then there's the risk of what you'd actually get selling it. Bird in hand...

You might get 26K, you might get 28K, but what if you don't? 26K sounds like a decent trade to me.

Great car, though!

 

Thats a nice MCS but you have to remember mods usually turn away potential buyers or may even lower the price of the car compared to a stock MCS. Try to sell it at a price your comfortable selling it at, and if all fails, you can always turn to the dealer, but why a 350Z? The MINI is so much fun!

 

Mods, in general, are worthless.

If you really want to know, go here and for $5 get a real quote to see what the wholesale price is. All the other guides are pretty worthless. The only thing that matters is the local auction prices.

As to the dealer, beware of the old game they play. Raise your tradein price but you dont know what you could really get near true invoice for the new car. I would be very wary of any dealer trade-in offer without looking at the true local auction prices (and all those mods aren't worth anything unless you can find a private buyer who wants exactly those options) and knowing the true invoice price and the deal you could have made without trading in.

Best of luck

 

i'm aware of the tax savings, but like someone here has said, i know what they offered me for the car was a bit on the high side for a dealer, which typically means they would have sold me theirs at a high price as well

i want to have cash in hand before sitting across the bargaining table with them on their car.

As for mods not being worth anything...well with most cars that would be true, being that most people who buy Minis are indeed into modifying their cars, I think it's different. Look at how much money Mini makes selling their aftermarket stuff (JCW/Dinan)...and almost everyone, even little old ladies, still purchase something either cosmetic or a performance upgrade of some sort.

I'm confident the parts i have on the car are not excessive, they were prof. installed and work as advertized, most Mini enthusiasts would WANT those parts over a Mini without any...and considering that they would pay at least $26,000 for a plain Jane mini anyway...

 

I guess I'll differ with you then. I've seen too many people here say exactly what chows said. I've seen other sellers get bit. MANY sellers have documented their attempt at sales. The best hope many have found is to restore the car to stock, otherwise not only was it harder to sell but they couldn't find buyers even at mods=0 pricing. Then they sold the mods for whatever they could to try to recover some of it.

And paying 26K for a used plain jane??? THAT is (putting it mildly) wishful thinking. If not deluded. Leftover 06s are selling 2K under MSRP at some dealers. 06s and 07s are sitting on lots in many places. My version of plane jane is an 07 MCS, hypersport+LSD+xenons and a few other things, and it comes in right around 26K new.

As a seller, it won't be up to you to decide what a car is worth and what someone else will pay. Even as nice as the car is, and however much you're in love with it. What's the old adage? "Something is only worth what someone else will pay for it"?

Since you'd asked, that's why I'd suggested what I did, if I were in the same position and really wanted the Z, I'd take the 26K and run.

So let us know what way you go with things, and how it works out for ya.

 

wow, texans must not like Minis much, down in West Palm Beach, people buy them at full sticker and say "Thank You".

What i'll do is show up at the monthly Mini Autocross at Moroso where 60+ Mini owners show up and see if i can get some exposure there...at a place where everyone is modified and where modifications would be appreciated, LOL.

 

The problem is not so much the mods, but finding a buyer willing to pay for them. You may get your $28K asking price. But how long are you willing to wait? It may take a week to find a buyer... it may take a year... you just never know with a modded car... The trade-in offer is 'now' and with minimal fuss. The simple fact is the car is more likely to sell faster if it's returned to stock specs.

To many MINI owners, modding is part of the ownership experience. Personally, I would rather do my own mods than to buy someone elses, even if I may pay a bit more for them. Partly because I like installing them myself as much as I can.

That said, you have a very nicely done car... fortunately for me, it has a sunroof... and I hate the MINI sunroof...

 

"texans must not like Minis much"??? Wow. It's not about "liking" at all...

 

Actually, even FL dealers are discounting 06 cars -- which is what dwjj was writing about

 

you know what i meant with that comment...

not that they don't like Minis, but they don't like 'em enough to pay what they sell for.
Of course they should try to buy them for as cheap as possible, I do whenever i buy anything...especially cars.

The WPB Mini dealer was discounting the leftover 06's until recently, now with only a handful of 06's left, they are actually asking full sticker, the reason? 07's ain't selling like they thought they would. Mini market's gone limp with the 07s, the nostalgia is gone, the retro look, gone...Mini madness is no more, all we got now are a bunch of BMW's trying to pass as Minis.

Drove an 07 myself with the wife...and i can tell you this, not only would my 06 Mini smoke it in every category, but the 07's feel bland...no excitement when you're behind the wheel, actually reminded me a lot like when i drove my neighbor's Toyota Yaris 'sport'. Tall, soft riding, slow turning and with a neutered feel, not to mention butt ugly as compared to the 'real' Mini.

I would say, buy the 06's while the buying's good...if you still want a retro Mini. New one shouldn't be wearing the Mini name in my opinion.

As for putting mine back to stock, i can't.
Tossed out all the stock junk...so it's being sold as you see it.

 

Thank you for your 'educated' opinion. Good luck selling your overpriced 'car'.

 

Hey folks, this is my first post here. I'm in the market for a Mini. Haven't had one. Would like one as my wife has begun commuting and our best mpg vehicle only gets 14!

Robino, from someone in the market who is not shy from mods done right I'll start by saying I love your Mini. We have similar tastes in tasteful mods, I believe.

For myself, when I sell a modded vehicle, I figure .25 to the dollar is a good trade off for me and that's usually where I begin my number crunching (current used value + mods). Like I think was mentioned before, if someone were to do it from scratch they would certainly do it much differently.

It might be that Florida is a lot like California in that people tend to overpay for everything and markets are inflated. That certainly appears to be the case right now for used Mini's as what I'm finding on craig's list is folks asking more for *used* than what I can get a *new* 2006 for off the lot. I usually don't mind traveling across state lines and looking for the perfect vehicle that has had one **** owner, low miles and reasonably priced and I've done it a number of times in the past (most recently Idaho and Vancouver, BC). I'm sure I'm in the major minority there.

Unfortunately, I draw the line at half way across the country so your Mini is out for me. I wish you good luck. Now if it were in Arizona or Nevada and closer to $20K than $30K I'd be knocking on your door!

(Normally I wouldn't respond like this to a for-sale ad, but this is presented as an inquiry, so I thought I'd give my .02)

 

i appreciate everyone's imput, even the nasty ones, LOL

this car is as new, there's under 7000 miles on it, considering we live in sunny FL and the car is garaged every night, it's every bit as new as it left the showroom only better.

Say what you will about mods not being worth anything but i see plenty of people buying up brake kits, coilovers, wheels, suspension bits and performance parts.
No running around, no paying for installation, this car is DONE, finished and put together tastefully. Think of all the work and time saved buying a like new low mileage car will give you...having to buy a second set of trim so that it could be sanded and painted properly and no rushed while the car gets dusty inside a bodyshop. There's modifying...then there's modifying a car right.

No shortcuts as you can see, only the best parts were purchased and installed on this car, course there's a ton of Minis for sale but none like this one.

Buy it for $27,000 FIRM.
Dealer sold the NISMO equipped model they had, we're getting a base elsewhere and we will modify it ourselves.

 

Think of the lack of negotiating and black/white approach to this buy as well.

Obviously it's a gift from God to be able to give this man your money.

 

As a general rule the more you mod a car the more narrow your market becomes . This of course means that the return on the money you spent becomes smaller as well. Now the exception to the rule is that when you do find a person that thinks the way you do and wants to mod his car in the same manner as you then the value is real and you may get your money back. I've had my car out and about for over 4 years now and never really wanted to sell it . I recently turned away a offer more than double what you are asking. Those guys are out there you just need to find them.

Randy
M7 Tuning

 

If I was looking for a tricked mini, 27,000 with those miles seems very fair to me. I mean it has pretty much everything done right on the car.

Some just perfer functional hood scoops, what can I say.....

 

p.s. needs a tune though.

 

Nice car! I say keep it!

But to actually try and be helpful... with the magnitude and type of mods you've done on your MINI (and your asking price), I would think your ride would appeal more to anyone looking for a ready made track car or show car (keep in mind, I don't have any data etc. to back that up!)

While I agree the private-party thing is more of a hassle, I would look into marketing it toward that demographic, seeking out autocross/show car wannabees. And be patient- if your situation allows.

Just a late night thought! Good luck with that!

PS: FWIW: If this were a year ago, I would take it in a heartbeat at ~26k!

 

As you said the car appears to be done " right " and that is key. As I recall there was a kid on her with some sort of home grown turbo set up for sale and he was sure he would get 35k for the car . Several months later he was willing to accept anything in the teens and I still do not know if he sold the car. If you cut corners or do anything too radical you are really going to have a hard time getting much of your investment back.

Randy
M7 Tuning

 

if by "pretty much", you're refering to the OBX header, not being of ''up to par' quality, rest easy...OBX makes decent stuff, IF you take the time to make it better.

When i got it, it immediatelly went to the machine shop to get planed a couple thousands, OBX headers aren't perfect when they get shipped, but i made sure mine would be as close to perfect as possible.

here's a pic right after then being milled straight and flat as it gets, all the welds were cleaned/ground near the bolt holes so the bolts would tighten and sit perfectly flat, header was then gasket matched and ported accordingly for best flow...i'm just trying to show that time DID go into putting this car together, it wasn't just a bunch of parts slapped together and Voila'...










I'm an **** mother...er, a clean freak in my house and with my car, noone keeps a cleaner car or wants to have perfection more than i do. Why does this matter?... you benefit from this, buying a car that was modified, kept and looked after with great care...never abused, mistreated or driven over pothole infested roads...here there aren't any.

As mentioned, there are cars and there are nice clean cars that belong to clean/perfectionist freaks and i am proud to say that i am the latter of those, laugh all you want, but know, that this is as clean and well kept 'used' Mini as you're gonna find.

and to prove my point so you don't think i'm lying...
here's what the inside of my condo looks like and how clean i keep my garage...not showing off, just showing that cleanliness is part of my life, which only means you're getting a very very clean car when you buy this car.



this is where she sleeps at night...






I'm trying too hard ain't I...LOL

 

I don't anyone is saying you don't have a nice selection of mods or that the asking price is all that unreasonable - as long as you are willing to wait to find a buyer. It may take awhile.

 

Like burnouts, huh? Not quite my taste, but nice bike too!

 

what's your taste then? And with 220 whp, it's kind'a hard NOT to do burnouts...





so which one do you like?...







they all lay down rubber...

 

I've had a Speed Triple and a couple Daytonas. Fun bikes, great exhaust note. Right now we have a 900SS and ST2 (my truck...), and couple Harleys.

Nice collection!