Is everybody having this much trouble selling their Coopers?

 

Mine never sold. I sold it to a local dealer for waaaay under what it was worth.

 

Thanks Stefanie. Not what I wanted to hear, but at least it's not me

 

The issue is that the value is sooo high that many folks just go ahead and buy new. When I was looking to buy I checked out used MINIs and they had few options and cost more than I spent going new.

 

It's been very surprising to hear how much trouble people are having selling their MINIs, even if they drop their price to something more reasonable than the 80-90% of MSRP that we were getting until sometime last year. With gas prices through the roof, and Honda and Toyota scrambling to bring their smaller cars to the US to sell, you'd think demand for small cars would be way up. I guess this would apply mostly to the MC, though, since the MCS gets similar fuel economy to much larger vehicles like Accord.

 

There are bargain hunters out there (I was one of them!) and if you are in that situation you can get really jaded at the HIGH prices that dealers are asking for some pretty beat up cars. I was looking in our local AutoMart.com print publication today and a couple of Michigan dealers are asking some crazy prices for the few MINIs in the pub. A couple of regular looking MCSs for around $25k and a nice looking Cooper at Varsity (BRG) for $21,720!!

I think that the overall effect of high priced used cars is either apathy (don't need it), buy new and wait for it, (nice option) or just keep looking. I got my car @ full lot price and was happy to get it because it was realistically priced. I think that realistic pricing is the key to moving the metal right now. Dealers think that they have a gold mine on wheels with the MINI. I imagine they get a lot of looky-loos as it is an incredibly popular car... but with those prices, why buy used?

 

Last year I was very lucky when I sold my '04 MCS for full asking price in just 6 days.

 

Used car prices are just opinions. Some people will agree with that opinion others won't.

 

One of the big selling points for a Mini is being able to configure the car any way a person likes.
This point alone makes the Mini market unfriendly for second hand cars.

 

But if they aren't selling, then value isn't that high!

When I say reasonably priced, I mean that I listed my 2003 Cooper, almost loaded, 30k miles, for $16.5-17K (different prices in different locations) and said it was negotiable. It didn't even sell at that price which was substantially lower than how similar (lower option, higher mileage) Coopers were priced.

 

My recommendation for woul dbe used MINI sellers is to have a neat folder on hand with all the car's service records. Also if you have some factory warranty left on the vehicle, make that another selling point. (Transfering the remaining warranty to a second owners is done free of charge by just calling MINIUSA).

Having a fully detailed car is not enough to attract a buyer. You have to instill in them the confidence needed to make the purchase and what better why to do so by showing them service records and mentioning the warranty.

Pricing depends on your local market conditions and supply/demand of used MINIs. You can always contact a broker or someone that works on used car auctions to see what are the real going prices for these cars in your area.

The MINI offers 1.6 million possible configurations from the factory. Everyone knows that when opting to buy used you have to settle or compromise in terms of options/colors. If the buyer(s) expect perfection or want very specific equipment, then they'll be much better off ordering new from the factory.

 

Typically, used MINI buyers are not only bargain hunters, but the type of people that don't usually buy new cars and dread the new car dealer purchase experience.

That was the case with the people that bought the '04 MCS from me. They loved the color, they were looking for a 1-2 year old used MCS with very few options, no sunroof and some warranty left on the car. These people were not interested in buying brand new, although they paid me nearly the same amount of money they would have for a similar new MCS brand new.

It is a buyer's market out there and your experience will be different from mine. High gas prices are making these already ultra-popular cars even more appealing, but it takes a very special kind of buyer to fully appreciate and purchase for top dollar an used MINI.

Some people out there think that our MINIs are $7K depreciated PT Cruisers and when they learn that a MINI retains over 75% of its value after 2-3 years, they walk away.

Remember that some used car buyers are recalcitrant cheapos!

 

With so many aftermarket bits available for the Cooper though, I expected someone to see mine as a cheap "clean slate" MINI that they could put a few Gs into and have something just the way they like it. I'm only trying to get $14,000 for an '02 with 41K. Granted, it isn't loaded with options, but I thought that was a GOOD thing, for exactly the reasons specified above, but I guess not.

Andrew

 

Yep. KBB, Edmunds, and others are guides and nobody is required to pay those prices. Actual selling price is also dependant how quickly the seller needs to sell. Dealers can usually afford to sit on a car for longer than a private seller.

 

I never been to your neck of the woods, but since you live up in Michigan, you are in the midst of "Domestic - Buy American" territory. In much of the midwest, imported cars are not welcomed because they are perceived as another lost job/sale to Detroit

 

i agree.
i was looking at minis for over a year. one car that i remember had all the packages that i wanted (prem., sport, cold, GPS, kitchen sink), low miles, looked great on the outside, but the original owner added the "all blue interior" which looked like a smurf had been slaughtered in the car. i almost cried.

too much customization is a turnoff.

what i don't get - why customize if you know in a year that you will be flipping the car?

*hallie

 

Again, it is a function of your market. There is nothing wrong with your car (Or the price) but it so happens that your market may not be all that "hot" into used MINIs.

Probably you are more likely to find an out of state buyer (Like from the West Coast) where new and used MINIs alike still command pretty hefty markups. I have read of many folks making the trek from the left coast not just to buy a new MINI but also to take posession of an used one as well.

Don't dispair. Like I said, it takes a special kind of buyer to fully appreciate what a MINI is all about. Not many people understand our cars.

 

Aftermarket parts and customization work almost always have a negative impact in the resale value of your MINI. This is why I tell people to keep their cars as stock as much possible if they want to get top $$$ for the car should they decide to sell.

Repainting your car in a different color, adding different headers, twincharging your engine, making the interior all pink is all find and dandy if that is your thing, but the day you sell all those goodies may actually make your car virtually unsealable.

 

C4 - for exactly that reason I thought I'd be good (no customization to speak of). It seems that the Philly area is a bit inundated with used MINIs right now and they just aren't fetching what they are elsewhere.

Hopefully I'll find someone who "gets it" soon though.

Andrew

 

Yes, well at least I know that I am. I posted here and with Autotrader about three weeks ago, and to date have had no responses except from loan brokers that get my info from Autotrader. I didn't expect to get offers right out of the gate, but there has been no interest shown. I'd suspect that the resale values may be heading south pretty quickly with the increase in supply. They are certainly lower than I had expected. Many used lots around here have at least one MINI. I saw three during lunch today on three different lots.

I bought all of the packages, garage the car, don't use the sport tires during winter, wax appropriately, Mobil 1 religiously, yada yada yada, couldn't do anymore to keep care of this car, and I'm finding out that this will probably be all for not.

I've ordered a 2007 C6 Corvette, but production won't be for a few months anyways, and with the gas prices so high, trust me, I'll stick with the MINI gladly. But if the market is going to be this tough for resale for the MINI, I'll probably have to dump the price more than I ever thought
I would. If not, I'll probably take a trip to Carmax and proceed to bend over.

 

I've noticed a lot of MINI's for sale around here. I pass by a Lotus dealer ever day that has had the same '02 BRG/B Cooper on the lot for the past... well.. it's been there so long I don't remember... all Winter, for sure...

Elon, have you read the latest R&T? They did a higway mpg comparison and got over 27 mpg in a Vette. Only marginally worse than an MCS. And if Chevy could be convinced to put thier Displacement On Demand programming on the Vette, it may actually get better mpg than an MCS. I'd bug your dealer and ask them. If enough potential buyers ask about it, GM might actually do something.

 

I'm impressed with the gas mileage info I have seen on the C6, but you are absolutely right, if they were to institute that technology similar to the Northstar or the 345hp Hemi from Chrysler that would be a huge selling point in my opinion. They have not decided to include this on the 07's but perhaps with the introduction of a C7 series in a couple/few years, that may be their intention. If fuel prices stay high, which I can't imagine they won't, many will be forced to go that route. Thanks. Rob

 

I think those days are past unless the car is going super cheap - check out Craigslist for my area alone:

http://www.craigslist.org/cgi-bin/se...min&maxAsk=max

Of course people are listing asking prices but I think the market is more negotiable now.

 

i am glad that you fellas on this board now realise that the 'high resale values' blah blah doesnt mean anything . Most of you will be better off driving your minis to the ground or trading it in to the dealership for below market values. ...for real

 

You just continue to make it more and more apparent that all you are concerned with is making smarmy comments and being jerky then really looking for a car. If you are looking to find a super cheap MCS go ahead and look, no-one is stopping you.