So I am completely in love with my '06 Cooper S in Hyper Blue, but really kinda wishing I had ordered the green. I'm thinking about selling, but wondering what the true market value is. I priced it on KBB, but I just have trouble believing it's worth that much.

So it's an '06 S, Hyper Blue with a white top, cold weather package, premium package, convenience package, front & rear foglights, Harman Kardon stereo, "S" rubber floor mats front and back. I paid $25K for it in May, and have put about 15K miles on it. Let's say 16K, since it would probably have that many by the time I actually sold it. It's in perfect condition, no dings or dents, and has been very well cared for.

Any ideas what I can reasonably expect to sell this car for, or anyone who wants to trade for a green one?

 

Selling a seven month old car is usually a very bad idea due to the severe depreciation an auto experiences as soon as you take ownership and drive it off the lot.

Fortunately for you, the MINI has the second lowest depreciation among US autos.

Check out Kelly Blue Book (www.kbb.com) value for your car. It varies depending on your area, if you're going to trade or sell it yourself, etc. Then you can decide if the loss is worth it to you just to change the color.

 

If your really interested, you should check with your dealer and see what kind of deal they can work out.

I'm sure you could get more from a third party, but if they have customers who are scrambling to get and 06 prior to the 07 cutoff they might be able to match you up. If they know you are going to buy an 06 from their lot they might bend over backwards to help.

 

Kbb.com prices have historically been a tad high.

Edmunds.com's seem a little more inline with the market.

 

Best of luck with the sale. How much is it worth to you to change the color of your car? That is the bottom line. I have seen dealers discount new '06s by as much as $1000 to make things more difficult for you.

A friend of mine in the car business has a standard line when customers tell him that Kelley says the car is worth such and such; he says, "Have the Kelley people cut you a check then".

 

Well whats great is when people like that want to charge you high KBB on the car they are selling and want to give you low KBB on your car. SO IT HAS TO WORK BOTH WAYS.

That being said i think you could get 23 or so for your car.

 

If I configured it correctly, Edmunds says $22k.

To those who think KBB values are to be believed, I would simply ask if you've ever sold a car at KBB price? I don't see it happen often, and when it does it's usually either: a) a dealer or b) an uninformed/inexperienced buyer.

 

It does? Why? In my observation KBB never works both ways. Dealers use it at their discretion as a tool to "work" their customers.

 

Well i guess if you don't mind getting worked then it doesn't but for me it does or i will take my Business somewhere else.

 

You could paint the car.

 

As a point of reference, there is a 2006 MCS, 6 speed with Nav for sale a few threads down for $25k.

 

No, believe me, I MIND getting worked (unless its by my wife , in which case, I don't mind so much). Which is why I typically don't trade-in when I buy a new car. Having a brother-in-law who owns a new car dealership and a used car dealership has enlightened me to quite a few Dealer tactics that while I might have suspected previously, I now know. The aforementioned KBB thing is one of them. As always, YMMV.

 

I have a green and white 2004 non s cooper with Nav and cold weather package and will consider a trade plus the cash difference, PM me if interested.