Year: 2006
Make: MINI
Model: Hardtop
Price: $1
Mileage: 126000
Color: Red
Private or Dealer Listing: Private Listing
Location (Region): Midwestern

Hello all,

I have a 2006 MCS that I have decided to pass on to a friend who has been pestering me to sell it to him for months. Now we need to figure out a fair price. I’m sure I think it is more valuable than it is and he will want to get it for as little as possible, but ultimately we want to find a price that is fair to both of us. So I’m turning to the collective wisdom of the community here to determine what that would be.

Here are the details.
2006 MCS in excellent condition. 126K miles.
Red with white roof, mirrors and stripes. The paint is in very good condition but is not perfect—a few stone chips on the front and mirrors.
It is in Minneapolis but it is a California car with no rust.
It has almost all options, missing only navigation, limited slip and rear fog light. It has
· Sport package,
· Harman Kardon sound
· Lounge Leather (in great condition—no tears or significant wear)
· Chrono pack
· HID headlights
· Climate control
· Painted interior bits (dash and door)
· Heated seats
· Trip Computer
· Probably other minor things

Mechanically it is great. I’m compulsive about maintenance and the car needs nothing—I wouldn’t hesitate to take it any distance. It has fresh Amsoil synthetic oil and Redline MTL gear lube. Maintenance and repairs that I have done:
· Redid the front suspension—all bushings, ball joints, tie rods
· New rear pads and rotors
· New motor mounts
· Replaced the sensor on front to fix tiny oil leak (crank position sensor?)
· New Oxygen sensors

It comes with 3 sets of tires. New Michelin Pilot Sport A/S3s on S-lites, Dunlop Direzza ZII Star-Specs on Minilite replicas and Blizzaks on steelies.

Minor mods I have done.
· Stainless Cat-back exhaust
· 17% Pulley
· Short shift kit
· Alcantera JCW Steering wheel
· ATI Super Damper crank pulley
· Koni FSDs
· K&N Filter
· New Oxygen sensors
· Coco mats for the summer, Custom fit (molded) Weather-techs for the winter.


The negatives:
· There is a rattle from inside the resonator during a certain rpm range—small issue, but annoying.
· A/C doesn’t work. But this will be fixed as part of the deal on my dime—whatever it takes, so inasmuchas it will be a recently serviced/repaired system, that might be a positive.
· I don’t know about the supercharger. It is fine now, but it is an unknown.

That’s the main stuff. I’m sure there are other minor things but I think that should give a good general idea of the value. I don’t think it matters, but I bought the car with 98K miles for $11,500 from a dealer in Los Angeles. It had no service records.

I sure do appreciate the help!

manddanda

 

Well you did ask. KBB has the average value of the car being a private sale of $5,000. No, they do not factor in your modifications but if you get $0.25 on the dollar for what they cost you, IMO you are lucky. You do not say what type of SS exhaust you have or whether the water pump has been replaced. The supercharger has seen better days if it is original. The extra wheels/tires are a plus but how many winters have you driven it?

 

Edmunds estimates the value a lot lower, so don't look at that!

For an actual sale price comparison, an 06 JCW with 78K miles and full records went for $6,500 on bringatrailer.com in November.

 

Very very important if you want to get more than what a KBB or Edmunds says

 

Thanks for the input so far. I appreciate it, although I was hoping that more people with a great deal of knowledge of R53s and the market for them would say "I'd expect it to sell for xxxxx"
To add some information, it has gone through 1 real winter here, 1 with no snow and 2 where it wasn't driven. And each fall I "Fluidfilm" the underside.
The water pump has not been replaced under my watch. I don't know how likely it is that it was done prior to 98K miles--like the supercharger.

Any more input is really appreciated
Thanks again!

 

The supercharger service is a big bill, usually done as part of the 100K mile service. That's $1K bill on a car worth maybe $5K.

 

If I had the money and was in the market I would say 5500 or 6k? Nice mod list btw. For the front suspension did you use all OEM bushings and parts or did you use the powerflex/urethane units where possible?

::edited::SC service is easy if you have time and an empty garage for a weekend.

 

Supercharger service? Do you mean replacement--or is there something you can do to extend the life. My understanding is that the issue is the seals fail and the oil is sucked into the intake which leads to complete failure. That being the case, changing the supercharger oil doesn't seam like it would help. Is there a way to replace the seals?

 

I used stock suspension bits. The surface of the streets in Mpls (at least where I live) is pretty bad. That's why I went to the Koni FSDs. And I had replaced the motor mounts with powerflex ones and found them too harsh for me so I didn't want to have to do another job twice.
What do you mean by supercharger service?

 

Most people don't just replace the supercharger. Just change the fluid regularly and it will run a long time. Oil in the intake will not lead to complete failure. Internal combustion engines burn oil all the time. As long as you keep an eye on it and take care to replace the SC oil it'll be fine. Couple hrs work tops.

 

Let me clarify,.. Generally speaking, with the right tools and patience, you can knock a SC service out in a few hours. Front bumper in service mode and using a fluid extractor/pump to drain and refill. Shouldn't even have to take it off the car. In some instances where the mileage is high and the seals need replaced you have to remove and rebuild it. This i have not done but I have had the MINI in service mode many times and done SC flush and fill in the method I mentioned.

For me the SC maintenance would be a bonus on a car I was buying but not necessary since I can do it myself.

 

I didn't mean failure of the engine, I meant the loss of oil would lead to the complete failure of the supercharger (and water pump drive).
I didn't know the supercharger oil degraded and needed to be replaced. I'll definitely have to look into this!

 

Yes. It definitely degrades over time. when I did my first one it had 120k miles on it. The oil smelled awful and was a dark color. Depending on who you ask some say replace every 60k or some say 100k. I personally just try to remember to check it when I'm servicing other bits in the vicinity. Belt, pulley, timing chain and tensioner, AC repairs, coolant flush... Just some opportunities to check the SC fluid.

 

Just a Data point. My 2005 R53 JCW daily driver in Texas, Colorado and back in Texas now registers 197,000 miles. It is still on its original SC, has never had any SC service such as fluid or seal replacement, and still runs flawlessly. I am going to drive it until it no longer runs.

 

KBB and Edmunds are in the business of posting the value of vehicles. As the AC is not working, the paint has flaws and there are no service records IMO the car cannot be considered in excellent condition but rather only good. Although the mileage is not really that high for a 11 year old car, it is not what most would consider low mileage. Cannot factor in any accidents as do not have that information but considering there are none, and putting some money in for the mods, I would not pay more than $5,000 for the car with the stipulation that the AC was repaired.

There is a recent post where it was noted that a good detailer can make a POS look like a million dollars but it will not address any of the internals. With no records just too many questions on the water pump, supercharger, wheel bearings and clutch let alone what the compression values are on the cylinders (oil change intervals).

 

Just picked up a similar optioned 2005 with 63k on the clock and no LSD, but otherwise a similar car to yours. I paid $6k even, and sold the spare set of factory S-lights for $250 so net $5750. It needed wiper blades and a couple of PDR spots on the passenger side, and that's about it. The car is super clean.

Take it for what it's worth.

 

Thanks to everyone for the input!

 

@Cincy_jro it would be great if you did a write up or tutorial on your sc service method!😀