Ok here it goes... I've loved the mini since I lived in central america and I met a guy that used to restore old mini coopers. When the new ones came out I went nuts over it. Now I am finally able to purchase one, although a used one... I have three options:


* Gray 2003 Mini cooper Salt , 17K miles on it... about $12.5K
* Blue 2003 Mini cooper Chili , 19K miles on it... about $14K
* Green 2004 Mini cooper Chili, 17K miles on it.. about $14K

are these good prices? I know that it is only a 1.5 K diff between the Salt and the Chili model.. but I really worked hard for this money, Daddy is not going to buy it for me... is the upgrade worth it? It would also mean more insurance and more of a wonderful tax that we have for owning a car ohh and BTW I live in mexico so take in mind lower salaries

The green one would seem the best option, but I would only like it with white stripes (although most original coopers I saw were green and that brings back nice memories) ... I saw some magnetic ones.. are those any good? HOw expensive is to add them later on? Any advice you could share??? I would appreciate any opinion or tips on buying...

I am a big gadget fan, so when I get one ill be happy to collaborate with info on GPSs, MP3 players, and for my fellow mexican ppl here... (no discrimination, i only know it works here) I even have a nice cheap, cost effective , home made solution for GPS like tracking of the mini

 

Take the 04

 

Yes, the 2004 MC is best value.

Stripes can be bought from various NAM vendors. Not magnetic.
Good vinyl graphics, lots of designs and styles to choose from.

 

I would lean to the 04 as it's the newest and as the mileage is pretty much the same, and low it would offer the best value.

 

Does the price sound right? is it overpriced? Thanks a lot for the advice so far.

 

that sounds waaay cheaper than around where I live. Here, an 04 MC would be 15-16! Go for it!

 

Prices are good. You can add stripes later - and can get straight pieces of vinyl from a sign shop for very small amounts of dollars. The '04 is the best value, and is way cheaper than you'd find here in the US.

 

the '04 for sure over the '03's

 

Too good to be true :-( Seller backed down... now he wants around $14.8 and he says he will put new rear brakes....and a 2 month warranty.. (good for anything?) still a good deal? 03's no good?

 

I'd say its really hard to know which is the better deal without knowing all of the options on each car as well as the condition of the paint, wheels/tires and interior.

As for tips on buying the best thing you can do to see if the car has had any accidents is check all the body panels for VIN numbers and have it checked over by a good shop. Also, you can have a dealer check the VIN for service performed and perhaps reveal any issues and be sure the proper service has been performed.

 

THe 04 car is from a dealership, they claim for it to be fine. The blue 03 will be sent today for inspection... and the gray 03 was sent to inspection and was reported to be in really good condition... interiors and paint wise it looks new. BTW I Really appreciate everybody's comments and advice :-)

 

Are they all the same down to the wheels or can they tell you exactly what options are on each car? Not only can it make a big difference in the value and what it should cost but I would want to know every option on or missing from the car as some things I really prefer or perhaps don't like.

Also, they have had mid year production changes in the Mini before, I do not know if they did that with the 03 or made any key changes to 04 to fix issues but you might want to check the production date on the car just to see since model years doesn't reveal that; additionally I find it helpful to see when the warranty went into effect and when it expires.

 

I'd strongly encourage you to look only at 04 and later. 04 was when they made a number of changes in the design - this was the "turning point" where the car started being fairly reliable.

- Mark

 

Ok this just made me wonder, supposedly these are unmodified Salt and Chili Packages... (except the Salt that has a 6 cd changer)... are there variations to these packages? can there be substitutes for things? as to say... one Salt package may have one thing instead of another?


Mark:

Actually I read something like that before, are 02's and 03's really that unrealliable? I had heard about clutch problems and things like that...

 

Honestly I do not know much about these packages and if you can add to or alter then in any way when ordering, but in any case they can be changed with dealer options and post purchase so you want to be sure of what is on the car currently anyway I'd think. If the pkgs are fixed and unmodified ignore my comments about that as, again, I am not familiar with those designations as they were not available to me (I don't think they sold them in the US).

I know there were changes to the Minis in the 05 model year, but I am not clear about the 04 having a number of changes from the 03 model? We had an 03 MCS that was great, by the way, and made the change to the 05 for the Jan 05 production changes we wanted.

 

PS: Fwiw, they did replace the Midland 5 speed with a Getrag during 04 production - more info here:

http://motoringfile.com/index.php?s=getrag&paged=3

 

An 04 with only 19K needing brakes sounds odd to me but it sounds like the seller is trying to bait you with the lower price and then switch the price after you are interested- old and underhanded tecnique -big warning falg that the seller is not trustworthy. In the US MINI's come pretty well equiped from the factory and you can order options packages from the factory, that are installed at the port, and at the dealer. Some options can be ordered individually and you already know of the vast aftermarket items availible. I do not know if this is true for Mexican market cars.

 

I'm not familiar with salt and chili names. Is that the name there for the non-S and S models? If so, I'd tend to go for the blue one. The '03 and '04 won't be much different-the big change was for '05 model year.

If a Cooper was made in '04 as an '05 it has the Getrag (they start production of next years models before the end of the year), but if it's an '04 model year Cooper, it most likely still has the Midlands. I'd stay away from those if it were me.

 

A dealership backed down from their original asking price and tried to increase it?
That is very odd, and if you're interested in the car you should be able to press them to sell at $14k

 

The data is pretty absymal. New design, new workforce, new suppliers, new factory,....

- Mark

 

OK I need to clarify something... The dealership originally wanted $15.6K I offered $14K and the salesman said it sounded good to him, that he just needed to check it with management and he would let me know, but mostlikely it was ok, today I got the call saying that the least is $14.7. I am familiar with the bait and switch :-) I wouldn't deal with someone like that.. although Im not sure if this qualifies as that...


About the Salt , Chili and Pepper packages... they apply to both S and Normal cars.. all the cars I am looking at are not the sport version. Chili version has the following extras over the Salt package:

* 16" 5 point star rims
* sunroof
* partial leather interiors
* crome in some parts of the car


Once gain I really appreciate all the info being shared here :-)

 

Go in on the last day of the month and try to get a look at the quota board or ask the sales manager who is behind this month. Make your offer and they should go for it.

Two things that give you bargaining leverage are: Last day of the month and how long it's been on the lot.

Going back and fourth to the manager is an old tactic - get him in the room and make the offer.

Arranging your own financing in advance with pre-approval cuts out the profit from the finance dept. so don't mention financing until they agree to sell you the car and fill out the contract.

Many cars Many deals

 

Just a quick note to say that I suspect everyone who has responded to this thread is the the US, so we really can't advise you very much about whether something is a "good deal" in Mexico or Central America. Local markets are wildly different, both with respect to the cars that were sold in that market (the US never has had the "seasoning" editions), and what the typical market prices are. You need local information. Insofar as the tactics used by the dealer so far, they sound par for the course - until you get a firm offer that they're willing to write into a sales contract, you really have no committment whatsoever. I suspect they're still in negotiation mode and if you balk at the $14.7K, they'll start trying to meet you in the middle. MIght be time to buckle in and say $14K tops and call their bluff. But they may say no. All part of the fun of car price negotiations.

Regardles of what deal you can get, I think the 04 is worth a significant premium. Given two equivalent cars except for year, I'd definitely pay another $1500 or perhaps even more for the 04 vs. the 03. I wouldn't even consider an 02.

- Mark

 

I'm just curious why, what is the difference between, say, an 03 produced in August 03 and an 04 made in September 03? ( I don't know what month they switched MY, that is just an example..) I just don't remember anything significant changing from the 03 model year to the 04 and thus would think an early 04 is pretty much the same and the premium only for the sake of the year Again, to me the actual production date and the in service date are key vs just the model year, theoretically an 03 with a later in service date could even have more warranty left (although I have no idea what the warranty is in Mexico).

 

^ Well, don't know if it's worth a big premium but all else being equal an 04 is preferable if for no other reason than resale value. If and when you need to turn around and sell or trade-in the car, you're going to do better with a newer model (and blue blook value will be higher if you total it and the insurance company has to pony up).
We can argue all day between us whether a Sept. 03 is significantly different from an 04 built 2 weeks later, but the market (and blue book values) will be higher for the 04. . . I know, blue blook is inflated -- but the point is merely that blue book, edmunds, consumer perception, etc will all value the 04 higher.