Yep - that's pretty typical. Unless it's something particularly rare or exotic, dealers will usually send anything older than 1-2 years or with higher-than-normal mileage straight to the wholesaler auction, no matter how nice it is. The dealers leave the older/higher-mileage cars for the "We Tote the Note"-type car lots.

This is also why trading in an older car at the dealer is usually the financially worst way to get rid of it, unless you're in a real rush. The most you can hope to get is the wholesale value or perhaps even a little less.

 

is 83,000 miles really high milage?
my 03 has 150,000 and it runs as strong as it did new.
I think time will prove minis to be like hondas. sure other stuff on the car will wear and need to be replaced just like any used car but the engines will run strong for many years.

 

I know what you mean about dealers though.
I am finding some dealers around here are carrying some higher milage cars. I think its just to keep the lots full though and to sell cars.
lots are looking thin and craigs list is full.
I probably picked a bad time to sell my cooper.

 

I'm with you my two previous MINI's ran 128k(R50) and 150k(R53) and were still running strong when I traded them.

 

I'm not saying high mileage Minis are bad, I know someone that has a 03 MCS with 148,000 miles & the car drives like new. I look at it & he was asking about 10 grand. It's just car dealers don't like to try to sell them due to the fact anything over 100,000 miles can be the resale kiss of death unless it's a tote-the-note lot. There is money to be made in finance if that certain party can qualify.

 

I bought mine 05 MCS with 29,000 miles for $11,200 two months ago. It has Navi, Xenon, Sport package, OBX exhaust(it sucks though), every option except the cold weather package and moon roof. I know it was a steal, but it happens under such economic recession.

 

It's not the "miles per year" - it's the total mileage. 83,000 miles is not high at all *for a 2003 model*, but it's still more miles than most dealers want their used cars to have. If they can, they usually like to stock their "used lot" with cars that are 1-2 model years old, with less than 30k miles or so.

If you traded in a 1985 Cadillac with 100,000 miles, that would be extremely low mileage for a 24-year old car, but it would still likely get sent directly to the wholesale auction.

Like bobbydanger pointed out, though - more people may be holding onto their cars for longer rather than trading them in quickly, and more people may be pursuing private sales in order to get a higher price, so the dealers may be keeping older cars on the lot just to keep the lots full.

 

KBB is horribly inaccurate in reflecting actual sales values of hot cars, which the MINI is.

Insurance companies do not even use it.

Which brings to mind, if you had an insurance claim on a totaled MINI, no way you would want the carrier using KBB to settle the claim. You would lose about $2K or more on the settlement check.

 

That sounds totally ridiculous. That car with EVERY option listed on KBB (and I do mean every) lists a retail price of $24,000.

You must have found a seller who was about to be evicted the next day.

If I were the OP I wouldn't wait or hope for a situation like that. He has a better chance of winning the lottery.

http://www.kbb.com/KBB/UsedCars/Pric...C536235%7Ctrue

 

Oh, I forgot to mention that who the seller was. It was one of my friends who had to pay tuition and rent by selling his car. Once he brought his car to the local dealership, the dealer said he could only pay $11,000 for the car because of the economy downfall. He got upset, and told me he would rather sell his to any friend around that price range. At the time, I was driving 07 335i coupe, but always thinking of getting back to MCS someday since my first 06 MC. So, I bought his and sold my 335i soon. That is the end of story. I will never sell my MCS till the day it dies on road.

 

Holy sweet jesus that is the deal of the year . No offense, but your friend took a HUGE loss on that one. Even in this economy, you should be able to sell that on CL for MUCH more than that.

 

So I was right, there was an eviction issue (if he failed to pay the rent).

Sounds like the dealer was trying to make a killing and take advantage of someone in a tight situation. (Dealers know full well people are extremely desperate who come into a dealer to sell a car for cash).

Plus there is the friend factor, friends always get a discount on stuff I sell (and they expect one too ).

Lastly, there was the frustration factor, your friend could not hold out for a better price and took what the dealer said as an indicator of what the MINI was worth (A false statement by the dealer, they would have turned around and marked up the car to $22,000. Good to see his con did not work. That will teach them to overreach).

Sounds like you had the "perfect storm" of car buying.

 

Yep guys thats my MINI. It will take some time and a lot of calls, but you can do it. 05 with 50k+ you should definitely be able to find one.

Around Feb. they were going real cheap, but now everyone wants used cars, so dealerships are going to the auction paying stupid prices for used cars driving the price up. In a few more months they will have an excess of cars that they paid over value for and will be screwed. You could always wait for that time..

 

Yeah, that was the best deal I've ever had.

 

How about an 04 for 11K

http://baltimore.craigslist.org/ctd/1139780213.html

05 for $12.7

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...standard=false

 

06 vert for under 13k

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...standard=false

 

Surfblue says:
I have used ebay to successfully sell a vintage sports car to a party in France, and I bought a 62 Mini Cooper off a UK seller and brought it to the USA without a hitch.
On the sale, I was contacted outside ebay by numerous parties who wanted to know what my reserve was, what would I take outside of ebay, etc. I told all to simply BID a price they were comfortable with. NONE of those parties ever put in a bid. The legit people bid, and a collector in France won the car.
Ebay is no different than everyday life. You have to use common sense and be able to recognize basic scammers.
I would never use paypal in dealing with something like a car. But as to ebay, it's fine if you use your head. That's my experience.

 

That's funny-I saw one of these on the loop as I drove home from work today.

 

That '06 is a salvage title, but that seems to be a viable option according to some; I was definitely looking at them when I began my search.

 

I know Im new but we just bought an 05 Cooper with two power sunroofs, all electric, tilt, cruise and steering wheel controls, digital climate controls, HIDs and some more for 10500 out the door. It has 72k on it and it auto. Body and paint are good.