I'm thinking to trade my MCS 04 to MCS 05. Today I brought the car in at SouthBay MINI Dealer and about to buy/place an order. They gave me only $ 18000.00 I can't believed it! Here are the details and specs of my car

- 2004 MCS Dark Silver
- Premium Package
- 7340 Miles
- 17" R90
- Mini Security Alam Sytem
- Mat Floor
- Perfect Condition, clean inside and out.

What would be a fair price?

 

That seems a bit low, but not bad for a trade-in to a dealership. They have to turn around and sell it, so they are not going to give you top-dollar. I bet they make more money re-selling MINI trade-ins than they do selling new ones!

Do some research and see what others are asking. If you want to sell it fast, ask a bit less than the competition is! I'd think that selling it privately will probably yield you at least another $2K above what South Bay offered you. Good luck! :smile:

Clover

 

Trade in value is going to be lower than if you sold it privately, but saying that ask yourself a couple things first. I don’t know if you own it free and clear, but if you’re making payments will it cover the loan on the 04. And if it does cover the loan does it give you enough in value to add as a down payment to keep the 05 payments the same as your 04 payments are now. If those two things are covered by the 18K trade in then I think it’s a great deal.

 

You may want to check out the Kelly Blue Book online or Edmunds web sites. They will help you estimate values for both dealer-trades and what you can ask if you sell it yourself. Another option would be to see what CarMax will offer you as a point of comparison.

18K is low, but it seems typical of the MINI dealerships. Locally on the East Coast, I knew somebody who was only offered 12K for their 02 MC by the dealer. CarMax offered 15K cash on the spot.

 

Does the trade-in value reduce your sales tax to the difference between the two? If so, you would have to sell your vehicle for $18,000 plus the amount of your local sales tax, which in Ohio would amount to $1250+-.

I attempted to a trade a vehicle on my 05, the MA told me before they appraised my vehicle that they would only give me the lowest book value, regardless of condition. A nice way of saying "sell it yourself".

 

Yes it does. :smile:

Example:
Your new car = $22K
Your trade-in = $18K
Your sales tax = $4K x ____%

That a lone is a significant benefit if you trade it in. If you trade-in a leased car, it is the same too.

 

dealer trade in =

I remember back in 2001 .. when I was trying to trade my 95' Nissan 240sx (80K miles) for 01' BMW 330CI, the used car manager came out and told me that the best he can do is $800 .. I was in shock, shut up and left, cause if I stand there for another minute I'm gonna put a hole in his face .. one week later I sold it for 13K in autotrader.

Did I mention that my trade in did have brand new 4K painted job (5mo before I sold), AP racing brake, Recaro seats, 19" rims, etc

 

that's really low.... I was able to sell my 03 MC PS/B with 9k mis. on it for $19500 the same week I took delivery of my 05 MCS..... I'd suggest that you try to sell it yourself.... Good luck.... :smile:

 

I was offered a trade-in value of $18,500 for my immaculate condition '04 MCS with 17K miles at my selling MINI dealer for a new '05 MCS. I said, no thanks!

Not bad as this is taking back around 85% off original MSRP, but I can do much better on a private sale.

I had the car appraised by an individual who works day-in and day-out on used car auctions here locally and he gave me the following run down on what I can expect to get for it:

Trade-in:

High $18's, low to mid $19's. A dealer willing to bet higher on the car may give me $20K for it.


Private sale:

He advised to advertaise the car for $22.9K and the first $22.5K finds a new driver and home.


On a trade in I can expect to lose somewhere between $2K to $3K, too much of a big chunk of change for the "Convenience" of not having to sell the car myself.

I suspect Carmax (Which bases all of thier trade-in prices on Kelly Blue Book) will be willing to give me as much as $20,500 for it.

Keep in mind that Kelly Blue Book does not yet have published prices for 2004 model year MINIs.


Used MINIs are still going for top dollar here in South Florida and it pays to sell the car privately. If I can't get what I want for my MCS, I will keep it, simply as that... It is a great car and I am not going to give it away!

 

That is very low! I hope you didn't leave your '04 MCS at the dealer!

Look, my '04 MCS doesn't have any packages and has 10K more miles than yours and I still was given $18.5K at the dealer. I am afraid you have been lowballed on the trade-in offer.

Your car should bring in on a trade at least $20K at the absolutely bare minimum. You are giving your car away! Unless you are filthy rich, don't give away easy money to the dealer! The dealer once takes your car back they will put it up for sale for at least $23K-$24K. That is an instantaneous $5K profit!

Check www.carmax.com and if you have them locally near you, have them appraise the car and see how their offer compares to that of the MINI dealership. I suspect Carmax will give you much more for your car, close to a "fair" trade-in price.

My suggestion to you is to sell it privately. If you have 6-8 weeks until the new '05 MCS arrives, you'll have plenty of time to sell it on your own and make some good cash on the side.

Trade in is a very expensive convenience that should almost never be used unless you are in a desparate situation to unload a car and this doesn't seem to be the case.

Good luck.

 

Mini's have one of the highest resale values in the country right now. Don't let the dealer stick it to you. Although there are reasons to trade, now is NOT a good time to trade a Mini. You can and will do much better selling it yourself. Even after taxes. Don't ever forget, dealers are in it for one reason and one reason only, to make money. They will gladly steal your car if they can make money on it. But as hot as the market is for Mini's, only a fool would trade. Put the money in your pocket, not the dealers.

Ripley.

 

It's funny how you all think you know so much ! Ask yourself... how much would you pay for a used MINI? If they sell for 23k new, would someone buy a used one for 20k?? 21k?? Only if someone needs one right away or hasn't done research. Let's say the dealer asks 21k, they will allow about 3k for room to negotiate. If you want to play retailer, then go to autotrader.com, pay the $50 and sell it yourself. The other factor that will determine trade in value is the dealers current stock.

 

Depends on the options... a basic new one for 23K or a hot used one
with R90's, perhaps aerokit for 21K.. i'll take the used one. Mine was
like $27k new.

I was kind of surprised to read that the dealer only offered 18k even though
it had R90's on them...those are expensive wheels vs s-lites, etc. not much
worth when you trade-in, huh?

 

Supply and demand, simple as that. Here in Miami there are not many used MINIs (specially MCS) to go around, so there are buyers willing to pay for one.

 

Interestingly enough I was just in Miami this last weekend and I met someone who was trying sell their 03 MC with 18K miles for a while.....didn't even get a hit from Ebay. She went to the Carmax located off the Turnpike and they gave her $15K for the car. While down their I saw quite a few MC's but only 2 MCS's.

 

How much did she want for her MC?

 

Not sure how much.........but she needed to get rid of it. Carmax was the easiest way.

 

Similar here, except I got $18k trade in for my 03 PS/B MC [$21,5 new] with 10k miles, on my new $28k 05 MCS last Aug. These puppies hold value watertight. [I think it's because the wait is torturous ]

 

Bartmack, you have owned 3 Minis (CVT, 5-speed Cooper and now MCS). What have you done to minimize your loses after switching cars?

 

SouthBay Dealer has made me wanted to keep my car for awhile (at least 5 months) Eventhough I deposited $1K (refundable) on it so by the time I get the car it's like May 05. I'm deciding that I'm going to sell it by myself. I still owe Mini Finance $21K. $23K when I bought it. This is not included some exterior/interior mods like 17 R90, xenon headlights, front foglights (almost sport package but DSC), Ipod adaptor and ect.

Either Carmax or private is best solution for me. Thanks guys.

 

I lost $4500 on the CVT, because I only kept it for 5000 miles... that was the only one that hurt!!--- but I owned it outright. I drove the 5 speed for 12 months and it only dropped $3500, (that's pretty darn good!!) I had already paid off the difference, so I owned that one outright too. The MCS I'm keeping . [third times' a charm, y'know]

 

When I was looking to buy my '05 MCS, I saw a used one at the local BMW dealer. It was a 2003 with 13K miles and was pretty clean. They wanted $23,900 for it. I bought a brand new 2005 with everything it had and more for $25,104. But you know what, that used onet was gone a week later. Cars are like stocks - they are worth whatever someone is willing to pay on any given day. I say try to sell it for as much as possible. You can always sell it for 18K.

 

An used car price is just an opinion. The MINI new vs used market thing is very tight right now. The high resale value of the MINI can either work for you or against you. The key here is to find a buyer that recognizes the value offered by your car vs others.

Some people just want to have a MINI and don't want to wait or pay more for a new one. All they want is to motor down the road in a MINI and will get it if they find one that suits their needs/wants and wallet.

I think taking the time and effort to sell your MINI privately is well worth it. We live in a time and culture that cherishes instant gratification and this is why people are willing to lose their shirts on a trade-in because they want the new "hot" car as the old one doesn't cut it anymore and selling it on thier own takes time and Patience!.

Patience pays off big time. I waited for my '04 MCS 10 months and unthinkable amount of time when today you can order and take delivery of a new MCS in just 6 short weeks.

It is a good idea to discuss with the MINI dealer regarding their policy on new orders. Will they give your deposit back if you can't take delivery?

Trading in is a very expensive convenience. Car dealerships make money on used cars (No wonder why) not new ones.

 

"Car dealerships make money on used cars (No wonder why) not new ones."

I pulled up the Kelley Blue Book trade-in price on a 2003 MCS with zero options today and 14,000 miles. It's over $20,000!

Usually true, but Mini dealer profit is pretty nice a new MCS sold at MSRP. Around $1,800 profit!

 

$1,800 profit per car is not bad, but that amount X 25-30 cars per month, does not work real well in the auto business. If I was in the car business trying to make those numbers work based upon the investment, no thanks.I recently talk to a "soon to be" Scion dealer, $800 per copy, maybe 10 cars a month, after a min. of 150k investment. That seems like fuzzy math! The original post regarding the 18k trade in value, plus the 6-7% sales tax advantage, equals 19k+. How much above that can you sell the car as a private seller, is it worth the time to spend weeks and gain a few hundred dollars? A local guy tried to sell his 02 MC, one owner, nicely equipped, with 4k miles all of last year, for $18,500. He had it on ebay, autotrader, consigned to a used car lot and finally traded it to a new car dealer in Dec. Why would you put yourself through such a fustrating ordeal, trade the car and drive a 05.