If you've sold your MINI to a private party and it had some kind of performance or appearance modification other than the OEM parts (e.g., a UK flag on the roof is OEM, a picture of the Mona Lisa is not), did the person you sold it to:

A. Care about the modifications?
B. Did not care.
C. Were oblvivious to them and not a factor in buying.

Likewise, if you have BOUGHT a used MINI same question.

A. Did you care about the modifications?
B. Couldn't have cared less?
C. Didn't even know it was modified.

 

When I sold my '04 MCS, the car was 100% bone stock with no engine/suspension mods. The individual that bought the car from me, said that one of the main selling points (In his view) was that the car was 1)unmodified and 2) Have never been raced or seen the track.

I guess it all depends on what prospective buyers are looking for, but the general concensus is that aftermarket parts negatively affect the resale value and appeal of the vehicle.

 

Thats what I'm trying to find out. I would imagine that pure stock has the highest appeal

 

Bought my '03 MCS used. HSport springs and rear sway, plus a set of Yokos on Prodrive P1s in addition to the xlites and runflats.

Yes. I'd have prefered the OE springs and sway personally (all included), though it's been over a year and I haven't gotten around to changing them...

...david

 

if i was getting a used modded MINI it really depends on who I buy it
from. someone from this site would be a plus, someone I don't know
might be a minus.

but I usually like to start from scratch, meaning brandnew...that's
just me. I never really liked buying used cars especially if it's for
weekend fun.

 

I recently sold a lightly modded MCS. Buyer and seller were both delighted.

The mod? An S2000 antenna...


But, in general, I think most buyers prefer un-modded cars.

 

thats it? No one else has sold their car and everyone else bought new?

 

I bought mine used, and wished that it had come with the xenon headlights(but nothing else). The Mini dealership knew the guy who used to own my car and they told me he autoX'd in it a lot. This explained the aftermarket wheels, ICW's, but they also had Pirelli runflats on them. I also go the s-lites and they're mint with two good tires, and two kinda tired ones(I assume these were the drive tires). I got the car because it was the most desirable of the cars available for test-drive at this dealership(a non-Mini dealership). I had just traded in my '03 Cobra because I got tired of the bar tab.

In retrospect, half the time, I wish I'd kept the Cobra, the other half, I enjoy the Mini's handling. Kind of a toss-up.

 

Speaking from a "sometime in the future" owner's perspective, I would pay considerably less for a modded MCS than a stock one. Mainly because I would assume a modded car has been driven harder. Also, having been around these cars for the past 2+ years I have a pretty good idea of what I do and don't like about them and being so, I'd pay a fair price for a car that was optioned the way I'd want it, but would pay much less for one that had options I didn't want... and cars with certain options (mainly the sunroof, which dislike) would have to be really cheap before I'd even consider them.

 

I sold my 2003 Cooper 5-speed a couple of months ago. The car had a Borla cat-back exhaust, Moss air intake, B&M short shifter, and Magnecor plug wires, plus a few non-mechanical mods like the parcel shelf, aux audio jack, brake light mod, and aftermarket windshield wipers.

My impression was that the buyers were oblivious to all of it, except for the parcel shelf and aux jack, which they really liked. It was all in my ad, but they never asked any questions or made any comments. The woman who was going to be driving it was currently driving some sort of large pickup, so I think the transition to the MINI was probably so dramatic anyway that something like a short shifter made little difference to her.

I think there are two key things here:

1) The mods are tasteful and unobstrusive. There's a huge difference between a high-quality, well-fitting aftermarket exhaust and some of the crazier stuff that you see on some people's cars - exhausts that need new cutouts from the valence, etc. Likewise, something like white taillights or dark tint is going to scream youth and tackiness to most people, whereas a nice custom stripe or driving lights would have more appeal.

2) That you are a trustworthy person in general, and that the buyer feels that they can believe you when you tell them that the car has not been raced, redlined, etc. I was very up front about my reasons for selling the car (no faith in the tranny), and told them the whole story. After the test drive, they specifically thanked me for my honesty, and I think that that went a long way toward assuring them that they were buying from someone who had respected the car, not a street-racing idiot.