After 4 MONTHS of trying to sell my MCS (03, low mile, immaculate) I gave it away to Carmax today. I've sold cars before with very little trouble but the total lack of interest this car generated amazed me. I think I rode the crest of the cars popularity a bit too long. With MINI's pre-owned program coming up it's only going to get worse. I still enjoyed the car although the end nearly ruined the experience. Be forewarned- plan your exit carefully.

 

Hmm your mini must be ugly...JK

I had my first for 2 years paid 22K sold it for 18K must have been the EB/B-MCS color or was it thefact it was well cared for?

I paid 30K for my cabrio had it one year on July24th and was offered 28K last week needless to say I said no.

 

Don't take it to heart. I know folks with much more popular vehicles having difficulty unloading them at reasonable prices. I think it may have more to do with the economy than anything.

 

The resale value is so high it doesn't make sense to buy a used MINI. Ironic really.

 

AldoS, sorry about your experience, but it seems to be the exception, based on many discussions on this site. I agree that the current economy is a bit dicey, and is probably affecting car sales in general, and not just your recent experience. Are you staying with MINI or what?

 

That's the great thing about keeping my 03 MC forever, who cares what the resale value is.

 

MINIclo- The MINI was our 3rd car, driven mainly for fun. I don't think Ill buy another 3rd car of any type soon. Maintaining 3 cars is a lot of work for an obssesive-compulsive like me!

 

Yep, I'll be keeping my MC 2003, like resmini above, forever.

Considering I picked mine up for $16,900 and new one was about $8k+ more, it made a lot of sense, or should I say, saved me a lot of cents. Makes more sense then buying new, the minute that thing rolls off the lot your taking a serious hit with the cars value. I just let someone else do that for me. I don't think I will ever buy a new car again, of any kind.

 

another reason why we should keep our MINI's.

im looking forward to Inspection 1 and coolant flush at Patrick
later on this summer.

 

So let's hear the details of your Mini Aldos....color, basic options/packages, mileage, what you sold it for, what you were asking. I'm curious now.

 

I'm sorry to hear that your sale didn't work out as you had hoped.

I wonder if not having a dealer in Austin and having to drive to San Antonio for service kept some potential buyers away. Just a thought.

 

2003, CR/Black, sport package,aero grill, 29k miles, perfect condition.
Asked $19k, then 18.5 then 18. No takers- just joyriders. Maybe the lack of sunroof/leather hurt it. Got $17K at Carmax.

 

Scotteast- not having a dealer in town doesn't seem to hurt the MINI population here, but who knows.

 

Based on what you posted about your specs, you got a pretty good price for your 2003 MCS. I agree that your buyer REALLY got a good deal, though. The base price of a 2003 MCS was about $20K, your sport package was about $1200, aero grill about another $3K, so you probably paid about $25K and are got $17K for a 3-year old car in a very unstable market. I don't think that's so bad.

I wonder if you sold it to a local or if you marketed it across the US?

 

I can't complain. Got $18k trade in (paid $22,250 on the 03 MCS) towards my 06 MCS.

Did not pay to sell on my own due to the tax savings (I paid the difference between the trade and the new one). Made the 03 MCS worth $19,600 considering the tax saving, and a lazy way out!

Go $500 off and free floor mats on the new one.

regards,
Red

 

Did you expect to MAKE money on the car?? Still a pretty good price for it..

 

Hmm, something must be wrong, I had my 03 for 3yrs and put 90K on it, and still received 17K plus for it after a fire totaled it.

 

is that a "aero grill" or the actual "aero kit" like wat's on my car?

 

Anywhere east of Mississippi the supply if finally good. You can buy pre-specs new off the lot same day. Barring some unique specimens there a few deals on used cars too close in cost to new. I've been obsessively searching for ~5 months.

Kicking myself a bit still for not buying Derek's but the accountant (wife) was out of country. Barring that and 2 '03s MCs for 15K, nothing worth not going new.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=62036

 

I paid 20.4k here in the northwest for my 2/03 delivered PS/B MC, also w/ the aero grill retrofitted, Remus exhaust, black powder coat on the lower grill, 34k for mileage. I got 17.5 for it a month ago, and felt pretty good about driving a car for almost 3 1/2 years and getting almost 86% back. It helps that the nearest dealership to my town is an hour and a half away, and they have very few to no MINI's sitting on their lot- most of them have to be ordered w/ the obligatory wait time.

 

He said aero grill, so that makes MSRP of <$22K. Spending $5K (23%) for a new car for 3+ years doesn't seem like such a bad deal...

 

I bought an 03' MCS about 2months ago and I bought it for $17k with 47k miles on it, and it's loaded minus NAV. I got a really good deal on it at the time I was looking....I'm not sure of the prices of MINI's now..because I don't look anymore.

-Cody

 

I just ran your car through KBB and the trade-in value was $17.3K Looks to me this transaction was fine

So what is the issue? After all, with 2007 models coming out in three months, its basically four years old now.

 

[quote=MINIclo]Based on what you posted about your specs, you got a pretty good price for your 2003 MCS. I agree that your buyer REALLY got a good deal, though. The base price of a 2003 MCS was about $20K, your sport package was about $1200, aero grill about another $3K, so you probably paid about $25K and are got $17K for a 3-year old car in a very unstable market. I don't think that's so bad.
...

Using those number and given that your sale was hitting the bid at carmax not bad at all... .ie 68% I think the residual on a mini lease right now is 63%. (using mini not chase et al) so basically you bought the offer of retail and sold the bid in wholesale.

I know I shopped for a while before getting my 06. I would of liked to have gotten a 05 with a few miles knowing the mod path I am planning. However there is no way I wanted a 05 given the tiny spread between a lightly used 05 and a new 06 that was sitting on the lot as I wanted. You have to realize one of the main factors behind the high resale was not just to our cars being "special" (no flame please) but rather good old fashion supply/ demand.. ie a lot of people that wanted it "now" were willing to push the used price closer to new than it should be if it were just a logical choice. now with supply slowly catching up its logical that the spread widens out Yes of course this is a indication of the "top" and to me I was certain that the resale would not be as high. I am ok with that. I enjoy the car, and it will still be a very high resale. even when it returns to a more logical level. run the numbers on a domestic more common car...I bet you will begin to feel a little better.

 

To get high resale value, you must sell the car yourself. Trading it in to any "dealer" will net you at least 2-5 grand less then what you can get from a private party.

With EBAY, Auto traders and others, it's not hard to sell your own vehicle these days.