2 months and 3,000 miles ago I purchased a 2003 MCS with 57,000 miles for $19,700.00 from Dryer and Reinbold of Indianapolis. Today they offered me $13,000.00 toward the purchase of a $25,000.00 GTI (note; same dealer). I have only heard how Mini Coopers do not depreciate. To me $6,700.00 over 3000 miles is a lot of depreciation.
I was looking for a better ride, I guess I better find a better dealer, or different tires.

 

Hon, NEVER expect to get what your car is worth on a trade-in! Just doesn't happen. Dealerships make more money re-selling trade-ins than they do selling new vehicles! Sell it yourself!

 

You should never expect to get full value on a trade-in from a dealer, doesn't happen. The dealer is going to turn around and sell it and expect to make a decent profit. If you run the base numbers for a 2003 MCS on www.kbb.com you'll see that its right in the ballpark on Trade-in versus Suggested Retail.

 

What planet are you from?

Trade-in is a very EXPENSIVE convenience, period.

Dealerships make their bulk of profits on the purchase and re-sale of used cars. That's were the real gains are.

No dealership is ever going to give you full retail value for an used car. I think you need to get off that "urban legend", don't you think?

The dealer will give you $13K for your car, turn around and re-sell it for $17K. $4K+ quickly made!

My question to you is... Do you make $6K per minute at work? If you don't and if you want to put all that cash in your pocket, sell the car yourself!

Yeah, it is a hassle to put an ad, answer phone calls and do test drives with strangers. But guess what? If you want maximum $$$$$ for your used MINI, that is the only way to go.

I am sure you can find a private buyer for your car in the $16K-$17K price realm.

Good luck. Been there done that!

 

It just makes me sick that the cost of that first 3,000 miles was $6,700.00.

 

It isn't...it only comes to that if you accept the dealership's lowball trade-in offer to you. Sell it yourself! Don't go the trade-in route since it upsets you so much. Read all the responses to you very carefully before you capitulate.

 

Uh, that's your own damn fault for being lazy and not selling it privately. You essentially paid the dealership $6,700 to make selling the Mini their problem. You're just the [edit] person [/edit] who traded it in for much LESS of a car.

Get out of here.

 

I don't think you are getting it....

First of all, you have an used with MINI with fairly too many miles for its age.

Second, you bought the car already used.

Thrid, the convenience of trading in, means that you have to pay the dealer BIG money to have them buyback the car they sold you months ago.

That convenience costs $6.700 (Gasp!)

If you put a little time and effort, you can sell your MINI for much, much closer to what you originally paid for it in the private market.

Case in point:

I used to own a 2004 MCS with 17K miles (At the time, Feb 2005)

I bought the car brand new in october 2003.

Both dealer and Carmax would not give me more than $18,500 for it

Mind you my car was in MINT condition and decent mileage for its age.

Decided to sell it myself.

Put and ad in Cars.com for $50 and uploaded 12 photos of the car inside and out...

Within 6 days I had a buyer eager to jump on the car. She did not want to test drive it or anything. She had the cold hard cash. To be honest I was very suspicious at first.

Next day I met with the buyer and they give me a $10K cash deposit on the car.

I said "No problem, its yours"

10 days later I got another final deposit for $11,700 cash.

Sold the car for $21,900, and the buyer didn't even attempt to haggle down the price.

These people were CRAZY over my car. It was "perfect" in everyway for them, down to the color and few options (It was a fairly "basic" Cooper S, no sunroof or sport pack).

Moral of the story: In six days after posting the sale ad in Cars.com I made almost $4,000 over the "best" trade-in offers I received at the time.

Mind you, I made money on the sale overall as well. I sold the car for $700 above of what I had originally paid for it, Brand new.


Your experience may vary and my story was indeed incredible. 1 year and a half later and I still I can't believe how easily I sold my '04 MCS.

Persistance pays.

Sell it yourself.

 

Looked at another way, that car was ~$23K new, thus retained 87% of its value after 56K miles and three years and ~5.4cents/mile. Quite impressive! Just not for you.

You paid a premium to buy the used car from a dealer.
You will pay a premium to sell the car to a dealer.
You will almost always lose if you flip a car, new or used in just a few months.
As others have said, will will be able to get several thousand dollars more if you sell it yourself.

If the ride is your biggest issue, you can address it with non runflat tires for less than $500. (and make a little back by selling the runflats) You can go a step further and go to a 16, or even a 15" rim and get higher aspect ratio tires. OEM takeoffs are pretty cheap, and generally available.
The Koni FSD shocks also reportedly improve the ride significantly.

 

Have you taken a look at VW's reliability in the Consumer Report? I think that you will benefit more, on several levels, from purchasing non-runflat tires and maybe changing to a maller diameter set of wheels.

 

Dear CMYK;
Please read my post closer, I did not trade the car. I was just testing the water. What credentials do you have to judge me?

 

i agree. you have to pay premium when dealing with dealers. good luck with whatever
choice you make.

 

Thanks for your reply. I am also looking at tire options. Where is the best place to buy the Koni shocks?
When I bought it D&R told me that when they sold it new it sold for nearly $32,000. Cold weather, Sport, Premium, and Checkmate package. From What I have been told it sounds to be close.
Thanks again.

 

Okay, people. If you want to comment on MCS&325i's thread, let's remember to play by the rules, especially to observe Site Guideline #2:

2. RESPECT
When posting, both members and vendors must ALWAYS be respectful of fellow members and vendors. Personal attacks and flames will not be tolerated. If you feel you are being attacked, report the post or private message rather than replying or flaming back.

No more name-calling, please. If you cannot respond with intelligence and respect, then do not post at all.

Clover
Core Moderation Team Member

 

It doesn't sound right. The Checkmate package did not exist in 2003, and you have to seriously load up the options to get up to $32K on an S. I suggest that you go on the configurator at miniusa.com and check the MSRP of a 2006 equipped with options and features similar to yours.

 

My 2006 MCS-JCW with the Sport Package didn't even come to 32K.

 

You are comparing apples to oranges. You paid retail, they are offering you trade in. My bet is that if you look up the retail value you will have lost a few hundreed at most.

Why do you want a GTI, they aren't as much fun to drive

 

The dealer definitely sold you a line, or maybe included the ADM+??
Below is an example of a buildup of an '04.
Definitely no Checkmate package in '03.
I haven't bought them, but the FSDs are sold by several NAM vendors.
Hang in there, and pardon the 'less helpful' responses.



My MINI Cooper S

Base MSRP* $19,425
Destination & Handling $550

paint it
Indi Blue $400
White Roof and Mirrors $0
package
Combo #1: Premium Package $1,250
Combo #2: Sport Package $1,250
Combo #3: Cold Weather Package $300

cockpit
Lapis Blue Gravity Leather $1,250
Computer Navigation System $1,700
Harmon Karden $500
Alloy Patina Dash STD

TOTAL MSRP AS CONFIGURED* $26,625

 

Wow.

I agree 100% that its ALWAYS better to sell your car than trade-in. Thats life. But I think he did take a bit hit.

I do see the MINI resale market softening. Do a search on MSN cars are the prices are coming down somewhat.

Aftermarket parts ... you will not get the money back.

I think that come about next March, when 07s are on the streets, the older cars WILL take a hit. Its just the way consumers want the latest and greatest ... enthusiasts maybe not, but the average buyer will.

 

Okay Guys;
I think many are getting the wrong idea from my post. This car is one of the most fun cars I have ever owned. I really do not want to part with it, but driving it for 2 months I have developed a back problem. I am well educated and understand very well retail vs. wholesale. I went back to Dryer and Reinbold to talk about a used 325i, just like the one I already own that my wife drives. The sales manager told me that he understood my situation with my back, wanted to keep his customers happy, and would do everything he could do. At this point, I thought I would listen. The 325i had issues that I was not interested in. While I was there I test-drove a 2006 GTI. Sure, it is not a Mini, but with 0% financing, the dealer wanting to move the ’06, and the chance the dealer wanted to make me happy I was going to let them make an offer. The offer was not good enough so I told them no thanks.

 

Eric;
They told me that the blue leather seats only came with the checkmate package. What exactly does the checkmate consist of?
Thanks,

 

hey, why did ******* type out and when I tried to type ***/tuck (as on the fx channel) and it *** it out?? My word has a bad rap!
It's a legitimate word!!

 

When I traded my '03 Cooper in on July 24th for an '05 Cooper S, they only gave me $14,000 trade in value and I had wracked up 54K+ miles on it. You want to know how much they have this car listed for now? $19,950 !!!!

That's just how dealers work.

 

You continue to crack me up!

 

Insurance appraisers still think they are worth a lot, I made some bucks on my 8-month old totaled MCS, the Downtown MINI guys are still shaking their heads about it, after selling me my new one. But I had really held the line on the price of the first one.