ok so if you fall under this category, what did you get for a trade in? the dealers ive been to will only give me $15,500 for my car which originally cost me $22,000. one dealer told me he couldnt give me more cause they were only selling 2002 mini coopers for $15000 but i think hes full of it.
i cant seem to find a deal anywhere, this is going to take me forever...
-Amanda

 

Have you tried selling private? Maybe there'll be some luck there for someone that doesn't want to wait.
Also, there's the depreciation value that has to be considered once you drive off the lot. I'd check out the book value on what you have now and compare with what's being asked. But I think that's wayy too much of a dive from what you paid, if you still have a reasonable amount of mileage, etc.
Maybe shop around to different dealers around and away from you, if you haven't already.
Good luck out there
Cheers,

 

The mini is estimated to retain 62 percent of it's value after 3 years, which puts the mini in the 1 slot on retained value. I would sell it to a private party. The dealer will only offer at best the car's wholesale value. Best of luck to you.

 

i havent tried selling it privately yet. im afraid that if i sell it i might be car-less for a while and its really hard to get around here without a car. there isnt really a book value yet for the cooper since its so new. the only website that has a value is edmunds.com. i printed out the sheet that said my car is worth $18,500 and brought it to a few dealers and they still insisted $15,500. theres this dealer in nj that is looking for an automatic, but the cooper s he has is not what i want. its not a mini dealership. i dunno what to do... i really dont want to spend over $5000 for a new one... but it doesnt seem like thats gonna happen.
anyone else manage to get a good deal?
-Amanda

 

Well, this is a tough one because realistically, I don't think the MC will retain value as well as the MCS.

1. Assuming that you paid MSRP, then you have to deduct the tax you paid because the person buying it still has to pay taxes too on whatever he/she paid you. Then the depreciation once off the lot, and then the profit the dealer still has to make.
2. If you paid OVER msrp, then it would be hard to recoup much more because the MC are plentiful and even the dealers in So. CA where the demand is highest have a bunch on the lot. Currently MC can be had easily at MSRP. Some got below MSRP. Given the ample supply of MC at the dealers, they are unlikely to offer top dollar for the MC. MCS on the other hand should fetch a higher percentage of the original value..... (Did you pay over MSRP?)

Just my opinion - hoping to help a little in terms of what may be a realistic scenario.



>>ok so if you fall under this category, what did you get for a trade in? the dealers ive been to will only give me $15,500 for my car which originally cost me $22,000. one dealer told me he couldnt give me more cause they were only selling 2002 mini coopers for $15000 but i think hes full of it.
>>i cant seem to find a deal anywhere, this is going to take me forever...
>>-Amanda

 

nah i paid msrp.
i would try to sell it privately if i knew i could get the mcs i wanted soon after..i was trying to find a used one but there are so few mcs' for sale and none of them are how i would want it. i guess ill have to be carless for a bit...

 

I traded my MC after 9 months of ownership (at 8200 miles).
I bought it from a dealer that added $1600 of required extras (including Lojack, which might be worth something on a trade-in). I also added $700 rally lights and $300 rear speakers.

I got about a 75% trade-in which left me around $5000 down (not including tax). I accept that as my price for nine months of driving fun while I waited for my MCS.

NOTE: The car was on sale at the dealership marked up 17% from my trade price and was still there after four weeks - its price has now been reduced to a 12% markup.

My guess is that you might be able to sell privately at 90% of the sticker price, without including any extras (most people won't care about extras).

 

I think I have it worse. I have a 1999 GS 300 Lexus w/46,000 like new condition. This car went for 45,000 new. If you go to any Lexus dealer they're selling this car for 25,000 to 29,000. The mini dealer won't give me more than 18,000! I told them I won't buy unless the give me at lease 19,000. They finally agreed. Now for the next 2 months until my car gets here, I'm going to try and sell it for more. 19,000 is really like getting 1,200 more because I'll only be paying taxes on the difference between my car and the price of the mini which was 20,445.

ANYONE WANT TO BUY A 1999 LEXUS?

 

Amanda,
I did exactly that. I bought the 8th Cooper sold and four months
later traded for an S. I didn't eat for a few weeks. You take a beating
on trade ins and could probably do better selling privately.

 

minidriver, it does sound like you have it worse than me! sorry!! :???:
-Amanda

 

Just remember - you will get the absolute lowest price for a used car at the new car dealer. You will usually get a somewhat better price selling it to a USED car dealer if you pick them out carefully. If you go to one the has almost exclusively late-model, low-mileage cars on the lot (just like your MC), you'll get the best price from a dealer. You still will likely be in the mid-16k range though, and could probably get mid-17s by selling privately.

Phil

>> if i spend the 8G's it would cost me to get a brand new cooper i would suffer big time... i am seriously thinking about it. if i trade my car in it would cost me about 11Gs though... ugh!!!!
:smile: :smile:

 

Amanda,
Don't stress! I know how mind obsessing it is when you want something real bad! AND OH BOY can the Mini do that to you! In about 4-5 months the Cabrio comes out and I think people might be trading there Mini's in to buy one. So, there will be used Mini's for sale and Mini people love and take care of their cars sooooooo it would almost be like buying a new car! I never looked into leasing. Does Mini lease?
Just some thoughts.....let me know what happens.
Francis