Hi all.
I am about to go look at:

2006 Mini Cooper, 5400 miles, May06 delivery, march 06 build
Space Blue/ Silver
Checkmate
CVT
Moonroof
Driving Lights
HK stereo
Tinted windows
$21K Plus 7.75% tax and registration

I have calculated that the NEW price on this car was at least $23750. the guess is in the driving lights and the tinting but the rest is from various mini sources.
KBB lists some absurd price that is higher than the new price.
Edmunds says 21464 for private party.

This is not my dream Mini, as there are so many options out there that it would be impossible to get that.
I was waiting for the 07 and i was going to order new but i dont think i can handle being one of the first to have one. i will let others work things out. Not to mention, that Mini will have more options out there if i wait longer.....

 

Sounds a bit high for what you are getting.

A dealership here (non MINI) has an 05 Chili Red MCS with fullaero kit JCW wheels and who knows what else for $22K. It has somewhere around 20K miles.

MC for $21 or MCS for $22? I would go for the MCS personally but I am biased

 

I test drove an 05 S auto with 28k miles and its sticker was 29999!!!!
i think the san diego/ so cal market is quite inflated.

 

Driving lights and tinted windows would run you $550-600 if you had them done yourself. It sounds like an OK price to me. Not earth shattering, but you won't be kicking yourself in the butt later, either. My 06 MC was $21k+ new, without the CVT or the Checkmate (or the driving lights).

 

good posts, thank you.
well, i was really thinking that this was a spectacular deal. the window sticker was 24100. that did not include the tint or the driving lights. I would want tint if i bought a brand new one but would not get the driving lights. it also has a 5 year tire/wheel warranty that i did not mention above.
the price is 20,500.

the car is in good condition. one complaint is over a few stains on the gray fabric of the seats...both driver and passenger.

thats a 4000 discount for 5500 miles and 8 months of ownership.
it seems that with Mini's excellent resale value that this is a kick myself if i dont take it kind of deal......

feel free to bring more negatives to the table. you guys may be able to talk me out of it.

before this car showed up yesterday, the plan was to wait for presidents day and go drive a 2007 cooper. if i liked it, i was going to order one to my specs....right about 25,869.

another negative to this used one is that i would surely add the $430 autodimming/homelink mirror myself, and i would likely take it to an aftermarket place to have seat heaters put in. i looked at the underside of the seats and only found 4 connectors on the passenger side, all of them hooked up.
essentially, i am up to 21500. hmmmmm.....i might have just talked myself out.

 

2 minor things i forgot....
mini floormats (one of the back ones has gum on it.)
mini cupholder (the owner tells me she payed the dealer $70 for it!)

with the configured 07 price plus 400 for tint, then adding 1k to her price for the things i would likely add, we are talking 4800.
that does not seem like a lot of $ for a new versus used.

i wish they didnt change it this year!
(yes....from the pics i like R56 less)

 

Price on 06's should go down due to the R56 coming out. Seeing that it is just an MC, I would say you're paying about 2K over what it should be. My 03 MC has 37xxx on it and would sell right now for about 15K, bought at 17.5K. Try to get them to lower to 20K and call it a deal. If not, keep looking, there's always a good lookin' Mini destined to find a new owner

 

One more thing, the tint would not add value, no, the reason why is because it is legally binding. Therefore it should depreciate the value by about the amount it cost to tint the windows. Due to state restrictions if you are pulled over in a state where the tint is illegal, you'll be paying the ticket. Play it fair and ask for the cost of the tint to be deducted seeing that you run the risk of getting a ticket from it if you take it out of state. Just my .02

Good luck!

 

thats new information to me. Not that i have looked into it or anything but i thought that if you are pulled over and the tint becomes an issue with the officer, that if you have proof that the tint was done out of state while the car was registered out of state, that it is ok. (a receipt from the shop that did it from another state)
as i type that, it seems that there would be no way to proove that someone didnt just drive across the border and have it done...receipt and all.

i am now thinking that you are right.......


The owner has been offered 20500 from carmax in Orange County. she is willing to sell to us at the same price to save herself the drive.
she doesnt seem like the type of person that would make that story up to prevent lower offers. (although that is a good idea!)

 

Cupholder (the huge one on the downtube anyway) were standard on 2006 MINIs in the U.S.

 

I just a MCSc this past Nov. and I wished I had waited to get the exact color and options that fits my liking ... I got the dark silver with leather seats and sports and cold weather package... It's not bad but in my mind I'm already thinking about my next MINI,,, Do it right the first time and spend a bit more and you'll be happier...The '06 prices are dropping like crazy,buy it from out of state if you have to and negotiate a better deal...and get free shipping from east coast sellers....

 

If I just had to have an automatic, I'd wait for the '07 and get a "normal" automatic rather than the CVT. Actually, I'd wait for an '07 even if I didn't want an automatic.

 

Price isn't all that bad for the equipment. It all comes down to what you want, and what you can and can't live without. A lot of times price is so subjective it's hard to give well qualified responses. What's your gut telling you? The least you need to do is talk it over (this forum helps with that), and then sleep on it. It's amazing what your mind can do to muddle through a situation while you're sleeping.