I have a 2005 S cabrio that I have to give up for a more practical family-sized car. I'm wanting to pull the trigger on a diesel Jetta wagon in time to get the $1300 tax credit (which gets cut in half on Thursday), but I'm unsure how long it's going to take me to sell my MINI. The dealer offered squat for trade ($14k) which seemed absurd as this is an almost-loaded car with only 17k miles.

I know the go-go days of yesteryear, when you could sell a used Cooper in a couple of days for amazingly high prices, are behind us now, but are these cars a tough sell in today's marketplace? I don't want to end up with two cars in the garage and a hefty car payment only to find out that the used MINI market has dried up.

Anyone have their finger on the pulse of the used MINI market right now? I need some advice stat. Thanks!

 

wish I would have known you were selling. I just picked up a 06 mini for the wife. on the upside there are buyers out there.

 

I think any car is a tough sell in today's market.

 

I agree. All cars are tough to sell in today's market, but it will sell at the RIGHT price and could take some time. Be realistic though, it is a used car and as such is always worth less than how much you care about it, loaded or not. I would use the on line services that charge a fee and keep it listed until it sells. It will eventually. One service (cars.com) even refunds your money if it does not sell. I am still trying to sell a fully loaded 05 Grand Cherokee Limited with every option just for what I owe on it! Be patient and Good luck.

 

I hate trying to sell a car. I found that trading it in is a heck of a lot easier then trying to sell it myself. It is worth the few extra bucks to ease the pain. I one time sold a Ford Escort with over 100,000 miles on it and the people that bought it came back complaining that it needed brake linings four months after I sold them the car. I actually had to call the police to get them off my back. I swore I would never ever sell a car again. It just ain't worth the greif.

 

I tried all the online ads, both paid and free - Autotrader, Cars.com, BeepBeep, Craigslist etc and got more calls off of Craigslist than any of the others. In the end, I found my customer here on NAM by simply paying attention to what people were writing in the threads. I found a guy who had just sold an RX8 and was in the market for a MINI but didn't know what he wanted for sure. I contacted him, we met and we made a deal. He got a great car for a great price and I got my car sold to somoeone who appreciates it and knows what a great car it is - a good match all around.

However, I also have found the market to be difficult, unless you're just giving it away...........so I wish you the best of luck in selling your car. I think I'd consider a trade too, if you can get the terms you need to make it work. You might take the car by the MINI dealer's lot and get a wholesale purchase bid from them, or you might try Carmax.....

 

fwiw, we just had one of our club member sell their 06 cabrio. Took 6 months.

 

Ouch.

 

No offense, but if you are in a decent sized market (city) and it takes 6 months to sell the car than you had it priced too high.

I have sold many of my cars over the years on my own, most of them were BMW's and with some aftermarket parts on them, I sold almost all of them online on boards like this.

Now you can wait indefinitely for the "right" buyer, basically the guy that'll pay your asking price, but if you haven't sold it in a month you need to lower the price.
I think the longest I was on a car I was trying to sell was about a month, and I lowered my price after the first 2 weeks with no legit interest and once I started getting e-mails and offers I knew I was at the right price for the market. I held firm at that price and got it.

I sold my S2000 recently on an S2000 board in the regional section and it took about 2 weeks from the time I placed the add until it was sold.
Be descriptive and get some good pics and post them on car club boards and specific sites like NAM.

I have NEVER been able to sell a car through autotrader or craigslist, all I got were scammers and tire kickers. One guy that came to look at one of my cars showed up not knowing how to drive a stick, I asked him to leave

 

If it's priced right, it will sell quickly. Don't get greedy. And in down markets, while all prices suffer, used cars suffer the least compared to new cars. People who are on tight budgets will buy used before buying new. And trading in to a dealer always mean you loose a few thousand you might otherwise have put in your pocket.

 

And so to the important question: how does one determine the "right price?" I looked up the private party sale value on KBB and NADA and priced it about a thousand dollars below that. A good place to start?

 

I just bought an 06, and took almost three weeks to decide.

I would have bought quicker, but not a single car of the half dozen of interest sold so I took my time.

They were all 06 S models in the 15.5-17k range. I just checked and all the same dealers are spamming the same ones on craigslist 2 weeks after I bought..

Actually the 15.5k one is no longer in the auto-trader, so that makes 2 sales..

Don't believe the kbb, it is not realistic for today's market.

 

I think I'll call the local dealer and see if they are willing to give me some perspective on the current state of the used MINI market (and possibly offer some advice on the value of mine).

Thanks, all, for your feedback. I have to decide tomorrow whether to take delivery on the new car and hope to sell the MINI quickly, or pass on the new car now (missing $650 in tax credit and possibly ending up with a several-month wait for another car with these specs) and wait for the Cooper to sell first.

 

I would of took the 14k and ran

 

Of all the searching I did back in December 2009, I ended up finding the '06 MCS I have on Craig's List from a local dealership. I paid $16.1K for a full loaded one with 40K miles, and I could not be happier.

As much as I despise Craig's List, I can attest... it works. Best bet is to frequent the ads already out there so you can gauge a reasonable price.

City vs. country is one thing to consider. I've seen really good deals on MINIs up around Washington DC, but I also realize they really take a pounding on the highways up that way, too.

 

I bit the bullet and took delivery on the new car. Fate seemed to be in my favor when the dealership's finance manager's son saw my car, wanted it badly, and expressed his intent to buy it. That would have been an ideal transaction (and saved me a nice chunk of cash on state sales tax).

Fate then showed her true, cruel self when alas, he was unable to qualify for financing (oh, the irony), but I went through with the new car purchase anyway to qualify for the full tax credit and ensure I got the color & options I wanted.

Now my stomach gets to churn while I sit on an unsold MINI and the new VW payments start to hit.

Crossing my fingers it's not too long a wait.

 

Craigslist at the right price works pretty well. Edmunds prices are more realistic then KBB. Mostly check what people are asking for something similar and figure your going to take 1 to 2K less when your done negotiating. If you can help someone out with financing, that's even better. I tell folks to apply online at Capitalone.com, they have great rates and are easy to deal with. I financed my used 05 Mini through them after the dealer tried to hose me with a stupid high rate.

Just be patient and nice. Also, look for "Wanted" adds. I found a buyer for my Camper by stalking some message threads on forums.

Good luck with your sale.