I have a 2009 Clubman, base, chili red, black top, comfort, cold weather, convenience and premium packages - red leather and pinstripe seat package, etc. Pretty sweet little ride.

I love it, but my husband just bought a miata (his third - he can't help it) so we have been looking to sell the clubman and get a countryman instead, so we have one car we can put adults over 5' 2" in the back seat.

Problem is, we have the car priced $1,500 below NADA and KBB retail and in three months, we have gotten one interested person on the phone. ONE. Has MINI's introduction of the Countryman killed the resale potential of the Clubman?

I am in Oklahoma City, and we have one of the strongest metro economies in the country. Maybe that is the problem - people here are still buying bigger cars. Anyone have thoughts on this?

 

OK - just read online that Clubman sales are down 29% year over year.

 

This doesn't really answer your question, but I just got back from Paris and the ratio of Countrymen to Clubmen was easily 5:1, if not more. And the Clubman has been on the market longer.

 

I think the Countryman did kill the Clubman's market... but there could be other issues. Auto or manual? The non-S hurts resale, too. I saw a well-optioned, very clean brown Clubman w/6spd and Lounge leather seats sit on a GMC dealer's lot outside of Ft. Worth for over a year, before selling for about $13K w/30K on the odo. $8K less than what they were trying to get for it.

 

It was predicted that the Countryman would replace the Clubman.
MINI markets the Clubman now as the eccentric member of the family.
I don't see the Clubvan as appealing to a large market, not in the US anyway.
It seems to me that the bell is tolling for the Clubman.
I love my Clubman and find it very sad, but the market is making the decision.

To the OP, good luck with your sale.
Have you listed your Clubman here and on some of the other MINI forums?

 

...and this is why MINI is bringing out the Clubvan: to maximize the production run of the Clubman before it ends.

For me, the Clubman was the only way to go as a daily driver. I needed the extra room without the performance penalty.

 

BTW: Post pics, and run a classified listing here.

 

Not sure I understand this part as my son is 6'1 and sits in the back with no issues when my wife rides with me!

 

I don't get this either. My girlfriends teenage children are 5'6 and 5'9 and neither of them have a problem fitting in the back of a clubman. And I routinely transport 2 people in the back seat that are 6'2 to 6'6 for rides over 4 hours in length and none of them complain about not having enough space.

 

My 6'0" son complains bitterly when he has to sit in the back.
My 5'8" son does not complain and he has traveled 6 hours back there, with the split seat down.
Now, bear in mind, the taller one complains about life in general, the shorter one rarely complains about anything, so...

 

I would have never bought the MINI if they didn't come out with the Clubman. I have had Countryman as loaners and I can say, I would NOT buy a Countryman. It doesn't have what the Smaller versions have. Don't get me wrong, I like them, I just don't want to own one.

When I had the Countryman loaner, I couldn't wait to return it back to the dealer and smiled all the way home in the clubman.

Make a dual club door, clubman JCW with an Auto Trans and I would be first in line for it!!

 

The issue isn't whether the back seat is big enough - it is more about the times when one of us has clients or business associates with us. Pushing your teenager through that little space is one thing, a colleague in a skirt or a business suit x 2 is something completely different!

Thanks for the classified suggestion, I will give that a look!

 

In this scenario, a Countryman sounds like the perfect solution.

 

Why don't you just take it to your MINI dealer and trade it in for a Countryman?

No muss, no fuss.

Dave

 

Exactly! I went to the dealership with my road bike and the clubman was the only one that I could put it inside nicely. After enjoying a non-S for a while now I'm on to faster pastures.

 

I went in with a car seat for the grandkids. ;-)

 

I didn't take it in, but one son told me his bari sax wouldn't fit in easily a regular MINI, so I got the Clubman. I was already sold on having more space and I was still hauling teenagers around 3 years ago.

 

I brought my wife and ten year old son to test drive a MINI and they thought it was too small for them. Then they saw a Clubman and wanted to take that for a test ride and fell in love with it. We brought it home that afternoon and have been very happy with it ever since.

 

I love my Clubman. Don't think I'd ever want anything else.

 

My dealer offered me $3,000 below retail, and a good $1,500 below trade in value. With low miles and perfect condition that seems like giving it away. If the secondary market stays this slow, we may just rent when we need more room and keep it!

 

they need to make money somehow. did you fight back on that? don't expect top dollar on a trade. try carmax?

 

I saw a low-mileage Clubman S on an OKC Acura dealer's website. They seemed to be discounting it pretty deeply, but they also didn't have any pictures and the description was uninformative.

As above, have you taken it to CarMax? They seem to always offer the most.

Good luck!


Edit: It's at Bob Howard Acura, and it has been in a minor accident (repaired). $18,500/25K. I only post this to give you an idea of your particular market.

 

The mini is a vehicle that's not for everyone (thank goodness)! I don't think one can single out the Clubman being hard to sell either. Here's a thread about a mini hardtop where the owner thought it wouldn't sell...

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...seriously.html

Hang in there with YOUR price... it'll sell!

 

I hope I can afford my PEPPERNSALT for years to come...
I don't need/want anything better, bigger, smaller, faster, cooler,quirkier,...
I just want more nice days to drive it, more twisties and less pot holes...
Call me crazy, because I am...

 

Not sure what if any sales tax you pay in your state, but in most cases it's somewhat of a break even deal between selling your old MINI outright to make a new purchase and trading.

When trading, the amount your paying for the new car is less, so sales tax is reduced to the residual.

When walking in with cash to put down, paying outright sticker, you pay sales tax on the bottom line. Here in my area that's in the thousands of dollars and on a 40K dollar car almost 3 grand.

If you trade, and get 18K for yours. On a 40K dollar MINI the sales tax is almost have that amount you would have given to the governor.....