I know many people have mentioned that the resale value of a MINI is really good and I've seen dealers sell used MINIs with 35K miles on them for nearly as much as a new one. However if I wanted to trade in a year old MINI how much % or $ less would I expect to get from a dealer?

Not if I was going to sell it directly to someone but as a trade in.

 

Check the value on Edmunds.com, or nadaguides.com

Use the "trade in" or wholesale values

 

I got $2500 less then I paid when I traded in after 15 months and 19,000 miles

 

That is pretty damn good.

 

yes it was :-)

 

That's like way better than a lease. What were the specs of the car? Was it an MCS?

 

Did you trade it for another Mini? That might have made the difference. In any case, 2500 for 15 months is awesome!

 

Edmunds is the best for price predictions, and represents the most accurate. Dealers use the "Black Book" in much of the country. Expect wholesale pricing on a trade. Usually, the first year that an indivdual owns the car garners the greatest depreciation. I owned my 03 S for forty months before purchasing a 07 S, and got near 71% of what I paid. My car had 34,000 miles zero dings.If you live in a metro area with a Carmax you can get them to give you a quote for reference. Do a comparison with say a GTI to see the difference.

 

NO. Don't even bother looking there. They are just "guidelines" and are not close.

If you really want to know, go here http://www.galves.com/ pay the fee and find out.

The ONLY thing that matters is the going wholesale auction rates in your area. You may be shocked to find the true trade-in prices.

 

Whaaaat? That's like making money, depending on your payments!

 

+1 Galves is the most accurate trade-in pricing guide int the nation. they use real hard data to backup their value appraisals, unlike KBB, NADA or even Edmunds. Another aspect I like about Galves is that they totally avoid the "retail" pricing pitfall, so all you get from them is mostly wholesale and trade-in values.

 

I just sold my 06 MCSa PW/B with 20k on it for $26k.
Sticker was $25,400 in December 05. In the Phoenix area they are holding value very well.
Though, I do have a friend that has an 05 MCS Yellow/Black/Checks, about 28k miles, loaded with lots of extras and is trying to sell it for $21500. Guess you have to find the right buyer for the Yellow.

 

Okay, so you sold it for 26k to your dad?

 

Damn! Talking of taking advantage of your siblings!

 

I've done this several times, and while the trade-in values I received were very good, they were not the same as a private sale by any means.

My 05 MCS was $28k new and 15 months later at 11k miles I got 21.5k trade in toward the 06 MCSC. That was higher than CarMax or Driver's World (they were like $19k) and I REALLY did not want the hassle of a private sale, so I didn't mind.

Before that, my 03 MC which was $21k traded in at 1 y/o, 8k miles for 17k if I remember correctly.

For comparison, I did find a buyer for my 06 Mustang GT at 15 months and only 4k miles that was $28k new, and sold for $24k. Carmax was around $21k.

Cars cost money baby

 

Just find a private owner with what you want in a car one year old that has lost whatever it will depreciate. Drive it two years and sell it on Autotrader or Cars.com and you'll end up paying about 250.00 a month after subtracting what you owe from what you sell it for. Buy with under 15K miles and sell at 45k miles. Can't lease a Hyundai for that much. MINI has one of the top 5 resale values of any car. Check consumer reports and Edmunds.

 

I just took delivery on a new '07 MCS and love it. Prior to that I had an '05 MC that I bought used from an individual when it was a year old and had 13,000 miles. I kept it 18 months and put 12,500 miles on it, and sold it to an individual for $150 less than I paid. So bottom line it cost me $150 depreciation to drive the car for 18 months. I took the first offer from the first person who looked at the car, so think I probably could have done even better. But I was anxious to sell since my new one was enroute from the VDC, and I liked the nice folks who were getting their first MINI. So everyone was happy and got a good deal. Now just hope my new one holds most of its value, although I certainly don't expect to sell it for what I paid for it in a year or two.

 

2005 MCS Prem, Cold


Yes, got 2006 MCS


My payment for the first car was $285/month

 

Yes, 26k to my Dad. But, that was including the delivery to WV from AZ. So, I said to him I wanted 24k for it and he said how about 26k and include delivery to WV. So, guess the true amount for the car was $24k. Which is still a great resale considering the purchase price. Then I ended up putting new wheels and runflat tires on it prior to the drive to WV. So, the 2k over was used up in the tires and drive with gas, meals and rooms. 3 days and 2100 miles.

 

If you do a google search for mini cooper resale value you will find the car on numerous top 10 lists. Last I checked the edmunds site had it in the #2 slot for best residual value. Kelly blue book has it as best reasale in both the convertible and HB category. Rather impressive.

 

Kelly Blue Book is the customer friendly version with unrealistically high values in their pricing.

 

I disagree. I've been to more than a dozen different dealers that quote trade in prices using their website.

 

I don't follow you. when I sold my tacoma truck it's highest blue book value was about 10K I sold it for 2,800 more than that. It's all about market value.

 

I disagree with your disagreement.... ....

dealers always use auction value for the [often invisible] calculation of a sale deal... they will either send a trade to auction (most likely) or bear a monthly co$t of having it sit on their lot for sale (less often, and never for '79 LTDs) or they are a premium brand that will do certified pre-owned (ie BMW, Lexus, Porsche, and most recently, MINI Next, or Cherished)

If they are showing you KBB on a trade in, (I don't think you'd ever see that at a MINI dealer TBH) they are getting the money from somewhere else, ie a Chevy dealer that could go lower on a sale.

 

+1.

Sometimes you might see the KBB or other guidelines on a dealer website to give you some idea, but you can most likely take it to the bank ... the ONLY thing that matters is the wholesale auction prices. They are not going to lose money on you,