Hi ya'll,

I've always liked the looks of the Minis (and helped a friend restore an original Mini). But now I'm finally thinking of buying one myself. Can I sanity check some prices with ya'll?

I have an individual seller who is asking for $21400 for a 2007 MCS with sport pack, premium pack, LSD, cloth interior, 22K miles. From talking to him on the phone he seems to really dig his mini and seems a nice fellow. Edmunds says that for an equivalent mini in my area a personal seller should expect about $20400. Is Edmunds low or should I say $20400 and point to edmunds? I'm happy to wait, but I do really like how this car looks.

A local dealer has a similar car with 8K fewer miles, asking $20,800. However carfax shows they bought it in an auction three months ago and had it tested at a BMW dealer. The fewer miles is appealing, but it has a more unknown history.

Any advice or opinions to offer? I'm looking forward to becoming a mini owner somehow in the next couple of months. Currently driving an AWD Honda Element (which I use frequently for light offroading), my last sports car was an Audi TT.

 

Is the warranty any different on the one at the dealer? I am amazed at those prices. The car has lost only 20% of its value in 3 model years? That is awesome.

 

you can request a complete history on the car from dealer ... could be certified pre owned maybe the'll extend maintenance & warranty free stuff..........

 

Are you talking about a used car dealer? Or a MINI dealer? Because in my area the MINI dealers were selling there used mini's for a couple of grand more than others....

I actually just bought a used 2007 MCS with sport, prem, punch leather, 23k miles for $20,000 so 21400 might be a little much since yours doesnt have the leather... unless you're talking about an automatic, in that case the price difference is justified....

Oh yea i got mine from a used car dealer btw who dealt strictly with german and exotic cars, ironically found the mini there.... Gotta say the mini certainly made me feel like i went with the cheap option when i walked through there

 

This would be a manual - the dealer is an independent german car dealer. NorCal. Sabes, thank you for your datapoint on what you paid.

 

I bought my 07 from a private seller a few months ago. It's a fully loaded MCS with 19k, leatherette seats. He was asking 23.5 and I got it for 22k. The warranty is transferrable. Just make sure if you buy from a private seller that you ask a lot of questions. Especially regarding service done.

 

I bought my 07 from a dealership (non-MINI) and I got the transfered warranty and I have almost the same options as the one your looking minus the premium and the wanted $21,5K for it. And with my trade in I ended up spending $16,8k for it. Oh and my had 14k miles on it 7 months ago. And it has about the same as the one you are looking at now. Like posted before I would get a full history and maybe even test drive it and take it to the MINI dealership and have them take a look at it to make sure that nothing is wrong with it.

 

carfax and a independent inspection including a compression test.

 

At those prices I think you are better off buying brand new off the lot. Look for deals at the end of this model year. I bought mine at a substantial discount in early Spring when dealers were hurting.

 

i second the above-- go to a dealer and see what kind of deal U can get on remaining 09 dealer stock.

y'll pay top dollar used at a 'ship because that is any car dealer's numero uno profit maker, used cars.

 

I got a 2008 MCS with premium, sport, bluetooth, pano roof, 17" wheels, and comfort access from a private seller for 20K. My car only had 11K miles on it. The guy and his wife had a baby and they wanted something bigger. So I think you are not getting that great of a deal if it only has cloth.

I would offer him 18K at the most. In fact, I see a lot of 2007 with a lot more options than you are listing for less than 20K on Craigslist.

 

The seller was sleeping,blackbook (i am a dealer) is 21500 wholsale on the car you bought.

Well done

 

Thanks Stig One. I am happy with the deal and the seller actually was asking 23,500K and I just told him I was on a budget and luckily he gave in to my asking price.

Wow, wholesale is 21.5. Out of curiosity, what would dealers give for trade-in. I check KBB but I hear they really low ball everyone... I would understand if you can't answer this question.

 

Blackbook is the only auction guide the pros use,dealers buy using the blackbook and sell you on bluebook price .bluebook is a highball if anything.

You can buy a NEW 2009 mcs base for 23,500 or less. I know i would rather buy a new car with less option than a used car that is 1 year old with options.

 

Good to know. I meant Dealers lowball not KBB. I know KBB is usually high.

AS for a new '09 MCS, base is 23.5 but you add all the packages like premium, sport, and comfort access and you are easily looking at close to 30K for the car when you add in all the tax and license.

I too would rather buy new if there was no budget issues. But the way I looked at it, I got 2 years remaining on my free maintenace warranty (peace of mind). I also got the remainder of the 4 year warranty and roadside assistance. So risk with this "used" car was minimal.

So I did not really miss out on anything with going used this time around

 

I guess you are smarter than me when it comes to car purchases.

I have only sold 50,000 plus new and used cars over the past 20+ years

 

No disrespect Stig One. My situation was unique and definitely benefit me by going individual sales vs. Dealer.

I always try to pick up stuff from Dealers because if you can catch some of their angles, it can help you with getting the best deals possible.

 

These are English built German designed cars with French engines,for peace of mind i would want a new car warranty with LEMON LAW .

 

Personally I prefer to buy from a dealer. There is piece of mind that if something was not said when you bought the car and you have to take action against the person a dealer is more accountable since they have a business they could loose. Plus you will find that most cars on carfax if a dealer has them have been bought at an auction. That is nothing to worry about.

Also you have to think depending on states if you buy from a dealer you pay taxes on the sales price of the car. In NC if you buy from an individual then you pay taxes on whatever the state values your car at. They only take sales price figures from dealers.

 

I purchased mine late last month for $19,900. 2007 S Cabrio automatic with 12,686 miles with all the bells and whistles. I bought it from an independent dealer on the Internet over the phone. According to KBB I saved like $7000. I don't know how accurate the posted values are but I think if you look you can find a great deal. Based on what I paid I believe you could do a lot better for a coupe six speed than $20,000.