Wife is looking to get into a new car so we're selling our 09 Cooper S. Car is in great shape and have it posted on here, local Mini board, autotrader, a few other car forums and little to not interest.

Is there a good place to sell the car? I've always had good luck selling a car of a particular model on that car's forum but nothing so far. Thanks for any insight.

 

cars.com

Kind of higher miles for an '09. People are looking at lower mileage cars for similar to maybe $1500 more. MINIs out of warranty scare lots of people away.

 

It might be worth while to try your local craiglist?

 

Just DON'T put your phone number on the CL ad! I did that last year when I listed a car and got a TON of spam phone calls and offers to broker out the car.

 

This.
Sorry to be blunt, but I think you might be asking too much given the mileage. Late model, but out of warranty= less value.

 

I sold my '07 MCS on Autotrader.com in just a few weeks. They have a variety of ads and services. Good place to research prices also.

 

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Wife drove a lot of highway first few years we owned it. We actually took delivery in late 2008 so it's only about 18,600 miles a year slightly more than the average 15,000 a year.

I based the starting price on KBB as well as other autotrader/CL ads. Seems like similar cars are asking 19-22K (for lower mileage). I figured low 18's was a good place to start but no interest so far. I threw it on CL and autotrader recently.

Was thinking maybe it's a bad time of year to sell a car with people busy with the holidays. Also it's a stick and most Mini buyers probably want an automatic.

 

I've ALWAYS heard that 12,000 is the average per year - so if any others are thinking that it's 50% more than "average". Still, MINIs are supposed to have the best re-sale for their category. Might require a mileage re-calibration.

 

What does mileage recalibration mean?

 

Sorry for being vague. I mean recalibrating your price to reflect the higher mileage.

 

I was thinking Ferris Bueller's Day off style, LOL j/k!

The KBB price I came up with already factors in the higher mileage. When I use the same info but put in lower miles (say 30K) the prices goes up quite a bit from 18K to 20K.

 

I just sold my 2009 MC base with 53k miles for $15700 on cars.com. I sold a car on autotrader.com and a different one on craigslist. So I've had luck selling from all 3 major sale sites.

 

When you are the buyer, average is 15k per year, when selling, it's 12k per year. Funny how that is... That's what a salesman at a used car lot told me.
I find those online values to be about 15 to 20% optimistic where I live.

 

I paid $16k for my 08 MCS with 49k. My car has a bunch of stone chips and did not have a nice life before me (but the car was local and the local dealer has the warranty history on it, so I took the plunge). I agree with the comments about buying a car outside of warranty, potentially scaring people away.
I also wonder if the average Joe gets scared when they see things like aftermarket shocks and wheels? On the forum we recognize Koni Yellows as a quality upgrade, but others may see it as a car that was raced or driven hard.
The end of the year may be a tough time to sell a car as well, maybe after year end bonuses or tax refunds the market for a 'specialty vehicle' will be better? Just a guess.

Mike

 

Good point, I may put the stock shocks back on it and I already put the stock 16" sidewinder wheels on it with some brand new tires. I'll probably take some new pictures.

 

Given that you're in Frisco, I can understand why your KBB was so high. I think that you may be right about the manual transmission. With all of the construction going on around here, traffic is horrendous and a manual would be painful. My sister is hoping to sell her '05 MCS later this month and I know that that will be one of the deterrents with it. You might consider lowering the price to get more interest or just wait and there will probably be parents - especially in Frisco, Colleyville, Plano, Southlake, etc - that will be looking for solid used cars to give their kids for Christmas. You might get some more interest if you put an ad in the local papers for each of those areas and any other wealthy DFW suburbs you can think of. Teenagers don't read the paper but their parents usually do. Also if you have the space in the ads then I would mention that the miles are primarily highway miles. If you have gas logs or receipts from inspection to show how the miles were distributed then that might be helpful when you actually meet with potential buyers. So there's my two cents for what it's worth. Good luck!

 

I just traded in my 09MCS yesterday for $20k on a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon at the dealer. I walked in, said "here is my car, this is the Jeep I want and If you will give my 20k for my car, I will buy it right now. But if you come with a counteroffer I will just turn around and walk out." 20 minutes later they said ok. BUT, they tried to sell me everything under the sun to make more money. Everything from undercarriage sealer, to paint warranty, to wheel and tire warranty to guarantee that my first born will be a boy. I said no to all and just bought the Jeep.....And they also tried telling me that my credit wasn't "the best" and they could finance me for 5.9%. I laughed and told them I already had financing from my bank for 2.9% and my CS was 790. All part of the game. I didn't let them win......

 

I didn't really notice any bad traffic in our area. All our cars are 6MT and I didn't notice.

In any case, I think we'll just sit on it until there's some interest. No rush to sell.

ballandchain, interesting to hear they gave you 20 for your car trade in. It must have been fully loaded and low miles since the trade in was about 16K on ours. Did you pay full price on the Jeep? IIRC those are pretty expensive vehicles (40K+ loaded)?

 

It was moderately equipped. Brand new I paid just over 28k after talk down on the new MINI. I just did the research on trade in value and cost of new vehicle and told them I would pay sticker price if they gave me 20k on my trade in. This is easier than letting them go back and forth with the trade-in value and the price you pay for the new vehicle since they can manipulate number so easily. So basically I got a good trade in and no deal on the Jeep OR 2.5k off the Jeep and gave them the MINI for actual trade-in value depending on how you want to look at it. Also, if you want to buy a car. Go at night and find the vehicle you want without salesman pressure and do the math in advance. Take your figures with you and stick to your guns (just don't be too crazy with your numbers). I've always found it easier that way......