Over at the MINI2 site, they have a thread for stating how much of their R56 price is for options.
I'd like to start one here.

I'm in at a little over 50% with $9599 in options! (Damn Lounge Carbon Black Leather)
ouch.
My brother in law said that i should lose some of the options and get an "S" in their place.....

(It will be assumed that this is for the R56 Mini that we THINK we might order or have ordered.....)

 

Only 24% of my Cooper is options, if you can call almost quarter of the price only :D
But no leather and sat-nav for me. Just cloth sportseats, I´m heading för the new JCW seats instead.

 

Man, I don't know if I really want to know! I'm going pretty much all out on mine (without waiting for a JCW car).

$21,850 base price.

$30,780 after everything (damn Redwood Red Lounge Leather!)

=30%

 

OK. So i think that I have made an error. Not in my calculation, but in what the answer really means.

$18700 base price
$28299 configured price

$9599 in options

9599 / 18700 = 51% or.....
The options are valued at half the base price of the car. I realized that by saying 50%, I was suggesting that my Mini would be over $37k!

I like what you guys have done and is how I think I originally phrased the question...

18700 / 28299 = .66
1 - .66 = .34 = 34%

So...I am at 34%.
34% of the price of my car is in options....

 

Mine is 26% worth of options...Damn NAV..

 

10-11% on my Cooper...most of that for the Rooster Red colorline!!

 

Mine is 11.5%. I have a $1000 of optional cosmetics, Metalic paint, chromeline ext. and Alloy Trim I'm still debating. The options seem so much more reasonable before you get the total...

 

34%. Damn, it hurts when you think of it in that respect.
HOWEVER, today we parked next to another Cooper (PW/B), that was plain and oh did it show what the difference was!

The extra dollars, were worth every penny.

 

Not sure yet, but the Beige Leather seems a little expensive, although I really want that color interior.

 

is great. Especially wilth PW or BRG. It complements the rest of the car and is down right gorgeous

Bit of chrome inside is not bad either.

 

Less than 10% on my 2006, just Convenience pkg. $400, Hood Swoop $100, Fog lites $250, MFW $250 H/K $550 and LSD $500, the option "trap" is where people are overvaluing this car, my first one was even LESS

 

15% on MC

Options
BRG
White Bonnets
DSC
Sport Seats
Wood Wheel w/Multi function
Wood Dash
10 spkr hi-fi upgrade
Center Arm Rest
Cold Weather Package
Fog Lights

I'd take some off if it was up to 34%. I think it is a fantastic very low twenty thousand dollar car, at 28??, I might buy something else. In fact I struggled with this set of options, but when I reordered for MFSW mix up and decided to reorder in manual instead of automatic trans, I decided to spend the same amount and add options to get it there, I could have been happy with less. My only really MUST HAVES (aside from color) are DSC and MFSW, everything else is gravy. I'd be happy with a 20,200 car (BRG, with DSC and MFSW.)

 

Mine's at 31%, and I didn't order any of the "big three" (Nav, JCW, or the DPSM). $25,400 base price, $36,785 after options. It's probably closer to a full third if you count the JCW carbon fiber parts and the parcel shelf that I installed the same night I brought the car home from the dealer.

I don't feel bad about it, either. The high portion of the price on a typical MINI that comes from options is a by-product of the pricing system that MINI uses (low base price/long options list).

There are plenty of other cars where things like Xenon headlamps or leather interior (or even Nav) are mandatory - you couldn't de-select them if you wanted to, so those cars have a higher base price and a much-shorter option list. As a result, the percentage of the final price that comes from options is much lower, but they're not a better "value" because of it.

MINI's way of doing business just lets their customers select the car *they* want - either an economical, fun "stripper" or a fully-optioned version. Although, even an option-less MINI still has a lot of creature comforts - keyless entry, power locks/windows, air conditioning, etcetera.

 

When I first read this thread I was concerned about my percentage but, I did the math and came up with only 24%. I should have upgraded the stereo, gotten the clear side markers and gotten MFSW. Oh well...

 

I seriously thought about this myself as my car topped $30K. I looked at getting into a bare-bones BMW 3-series, M3 (older/used-obviously), Audi TT (used) or a new Volvo C30. Considered used MINIs, too of course.

I decided for once I would rather have a luxuriously equipped brand new car with a warranty vs. a bare bones new car, or someone else's seconds.

 

My MCS comes in at around 40K after options. I'm with MSH... I want the gadgets, the gear, the packages and upgrades, and to know I've got a great, fun car that will be a long-term purchase. My Honda is being traded in only because I'm tired of same 'ol same 'ol driving. I am hoping this Mini will be around for quite a while, and, therefore, validate the cost.

It'll probably never see a track, but it will see lots of the USA! Gotta have the Nav!

 

NO! Your first way of thinking was correct.

You've taken a 19K car and turned it into a 28K car.

You have over 50% in price of options over the base price of the car ... which is very high BTW

This is trap people fall into when its time to sell. They think they have a 28K car when in reality, its a 19K car and you only get a little bit back on those options.

 

Look at the selling prices for used MINIs on eBay - not the "buy-it-now" prices, but what people actually bid the cars up to. The final values are all over the map, and it's largely dependent on what options the car has.

I'll agree that *aftermarket* mods add very little to the value of the car, especially when people think that they can recoup not only the cost of the parts, but also the money they spent having them installed.

To use your logic, a car with a $28,000 base price and standard equipment that's optional on a MINI wouldn't be worth any more on the used market than a $19,000 MINI with the same equipment that cost $9,000 when chosen from the option list.

If someone is looking for leather seats, nav, and xenon headlamps, they're not going to care whether the car came with those as standard equipment or as factory-installed options. They'll pay extra for the options they want.

You'll probably recoup a smaller percentage of the money you spent on options than the percentage of the base price that you'll recoup, but part of that is because the resale value of the MINI is so damn good.

If I were to sell my $38k MCSC alongside a no-option, $25k MCSC, I'd get significantly more for mine. Not $13k more, to be certain, but a lot more than If I had spent $13k on a custom paint job and a twincharge kit.

 

The simplist way to look at it is to look at KBB, Edmunds, whoever as a "guideline". Of course, some options have value, but no where near what you paid for it. Some have little value or nothing ... like cruise. Most ppl just expect cruise. NAV would be worth more. But you not going to get $9K back out of it ... no way.

JCW is even worse. Huge hit there. Been there, done that.

Anyway you look at it, loading a car up with options ... a buyer knows its a 19K car... like you said ... if they "want" leather they may look for leather but how many actually are so picky on a used car? They may want something specific or may not.

All I'm saying is do not expect to get the value of those options out of the car anywhere close to OEM value. Its not going to happen. This is where a company like MINI gets you ...

Look at other car makers like Honda, Toyota, Lexus, etc. They have different model levels for the exact same car (eg., DX, LX, EX, etc.) The guidelines ALL have different prices for those levels. Each level adds more luxaries. Not true for MINI ... its just MCS or MC and thats it. So the baseline price is the baseline price.

Caveat emptor when buying options. The may have great value to you ... but not to everyone else.

Case in point ... If I were in the market for a 06 MCS Convertable, and the car had leather ... been there, done that, I dont want leather and am not going to give you a penny extra just because you liked it.

I would add its even WORSE for the MC. Its the low end of the US market. Adding $10K in option puts it deep into MCS territory. So how many buyers would be willing to pay that extra money on resale knowing they could have had the upgraded model with less luxaries?

 

When it comes to pricing used MINIs, Edmunds, KBB, and the other guides have, at best, a tenuous relation to reality. Like you said, they don't break out options unless they're big, like a particular trim package, or perhaps automatic tranny versus manual. Likewise, wholesale auction prices aren't a good indicator for the same reason. Car dealers buy their cars in bulk and don't care about options (until the car arrives on their lot and it's time to price it for sale).

The "completed items" on eBay are a much better indicator, and that's where you find the people that are willing pay for a MINI with the options
*they* want. Over 60% of new MINI buyers spec the cars out the way they want them, and I don't think the used MINI buyers are much less discriminating. They know that a 4-package car with leather and nav is going to sell for significantly more than a no-option stripper.

And just because YOU don't want leather, that doesn't mean that someone else won't. I paid a premium for my used Ducati, because it had custom wheels and a custom paint job that I loved. They were both high-dollar modifications, and are not to everyone's taste, but the seller only needed *one* buyer.

 

Agreed, that is why I said "guidelines"

But you will be considered with wholesale prices if you decide to trade-in. Then you will get hit with reality real quick as some ppl have already noted in the for sale threads.

This is where we may differ. My experience is that a used car is just that ... somebody elses "baby". Or, the masses dont really care. Sure, some ppl may want specific options. Not everyone is an "enthusiast" and if fact, the masses are not.

All I can say is take a look at the cars for sale on NAM. Lots of disappointed ppl who could not get the prices they wanted or expected. Maybe the sell better or eBay.

 

chows4us, You may use your arithmetic any way you like, but the $21,850 base price of my car represents 93% of the $23,450 I'll be paying for the fully configured car, a car having Sparkling Silver paint, DSC, and Rear Fog Lights. The options make up 7% of the price of my fully configured R56 S.

 

MCS -- Base price 21850 with options 23250
DSC, rear fogs, colorline, bonnet stripes, center arm rest.
What is that 6%.
If I had gone the MC route my options would have been at about 25%.I am very happy with the amount of options.
When the JCW aero components become available I'll be adding side skirts and possibly a new set of alloys/tires --- thanks vader now I can not get those wheels off my mind!
I haven't bothered reading back in this thead but from the poster's original post I think I have answered the question On Topic.

 

STOP!!! Your depressing the heck out of me with this all too rational line of thinking!

I'm only paying 30%, no matter what you say!

 

"same 'ol driving"? In a Mini Cooper S? None of that "bling" stuff is gonna make it DRIVE (I mean DRIVE!!!! ) any better. My 07 MCS is 14% over base. No packages, spec'd with LSD, sport suspension, DSC, MFSW (that's why I am still WAITING as it had to be reordered!! ggggrrrrrr) and a few bucks thrown at making the interior black as I could make it, plus brushed alloy dash, chromeline interior, stereo upgrade and white turn signal lights. That's $24,600. If THAT gets "same 'ol driving", I'll just go aftermarket.
This little Mini is going to the track, too!!!
FYI, on the subject of NAV (isn't that $2100 TWENTY ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS????) you could have just spent less than $300 bucks on the Garmin StreetPilot i3 and saved a lot of dough. What you're getting installed at the factory, in the dash will probably be obsolete in a year anyhow. That's what I'm gonna do. And I can put the darn electronic junk in the trunk (or better yet, the garage) when I don't want navigation on board. Hey, I'm a guy! I don't need no stinkin' roadmaps!!
I would have bought the MCS with ROLLUP WINDOWS if I could have. Chevy did that with the Corvette some years back...Mini ought to do the same.
That said, I'm sure your new car will be swell, and you will love it. I'll honk and wave; you do the same, ok?
That said, I just spoke to my MA. My car is in the paint shop, being built this week. That's good. However, MA says probably won't be here (Northern California) till END OF APRIL. THAT'S BAD!! My car was one of the first ordered, deposit down long ago, and the steering wheel screwup has caused all this delay. I AM IN PAIN.