I was curious about trading in my 09 clubman S for a coupe if the price is reasonable. I'm at 39k and with my options got a book value of just under 18k. Has anyone had luck trying to trade up from their r56 into an r58? I know exactly what I want in the coupe, just curious to see if anyone has gotten close to the book trade in value for their minis. On the upsell, my clubbie has an LSD, cold weather package, rear fog, xenons, and roof rack - good car to buy in the winter!

Thoughts?

 

maybe try to sell it yourself instead of trading. You will virtually always come out better doing that.

Are you saying the coupe you are planning to buy is 39K??? That's insane! :-) Or that you paid 39K for your Clubman and book value is 18? That seems like a pretty big depreciation for such a short time.

My 06 MC cost me about $24k and has a trade value in its condition with its low miles of around $11.5K. We'll see if the dealer offers anything close to that. The first dealer I visited a couple of months ago told me they would give me $11k for my trade (that was projecting to now as it was an order) so I am expecting the one I actually ordered from to be in the same ballpark. I am planning to stop by Carmax and see what sort of number they offer me in case I need a little more leverage.

 

No, my clubman has 39k miles on it, as part of the value calculation. I see your sig, I actually want the coupe in Laguna Green with mini connect. Undecided on the roof color though.

 

I've got an 07 MCS (cost $30k new) with 51K that I'm considering trading for a new Coupe next year. I'd be interested in how the dealership values your Mini too. I don't know what the book is on mine now.

 

Ah, gotcha. If you want LG make sure you order before March since it is being phased out with March production.

 

I'm about to do the same thing with my R56, I'm on MINI Select which is up in March so I either have to refinance the remainder or get something new and with my bad luck with this MINI over the last year, I'll be happy to get out of it (nothing wrong with the MINI, just other drivers). I haven't driven the R58 yet so I'm not sure if it'll be that or another R56...but definitely looking forward to something new.

 

TheBigNewt,

Our 07 MCS cost $31k new and had 48k miles on it. It was clean as the day we bought it, and we still struggled getting even $16k for it through a private party. I'm sure the dealer would have offered much less and so I didn't even try taking it to them.

Ended up selling it to a really nice guy in Az. He flew into So Cal, I picked him up at the airport, and he drove it home a couple of hours later. Hated selling it so cheap, but no one seemed to want to pay a decent price for it. They just kept offering low ball offers from $12k to $14k. I was hoping to get $17 to $18 for it but settled for $16k.

 

Dealer trade-in appraisals are tricky. From my experience with my R53 and even my Clubman (was looking at a one series), I can't pinpoint exactly what dealers are looking at in a used car appraisal. It appears to me that what they really care about mainly are the packages, and less on the accessories.

For example, trying to find the "dealer invoice" price online is easy, you can find it on cars.com or a similar car site. Once you add in packages and factory installed accessories however, it is almost impossible to know how much they are making on it and gives you less confidence on negotiating.

When dealers have looked at my Clubman s, they usually emphasize the fact that I have the cold weather package, and ask if it has xenons, and thats about it. Rear fog, anthracite headliner, LSD, roof rack, mud flaps, MFSW and other smaller value additions don't seem to really play any noticable part in the trade-in process. Maybe I am incorrect, but that is how I observed it to be.

I had gotten an appraisal from VW on my clubman S for $15K last winter, which I would obviously never take. That was at around 25K miles, and I only did it because I wanted to test drive a TDI golf so I kind of baited the salesman. Just based off his demeanor, I knew he low balled me as I had no intentions to make the deal. I have looked at the coupe in a new light since I received a buyback offer from one of my local Mini dealers, figuring it may be possible to get a slightly better used appraisal. I will post up my findings. I expect to head out there next Tuesday, the 20th.

 

Looking at CarMax, they seem SATURATED with minis. I bought mine through CarMax with 19,000 miles for $19,500. I'd be curious to see what they'd buy it back for...if you have a carmax near you, might be worth trying it as they only take about 30min to give you a price