Specced my new Clubman D at my dealer this weekend an incredible £24,900! That can be reduced to £22,000 by getting rid of all the Sat Nav and ICE related toys however I was appalled at the trade in on my 06 Cooper S Con (Chili Auto Trans & Air etc...) of £13,000 (60%) from my "Trainee Sales Executive" Glass book. I went home and checked myself on Parkers which came out at nearer £16,000 and noticed that with Glass you can easily end up with a hatch valuation which comes out at £13,000 which is where I think the problem lies. I now also have to buy MINI Seal and Protect otherwise "It will be taken in to consideration at resale" is this where my missing cash has gone? What is this and does anyone know the base price, I suspect it is wax and costs less than £50?
I was also a little annoyed that whilst drawing me depreciation graphs and explaining the £120 per hour it costs to check a 21mnth old trade in for resale and warranty, I was also being told that the MINI had the lowest depreciation of any other car on the market. I have tasked him with significantly improving the trade in and the 10.9%APR on the 5K I need to change over.
A very different experience to when I bought my Cooper S, when I got 47% trade in my four year old Cooper and a fantastic end to end customer experience. Same dealer but dealt with by an ex-BMW sales person who knew their stuff. I don't need to change but would like to improve on the 22MPG I get in central London and having just moved house, I would now like to be able to get stuff in the back of the car rather than having to "phone a friend" all the time. So I though I would take advantage of the best possible trade in price to achieve this on yet another MINI.
Can anyone recommend a decent dealer in or around London, I don't mind travelling I just want a fair valuation and a decent customer experience. Could swap it for a Golf TDi but would preffer not to.
