[tyrerc]

right i currently own a 54reg 'S' after having previously owned an 03reg cooper.

I have recently moved into my house with my girlfriend and have no problems money wise BUT i am currently not happy with petrol prices/tax prices etc i am and will be paying in relation to my 'S' and i'm currently thinking about one of three things

1. Sell the car back - can this be done?
2. Trade in for an R56 - better tax and mpg
3. Change to a 120d M - either coupe or hatchback (or a similar car in relation to mpg/performance

dont get me wrong i have no reason to sell other than 'more for my money' - the great petrol debate.

any options will be most grateful

Chris

[Tigger, Eeyore & Roo]

Quote: Originally Posted by tyrerc (original)

right i currently own a 54reg 'S' after having previously owned an 03reg cooper.

I have recently moved into my house with my girlfriend and have no problems money wise BUT i am currently not happy with petrol prices/tax prices etc i am and will be paying in relation to my 'S' and i'm currently thinking about one of three things

1. Sell the car back - can this be done?
2. Trade in for an R56 - better tax and mpg
3. Change to a 120d M - either coupe or hatchback (or a similar car in relation to mpg/performance

dont get me wrong i have no reason to sell other than 'more for my money' - the great petrol debate.

any options will be most grateful

Chris

Chris,

I fully appreciate the costs that you mean! However, the petrol consumption issue all rather depends on the annual mileage that you are doing....

Unless you are doing substantial mileage, the cost involved in trading the R53 for an R56, along with the fresh batch of new car depreciation, is likely to dwarf the 5mpg and £55 per annum RFL savings. With a 120d, your fuel savings will be greater, but so will the depreciation AND you'll wind up with a 1 Seies diesel

When you ask if you can "sell it back", I assume that you mean "sell it back to the supplying dealer". If you do, he's likely to give you whatever they would mark the car up on the forecourt at (assuming they want to buy stock at the moment), less around £2000. That's going to be a big loss in comparison to the savings that you might be hoping for.

I'm going to do some "back of an envelope" stuff here:

Projected monthly savings if I were to change:

1,500 miles a month (my average use) @ 33mpg (my S average) @ 101p per litre (my current cost) = £206 per month

As above at 38mpg (what I'd get from an R56) = £179 per month

Nett fuel saving = £27 per month

Savings in RFL = £55 / 12 = £4.58 per month

Total projected saving = £31.58 per month

Now, if I were to trade my 10 month old R53, in for a similarly specced R56, it would probably cost me £20,000 - £12,500 trade in = £7,500 to change. At a saving of £31.58 per month that would pay for itself in in just under 20 years!!!

In addition, the depreciation curve on your R53 will mean that you will now "only" loose around £1,500 over the coming year. With a new R56 you would loose at least £3,000 over the first year and in return for your £1,500 additional depreciation you would only save a total of £31.58 x 12 = £378.96 in running costs! Result: nett additional loss of £1,121.04

I know the cost of fuel and RFL hurts, but there is no sound petrol / RFL arguement for changing and you'd have to give up your current MCS as well

[tyrerc]

superb! thank you

I went today to MINI to see what they reckon (i know a salesman/woman)

basically best deal i could get was on a pre reg 57 (delivery miles) astro black, chili

£500 to clear my negative equity then £300 per month the £70 difference is about the same as the extra petrol i put in now so it comes down to if i want an R56 or not and if it will be worth it over the MOT/TLC 3 years free

Chris

[Tigger, Eeyore & Roo]

Chris,

that's interesting as, by my calculations, I would need to do 38,889 miles a year to save £70 a month in fuel....

Would you be starting a new contract term (ie, starting again) at the higher price of £300 per month?

[tyrerc]

yeah start over and the £70 is payment difference from £233 now to £300

haha heres my logic

now -
233.66 - loan
70 - insurance
18 - tax
140 - petrol
---------
461.66

if change to R56-
300 - loan
70 - insurance
100 - petrol
----------
470

thats how im thinking

does that only work in my head?

Chris

[Tigger, Eeyore & Roo]

Quote: Originally Posted by tyrerc (original)

yeah start over and the £70 is payment difference from £233 now to £300

haha heres my logic

now -
233.66 - loan
70 - insurance
18 - tax
140 - petrol
---------
461.66

if change to R56-
300 - loan
70 - insurance
100 - petrol
----------
470

thats how im thinking

does that only work in my head?

Chris

Chris, just a few points:

1. Don't forget to include RFL on both sides of the equation.

2. I would expect that the way of getting a loan payment to "only" increase by £70 a month, with a substantial additional loan amount, would be to make a substantial extension to the loan term. Just be aware of this.

3. Be careful of the projected fuel saving calculation. When I was in the process of choosing my my MCS I took a new R53 MCS and a new R56 MCS out over the same extended test route, one immeadiately after the other. I set the trip computer on each and the R53 registered 33mpg and the R56 an impressive 38mpg. Based on those figures, your current fuel bill of £140 a month would only go down to £121.58, not £100.

John.

[tyrerc]

thanks again, you are making more sense than my head is about all these numbers

the road tax is paid 1st year so thats why i left it out.

I really dont want to get rid of the R53, just wondering over the long run i.e next 3 years if an R56 may be a cost effective option due to how Mr Brown seems to think.

There is a cat in hells chance i will even consider it right next to christmas anyway and am now thinking to wait for February when i will be in a better position equity wise, funny thing is Saleswoman was all for me to keep my car saying im not in a position to gain anything right now and it would just be a 'sale' for her - very refreshing

Chris

[laura f]

Quote: Originally Posted by tyrerc (original)

There is a cat in hells chance i will even consider it right next to christmas anyway and am now thinking to wait for February when i will be in a better position equity wise, funny thing is Saleswoman was all for me to keep my car saying im not in a position to gain anything right now and it would just be a 'sale' for her - very refreshing

Chris

Maybe she can't face having another S for sale? They might have too many on the forecourt! We swapped our R53 S for a coop back in March for similar reasons, while haven't saved huge amounts but seem to do more for our money!

[tyrerc]

do you miss the 'S'????

[Tigger, Eeyore & Roo]

Quote: Originally Posted by tyrerc (original)

funny thing is Saleswoman was all for me to keep my car saying im not in a position to gain anything right now and it would just be a 'sale' for her - very refreshing

Interesting.... Working in sales myself, it's good when a customer appreciates that you are telling them the truth; you often wind up with a good long term customer

John.

[laura f]

Quote: Originally Posted by tyrerc (original)

do you miss the 'S'????

Sometimes miss the noise, but tbh other things out weight that! We much prefer the 38mpg to 22mpg we were getting! Once you adjust to the drive it can be just as much fun

[tyrerc]

Laura f - was it really noticable going back to the cooper? did you go for a R53 or R56 cooper?

John - yeah she sorted me a superb deal when i changed to my 's' (friend of a friend) but then when i walked back in today she recognised me and was honest about my situation even said if i went to a BMW 1 series she would make sure i got the price she quoted me £11k and sort me a good sales person over there

This just made me want to keep with MINI more

Chris

[laura f]

It was and still is noticeable with the coop, it doesn't bother me so much as I spend most of my time round town and I am apparently a bit heavier footed than my other half. He is still struggling with the lack of instant power at times, not all the time, just sometimes. It's an R56 cooper, pepper pack and a few extras bought after

Would you be going for a cooper or and S?

[tyrerc]

been thinking the 'S' due to the fact its the same urban mpg as the R53 cooper which i had previous.

Think i would find a loss of the supercharger/50bhp upsetting after working hard for all those years to be able to insure something of this spec tbh

Chris

[Stiggy]

Bear in mind a lot of people on here are selling their 1-series to buy MINIs!

Dare I mention a Cooper D...?

[tyrerc]

did not realise the 1-series defection

Cooper D is tempting but performance is a downside in comparison to the 120d and a big difference to the 'S'

Chris

[MaTTy_P]

I went for an S in march for similar reasons - I had a little more money and the 04 One I had was A. A little heavy on the juice for a 90bhp car and B. Was going to cost quite a bit for new breaks/tyres for the performance I was getting.

I now have an R56 S - do mostly city driving and currently getting 35mpg and put two tanks in per month (maybes 3 if Im a busy bunny). My MINI One at peak used to get 32mpg when I drove light footed. Im just driving normal in my S, with the ocasional phase of spirited driving thrown in. Although the S costs me (only) £30 per month extra than my one, im getting greater mpg and greater fun...and still less than the extra tank of fuel I used to get in my One. Not much of a saving, but as mentioned before, a bigger grin!

[tyrerc]

havin a proper think today just put £50 in due to prices and it says 247 miles!!!!! scary as im havin to travel to Chester Tuesday aswel.

Starting to really come round to a deisel 1 series or A3 lookin at figures atm and making loads of notes

Chris

[Restyle]

Quote: Originally Posted by tyrerc (original)

havin a proper think today just put £50 in due to prices and it says 247 miles!!!!! ...

Hi Tyrerc, just wondering if you ever use your on board computer to give a continuous display of the mpg?
Ive been monitoring this lately in my 2004 MCS, & I often achieve around 54mpg when cruising at a constant 55mph ... if I try hard & restrain my big right foot.
I also monitor the "Range" figure & try & drive in such a way that this figure actually increases by the end of my journey ... if that makes sense
Of course I often end up blowing all the "savings" on those few seconds of supercharger whine, but if you can hold back the urges you`ll achieve a nice 38mpg urban ... you`ll be bored *****less, but you`ll be saving all the hastle of getting another car.

Tigger .. Some Very interesting calculations above !!

[tyrerc]

yeah i usually see if i can 'gain' 50 miles then use them for some fun as i got them for free if that makes sense.

Over the past 2 months its not been past 24mpg which is one of those things due to the nature of the car but now other cars have the same performance and also 46mpg (120d m sport)