[sony]

Quote: Originally Posted by wiggis (original)

Cars are a very personal thing. The A3 is a nice car - aspirational for many. It sounds like you have a good reliable and well equipped example. There will always be a 2nd hand market for cars like that. They are about to release a facelifted R56 MINI. Now might not be a brilliant time to buy compared to a couple of months after the facelift model is out.

Unless there is a compelling reason for you to change car (like you need something smaller, bigger, or you are really unhappy with what you have, etc) then I would suggest waiting. If you really just want to get it out of your system, why not just hire a MINI for a couple of weeks and see how you get on? You might love it and decide that changing is the right thing to do, or you might just shake off the itchy feet and realise what a good car you already have ... With summer coming, you might be better off spending the money on a really nice holiday instead

Thanks for that, spot on advice. Might just rent one as you said at some point in the future!

[Shamster]

Quote: Originally Posted by sony (original)

With the A3 being my first new car I honestly do not know what to do.
The car is approaching it's 2nd birthday in September. The A3 is perfect in every way. I would love to keep it really- and mod it slightly but I know I'd never get my money back.
I'm fairly sure that I had read in a motoring magazine once that trading- in your car on their 2nd birthday apparently made more financial sense.
I honestly don't know wether this is true or not.
I recently went to see a good few MINI dealers to see how much it'd be worth right now and the best figure I could achieve was £14k. Meaning by it's 2nd birthday it'll probably worth less than £13k.
The way I see it, if I want to keep having newish cars and not adding a stupid amount of money every single time it definitely is best not to wait until it's 3rd birthday. The A3 seems to be worth about £9k by then!!
How do you guys do it?

It's an expensive game for sure .

Go with what you want to do though. Everyone has different interests and as long as you're happy spending the money don't let someone else dictate how you should spend it. Some people like to have 2 or 3 holidays a year, some are happy with 1 , some even go years without any holidays. Some people spend thousands on home hi-fi's and a/v stuff - others are happy with 15 year old CRT tv's. Some people spend hundreds on clothes/handbags/shoes etc and have to have the latest fashion - others are happy to be a season behind and buy from outlet malls. And some people like to change their cars often - there is no hard and fast rule. Saving money in one area allows you to spend more in another, just depends on what you want to do.

[M.O.S]

I just trade mine in when I want a new one. Thats the great thing with minis - they hardly depreciate so if you decide you don't like the colour after a year or two, you can get another one in a different colour for little outlay. However, at 3 yrs old, dealers look at cars differently. They have to provide a warranty which costs them money, so the advice you recieved about trading in at two years old might not be far wrong!

[sony]

Quote: Originally Posted by Shamster (original)

It's an expensive game for sure .

Go with what you want to do though. Everyone has different interests and as long as you're happy spending the money don't let someone else dictate how you should spend it. Some people like to have 2 or 3 holidays a year, some are happy with 1 , some even go years without any holidays. Some people spend thousands on home hi-fi's and a/v stuff - others are happy with 15 year old CRT tv's. Some people spend hundreds on clothes/handbags/shoes etc and have to have the latest fashion - others are happy to be a season behind and buy from outlet malls. And some people like to change their cars often - there is no hard and fast rule. Saving money in one area allows you to spend more in another, just depends on what you want to do.

Glad I bought the Mini in the end, I have dreamnt about it for months! I just re-read that paragraph and it really makes spot on sense. Everyone is different, and it's whatever makes you happy!