[minifanatic]

i went to my local mini dealer yesterday to enquire about changing my 03 cooper to a brand new cooper s. As a part exchange on mine they offord me very little at only 11500 to start with. The spec of the 03 cooper is as follows
May 03 Cooper
Pure Silver Black Roof
Chilli Pack
Upgraded wheel pack to 17in s spoke
Single Cd Player
6cd Changer
TLC
Alloy Patina dash upgrade
Speaker Upgrade

9000miles and very well looked after!

i was quite shocked with this valuation as the glasses guide valued the vehicle at nearer 12500 trade! The dealer said due to the fact the vehicle didnt have air con it wasnt worth that ammount in the book! The vehicle has other things to compensate i.e wheel upgrade,speaker upgrade and alloy facia upgrade. The cost of these 3 add another £600 approx to the car value. The car new was nearly 14,000. They then said that they wouldnt give me a penny off the Cooper s even though it was set very highly specced and pricing at just over 18,000. I am intending to take bmw financing out as well so it looks like the dealer wants to make full money at every angle of the deal. They then said they would squeeze to 12,000 for mine i still find this not enough as the car is only 9 months old and shouldnt lose almost 2,000 in that space of time. Any thoughts? Could do with some advice! I want the new S but not prepared to break the bank getting it

Thanks Andy

[andyupnorth]

To be honest £12,000 is pretty good. Most new cars will lose far more than £2k in the first 9 months and the dealer has to put a mark up on it for resale on his pitch. Also the lack of aircon is a problem - the wheel and speaker upgrades don't make up for that. Anyone looking for a used Cooper can easily add new wheels if they want to but you can't add aircon as a retro-fit.

[KenL]

Why not accept the dealer's offer of £12k and nearer the time to collect your new S start advertising for a private sale. You can either be upfront with the dealer and tell them your plans after you've got the deal agreed or just turn up on collection day with the cash.

[reallyv]

personally i would say, take the money and run, but good advice from the members, advertise it trade.

Mini are very very stingy when it comes to part exchanges.

you know that every car loses a grand when its shiny wheels hit tarmac from the showroom, so you are doing well by getting that 12K,

Enjoy the S.!

[AMT]

I agree wth KenL, any dealer would be quite happy to agree a trade in price early, and give you the opportunity to sell it privately. Ive had two dealers suggest this to me. If no luck, fall back on the trade in.

£12k is reasonable in my opinion-- it's still a big loss, but thats how it goes.

[minifanatic]

thanks for that guys but ive just payed 2.95 for glasses guide valuation and to the exact spec i have my car and the mileage condition etc it says trade values excellent 13,395 trade good 12,600 and poor 10,700 so surely i am getting a poor valuation i need more for it!

[minifanatic]

whats everyones actual valuations on mine?

[reallyv]

The thing is, what is the car worth to someone else ???

People are not going to pay any more than £12500 for your car to be honest.

What do you expect from a high profile dealer like Mini BMW?

They have to warrant that car, they have to sell that car, they have to make money on that car.

And I really dont think the trade value is 700 pounds less than the brand new price. That must be the Perfect condition private price.

Usually the trade price is around the price of the poor condition value.

Talk to dealers, ring them up, tell them you are looking for a used car, give them your cars spec, ask them how much you should expect to pay, there will be the price they will sell the car for. Then work it back.

Hope you get what you want in the end.

[minifanatic]

i need 12,500 otherwise i cant afford the s!!

[AMT]

I'm sure they would give you £12,500 trade in if you were buying a used MCS-- they can play with the amounts quite a bit then.

[reallyv]

Two words, Auto Trader.

maybe a case of lazyness,

sadly, if you want the money, you will have to sell it privately. You will have to make the money bmw wants to make yourself.

[Wobert]

On "low depreciation" cars like the MINI, you would normally expect to lose at least the value of the VAT.....

IMHO I would push for the good trade price of £12600.....

BTW how long til you pick your car up.....if it's more than 3 months then £12600 would be an excellent deal methinks......

Robert

[stu D]

nobody says you have to go to your local dealer....

shop around!!!!

[Tracie]

I put my old car on the Free Ads web site and sold it the next day!..ok so im without transport till the mc arrives but I got a hell of a lot more than a trade in price of £1000....selling it private got me £2000! ...

[KenL]

i tentatively spoke to a dealer a few months ago about trading in for another MINI. I did the online Glass thing and they were initially ~£1k away from it, a bit pushing got them up a bit but remember that they have to commit to a valuation 3 months or so in the future when your new car arrives.

Best to shop around several dealers and play them off against one another but be honest as they will not be easily fooled.

[KenL]

Quote: Originally Posted by Tracie

I put my old car on the Free Ads web site and sold it the next day!..ok so im without transport till the mc arrives but I got a hell of a lot more than a trade in price of £1000....selling it private got me £2000! ...

Please post a link to that website, may be useful to others on MINI2.

[minifanatic]

yeh im thinking that 12600 would be more worth it. I think if i can get that for the car then the deal is on better wait and see what they say. When i originally went in a week ago the salesman said you should be looking somewhere in the region of 12500 maybe a little more then when i go in to get a price they come back with 11800 and maybe just squeeze 12000! somethings not right!!!

[jennis]

I have just sold my Mini One for a Mini Cooper I went to my local dealer last September/October time. I pick up my Mini Cooper in March so it is on the new reg, they valued my One at 10250 for March. I paid just under £14000 for it new, it had lots of extras including Sat Nav, Air Con etc, and a very low milage 3800. I put it on Auto Trader for £12000. I had a few interested people privately but they tried to knock it down to silly prices, I was looking at getting £11500 privately. Last week I sold it to a dealer in Liverpool for £11500 they had a buyer for it. To be honest after my experience I would never sell a car privately again best to stick to a dealer so shop around.

[Kerley]

I think people have got spoilt with potential trade in values of their used MINIs. Losing £2k from a £14k car in 9 months is amazing compared to any other car for £14k. When I was looking at alternatives before buying a Cooper i was looking at 1 year old Lupo GTIs (£13k new) for just over £8k. And VWs aren't bad depreciaters either. I was originally going to buy a second hand cooper but finding one with exactly the spec you want, and no more, is hard enough but when the asking price is only £1-2k less than it would cost new it makes more sense to buy new and have exactly what you want doesn't it?

Not sure why the MINI is holding it's second hand price so strongly as they isn't even much of a waiting list any more.

[bobnobski]

you never win with a P/X - sell the car private, and go in with cash in your pocket! that way you are in the pound seats. I always feel that dealers try to make out they are doing you a favour taking your PX off you!!