MINI Cooper Wins Best Resale Value

David Jan 1st, 2007 Link

Based on the reviews I’ve read, the 2007 MINI Cooper S sounds like it’s going to be a very appealing car. I’m weighing purchasing a used 2005 MCS versus a new 2007 MCS. I actually prefer the styling of the ‘05 over the ‘07, but I’m impressed with the gas mileage figures on the ‘07 and it sounds like it’s just a bit better put together car in some areas. My biggest concern with the ‘07 though is how durable will the turbo charged engine be. I talked to a retired auto mechanic who said he would stay away from turbos due to the high heat and compression that they punish the engine with, resulting in reduced engine life and reduced performance as the engine ages. Does anyone out there have any thoughts on this topic? Has turbo technology advanced to a state where this is not really an issue anymore? Would the ‘05 supercharged engine be likely to have a longer life than the turbo? Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, and Happy New Year.

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allenski Jan 1st, 2007 Link

now that’s that the way to start the new year : )

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Chrissy Jan 1st, 2007 Link

yay!!! happy new year, MINI! (and gabe :P)

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CW Jan 2nd, 2007 Link

Some part of me wants to email that story to the fellow at a MINI dealership who offered me 59% of new car list price on a 26-month-old car for trade-in. Fortunately not all dealerships have the same low opinions of returning customers; the second place offered me 74%.

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Mark Jan 2nd, 2007 Link

Hey CW, what you experienced (low trade in offer) is common – part of the old-school auto biz. I was offered 55% of new car list price on a 24 month old MINI at my local dealer when I looked at trading up from a base to an S (which is why I’m still driving my base ‘04). These studies only look at DEALER resale prices, not trade-in. And with the amount of ’06s sitting on the dealer lots right now I can see trade-in values dropping even more near-term. Locally between our two MINI dealers, are over a hundred ’06s in inventory right now.

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FrankInMiami Jan 2nd, 2007 Link

Selling privately will always yield the highest possible resale value for your car. Trading-in is the most expensive convinience anyone can engage on. People expect the dealer to buy back a car for just pennies off what they originally paid for it new. Selling a car privately takes lost of time and patience and most people are simply unwilling to put up with that and much rather lose their shirt on a trade. Wonder why this country has the highest ratings of personal debt and bankruptcy in the industrialized world? A quick look at the “For Sale” forums in NAM should give you a nice clue as to why.

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Mark Jan 2nd, 2007 Link

Dead-on, FraninMiami. Sell it yourself, and you should get just slightly below what the dealer would sell it used for. I sold my last two cars privately, and both were not that hard. A newspaper ad, and both gone inside a week. Problem is I wanted to order to my spec’s, which means a delivery wait. So if I sell my wheels myself, that 60 mile a day commute to work & back (no public trans here) on my bike is a bit much as I wait for delivery. I suppose I could have ordered, then sold mine at delivery – but the dealer’s attitude on low-balling the trade-in $$ even from their own Black Book valuation table just totally put me off. I usually keep my cars 6 years or more and wouldn’t be thinking of trading/selling – but MINI out-of-warranty repair costs scare me a bit. I know a couple of people with their MINIs just out of warranty by 10K – 15K miles or so, parked at their dealerships gathering dust, with estimates of $6,000 to $7,000 in repair costs (transmission transplants needed) to get them back on the road. Yikes! Hope MINI jumps on the 100K miles Warranty bandwagon the other manufacturers are all climbing on.

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FrankInMiami Jan 2nd, 2007 Link

Having a car, any car, out of warranty is an implied risk. An extended warranty contract is just an insurance policy against major possible breakdowns. I personally think the MINI’s powertrain should be the least of concerns assuming that the car has been kept up accordingly. The Chrysler engine in these cars is pretty much bulletproof. I still have no reason to suspect the durability (aside from wear and tear items like the clutch) of the Getrag transmissions.

Electronics could be an area of trouble more than anything else.

I personally prefer to keep my vehicles 4-6 years tops while much of that time I am covered by the warranty. Keeping a MINI for another year or two after the factory warranty expires should not be a cause for alarm either (But that depends on the overall service/repair history of the car).

Right now we are driving a ‘02 MC CVT with 40,500 miles (Warranty expired because of time, not mileage) and it is out of warranty. We bought the car brand new over 4 years ago. I am keeping on top of its maintenance and still no problems to speak of. A hard working daily driver. Hopefully, we won’t have any issues until our new ‘08 Clubman arrives here next year. We plan to sell the ‘02 MC once the Clubman becomes available.

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JOHN Jan 2nd, 2007 Link

I was looking at purchasing a new 2006 Ralleye, should I be waiting for the new 2007’s ? Will there be a huge change between them ?

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CW Jan 2nd, 2007 Link

Mark, your point is well taken, except that there was a dealer 20 minutes futher away whose opening offer to me was 74% of MSRP. Needless to say, I took my business there. The funny thing was that dealer #1, when told about the second offer, incremented up by $1,000 without batting an eye (though he still didn’t come close to offer #2). Funny how that extra money wasn’t put on offer earlier – even when I pointed out that his own lot had a nearly two year-old demo that was listing for 90-something percent of MSRP.

It is a game, you’re right, but then in this day of easy internet access to real world prices it’s a shame how delerships still feel they can pull the same tricks that were the norm 20 years ago.

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Mark Jan 3rd, 2007 Link

CW, in our area CarMax is also an option, and they usually pay top dollar for MINI’s. I had considered that, or trying our other dealer in this area after my experience with the 1st Dealer, but after some thinking on it my wife and I decided to wait on the Clubman in ‘08, like FrinkinMiami.

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CW Jan 3rd, 2007 Link

We don’t have CarMax in Canada, unfortunately.

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Mark Jan 4th, 2007 Link

CW, Canajan eh? Me too, though I’ve lived in the Dallas, Texas area for the last 10 yrs.

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FrankInMiami Jan 4th, 2007 Link

Carmax here in Miami tends to lowball same or worse than most new car dealers. They mark up used MINIs by as much as 30-40%!

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Mark Jan 4th, 2007 Link

Carmax in the Dallas area seems to hit within a couple of $100 of the “Good Condition” Kelly Blue Book Trade-in value. At the time I looked at trading up to an ‘06 S, KBB trade-in value on mine for this area was $18K – my local dealer offered $12K. I checked the black book trade-in value (which is what the dealer was using) and the range shown was $14K to $18K for my car – so they were low-balling below even their own dealer valuation guides lowest price – for a car in almost showroom condition.

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Mark Jan 4th, 2007 Link

Carmax in the Dallas area pays within a few hundred $$ of “Good Condition” trade-in value. Which for mine at the time was about $18K. My local MINI dealer offered $12K. When I checked the Dealer Black Book trade-in price, which is what they were using, the range was $14K to $18K – so they were low-balling even below their own valuation system, for a car in near showroom condition.

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Mark Jan 8th, 2007 Link

Sorry for the double-post. First came back with a “submit failed” error and crashed the link.

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Pete Jan 11th, 2007 Link

From the FWIW file:

I currently own and drive on occasion, a 1987 Dodge 600 convertible – turbo – with 125,000 miles.

I have now been waiting for it to die for 6 years – it won’t. It has lost some steam in the past couple of years and the car itself is now a beater…

but like everything else in life (especially women, and cars) if you keep them tuned and lubed they keep going and going and going…

I also have a ‘94 VW Corrado – supercharged – and that runs well also. Ah well, Get the turbo – I also think it will hold more value than the supercharged versions from years past.

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buyayo Jan 12th, 2007 Link

One of the pro’s of trading-in a car is that tax, in some states, is charged only on the difference between your trade and the new car price, and not the total new car price.

So, say I’m paying $30,000 for a new MCSc, and have an older 3 series with a trade-in value of $17,000, but has a private-party resale value of $18,500.

Let’s say the total tax rate is 9.25%, tax on the MCSc would be $2,775. Tax with the trade-in factored in is $1,202.50 – that’s a difference of $1,572.50. That more than offsets the premium one would get from a private sell.

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Clif Jan 24th, 2007 Link

Getting a bit closer to the original post…

Does anyone have a guess as to overall engine life of the base 07 MC (not sport)? I’m thinking of buying one but tend to look for very long-life cars. My previous car was an 8-valve Civic 3-door which I sold at about 260k mi. (never had any major repairs and still ran fine, just got too ugly for my wife to stand)

Unfortunately I promised myself the next car would have to get better mileage, be more fun, and last longer than the old one. That doesn’t leave many options.

In general I think simplicity of design, quality of alloys, and general good engineering affect this, but I’m no expert.

Thanks!

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