In their latest article on the topic, MSNBC probably does the best job I’ve seen explaining the success of the MINI in terms of resale value. Here’s an excerpt:
>BMW’s ownership of Mini buoys the residual value of Cooper. After all, BMW won ALG’s highest overall ranking for value retention among luxury-car manufacturers in 2006. By association, some of the German carmaker’s desirability and its reputation for quality transfer to Mini. But Mini Cooper’s idiosyncrasy also helps the car hold value. Small yet accommodating, cosmopolitan and oozing with retro-chic, Cooper is unlike any other vehicle. If you fancy one, you can’t substitute another marque the way a Honda Accord shopper might swing for a Toyota Camry if he or she doesn’t find an Accord that fits. You must own a Mini Cooper alone to appropriate the playful image of sophisticated independence it imparts.
Of course they still don’t touch on one of the most important aspects of the MINI – the performance. Simply put, one of the biggest reasons the MINI is as successful as it is in sales and resale value is due to the phoenominal handling and engineering that went into the chassis and suspension.
You can read the full article here:
[ Top 10 high resale value vehicles ] MSNBC/Forbes
And the MINI portion here:
[ MINI Cooper Resale ] MSNBC/Forbes
I wonder if this is applicable in the real world. In 2002 – 2004 I heard all sorts of great stories about resale value. But in the last couple years, it seems like it has dropped off significantly.
Can anyone here share their experience (good or bad) with either trading in or selling their MINI?
It’s too bad that their overview of the MINI is still using the older “unreliable” Consumer Reports results. As we read on <a href="http://motoringfile.com/2005/12/04/consumer-reports-recommends-the-mini/" rel="nofollow">MotoringFile </a>back in December, CS now labels the Cooper “recommended” because it finally had enough data to make a call one way or the other. Furthermore, charm alone is not enough to drive high resale value, so they’re kind of contradicting themselves – especially if they don’t count performance as a major factor. We know the MINI has had a handful of issues, but by 2006 most of those have been thoroughly rung out.
Their summary makes it sound like MINI owners love the car so much that they don’t mind if it only runs 3 days a week.
The more MINI’s there are in circulation, the less the resale value will be… Let’s give credit where credit is due. The MINI is a great car and that is a large part of the reason for the high resale value.
But we can’t forget about what Economics 101 tells us may be the largest reason: Supply And Demand.
I agree about supply & demand. Let’s not forget that the supply is about to increase so I expect our resale values to decrease even more that they already have 🙁
2005 MC 35,000 ,miles, every option, mint cond . sold for $16,000. i was hoping to get alot more.
Traded my 05 MCSC in yesterday on a Lexus IS 250. Figured it’s value was at it’s peak as convertible season is just starting and buyers aren’t yet sitting on the sidelines waiting for 07’s. In any case, I was able to drive the MCSC for 18 months with the car retaining 89% of it’s MSRP for the trade allowance (she had 13,000 miles on the odometer).
Hated to say goodbye, but had pressure from the family to get a more pargmatic car.
I sold my darling CR WR 2005 MINI Cooper with Classic package after 11 months and 7,000 km for 94% of the original MSRP (including Freight and PDI, not including admin/doc fee). I am in the Vancouver market which has a lot of MINIs but is still very hot.
Now I have an awesome 2005 BEP MCS with Premium, Sport and Harmon Kardon sound system. It has the MCS convertible 17″ sport wheels (five spoke). I bought it used but it was an early lease return, only six months old and less than 6,000 km. An intake, ignition and ECU upgrade are coming soon, and I’m hoping not to care about resale value with this MINI!
David
I’ve found the trade-in value and resale value of all MC and MCS to have dropped drastically from the owner’s point of view. I’ve bought and sold four Coopers in the last 6 months for an average of $3000 less than the prior 6 months.
Recently offered my 05 MCS with 13K miles and in better condition than when I bought it that MSRP’ed for $29K back to the dealer. Their best offer was $21K, an $8K drop (28%in value) from April 05 to Feb 06. They now are asking $29K for it. Go figure.
Resale value for the individual sucks; however, for the dealersip it’s a gravy train.
Yes, you have to expect some difference between trade-in value and retail resale value on pre-owned MINIs. My example was for a private sale.