Greetings!!!!

My wife and I are planning on upgrading our current 2009 Mini with a 2016 F57. We are both in our early 60's. Trade in values are often $3000 less than what you can receive by selling the vehicle on your own however the hassle and possibility of getting scammed is not without it's risks. I have sold cars directly before however we are in a new era of not being able to trust "certified checks", etc....

Question 1) What form of payment would you suggest if you were selling your Mini directly via one of the auto selling sites? Is cash the the best and only safe option? Even cash can be counterfeit so any suggestions on what you would do would be appreciated.

Question 2) Test/Evaluation Ride - Would you allow a stranger to get in your Mini and take it for a test ride alone? I like to be trustworthy however I can only imagine all the issues that can happen when someone takes a test ride in a vehicle....especially a Mini. Do you recommend going with the person?

Any tips or suggestions you can suggest would be appreciated...... REALLY hate to see our one owner 2009 Mini (65,000) go however my concerns about increasing repair possibilites, etc., prevent me keeping it beyond it's prime selling period... Regardless......time for a newer updated "Toy" for the wife and I....beyond the bedroom of course ;-)

P.S. Enjoy every minute of your youth......time goes REALLY fast....even faster than a JCW on steroids... It seems like only yesterday that I was ordering our first 2005 Mini for my wife and daughter.....now fast forward 11 years later looking to change things up a bit with an F57. Wife just loves the new Caribbean
color option. I simply love building Mini's on the MiniUSA sight... not to mention actually getting to drive what you built.... (most unique car in the world in my opinion...

 

Try to sell it online here in the marketplace first https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...rketplace-386/ , then try to sell it to other local MINI club members, sometimes it easier because they are looking for new projects or models. If no bites, then I would go with the cars.com and other sites.

If you trade it in at MINI , sometimes they have trade in deals and will give you allowances towards new models, so I would see what they have to offer first.

 

1. Get multiple dealer quotes. I was offered $2500 from a VW dealer for an old BMW and found a used car dealer who gave me $5k without any negotiations. Just took a few phone calls to find him, cut me a check on the spot. Btw he had a good rep from local BMW club members.
2. Try Carmax.
3. See if you have a local auto broker who would sell on consignment.
4. Talk to local financial institutions to see if they can handle finance transaction for buyer.
5. Decide it isn't worth the hassle or loss of security if you are unsure and bite the bullet and just trade it in.


Good luck, I remember the old days of easy simple transactions without all the bs!

 

I sold my wife's truck a couple of years ago. Wow, did that get weird quick. As another poster said, shop it around to a couple of dealers or just trade it in.

 

Unless I know the buyer, I go to his bank to complete the sale and get cash or a certified check from HIS bank. A bill of sale (separate from the title) is also a good idea in case the buyer drags his feet registering the car (you keep a copy). I would never let the prospective buyer take a test drive on his own. He may abuse the car or simply never come back.

 

Thank you all for your input and advice......

Based on what one of our Ohio Mini dealers quoted me on the trade in of our 2009 Mini Cooper (Base) (With All Packages Offered at the Time) (Xenon) (Extra Set of Blizzaks) (65,944 miles)........ I will DEFINITELY be selling our Mini myself. I always knew trade in value is low however I did not expect to be offered an amount that would not even get us a good "Used Golf Cart". Even though I purchased this Mini from this dealer and had all service completed at this dealer...... I will not purchase our new Mini here based on an almost insulting "Trade In Value".. of $4000

The following is the e-mail I received yesterday from the Mini finance manager following my online request for an approximate ball park trade in value of our Mini:

As for the tax, it depends. If you were to trade in your car on the incoming one we have, you would pay tax on the difference from your trade value from the selling price. So with a trade value of $4,500 your tax base would be $23,550 ($27,800 - $4500 = $23,300 + $250 doc fee =$23,550) bringing your tax amount to $1530.75. If you were not to trade your vehicle in the tax base would be $28,050 ($27,800 + $250 doc fee) bringing your tax amount to $1823.25.

If you were to order one, your trade value would be $4000. Values of vehicles are constantly changing, so we have to take into account the time frame of the order arriving.

FWIW..... I am definitely ordering a new 2016 F57 with options that I like rather than the one this dealer currently as the U.S. port. The MSRP on my F57 build is $33,200.

Notice how the dealer depreciates the trade-in value of my car for waiting for a custom build however the new Mini does not depreciate with the "aging delivery date". Basically, 2016 Mini's ordered now will almost be 1/2 year old in terms of depreciation according to many "Blue Book" evaluations. Hopefully, Mini will keep some of their financial incentives they have going on now....

As a matter of interest.....Here is what our one owner Mini looks like.... KBB and Edmunds TMV had the trade in value around $6500 which does not include the extra set of wheels and snow tires.

 

Yikes, they gave you a low trade in value. And does not look like many incentive off. Better off posting it in the marketplace here on NAM or finding some MINI owners local that are looking for another ones, You R56 Cooper looks clean and like you are rocking the Gen 1 MINI 5 spoke wheels in silver .

Good luck on the sale. Post it up on the marketplace and get lots of pics.

 

Good luck. I sold my old Miata on the Miata Forum and got about 50% more than my MINI dealer offered on a trade. Detail your car and take lots of good quality pics and it will sell itself.

 

Did you ask them why book value shows a trade in of $6500? Can't hurt to ask. Don't be insulted by a the other side in a negotiation, they are just trying to make as much as they can and you are trying to get as much as you can.

No I didn't learn this from Trump U. LOL

 

I bought my Mini about 6 months ago and the owner went on the test drive with me, which I've also done when I've sold cars. I gave him a cash deposit and them brought him a bank check a few days later.

 

After the initial "trade in value shock" and thinking about the advantages of keeping our 2009 Mini, I have decided not to sell it after all. Although I still recently ordered our first ever F57, I really enjoy some of the advantages of a hardtop Mini... First of all...a hardtop really looks like a Mini. Second, the rear visibility advantages of a hardtop Mini cannot be beat.

My main concern about holding on to our 2009 hardtop Mini is engine reliability as we go past the 65,000 mile mark. I have complete faith in the 6 speed automatic Japanese transmission but am not sure about the Peugeot 1.6L engine (non S). I would like to think it will run past 100K but time will tell. Thanks all for your advice however I believe I will be now parking our Honda CR-V and driving a 2009 Mini hardtop while my wife enjoys our new 2016 F57

 

$4000 is a low-ball trade offer for a clean R56 with 65k miles. The pre-LCI R56 cars have suffered a little on trade-in within the last 6 months, but not that much. Did they see the car in person and properly appraise it?

$6000-6500 would be more accurate, and if someone were to come to me with such a reasonable trade-in expectation, I'd definitely be able to put together a deal on ordering a vehicle.

As far as selling the vehicle goes, list it on Autotrader or Cars.com, take photos of EVERYTHING (front, back, sides, 3/4 angles, tire tread, all 4 wheels, seats, dash, mileage, rear seat, trunk/boot, under the bonnet, any defects, etc), and list it for a reasonable price.

Don't bring people to your residence for test drives, meet them somewhere public and always let someone know where you're going. Police stations aren't bad locations, either - if someone has a problem meeting you at a police station for a public sale, that's a good indicator of someone's character.

 

Update: Our 2009 Mini Cooper sold for $8500. It was well worth the trouble of listing it on AutoTrader and selling it ourself rather than trading the vehicle in. Thanks for all you selling tips.