So I went down to the dealer today and they put a hold on the IB/W MCS I've been looking at for a few weeks now. I've got until Thursday to go in and put down a real deposit at which time they'll remove the car from the floor and hold it for 3 weeks while I try to sell my old car.

After 3 weeks I either go through with the purchase or lose my $500 deposit.

I've never done anything this poorly planned or crazy in my life, but I hate the thought of selling the Passat in a few weeks and finding that the MCS was sold, especially considering it is EXACTLY like the car I built on the Miniusa site. If I had to order a car, that would be it. The only thing wrong is that it has the rally lights on it, which they won't remove. So that will probably be the first thing I do if this all works out and Nittany comes home with me.

Keep your fingers crossed for me. And if you need a practical family car check out my sig for more info.

Now I can almost consider myself a real member of the Mini family.

 

See if you can get them to agree to apply the $500 to an order of an MCS in the event you don't sell your Passat.

 

Robyn, SELL the Passat quickly. BUY the MINI from the dealer - it's what you want isn't it.

You're in love and you know it. GET IT DONE

Good luck, Woody

 

Sounds like this particular MINI is the one you want - so - I would try all avenues to sell your Passat! :smile:

And I think you will find you like the ralley lights - don't let that deter you....lots of people have them - including us - and we love them!! They add just a little spunk to the overall looks of the car....

Chow!

Donna
donna@dcmetrominis.org

 

I have an IB/W MCS. Great car- great color- just keep it clean. You might like the Rally lights so don't worry about them. The worst you could do is sell them later and remove them. Otherwise they give more light in case you need it. Sometimes there are local laws against them though.

I hope you can sell your Passat in short order and all goes well. Just let us know what is up. This is alot faster than ordering. Did you test drive the car yet? Might want to just to be sure it is in good shape and no known troubles.

Good luck.

 

Nittany? Are you a Penn-Stater?
Congrats on the order, i contemplated ordering for a while. Buying a new car is a huge deal. I have never made a better decision in my life.

 

>>I have an IB/W MCS. Great car- great color- just keep it clean. You might like the Rally lights so don't worry about them. The worst you could do is sell them later and remove them. Otherwise they give more light in case you need it. Sometimes there are local laws against them though.


Keeping it clean isn't an issue. I tend to be fanatical about that. I kind of like the look of the rally lights but after opening and closing the hood a few times in the showroom, they seem to be kind of rattley. My concern is that they are going to vibrate and cause damage to the paint.

 

>>Nittany? Are you a Penn-Stater?
>>Congrats on the order, i contemplated ordering for a while. Buying a new car is a huge deal. I have never made a better decision in my life.

Go PSU!!

Im a student there now, but I will not be at campus this coming year (my junior) as I will studying in Paris! leaving in 2 weeks, ordering my MCS in IB/W in July when i get home!!

Sounds like a good choice of car you made there, Jerseygirl, my favorite color combo AND i love the rally lights! good luck, i say go for it.

Patrick

 

>>Nittany? Are you a Penn-Stater?
>>Congrats on the order, i contemplated ordering for a while. Buying a new car is a huge deal. I have never made a better decision in my life.

Indeed I am a Penn Stater! We won't say what year because that just makes me feel old.


I was afraid people would think I bought the blue and white as some kind of Penn State tribute, but it's truly the color combo that I like.

 

>>Im a student there now, but I will not be at campus this coming year (my junior) as I will studying in Paris! leaving in 2 weeks, ordering my MCS in IB/W in July when i get home!!


WE ARE.... PENN STATE!

Have fun in Paris. Never did the study abroad thing and sometimes I wish I did. Good luck!

 

:smile: :smile: :smile:

 

This one is really a no brainer. I have an August '02 MCS.......and what makes it
even better is the Penn State license plate frame and the Nittany lion decal on the
hatch...... I'm Class of '69 which I guess makes me an old timer, too. My favorite Mini trips have been driving up for a couple of football games last season.......from the Philly area it's 400 blissful round-trip miles. How sweet it is!
Goooooooooo.......State!

 

Robyn can you trade the car in for payoff or very close to it? This way you get rid of the VW and get the MINI.

 

>>Robyn can you trade the car in for payoff or very close to it? This way you get rid of the VW and get the MINI.

I told them what I need to get for the VW and they didn't even offer to look at the car. I knew they wouldn't be willing to offer anything close to what I need o that didn't surprise me. And by the way, the price I'm asking is right in line with the average value I found on kbb.com, edmunds.com and nada.com, not to mention looking around at going prices on Auto Trader. Not looking to make a killing here. Just want to get enough to pay off the loan.

This dealership doesn't keep any used cars on the lot aside from BMW's and MINI's so taking my trade-in would be more of a "hassle" for them.

 

I think it's an acceptable risk, especially considering the odds of finding a Mini that fits your specs. I'm taking a similar risk - non-refundable 500 deposit to hold a Mini that will be coming in at the end of the month. I'm not depending on selling a car but rather getting my invested money back. Bankers are even more iffy than auto trading!

Best of luck!

 

>>I think it's an acceptable risk, especially considering the odds of finding a Mini that fits your specs. I'm taking a similar risk - non-refundable 500 deposit to hold a Mini that will be coming in at the end of the month. I'm not depending on selling a car but rather getting my invested money back. Bankers are even more iffy than auto trading!
>>
>>Best of luck!

Good luck to you to. If all goes well we could both be getting cars around the same time!

 

I'd post advertisements quickly in papers geared towards college kids who need both room to transport belongings as well as wheels while in school. August is a great month to sell a used car.

Just a piece of advice from the poor schlub!

 

Take your car to carmax (www.carmax.com). They buy cars even if you are buying from them.

 

>>Take your car to carmax (www.carmax.com). They buy cars even if you are buying from them.

Yeah but what kind of price do they really give you? I could have traded the car in a the dealership but I can't afford to take that little for it. I need the money from the Passat to pay off my other car. Can't swing two car payments at the same time. If they offer trade-in value, that doesn't help me much. That's why I'm trying to sell it privately.

Thanks for the suggestion though. I may check them out and see just what they do offer. As long as I don't get my hopes up I can't be too disappointed.

 

Put the passat on ebay.That is prob your best bet. Good luck with getting the MC

 

Put the passat on ebay.That is prob your best bet. Good luck with getting the MC

 

Robyn, all I can say is I hope you get the MINI! Hit up the VW forums and post it in the for sale forum there http://www.vwvortex.com I think is the domain.

GOOD LUCK and keep us posted!

haf :smile:

 

>>Robyn, all I can say is I hope you get the MINI! Hit up the VW forums and post it in the for sale forum there http://www.vwvortex.com I think is the domain.
>>
>>GOOD LUCK and keep us posted!


I appreciate all the support. I've already posted the car on VW Vortex. I'm avoiding Ebay if possible. Cars just don't seem to go for much on there.

It's only been a day since I listed the car so I'm not panicking yet. The car really is in great shape so it should sell. Just need to find a VW lover looking for car. :smile:

 

Good luck Jerseygirl. I am glad that you have taken the plunge. You will not regret your decision one bit!

Selling your nice looking VW Passat Wagon on your own is a worthwhile endeavor. If you car is worth $4K on a private sale, Carmax will give you half that amount or maybe even less. Carmax is not really interested in cars more than 4 or 5 years old. They'll buy it and probably put it in the lower priced section of their lot or perhaps send it to an auction. I would not waste my time on Carmax unless you are really pressed to get rid of the car for whatever amount of money you can get.

Last month I sold my pristine 2001 Chevy Impala LS for $14K. It took me 5 months to sell the car on my own, but when I sold it it was incredibly fast and easy the new buyers were (And still are) in love with the car. Originally I was planning on putting $15K cash down on my new '04 MCS, buit instead I decided to completely pay off the 2002 Cooper CVT because this car had the higher interest rate loan (4.75% @ 36 months) and it made little financial sense to have two car payments going on at the same time (Which would total close to $700 per month for both cars, plus paying higher interest compared to today's rates). So I paid off our 11 month old Cooper, got our certificate of title last week and plan to put $4K cash down on the new '04 MCS and finance the rest @3.99% interest on a 36 month loan with Peoplefirst.com. That way we save around $2K in interest on the '02 Cooper for the next 24 months and we will have one low car payment instead of two at the same time.

 

That's my plan as well. Use the money from the Passat to pay off the loan on my other car so I only have one car payment on the MCS.

I figured Carmax wouldn't be the solution. Not that it matters anyway. I looked at their website and they don't have any locations close to my house anyway.