Newbie here. I'm considering a Clubman S and plan on only keeping the car for 3-4 years. Regarding resale, would it be easier to sell a manual or auto MCCS. I want a manual, but my gut tells me the auto will be easier to sell. What say you Clubbie vets?

 

When I bought my clubman a month ago, the dealership had a hard time moving manuals. I think I was the only 6 speed they sold that day. The car had been sitting at least a week before I called asking about it. I also got them to knock the price down 3k.

Obviously you won't know what'll happen in 3-4 years. To be honest, I think the Coopers are a lot more popular than Clubmans are. I also think the introduction of the Countryman has hurt the sales for the clubman. If you are looking at resale, you're probably better off getting a Cooper.

 

A manual is always going to have a little worse resale value in any car. I believe my car sat on the lot for 29 days at a fantastic price before I bought it. MSRP was around $34k, They had it listed for $30k, I got it for $28k out the door.

So you might be able to find a manual a little cheaper to begin with unless you're buying new of course.

Either way, I'd assume you're getting a MINI because it's fun! Don't let a possible $1k loss at trade-in time keep you from enjoying every ounce of fun you can get out of it! If you want a manual, get it. Otherwise for the next 3-4 years you'll be wishing you did.

Also Damon is right, a hardtop would probably be a little easier to sell than a clubman, not that the clubman would be hard to sell. I think a manual clubman may be the hardest option to sell out of a manual R56, auto R56, manual R55, auto R55.


But like I said, get what you want and don't worry about a little depreciation in the future. You'll definitely regret it otherwise.

 

These are all very good points. Regarding HT vs Clubman, I'm going Clubman hands down for the extra space regardless of the ease of resale the HT might have. I have driven both the auto and manual Clubman S. The auto is one of the best autos at this price point, but there is something about driving a manual that I like....the **** in hand, knowing exactly what the engine is doing, etc. So based on pure driving pleasure as CalforHelp pointed out, I would go with a manual.....now to wrestle with my logic side to tell it it'll be OK if it takes a bit longer to sell in the end if it is a manual as long as you had more fun along the way....haha

 

It would be interesting to see statistics regarding the percentage of manual versus automatic transmission sold for each make and model. Not sure if that information is tracked anywhere. I would suspect that MINI has a higher percentage of manuals sold then most if not all other makes. When I was looking for my current car I found more automatics available then manuals. I think it will be a wash as far as cost is concerned. Cheaper to buy the manual now and you will not get as much for it later, but probably by the same ratio.

I vote for you to get what you want to drive, as the enjoyment you get in your 3-4 years of driving will heavily outweigh whatever hassle you might encounter selling a manual over an automatic. Besides, you never know, you may have no problem selling the car at all.

 

I don't have hard numbers in front of me, but I was under the impression that MINI "resale-ability" on manual transmissions was as good or better than autos. True - the automatics cost more at the outset and so probably fetch more at resale - but you pay the full premium for that up front and reap only a fraction of it at resale.

In the meantime (just my own opinion) it makes little sense to "enjoy" something less than what you really want in order to save a few hypothetical bucks down the road on a sale that may never even happen (for example, we were ready to sell our Prius when someone totaled into it from behind). So I totally agree with ACEkraut - buy the car YOU want instead of putting up for 3-4 years with the car you think someone else wants.

 

Good point about the cost and recovery vs enjoyment. The question I initially had was not about the money, though, but whether it would be easier to resell an auto or manual.

Looking at the used Clubman market (autotrader and carmax), I think it is safe to say that there are more auto Clubmans S on the market than manuals...but only slightly.

Unfortunately, this does not tell me how long it takes to sell one versus the other.

Now that people have started to chime in, I'm really leaning towards getting the car that I want (manual), rather than worry about ease of re-saleability, although it still makes for good converstation....

 

There are too many possibilities and variables to determine ease of resale years from now. The condition and maintenance of the vehicle will far outweigh the transmission in determining the quickness of the sale. Then there is always the luck factor in selling a car. Buy what makes you happy, drive and take care of the car. Who knows, you may never sell it if you buy a car that is equipped the best way YOU will enjoy it.

 

With the Countryman out there, I'd wonder if that would lessen the impact of a lack of a manual transmission. Since the Clubman's current spot in the lineup is "I have a little more space, but I'm not significantly sacrificing my driving experience" the people wanting one will be ones that care about driving experience over space & comfort. It's probably appropriate enough for the model.

 

OK, so I did some research and came up with some interesting data.

Cliffs: It looks like Manual MCCSs are on the "for sale" lot SHORTER than Autos. However, what I did does not take into consideration the actual time it took to sell the car, so the conclusion could be misleading.

What I did:
I went on Cargurus.com and searched for used MCCSs. This site gives the number of days the car has been on the site. I broke the hits down to "Manuals" and "Autos". For each, I looked at the first 50 or so, added up the days the car has been on the site and divided by the number of cars. This gave me a rough number of the average days a car has been on the site.

What I found:
Manuals had been up for sale an average of 60 days
Autos had been up for sale an average of 85 days

Discussion:
Yes, there are a lot of variables that were not looked at and can effect the length of time a car sits on a lot such as mileage, options, location, etc, but I found the finding interesting. Not sure why manuals seem to be on the site for a shorter time than autos. But again, it does not take into consideration the actual time it takes to sell the car since the site only gives the length of time advertised.

 

That's interesting. I wonder if it's because there are fewer manuals so when one is for sale it sells quicker, kind of like supply and demand. Did you search by any specific zipcode or just a country-wide search? If you searched by zipcode that could play a big part in the times.

 

The search was nationwide and I didnt pay attention to where the cars were. It would definitely tell more of a story if I broke it down to regions, but it was only a quick survey.

 

More people can drive autos than manuals means more chances to sell an auto.

 

I agree with everyone suggesting you get what you want to drive. You're not buying a Camry here... driving enjoyment is probably a big factor in why you're going MINI at all. Max out the pleasure, whenever possible... that's what I always say

The Clubman S is still an enthusiast car, if you sell it down the road, I'm sure it won't be a huge nightmare to get rid of it because it has a manual transmission. Keep it clean, keep good maintenance records, you'll be able to sell it when the time comes, I bet.

 

Thanks for everyone's support . When it comes time, I'm going with what will put a smile on my face when I'm in that driver's seat....a manual stick in the right hand

 

I think the data analysis is great. Still it is not easy to predict what the clubman used market is going to look like three or four years from now.

I am with the "get what you want to drive" camp. Perhaps, in the end, the depreciation could be quite similar on both.

 

I've shared this site before, although not specific to resale it does give stats on what is built and assumed sold.

http://gtcarlot.com/data/Mini/Cooper/

 

You should buy what you'd rather drive. Personally, I'd buy a manual even if it meant it would take a year to sell. Automatics are boring.

 

For an analytical mind like mine, this is awesome! thanks for sharing. I was actually trying to get a feeling for the most popular color and rarest. This hit the spot.

 

6thGear,

I concur with others, "get what you want, it's your money and ultimately your enjoyment over the next few years of driving your spec'd out MINI!"

I'll just add my antidotal opinion (perspective of a manual car owner/buyer)...

It has become virtually impossible to find a manual transmission new vehicle on a dealer lot today. If you do find one it is usually the base model with few features or options you would be interested in (I guess there is a belief if you want a manual, you also want roll up windows, no radio, plastic seats and the smallest engine available...). My understanding, most dealerships will not order a manual for their lot (our local MINI dealer manager is of this opinion), unless there is a sales person who is a manual driving enthusiast and wants to take the risk of having a manual on the lot. I believe the only manual on a lot today are customer special orders or an allocation from the manufacturer. In addition, most manufactures are making certain models automatic only (try to buy a new full size pickup or SUV with four wheel drive in a manual transmission). So my desired transmission of choice has become scarce and in some cases my only choice will be a used vehicle. I believe as time goes on, manuals may hold their value better just because there are so few new vehicles available with this type of transmission in the US.

From my recent personal experience wanting to purchase a BMW X3 or X1, I have been shut out of the new BMW SUV market as these are no longer available with a manual transmission in the US. The sales advisor at my local BMW dealer is very sympathetic as he grew up in Switzerland and understands... showed me a 2009 328i touring 6spd manual, which he personally ordered for the dealership against his managers opinion 3 years ago and now I own it (on the lot for only three days as a trade, only 8500 miles with multiple people interested). So it is all about supply and demand and compromises (I compromised the higher ground clearance and all wheel drive for a manual 328i touring).

If you like the clubman with a manual, I'm sure in a few years from now if you sell it there will be someone out there that will also desire your MINI. Or you can be like a lot of X3 owners today that decide to keep their vehicle as the newer versions (no clubman offered in the future) don't offer the manual transmission option any more.

Best,

Keith

 

You will sell the manual trans faster than the auto slushbox! At CLASSIC MINI in NE Ohio, they have what looks like 90% automatics and the rest stripped down manuals. NOTHING on their lot that I was interested in. People who enjoy the drive like to row through the gears. NEVER let a sales jockey tell you the paddle shifters are just like a manual. No Flappy Paddle will ever replace a gearshift for me.

 

My 2013 Clubman came std with spt steering wheel with paddles and I enjoy them more than I thought I would. Can u say Formula 1, i knew you could...

 

No. Once the driver hits a paddle to activate the shift sequence, the shift is completed in a handfull of milliseconds. I think it is on the order of 30 milliseconds or so which would be .030 seconds. By comparison, blinking your eyes once takes 300 to 400 milliseconds or .300 to .400 seconds.

 

So you're quibbling over milliseconds?

 

No, just to put it into perspective. However, in order to quibble over something, I would have had to give a time for the shift to take place in the street car, but I didn't do that.