I wasn't fast enough to sell our car before our 2nd MINI came in last month. THe dealer would have used it as a courtesy trade and saved me sales tax. There was no cosideration of trading in any car with the dealer because neither vehicle was a MINI or a BMW. There offer on both a 2006 Volvo S60 (30,000 miles) and a 2001 Audi TT Roadster (with 15,000 miles) together, was less than I got when I sold the Volvo last week!

Sell it yourself. Surprisingly, I got more responses from using my local paper (saying car must be sold for highest bid) than cars.com, autorader,com and signs in the window

GoodLuck

 

Pretty much the exact same story and I purchased my Mini from Aaron as well. As far as sales people go, he was very low pressure, friendly, and informative.

On the other hand, I've gotten some mixed messages from calling the service department; the SA's told me mods are totally accepted and expected, while talking to the shop foreman about software updates, he said they wouldn't even look at my Mini without charging me if they spotted the Alta exhaust Not sure how it'll actually go if/when I ever need to take my Mini in, but I'd recommend getting anything/everything in writing and keep track of names.

In retrospect, I don't know if I would purchase from them again, the extra $595 and getting nothing extra from them was disappointing, not a t-shirt, not floormats, they just wouldn't give an inch.

In another thread someone managed to negotiate the factory service manual be included, wouldn't that have been a treat!

 

Good luck with NW MINI. I bought mine at Rasmussen in Portland, and was very pleased with the process.

 

My buddy ordered a 07 MCS from NW Mini last July, everything through email or phone call and which was smooth, and NW Mini agreed to waiver the $595 dealer prep charge. However by the end of Augest when the car was shipping over from U.K, the saleman called him and said "the $595 cannot be waived, manager didnt allow those thing of stuff." My friend just took the deposit back from them and go for Rasmussen Mini in Portland. Finally he drove away his new mini from Portland back to Seattle with a happy face.

I'm looking into ordering my MCS soon and I definately will choose to sell my car privately and choose the right dealer, NW Mini is not the one even they are the only mini dealer in WA.

Last month I email NW mini for some inquiry (want to check if they are still doing the $595 thing), then I asked them what the $595 for, here it is,"
The only fees we have are 595.00 dealer fee which covers technician inspection, gas, and detail, and 50.00 Svc and Document Fee."

IMO, i am willing to pay the $50 service and document fee (which I assume its $70 most), but look, when you buy a new car from any dealer in US, a technical inspection before they hand it over to the buyer is a must do thing. They can just give me an empty tank of gas, keep the car dirt and I dont care about that if they want to play that cheap.

Then I sent the same emal to Rasmussen Mini in Portland, they charge a prep fee as well, but I'm totally willing to pay for it,

"All of our Coopers are sold at MSRP plus $175 Dealer Prep. Dealer Prep includes detailing inside and out (7 hour process), and your choice of carpet or rubber floor mats, front and back."

At least I can get a rubber floor mats which cost $70 and its very useful here in Seattle. And $105 for detailing is ok for me, which I prefer to waive it if I can.

Below is the picture of my buddy's mini he bought from Rasmussen Mini in November.

 

I've been to 3 Mini dealers here in the NYC area and they absolutely all seem like they could care less if the cars move. One dealers kinda hinted at me that the cars just sells itself so no need offer deals. Oh well.

I ordered mine last weekend. Still trying to decide between leasing or buying...

 

Hmmm. . .I sold cars for little more than 6 years. Best way to buy is 1 year used or left over. Got mine left over for 3-4K below msrp and not with dealer adds, lo-jack, pin strips etc. Only reason is it was an 07 that was on the lot for about 6 mos (i think/estimate) and probably because it was yellow ( ithink) not too many MY minis in south florida (at least I havn't seen many) Anyway, as far as the trade in goes you have to be firm with them and tell them, "I know the car market is REALLY SH**TY right now and if you give me wholesale for my car I expect to buy your car at real invoice", "Or give me retail for my car and I'll buy your car for retail" You have to be firm and willing to walk away. Oh and your credit has to be good to neg like this. If you keep this attitude eventually you will find somebody to seel you the car on your terms.

Another option for your tradse in is to take it to carmax. Did this with a Volvo XC90 I stole. 2005 loaded paid 43K cash, drove it around for 1 year, went to carmax and sold it for 40K, check in hand no hassle and pretty fair.

Also, if you want to special order your Mini expect to pay pretty much what they want you to pay, because its special order. My advice, look around even if you have to travel out of the way for a Mini with pretty much what you want and go negotiate.

Remeber, the car market is REALLY CRAPPY and cars are not being sold like they were 1 or even two years prior.

Good luck and be strong, don't let them push you around.

 

I tried this approach but it did not work for me. I wanted more for my trade and told them why I wanted more on the trade. The Cooper S I was looking at was a 2007 Demo and had approx. 2K miles on it. The MSRP was $24,550.00 and they were asking $23,900.00 which I thought was a little high. The MA told me she could do better than $23,900.00 but when I got there and told her I wanted more for my trade she said she would get back to me and then she never called me. This happened about 5 or 6 weeks ago. The car still has not sold. I do understand it is a business though and the MA is in it to make money.

 

So what's the best way to sell my old car? Should I place an ad? If so, where?

 

craigs, ebay, yahoo autos. this question should really be in the 1st gear...but answer yours because we're family.

 

Well, since the OP was about the trade-in lowball, I figured it was just an extension of that to ask about alternatives to trade in. My MA, btw, did not seem interested in a trade in at all. Of course, my 11 y.o. accord with 220k+ miles and a zillion dents and scrapes isn't the best looking car in the world

But I *have* changed oil every 3k - 5k and it has no current problems and over it's life very few needed repairs - and those miles are mostly highway miles so it seems like it should be worth something.

 

just list it on autotrader and craigslist, and it will sell. you ALWAYS get more selling it yourself than trading in.

 

This sounds like a stupid question, but i might need to face this problem in my near future:

usually ordering a mini takes around 3 months of time, so let say you have about 3 months of time to sell your car privately, and you dont have a second car, then can you communte to work/school if you are able to sell your car 2 early?

Or what if after 3 months and you still cant sold your old car, will you go for trade in?

 

I ended up selling my xB a month early so I am currently driving a rental car. I opted out of buying a 2k beater car, because that would be money out of my pocket I could put down as down payment on the Mini. Plus the hassle of smogging and reselling the pos.

It will be about 450 bucks altogether.

 

Wow, this is exciting on 4/26-eve!

"Was Aboard the Madame Butterfly, now ready for pickup 4/26!"

Have fun with your MINI!

 

[quote=ImolaMini;2175142]Does anyone have experience with Mini Northwest in Washington? The two salesmen I've seen don't even seem like they want to sell a car, both have lowballed my trade in by several thousand (and I brought in ammo- edmonds trade in pricing and recent manheim auto actions for the same car), and they still won't budge or even tell me why the offer is so low. My car was even appraised as above average condition, they just feed me a line that the wholesaler will only pay that much and there's nothing they can do, even though the wholesaler will be selling it on manheim for 2 grand higher.

They don't want to drop the $595 dealer prep charge either. Does this dealership just sell so many cars that they can brush off the customers who are too smart to be taken for a ride? Or did I just get the wrong salesmen?

I bought my '08 MCS from Northwest Mini. Paid MSRP but not the adjusted market value add on which I believe was around $595? You always lose on trades except for the tax credit and not having to go through the trouble of selling to a private party. We traded in a '07 Lexus IS250 AWD with 12K miles on our Mini. Don't miss the Lexus, love the Mini. Good luck.

 

Dealers will never give you what you want or what is fair for your car. My car was worth $5500 to them. I ended up selling it myself for $9000

 

That's freakin ridiculous! Try another dealership or go at it again and agree to the trade in price BUT insist on price about 3k below sticker. Eventually, they'll cave in.

 

I am in the military currently in the US. I am also thinking about buying a Mini or just keeping my Wrangler.. I went to my dealership, they offered fair price for trade but $1000 lower then the VW dealer. They agreed to throw in $800 worth of accessories and not charge me for installation. Since they have no other buying incentives. I also asked if i would still get $800 worth of options if i didnt trade my car, they said yes. So i was cruising around the mini website saw a "military" link... I looked and the car was around $2000 off MSRP if i would just buy the car next time i am in Qatar.. But i am thinking i then would be charged for the dealer option with no free installation. So i am thinking you be able to get about $1000 worth of accessories with some smooth talking if not more. If you dont ask that is just profit the dealership or salesman gets. Next time i go the desert i will build the same car and see what happens for sure... I have a few friends there now i guess they could just take my build sheet and get a price.....

i dont know how accurate yahoo is but here is their actual dealer invoice price on a Cooper S
$19,162 i think the military pricing was a hair higher then dealer invoice...

(for the life of me i cant find the military price now. All the options were the same price)



Guy

I know clear as mud

 

Hi Guy,

Your best deal for selling your existing car is to not do a trade-in - just sell it yourself (cars.com, autotrader, vehix, etc). We just got a GREAT deal buying a barely used 2007 MCS for my GF - $22,000 with 4300 miles (premium/cold packages, auto, etc). Invoice on this was around 26,500, so we feel pretty blessed.

It's my understanding that you can get a great deal for a brand new MINI, but not sure if you have to order it or if it applies also to cars on lots. It seems strange to me that you'd need to be out of country to leverage that discount - that doesn't seem right to me. But you'd know better on that than I would.

As far as I'm concerned, all you gentlemen that put yourselves in harms way to secure the freedom of our country and way of life should be able to buy any car you want at dealer invoice. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

 

Sell the car on your own. It is pretty easy.

 

Keep in mind that a trade may end up pretty close to a wash when the tax is considered. You only pay tax on the balance AFTER the trade. So you're paying 9.1% (or whatever it is in Fife) on the remainder of the new car cost rather than the entire cost of the MINI. My trade was a 2006 Subaru Legacy GT FWIW.

That said, I knew I'd be low-balled at NW Mini on trade -- the buying process there feels strange... like no haggle, but only because they won't sell below MSRP. I did not get the impression the dealership was there to sell the cars at all, more like facilitate your configuration. That said, I've never seen so many smiling people walking out of a dealership having just spent a small fortune.

I've used my wait time (still waiting for my MINI to arrive) to sell my car privately. It sold a few weeks ago and now I'm bumming around in one of mypParents' cars.

PS -- My invoice from NW Mini says MSRP + $50 doc fee... that's it.

 

Pocketrkt,
Can you please keep me posted on your car purchasing process until you finally get your car? My friend got the same invoice as you up until the car hit the American soil and told him that the $595 cannot be waived. Also who is your contact in NW. If they stop doing the fee, I will be more than happy to order from them.

thanks and good luck

 

Yes, as I know, the $160 fee includes a MINI floor mat ($70-100) of your choice.

 

The fee is 175 and it gets you floormats (70-90 depending on carpet or rubber) a full tank o' supreme (50 bucks!) and the car's first detail and wax!

 

Try calling around a couple of days before the month end. If they're close to their numbers and need another unit to secure their bonus then you'll probably be able to work something out for a car off the lot.

Ordering is another matter - you can get a discount off MSRP in the NYC area on an 08 order... I just did.

John.