i just got back from the mini dealership, and the motoring advisor said that i’ve been his easiest customer all day. why? because i know what i want. saturdays are very busy at the mini dealership, and the motoring advisor said that there was a couple there who had been there for three saturdays in a row, but they still can’t figure out what they want. meanwhile, i had my spec sheet all printed up with all the options i wanted (good luck if you want to try to haggle, you’re almost ALWAYS going to pay MSRP for a new MINI. you might get some freebies thrown in, but that’s not always the case either.), and i already knew about the $1000 deposit towards the car that you have to put down so they can place the order — i had kind of forgotten about this part, even though i saw the $1000 on my original order sheet for my current MINI i thought for some reason it was just part of a down-payment that i made. i guess that’s still the case, but i forgot about it being mandatory to place the order, so that made me hesitate a little when he reminded me about it since i wasn’t prepared to pay $1000 down today and expected that to be taken from the value of my trade-in.
they took my keys so the service manager could appraise my car, and in the meantime the motoring advisor and i went over some of the details and a few questions i had about one or two features in the car; here’s what i configured. it’s a good thing i’m not getting the clubman (sk8bette 😉 ), since even though the coopers and cooper s models are on schedule, the convertible ones are a little behind and they don’t even know right now when the clubmans are being built and only know that folks ordering clubmans would be taking delivery about some time in october! my car would be built next month and delivered sometime in august or perhaps september at the latest, but i have heard of someone in the local mini club ordering his with time from order to delivery being less than a month, which is definitely much better than the 6 weeks or so i had to wait when i originally got mine (ordered in march, took delivery in early june).
anyway, they said that they’d appraise the car today, and that the appraisal value would change by the time i actually traded the car in when picking up the new one (makes sense, what with putting on extra mileage and such on it). i asked if i could just trade it in today if i wanted and use one of the family’s existing cars in the meantime, and they said that could be a possibility. i also asked if i could put the value of the trade-in towards the deposit, because otherwise it wouldn’t be until getting paid on friday that i’d have the full $1000 handy, and they said that would be possible too.
so after a little bit later my motoring advisor came over and said that they’ve determined that my car is worth… well… what do you think a 4-year-old car with 84,355 miles on it, no working a/c, possible electrical issues, the passenger side panels keyed 3 years ago, a front passenger tire with a scuff along the sidewall, and a front bumper/skirt damaged from a raccoon hit… what do you think a car like that is worth? i paid $22,299 + tax for it just over four years ago, and i estimated it to now be in “fair” condition, meaning (according to the kelley blue book):
- some mechanical or cosmetic defects and needs servicing but is still in reasonable running condition
- clean title history, the paint, body and/or interior needs work performed by a professional
- tires may need to be replaced
- there may be some repairable rust damage
edmunds.com says that a car like that is worth $9217… kelley blue book says a car like that is worth $9765. i was hoping for at least $9000, and would be happy with at least $9500. they appraised it at $11,000! hell yeah! 4 years and 84,000 miles and wear and tear later, and it’s still half its new value? whoever said that MINIs hold their value wasn’t joking!
(the kelley blue book says that “good” condition is worth $11,340, however, and this means free from major defects, clean title history, paints / body / interior have only minor blemishes and no major mechanical problems, little or no rust, tires match and have tread left, but the car will still need some reconditioning to be sold at retail and that most vehicles fall into this category, so i can see why that would make sense too.)
they can’t cut me a check for it today since their finance folks aren’t in on saturdays or have already left for the day, but on monday i’ll be going back there after work to trade it in and get the new one ordered. even though i could hold on to the car until the new one comes in, i’d prefer to have this one out of my hands as soon as possible before something else goes wrong with it or it gets damaged somehow.
cynicalscribe: “can you handle not driving a cute space age car for a month or so? ;)”
me: “it’ll be tough. i won’t be able to wear my ‘i have one and you don’t’ shirt! 🙁 lol”
