Time to sell the MINI?

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Mon 26 Jul 2004 22:39
Time to sell the MINI? - Citroënian {P}
Hi all, (and especially HJ!)

Been toying with the idea of selling the MINI for the past couple of weeks - they seem to be everywhere now and with them coming up to 3 years old they'll start to become more common (and thus cheaper) used outside the dealer network as the warranty will have expired.

What Car? spoke about the prices softening used and even Top Gear demoted it from "subZero" to "unCool" last night.

So should we sell now and make the most of the residuals or do we keep hold of it as the values are unlikely to drop all that steeply.

Lee.

PS - was in a convertible (MINI) the other week and for some reason there's less leg room in the front - the seats don't go as far back as the rear seats have a longer bottom, if you see what I mean.
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Lee
MINI adventure in progress
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Tue 27 Jul 2004 00:06
Time to sell the MINI? - Citroënian {P}
HJ,

Many thanks for the super prompt response. Just missed your reply earlier.

What to replace it with? Not 100% sure, tempted to keep the money in the bank for a bit and get myself another Xantia or something for buttons until I can figure out what else interests me.

I could always get another Mini down the line when the prices have slid further.

But I take your point, there's nothing much else on the road like it and I'm very hesitant on the Pluriel (the only comparable choice for me) as the residuals on that would be much worse.

So to sell (get a Xantia and put some money the way of my bank manager!) or keep it?!

Thanks,
Lee.

--
Lee
MINI adventure in progress
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Tue 27 Jul 2004 09:14
Time to sell the MINI? - kenl
MINIs are still holding their value well compared to virtually all other cars. I recently traded one and got an excellent amount for a 2 year old car with 25k miles getting 80% back on what I paid for it.

I tried to sell it privately but failed as I was probably asking a bit too much in order to make it worth my while. There are also a lot for sale privately now which can only lead to a softening of prices.

I share your concern about owning one out of warranty as mine was very poor in build quality terms requiring 10 visits totalling about 20 days for stupid niggles in the time I had it.
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Tue 27 Jul 2004 11:23
Time to sell the MINI? - Sprice
Didn't new minis come with the option of a 'TLC' package, where for £100,you get five years servicing from the dealer? This is a very good deal which I'm sure all buyers took out; perhaps this is when people will start to sell and we have a glut of second hand minis on the market? Apparently, the convertible mini one is terribly underpowered due to the extra weight.
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Tue 27 Jul 2004 11:32
Time to sell the MINI? - kenl
Didn't new minis come with the option of a 'TLC' package,
where for £100,you get five years servicing from the dealer? This
is a very good deal which I'm sure all buyers took
out; perhaps this is when people will start to sell and
we have a glut of second hand minis on the market?


TLC will run out for most people by 40000 miles which is around 3 years at average mileage. Clever (or sneaky?) wording on the TLC terms & conditions is used but in reality it runs out before 50k miles or 5 years.

It is still an excellent value package though & one thing that attracted me to MINI as the fear of BMW servicing prices would put a lot of people off otherwise.
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