What should I do? Pay off car private & buy or trade in/exchange?

trackerC

Hi
In a dilemma - moslty due to ignorance. Not sure which is the best option to do & hoped you might help with my decisionmaking.
I have a 52 mini one (but has lots of extras - cooper sign, cooper stripes, alloys, panoramic roof windows etc) It has done 70k but in good condition. I had bought it with finance & the last balloon payment is due in May (about 3.5k). I dont want to give it back to mini dealership (their charges for petty things are ridiculous) but now wonder which choice to make - dealership trade in or private sale.
I love my mini & will be very sorry to see it go but basically I am now 9 months pregnant & whilst the pram fits in the boot now, pram + shopping doesnt look a roomy option, plus car seat etc will be better with a 5dr. (Looks like its time to be a grown up, damn)
I think to do a private sale will be a bit more bother, but will get more cash potentially, but to trade in & buy another seems a simple option to solve things. In addition, to make things more problematic, I dont really know which car i would want after paying off things. With baby on the way (any day) I dont think we'd want to spend too much, but as Ill be returning to work & travel on motorways will need a reliable car, so not a cheapy.
Im sure loads of you have advice to offer or even just can offer experience. All much appreciated
x

balsingh

From a money point of view, the private sale is the best bet. From a practicality point of view, the trade in is better. Remember, when buying/selling privately, unless you buy the new car before sellign the old, there may be a gap during which you have no car!!

Auto Trader is a good port of call for selling or buying privately ... https://www.autotrader.co.uk

The fact that your car has the extras, it should stand out from other Mini One's so that might help it sell quickly provided it is prices sensibly.

DealDrivers_company_representative

There's always a healthy market for used Mini as long as they aren't dented! I agree with the last poster...autotrader is the way to go...the bible for anyone looking for a used car deal. Advertise it late April onwards as until then there's a mass of unwanted used stock that people have px'd at dealers as they wanted new cars on March plates. Let that glut get out of the way then have a go. Don't try in March as there's masses of unwanted used stock around.

Some large motor groups trawl autotrader to build up their quality used stock too.

We're always amazed at the number of people who work madly hard to get the price of the new car down (using sites like this to get haggling advice etc) but will let their old car go at a trade px price and often up to £1k or so below 'market value' - thus losing most of the saving they are spending hours trying to make on the new price.....use px as a last resort. A Mini is saleable ...so have a go.

If we had a fiver for every person who's said to us they'll px a saleable car at a trade price "as its too much hassle doing anything else"....! (yet its not too much hassle to spend days/weeks trying to haggle the price down on a new one!)

Everyone seems obsessed with working hard not getting 'ripped off' on a new price but are more than happy to be fleeced in a more subliminal way by letting a decent used car go at trade rather than retail price....thereby losing a great chunk of the new car discount they've just spent ages obtaining.

Get it into autotrader mid-late April and see what happens (and no, we're not on any deal with autotrader!)