TRADING IN A 2nd HAND CAR

Manderooo

I have a 10 year old mini cooper S which has 82k miles on the clock and is worth about £3,500 (according to Parkers). It has cost me £1,500 in parts (tyres, new exhaust, brakes) already this year and needs more money spending on it in Autumn (2 more new tyres and the gear box bearings) so I would like to know how I go about trading the car in. I am thinking to visit the VW, Honda, Suzuki & Mini Garages in my local area and just see what they would offer me - but I dont even know if they would consider my car as a trade in given that it is 10 years old?! Please advise - I need a small, reliable car and plan to change it this coming September. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

System

I would be looking to sell it privately - you'll get more of your money back imo, p/x value for a cooper of that age is going to be something like 2.2k or so..

edit: sorry, just spotted it was a cooper S - p/x is something like 2.6k for that - any extras on it? chilli pack/sunroof etc?
private sale is going to be your best bet either way

scotsbob

Look on the Internet for the Mini Cooper owners forum and advertise it there. That's where you are most likely to get the best price.

GAZ237

Pull off a bullion robbery in Italy. For max profit.

Just remember though "Your only supposed to blow the bloody doors off".

forgotmyname

Drive into a garage or dealership. Choose a car. They say we will give you £1500 for your car and we want £££££ cash on top.

You fall on the floor at how little they will give you for your car.

Just dont fall into the trap that the next garage will give you £3000 for your car.. They can do that because the car they are selling you is already £2000 overpriced.

So your actually worse off.

motorguy

the_r_sole wrote: »

I would be looking to sell it privately - you'll get more of your money back imo, p/x value for a cooper of that age is going to be something like 2.2k or so..

edit: sorry, just spotted it was a cooper S - p/x is something like 2.6k for that - any extras on it? chilli pack/sunroof etc?
private sale is going to be your best bet either way

+1

I think you're bang on with the price.

As you say, best to sell it privately as the motor trade will be wary of it as they're known to be troublesome.

dan321

You're always going to get a bit more selling privately, but in my experience its a pain in the a***.

I tried an online car buyer (thecarbuyingservice.co.uk) it makes life much easier as you get money next day, just have to remember you will get a touch less for your car.

System

dan321 wrote: »

you will get a touch less for your car.

in this case, the trade in value is about 2.6k and the resale on a private sale is almost 1k more, to me that "touch" is a worth the hassle of a private sale

TradePro

Manderooo wrote: »

It has cost me £1,500 in parts (tyres, new exhaust, brakes) already this year and needs more money spending on it in Autumn (2 more new tyres and the gear box bearings) so I would like to know how I go about trading the car in. I am thinking to visit the VW, Honda, Suzuki & Mini Garages in my local area

Yeah, I'd definitely buy another one if was you

I know most of the things you list are wear and tear items, but I suspect there are other bits contributing to those large-ish costs.

Personally I would stick with visiting Honda and Suzuki from your list, you are far less likely to face those big bills again.