Slow Sales?

I wonder what the market value of an undriven MINI Cooper SE will be after MINI stops making them in Oxford and then admits the purpose-built electric MINI won't be coming to the US for years?

 

Well, it is Memorial Day weekend... a typical time for car dealer promotions.

The next-gen Countryman SE will be in the US, though, and that may eat up some interest.

 

For giggles i went on Vroom. my 23 sig plus with 5200 miles is worth 23,819. So the values are dropping. I guess I am just going to have to drive the bejebus out of it.

 

Maybe, but the new Countryman is even bigger than the current one. I'm sure it'll be a hit with the type of people who currently like the Countryman, but I don't think that many Hardtop drivers are going to be drawn to the new Countryman, even if it is a BEV.

 

That's what Vroom would pay you, anyway. Meanwhile, they've got three up for sale at $31-31.5k.

Meanwhile, a local dealership recently sold a '22 Signature for $28k. That's about the cheapest I've seen.

 

I got $3,200 off sticker on my car back in December. Was pushing for more but compared to other EV's that had dealer add on's or markups I was happy to get a discount.

 

Sorry, should have been more specific!

Used, with not a lot of miles, although I don't recall how many. I believe it was the sales manager's vehicle. I was keeping an eye on it, in hopes it might drop below the magic $25k mark, but it sold quite quickly after they dropped the price to that level.

Just ballpark, right now I'd say that $29-30k is the benchmark for lower mileage Signature (base) models, and $33-34k for similar Iconics (top of the line). Once in a while you see one for less, and of course places like Carvana want more, but that's my sense of the market at present.

 

I sold my almost new 23 SE back in December. It’s probably no surprise that it’s still sitting on the dealer’s lot 5 months later at this price, although I am surprised they haven’t lowered the price once.

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/inventorylisting/viewDetailsFilterViewInventoryListing.action?entitySelectingHelper.selectedEntity=d436#listing=345077398/NONE

 

Yowzers! I would consider that overpriced even at what CarGurus considers market value (although such websites rarely differentiate between the different trims, requiring you to check the pics).

What made you sell it?

 

Long story. I bought a 22 SE early last year and generally liked it, but regretted the color I chose and regretted getting a base model. I ended up selling it while they were in demand, and bought a Model 3. Then, I placed an order for the 23 SE. I had a gas car and the Tesla at the time. I planned to keep one of the two and the Mini.

Fast forward to fall when the second Mini arrived. At that point I had sold my gas car. As much fun as the Mini was, I found myself driving the Tesla more. There were a couple things that annoyed me on the Mini, the lack of acceleration off the line, lack of steering feel, clunky UI, etc. I know this is probably a controversial opinion, but for me, the Tesla just did everything better, and I actually found it more fun to drive. I live in Florida where it’s hard to find a twisty road, so that’s likely part of it. Also, the Tesla allowed me to go down to one car, whereas I wasn’t comfortable with the Mini as my only car, both in terms of range and size.

By late last year, EV prices were starting to come down as supply chain issues eased, so I decided to cut my losses and sell the Mini. I definitely lost a decent amount, especially when you factor in taxes, dealer fees, etc. However, I still feel that I got lucky, as had I waited a couple months, I think the offers would have been a lot lower.