Low value depreciating cars

D

Darren M

Senior member
 Devon
What do you think the lowest value depreciating cars are?
I'm doing 120 miles a day Mon-Fri (and some weekends) at the moment in the Z4 M so I've been having a look around for a second car. I thought about a Mini as I will also be doing some city driving and they're fairly small without being too much of a tight fit for my near 6ft frame, and are pretty good quality. My local dealer has a 56 plate (Jan 2007) Mini Cooper, specced up to be £16,100 brand new (current prices) and I'm very surprised to find that the dealer wants £11,999 for it. I think that's crazy, especially as I don't see £4,000 (the gap between used and new) as much money at all. So a choice between a 3.5 year old car at £11,999 or the exact same specced brand new car at £16,100 it's a no brainer. I think in 2007 that car would have cost around £14,000 according to Parkers, and the dealer wants £11,999 today. Wow! The car does only have 13k miles on it but I tend to go by age rather than milage covered (ie, 13k miles around london would be harsh usage)

So just wondering what other normal (not exotica) cars suffer low depreciation? I think Mini's must hold their value better than ANY BMW!
 
I'd highly recommend a MINI, I've got 2, one of which I've had for 5 years now. They're the lowest depreciating small cars, in fact one of the top cars of all for holding their value. That one you mention seems expensive though, at least £1k over the top.

They're brilliant to drive, really good fun. With the mileage you're doing a Cooper D would be good, you can realistically get 60 mpg out of them and they're quicker than the petrol.

If you've got any questions about MINIs or want any recommendations on necessary options if you're speccing a new one feel free to give me a shout :)
 
Mazda MX-5/Miata? Older ones seem to sit around the £3k mark if they're in good condition and don't appear to drop much further. Maybe not practical though for your purposes but would be a laugh to drive!
 
I saw an immaculate Mini on a 52 plate for sale for 3.5k. Only had 37k miles on it as well.

You either have to go new or old, that in between bit seems to make for silly asking prices.
 
Matty said:
They're brilliant to drive, really good fun. With the mileage you're doing a Cooper D would be good, you can realistically get 60 mpg out of them and they're quicker than the petrol.

If you've got any questions about MINIs or want any recommendations on necessary options if you're speccing a new one feel free to give me a shout :)
Click to expand...

I would prefer the Cooper petrol than the diesel I think, which should still do reach pretty decent MPG? Cheaper initial outlay, cheaper fuel, less to go wrong (no turbo!). Probably would take many miles to recooperate the additional cost of the diesel, and won't have any worries about mixing fuel between the cars.

I've specced one up at £17,540. As per my Z, I don't like a car loaded with too many options, just the quality ones (leather) and for making driving safer(xenons, auto dimming rear view mirror etc), a DAB radio, clear indicators but anything you think Im definately missing let me know.

See pdf below. I think I would prefer black hood stripes rather than all white, but don't know. Also was considering part leather to save a few ££, not full leather.

http://www.pureorangesoft.com/my mini.pdf

I've driven a few before and quite liked the diesel actually (diesel clubman) but wouldn't want a clubman.
 
Yeah the petrol's good as well you should still get about 40 mpg from it. For the £1200 extra cost of the diesel it'd take about 30-40k miles to recooperate depending on the actual mpg achieved with the type of driving. If you're doing 120 a day, 5 days a week, for say 48 weeks = 28800/year, so would be covered in 1 to 1.5 years.

You don't need too many options, what you've got there looks pretty good. For good residuals most people would want a Pepper or Chili pack which include the majority of the desirable and useful options. With the spec you've got which already includes some options from within it, the Chili pack would add about £700 and add:
- Automatic A/C
- Extended interior light pack
- Extended storage
- Front fog lights
- Heated mirrors/washer jets
- On board computer
- Passenger seat height adjustment
- Rear spoiler
- Basic bluetooth
- Chromeline exterior

To add black bonnet stripes you'd need to have the black roof and mirrors as well. You could just leave these and have just the stripes added by the dealer or somebody else later if you want the body coloured roof & mirrors. You could save quite a bit by going for the half leather, the full lounge leather is very nice though and comfortable which is good for doing a lot of miles, as long as you've got either.

The options I'd definitely spec are:
- Pepper or Chili pack
- Half/full leather (inc. in Chili but not Pepper)
- Upgraded alloys (inc. in Chili but not Pepper) - Could be added aftermarket
- Interior trims inc. additional decor rings in Fluid Silver, Piano Black or Brushed Alloy - Without, the large trims on the doors are just black plastic and look tacky
- White indicator lenses - Make a huge difference to the look of the car, looks much cleaner, more modern and upmarket
- Sport steering wheel

Also a lot of people like to have the multifunction steering wheel and it includes cruise control. The other options you've added are all good to have, Xenons are very worthwile as the standard lights are quite poor.

Something else to bear in mind is there'll be a facelift next year but it'll be only minor things so not a great deal of change:
http://www.motoringfile.com/2010/06/11/official-mini-cooper-facelift-photos-leak-out/#more-12155
 
Have u just considered not getting another car and do miles on the M. More smiles. Cost of maintaing 2 cars and depreciation- means you would better off with M unless u need another car for a reason.
 
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