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'17 Chevy Volt Premiere
What then would be the price I should be aiming for, $6,500ish?
It appears that the trade in value the dealer would have paid (according to KBB NADA EDMUNDS) would have been roughly in the $3,500 range. I don't know how auction prices compare to those, but if it is the case that they have marked the vehicle up that much, then I want to make sure I let them profit off of me as little as possible (not to be construed as "I'd like to steal it", but simply that I don't want to be foolish). I don't know much about the used car market, but I think I know people fairly well, and I doubt that a 02 Corolla w 100k miles for $6,995 is going to be hard to sell. That being the case, I don't imagine that I have much of an advantage since, it would seem, the dealer can probably just wait for someone to come and buy it at a price pretty close to what they are asking. I could be wrong about that though.
So, suggestions as to what price I should be aiming at? Perhaps I should just be waiting for a private party seller? I did see one yesterday for $4,500 and it was the same year w same miles.
I just did a search within 100 miles of the Twin Cities using one of the popular car search sites, looking for 2001+ cars ala Mazda3/6, Civic, Elantra, Corolla, Yaris, Sentra, Rabbit/Golf. I found several that are newer and/or with lower miles for a lower asking price, e.g.:
2003 Corolla LE, 83k miles, $6900
2003 Elantra GLS, 51k miles, $6880 - has ABS and moonroof
2002 Civic LX, 90k miles, $6800 - has the optional side airbags
2005 Mazda6i Sport, 86k miles, $6400 - 6 airbags, ABS/TCS
So you probably have options besides that 2002 Corolla, if you broaden your search a bit. If anything, you could use other cars as bargaining chips to work the price of the Corolla down.
Myself, I take more of a "meant to be" attitude. If I could negotiate a price I thought I could live with, the car checked out mechanically, and the dealer accepted that price, then it's meant to be. If not, move on.
'17 Chevy Volt Premiere
The #1 priority for me though is that I am making a purchase that is financially intelligent. To me this means that the car was purchased at a price much below what an uninformed buyer would have bought it at and that I found value in a way that another buyer wouldn't. At this point I still feel like I am at a HUGE information disadvantage and am so uncomfortable w spending $7,000 on ANY car that I really have no particular warm and fuzzy feelings about this one.
My uncertainty is largely based on an unfamiliarity with how a dealer would price this vehicle. If it was standard for them to price a vehicle at 25% above what they are willing to let it go for, then I can reasonably offer them a price that I'm comfortable gets me the value I am looking for. If it is the case that they are only pricing the vehicle at 10% above what they are willing to let it go for, then there would really be no value in the car for me at all.
Backy, were these prices dealer prices or private party?
What I'm struggling with is how to know what a fair price is for the consumer. The only real information I have to go off of are the popular online retail price suggestions, but if dealers simply never sell them at or around that price, it would be foolish of me to burn energy trying to figure out how to get them to do so.
My question is, what is a more reasonable assumption about how dealers purchase their vehicles: (1) They know the car is worth $5,000, they buy it at $3,500 and mark it up to $7,000 hoping for a sweetheart of a buyer but with the possibility of selling it at $5,000 to a smart buyer. (2) They know the car is worth $5,000 but, since they aren't looking to sell cars to knowledgeable buyers (and since wholesalers know how the game works), they buy it at $4,500 and mark it up to $7,000 looking for a sweetheart buyer with no intention of letting it go to a knowledgeable buyer for $5,000.
'17 Chevy Volt Premiere
Used cars sell for what the market dictates and popular models simply do not last long. We often paid well over book at the auctions for exceptional cars and, of course, we sold them for over book too to customers woul knew the market.
Knowing they were going to take a massive hit at auction, they allowed you to negotiate your buyout. This sometimes happened and it was a BAD thing because people came to expect this. They should have bit the bullet.
Now, suppose they had screwed up and set the residual too LOW? Would you have allowed to let them negotiate that amount with you?
Nissan isn't the only car company that made bad short term decisions for immediate gain only to pay a massive price at lease end.
Sometimes a price is a price. When I bought the 2005 Mazda6i Sport hatch a couple of months ago, the asking price was $4,880. I knew that was a good price for that car. But I tried to negotiate with the sales rep anyway. He just smiled and told me, "That's the price." He pointed to the new Infinitis on the showfloor and said, "If you would like to buy of these cars, I'll be glad to give you a big discount. But not on a $5,000 car." So I paid the $4,880.
Thoughts on this car and price?
http://portland.craigslist.org/clc/cto/4046141633.html
'17 Chevy Volt Premiere
I really feel that I can use this data and create a website or maybe another app which provides the real world efficiency as reported by users of different cars. I think this can potentially help people looking for used cars.
Do you guys think this will be time well spent?
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
Speaking of which, maybe that's a good idea for a new topic... car apps. I have several on my phone.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
Yeah, I think I'll start a new thread for the apps members are using.
Start there!
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Share your vehicle reviews
I got my license this month and I'm wandering what car should I buy. I want to spend up to $5,000. I was thinking about few cars like
2001 acura cl type s
2001+ toyota celica gt
2003+ corolla s
Chevrolet Cobalt
Subaru (legacy,impreza) , hatchback looks nice, but is 5k enough?
Would love any BMW or audi A4 but i heard they are not good cars
I also considered any acura/honda newer than 2000+ , civics (i like hatchback ones).
I also thought about buying car for cheaper from insurance auction and fixing it. I have a friend who is a mechanic and has dealer's license and also could work with him on the car.
I would love to get a 2dr but the insurance just scares me (celica). What car looks good, has decent insurance and is pretty fun to drive? Manual/Automatic - doesnt matter. Currently 17 yo, living in Chicago.
'17 Chevy Volt Premiere
23 Civic Type-R / 22 MDX Type-S / 21 Tesla Y LR / 03 Montero Ltd
I'm not feather-footing it, but when cruising around 70mph, the "instant" mpg meter is averaging 27 or so on flat ground. Of course if there's much of an incline and the cruise control drops a couple of mph, it'll downshift to 7th and hop right back to the set speed. At 60mph, it runs around 1,400 RPM (I have the 3.21 Axle, CrewCrab, 2WD).
Maybe I'll shoot some video with my phone and throw it on youtube for the interested parties.
TheGrad
klt82, "Honda Civic Cooling Problems" #48, 18 Sep 2013 6:14 am
Good luck with it!
I ended up purchasing a 2002 Acura TL with 106k miles for $6,000. It had the timing belt and water pump replaced at 90k and I had him replace the struts and shocks as well as the front motor mount before I agreed to the purchase (per mechanical inspection). In addition to the ABS and Side air it has a lot of amenities that I've never had in a vehicle before and is in near mint condition.
It wasn't what I started out looking for but I found that if I wanted side air bags and ABS I'd have to pay at least 30% more than I really wanted to.
Bill G
2017 Accord Sport CVT Mod Steel Metallic
'17 Chevy Volt Premiere
Are you able to determine if the car you bought had the transmission issue? From what I remember, not all did.
Bill
2017 Accord Sport CVT Mod Steel Metallic
I left the gentleman yesterday with a handshake agreement that if he got the struts and shocks & motor mount replaced, I'd pick it up Friday morning. At the beginning of the process he told me that the car had been into the dealership on a recall inspection and that they told him the transmission was not problematic. When I came home yesterday I started looking more into the transmission issues and realized just how severe they were so I made a few calls to the dealerships around here, checking the Vehicles vin history and I haven't gotten anything near a satisfying answer with regards to the transmission issue. I've told the gentleman he'll need to supply papers that confirm that his claim that the transmission is a non-issue is true. He sort of claims that he lost the papers and gave me a small run around when I told him that he should just contact the dealership.
Anyways, I am sort of feeling bad because I did, without FULLY researching (but on his word) agree that if he had the strut/shock/mount work performed, I'd purchase the vehicle. He says it's in the shop right now and that he was going to pay the mechanic with the money I would end up paying him for the vehicle, and it seems as though I may be backing out of the transaction. Should I feel bad about this? Clearly I'm not obligated to buy the car, but I didn't necessarily make my purchase contingent on him showing me that paperwork -- but now suddenly I am. I feel like, as an act of good faith, I may be (sort of) obligated to compensate him in some small way for the work he is having done for me.
Thoughts on this?
'17 Chevy Volt Premiere
He told me that the dealer said his car doesn't need a new transmission, but I couldn't confirm that in conversation with the dealers. In addition the recall was issued 5 year before he became the owner so I have a hard time believing that he received any mail from the dealer asking him to come in to inspect the issue (he claims this is the case). Part of the problem is that we have a bit of a language barrier to cross. He admitted he can't read English very well. I believe he could have very easily gotten a letter from the dealership that said "hey, it's time for your transmission servicing" and he would have just understood that to mean they were inspecting the transmission to see if it was impacted by the recall when, in fact, all they were doing was draining the transmission fluid etc.
The exact recall verbiage is as follows:
Recall Date:
APR 15, 2004
Model Affected:
2002 Acura TL
Summary:
ON SOME MINI VANS, SPORT UTILITY AND PASSENGER VEHICLES, CERTAIN OPERATING CONDITIONS CAN RESULT IN HEAT BUILD-UP BETWEEN THE COUNTERSHAFT AND SECONDARY SHAFT SECOND GEARS IN THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION, EVENTUALLY LEADING TO GEAR TOOTH CHIPPING OR GEAR BREAKAGE.
Consequences:
GEAR FAILURE COULD RESULT IN TRANSMISSION LOCKUP, WHICH COULD RESULT IN A CRASH.
Remedy:
ON VEHICLES WITH 15,000 MILES OR LESS, THE DEALER WILL UPDATE THE TRANSMISSION WITH A SIMPLE REVISION TO THE OIL COOLER RETURN LINE TO INCREASE LUBRICATION TO THE SECOND GEAR. ON VEHICLES WITH MORE THAN 15,000 MILES, THE DEALER WILL INSPECT THE TRANSMISSION TO IDENTIFY GEARS THAT HAVE ALREADY EXPERIENCED DISCOLORATION DUE TO OVERHEATING. IF DISCOLORATION EXISTS, THE TRANSMISSION WILL BE REPLACED IF DISCOLORATION IS NOT PRESENT, THE DEALER WILL PERFORM THE REVISION TO THE OIL COOLER RETURN LINE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON APRIL 21, 2004, FOR PILOT, ODYSSEY, AND MDX OWNERS. OWNERS OF THE ACCORD VEHICLES WILL START RECEIVING LETTERS ON JUNE 28, 2004, AND ON JUNE 29, 2004, FOR OWNERS OF THE TL AND CL VEHICLES. OWNERS SHOULD CONTACT HONDA AT 1-800-999-1009 OR ACURA AT 1-800-382-2238.
Potential Units Affected:
1099796
Notes:
HONDA (AMERICAN HONDA MOTOR CO.)
My son bought a Buick LeSabre that had a very large recall for something involving the manifold (I'm not even sure what that is!). We contacted Buick before we bought it, and discovered that that vehicle was not among the affected ones. Ten years later he's still driving it.
'17 Chevy Volt Premiere
Bill
2017 Accord Sport CVT Mod Steel Metallic
The recall came out later, finally exonerating my friend from "driver's error". She didn't sue - she was dead.
My point is: Honda is overrated. They're good, but not always the best, and not perfect. The make a great small engine though.
Mike
Every manufacturer and model has its proponents and detractors. Your best bet is to do some basic research here at Edmunds, then go out and test drive 3-5 cars that interest you.
What's important? Gas mileage, ride comfort, info-tainment? Use that criteria to narrow down your choices.
What are you driving now? Do you like it?
My best friends sister recently needed to buy a new car. She drove a Mazda Protégé for 10 years and 220K miles, and they asked me for advice. I figured that since she loved her Mazda so much she would go out and buy a Mazda 3.
Nope - she ended up getting a 2011 Toyota Camry XLE V6.
We're all here to help .. give us some since of what you're looking for and why and the opinions will come fast and heavy, I guarantee.
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2015 Subaru Outback 3.6R / 2014 MINI Countryman S ALL4
The Sandman :sick: :shades:
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2015 Golf TSI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)