Real-World Trade-In Values

mjfloyd1

Larryka,

Are these the original tires or have they been replaced? If they have been replaced, how many miles are on the new tires?

Mark

larryka

Hi Mark -

They are original OEM tires. They are Continentals, but I don't have the model number off hand.

- Lawrence

gold233790

I absolutely agree. Of course I want the highest price for my car that I can get. And since it's MUCH easier to know if you are getting a fair and equitable deal on the new car, my main concern is the trade.

I don't have the time or the effort to list it for private sale, and the tax implications on a trade help move me closer anyway. Plus, I'm of the mind that I don't want a German car with 80k+ miles hanging out there with my name on it- when the next big service call comes, I want to feel no guilt.

Anyway.....I asked the question because I wanted to know what I'm dealing with. If I am shown/told a number, and that number is coming from a verifiable source such as Galves- well, I want to know what the going rate is for mileage deduction.

It's also a convenience factor for me- if the closest dealership offered the best deal, my decision would be simple.

In the end, I want to get a fair price for my car. I want to have the confidence that I didn't leave thousands on the table because I believed what the used car manager told me without verifying his numbers. Again, I had one tell me that he just sold an A8 at auction and that he had a reasonable expectation of the price. Fine. But since several have quoted the Galves #- and all arrived at different prices- I simply wanted to know what the standard practice is.

steine13

Ya gotta feel for the dealers, or rather, for the salespeople. I mean, they know you've been online and you've called your credit union, and all that. They gotta tell people SOMETHING, and if they have a bible of some sort, at least they can point to that and say here, I've got a basis for this.

As far as I can tell, 90% of the people with cars to trade believe in this nonsense. There's a lady 4 blocks north of here with a decent 97 CRV she needs to sell... I posted it a few days ago; it's worth, to my mind, $5 and a little extra, after service is done, which it needs. The lady thinks its worth $7+, and the fact that it's got a scrape on the side (no big deal now, but it will rust) and that the t-belt is overdue -- that never entered her consciousness. Oh yeah, her neighbor wanted to buy it, and called her CU, and they were going to loan her $8400 for it. Wow.

So the car sits there, insured but no tags, waiting for who knows what. I'm getting so I prefer to talk to dealers, at least those guys typically know what they're talking about.

And thank God for small favors and Terry...

-Mathias

corvette

>>>not sure how much they are worn, what's a good way to find out?<<<

Get a tread depth gauge from the auto store, Tire Rack has a method on their website to measure a couple of specific depths using coins. On the other hand, CarMax should have noted it on the vehicle inspection if they were nearing replacement (although they should be at 40,000 miles).

Kirstie_H

Here ya go, re: high mileage vehicles
driftracer Jul 26, 2004 7:41am

For future reference, if you right-click on the highlighted post number, select "copy shortcut" from the menu, then paste it into your message, it spits out a nice little link. It won't look like that til after you hit "post my message," but trust me, it does work

mikefm58

Oops, yep, I forgot the tranny, it's a stick.

driftracer

okie dokie

larryka

Thanks Corvette. I remember using the old penny trick in the past, but haven't done it in a while. I'll give it a shot.

Regarding CarMax not noting anything about the tires, that's why I posted their comments. I figured if the tires were out of line with the mileage they have, they would have noted it as a negative.

allisonk

Terry - I was referred to you and this discussion and wondered if I could have some input on this offer:

Washington DC Metro area
2002 VW Passat GLS 1.8T
automatic
FWD
33,700 miles
Black ext/light grey interior
Cloth seats, no sunroof
Appears to be in very good to excellent condition
2-year warranty
$17,495 list; $16,040 dealer initial unsolicited offer

I was recommended to start my offer at 14.5 and end up no higher than 14.7...

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

alyssazmom

We got a call from the auto body shop on the Toyota Sienna (and yes, the kids and I were ok afterwards. I was just very sore for a few days.) estimate is now at $7,717.63. Give me honesty- what can we do with this car? We were going to sell it the next week before the accident. We owe $10,900 on it, would we get at least that in trade?

Thank you for the value on the 2002 Accord but DH and I have decided to keep that (it's his car) since we only owe $4K more on it.

So that least the 1999 Toyota Sienna XLE and if you would be so kind as to give me what you think I could get, trade and private seller on a:

2003 VW Passat GLS
Automatic/Triptronic
Leather package
Cold Weather package (heated seats, etc)
13,000 miles
20148 zip code
Candy White with Tan leather interior
Great Condition, no accidents, or even minor dings
Homelink
Monsoon Sound System

Thanks so much! Our goal is to trade both the Sienna (when we get it back) and the Passat in on a 05 Ody or 05 Sienna.

Carrie

qbrozen

kirstie, is it possible to include that link at the bottom of this forum following the list of details someone should include about their car?

Maybe something like "for other information that might be useful prior to posting, click HERE."

Kirstie_H

Not really - adding a lot of info like that starts to get the page really cluttered up, and people will begin missing the essential information. Best thing to do is to copy & paste that post (or the URL) for handy-dandy pasting each time it's needed.

stickguy

Helping someone at work (and kinda interested myself...

behind curtain #2 we have a:

2003 Protege 4 door, ES model. Southern NJ (Phila metro)
Black in and out.
Clean, with all service records. No runs/hits/erros.
20,000 clicks.
a 5 speed manual, power package (locks, etc), 6 disk tunes, and the moonroof
I don't think it has SAB/ABS, but how much extra if it does?

This is purely for private retail road sale.

Thanks in advance.

rroyce10

....... Hmmm, seems like we get this question about the same time every year and for about the same duration of time .....

             The Galves book is indiginious to the extreme Northeast part of the country, usually the Maine/CT/Mass/VT/NH zipcodes, kinda like the "black tipped, yellow-eyed Wango Tango bird" - and usually about this time of the year they kinda filter into the desk drawers of some dealers in some parts of the NY and Philly area .... me personally, I don't use them, it's kinda like trying to use an expired American Express card, they don't work so good ... but I do enjoy watching those dealers when they come to some of the auctions in MI, Ohio, Virginia, Carolina, GA, Florida area ~ it sounds like a paper shredder convention with all that paper being twisted around ..l.o.l.....

             Seriously though, most dealers (not all) know those books aren't real accurate, but it depends on the store, how it's run, the pecking order, the size, the impact in the area, the market penetration, how they structure it, then there is the human factor and some feel the SM or the UCM is more useful around the store(s) and they use wholesalers and/or different dealers .. see, most dealers don't really like going to auctions, some will go 2/3 times a year, maybe - some might only go once a year, like church .. so it all depends and varies from corner to corner and city to city ................ : )

                                 

                                           Terry.

steine13

Terry,
While we have your attention -- such as it is:

1997 Odyssey LX 91k
4cyl auto medium blue
one owner, "dedent" shape, oil changed apparently, a little shimmy and a little clatter and otherwise in fine shape.
Rust free, occasional ding on the side, no accidents, ok tires.

Would make a good canoe mobile for the summer, and the local Honda store is "asking" $6 for it.

The records were in the glove box, so I <cough> chatted with the previous owner... no problems, occasional ABS light, fine car, they "think" they got $3 or a little more.

What's it worth?
-Mathias

robr2

Clean up your language before the hosts delete and bounce your message.

qwalls

Hey Terry,

I stumbled across this during my search. I've always loved these cars... Not much info, but this is what I have.

'95 Acura Legend LS
Tan exterior and guts
Akron Ohio area
130k miles
private seller

according to the ad, all maintenance has been done, and it's "perfect"

Asking price is $6,690 obo. What do you think? I haven't made it up to check it out yet.

As always..Thanks,

Q

racer63

In my experience, Galves is the routine book of choice around the NY metro area, at least for trade-in valuation, probably because it seems to have the lowest number$ of any of the guides.....kinda guarantees if a sled goes off to auction that the dealer will cover the trade dollars plus expenses I guess.

corvette

It's a ten year old car, it might be "perfect" if it had about 125,000 fewer miles and had been garaged all its life... I like the Legends though, and wish they'd kept that name.

corvette

Glad everyone was okay... It'll be well into 8 grand before they're done, if the body shop did the teardown they probably "missed" a few things in hopes of not getting it totalled, then they'll "find" them once they start repairs, or you'll find them after they tell you the repairs are complete. You need to be on the phone to your insurance adjuster, and talking about *inherent* diminished value, as well as the very high likelihood of having missed a part or two in the $8k damages. Are any of the seatbelt tensioners deployed, seatframes bent, any distant body panels knocked out of alignment, etc.?

qwalls

I know it can't possibly be "perfect" but considering the age and miles, I'll settle for "pretty good".

dkuhajda

Sounds like it should be totalled out. $8K on a vehicle that even KBB shows a private party retail price of less than $12K. It should be a no brainer on the total loss requirement.

leeshuck

Hi Terry,

I'm selling a:

'98 BMW M3 Coupe 5 Speed Manual
Alpine white
Magma (Tan/Saddle) with contrasting black interior
Sun roof
Manual Sport Seats
Cruise Control
Heated front seats
Split fold down rear seats
Nakamichi CD player with separate 5 disc changer in trunk

Two Precision Power amps mounted in trunk - one for front Diamond speakers in front kick panel pods, one for JL Audio Subs in rear deck (replaced stock speakers)
Mileage: 80,700

New Bridgestone Pole Position S03 Z rated tires on rear - fronts at about 50%

Some wear on drivers seat - rest of interior is immaculate.

Previous owner painted the front spoiler chin white and there are some black spots showing through.

Small chip on top of passenger side window.

Just had major inspection/maintenance (II) performed by my mechanic (no problems found)

Well maintained and runs great - I'm the second owner and have had the car since about 24,000 miles /4 years

Location: Dana Point, CA (Southern Coastal Orange County)

I received an offer of 15,500 from a private party today. Took it to the local BMW dealer and received a trade-in appraisal for 15,500. Private party has now offered 16,000.

How much more do you think I can get for it? Is an ad in the LA Times or Orange Country Register the way to go? I have it advertised for 16,995 in Auto Trader online and their Sports Car publication (local). I've received a few calls, but only the current prospective buyer has looked at it.

By the way, what does retail road mean?

Thanks,

Lee

mark156

Terry, you said in a few post back that dealers really don't like going to auctions. Why? They are in the business of selling cars, it seems that they would love going to auctions. If I was in the car business, I would think it's like buying supplies for any business. I don't get it.

Many years ago, I had a chain of video stores, I enjoyed picking out the movies that I would sell and rent. It was like fleet sales, buy a hundred.... big discount!

M.

knocker81

I have a 2000 VW Jetta 2.8 Ltr VR6 automatic Fwd
60,000 miles base model standard 15" wheels no alloys,no sunroof, black cloth interior, cruise control heated power mirrors,power windows, canyon red,this car is garage kept with only a few minor dings on the outside. The interior is in perfect condition. Fairly new tires, could possibly use brakes.Edmunds says it's trade-in is worth about 9,800. the sticker price was 21,450. Can you please give me an idea of trade in value Staten Island NY (NYC area)

goral

All right... let's forget the bimmer for a while... What do you think my chances are of scoring one of these at Chicago Manheim - '04 Infiniti G35 Sedan with "stick" or '04 Acura TSX non-navi 6MT??? How many of these do you come across during a typical auction? And what kind of prices could I expect?
TIA

oac

Terry:

Know you love to hear about updates. Well here is one for ya...

Went to the dealership last Saturday for the 2 LX470s. The Black was gone (low miler), the white one (high miler) was still there. The sales guy wasn't sure where the truck came from - auction or trade-in ? Seeing a paucity of other lux cars/trucks on the lot, I guessed auction, but you stated that you couldn't locate this truck on your auction report. Just a funny feeling I had that they weren't being on the up-and-up with me. Took the truck out for a ride, no problems I can see. With 57,xxx miles on an '02, I figured it won't hurt to offer a little lower than asking, so I tried $35K CASH OTD offer (asking was $36,900 + TTL). Maybe my offer was too low ! They refused, so I walked.... hoping they'll call me back. Haven't heard from them (yet). If they don't call, I'll continue my search.

I am in no huge hurry to spend my $35K. The holidays are here, and soon someone would be mighty anxious to get rid of one near end of the month/year. Maybe I'll get lucky if I am patient.

Thanks, as always, for your help....

rroyce10

..... I love these updates ..!

                "paucity" ..? another big word I have to look up ......

         Disclaimer: not every vehicle will show up (75,000+ a week) some might go to different auctions that I don't follow (or care) maybe some went "no-sale" at the auction and were bought "outside" the sale and some don't show up because of there was no "transaction" money because of a free float program .. Carsmack is usually pretty reliable on the auction history because of the title transfer .....

                Anyway .... here's some food for thought: there's a *Big difference* between selling a product for a quick sale, and selling "distressed merchandise" and losing money .. in this case, it's far from distressed merchandise and I'm sure he will see $34ish at the Riverside ho-down, or he will just hang on to it and some nutcase will pay him $39 for it in January, it's California and it's the right color, you know how wacky Left Coasters can be ....

             "never trip over those dollars to get them dimes" .............

                              Terry.

rroyce10

.... **Galves is the routine book of choice around the NY metro area, at least for trade-in valuation, probably because it seems to have the lowest number$ of any of the guides** ....

                    Bingo.!

                          Terry.

rroyce10

...... The last time I had something follow me home I had to get shots and put cream on for 3 weeks .......

           But anyway, I digest .... I think your right on the $$, maybe $3,5/$3,7ish after the smoke clears, I might guess they would cut that one loose for $4,5ish so they don't have to hold their breath until the middle of January or so ...

                                   Terry.

rroyce10

..... It depends on the store and it really doesn't depend on the "dealer principle" it depends on the employee(s), UC Manager, GM, etc, it depends on the "atmosphere" and the structure of the store(s), sometimes it's the product they sell .. your not going to see the GM from ABC Mercedes in Manhattan or the UC Manager from XYZ BMW in Atlanta waltzing around the auctions looking for deals .. they usually have someone they can pass that on too, for many reasons.

                For starters, if you have any brains you'll do your research before you go, and most don't .. it's usually an all day affair if you do it correctly and you need to be there waaay before it starts, and heaven forbid they can't wear their $500 suits and not get em' dirty .. not to spend anymore time with this, lets be honest, the ego of the office overtakes the knowledge of the streets, no matter what it costs - nuff said .......

                                    Terry.

steine13

Thanks a lot, Terry.
Now I'm trying to get rid of the mental images you gave us. brrrrr.

I'll probably get it if they'll cut me a deal... it's a nice little hauler, and I'm trying to avoid paying for collision on 3 (three) cars, so $5k is kinda my pain threshold. I'll let you know.

-Mathias

kyfdx

That would be a nice car.. It is basically a '97 Accord with a different body... Try finding a '97 Accord in decent shape for $4500... I'm betting they hold out for over $5K.. Someone that knows nothing about cars will see the name "Odyssey", and think they are getting a steal..

regards,
kyfdx

kyfdx

'95 Legend.. last year, so that helps.. so does the LS package.. 130K? ouch..

I have a '92 L model... bought it from my uncle.. Great cars..

Asking price seems a little steep for all those miles, but they are really popular.. Sounds more like a $4500-$5500 car to me... I haven't shopped them, though... Only bought mine, because it was from a family member.

kyfdx

Forgot what forum I was in...

Not the expert, just ruminating... lol

mikefm58

Orlando Florida, 1994 Ford Mustang GT coupe,
8 cyl, 106K miles, manual tranny, red exterior, tan leather interior.

A/C, ps, pw, pl, tilt wheel, cruise, AM/FM Stereo CD, dual front air bags, ABS, power seats, rear spoiler, alloy wheels.

Interior in excellent condition, some color fading on the bumpers, no dings or other scratches, new tires & brakes, up to date on all maint., no other body or paint work.

qwalls

The miles don't really bother me as long as the maintenance check out. I've had good luck with Honda products. The '91 Accord I sold a few years ago with 208k miles is still going strong with over 240k miles now... same with the '93 I sold in May with 157k miles...

kyfdx

I agree... great cars.. my '92 has 40K miles.. ;-)

qwalls

40k?! Not even broken in yet!

mazdajason

Any idea on the trade in price?

Location: St louis, MO
95/ford/mustang
2dr convertible
V6 manual 5-speed
RWD
81000 miles
black
no special options
Condition
   interior in good condition
   paint in fair condition
   left side of rear bumper behind wheel well
        pushed under slightly.
   small crack in front bumper
   clean CARFAX
   tires 30,000 miles old

mazdajason

Any idea on the trade in price?

Location: St louis, MO
95/ford/mustang
2dr convertible
V6 manual 5-speed
RWD
81000 miles
black
no special options
Condition
   interior in good condition
   paint in fair condition
   left side of rear bumper behind wheel well
        pushed under slightly.
   small crack in front bumper
   clean CARFAX
   tires 30,000 miles old

dkuhajda

Is this right? It is mid-December in the midwest and you are trying to trade in a RWD convertible? What is wrong with that picture?

With the poor body condition, trade side, Decemember, who knows? Most dealers won't even want it, hence virtually no trade value, less than $1,000 easy trade side.

lngtonge18

My parents are trying to trade in a 2001 A4 1.8t FrontTrak with 56k. It's black with gray cloth, 5 speed, sport suspension package, 16" alloys, power sunroof, homelink, autodimming rear and side view mirrors, CD player. Interior and exterior is in good shape with only some scratches on the rear bumper. Car was dealer maintained until 50k. They live in West Palm Beach, Florida (33458).

So far, they have been offered what I feel are ridiculously low trade in values. The Acura dealer started at 8k and then went up to 10k but said they wouldn't go any higher. The Infiniti dealer basically said they didn't want to insult him with their offer but stated they would only offer him $7500. The salesman went on to explain why they were offering such a low value by stating the rear passenger door appears to be repainted because of tape marks and there are paint blemishes on the roof near the drain rail. This car was bought new by my parents and stays in a garage. It was never wrecked in that door and the remark about the roof just floors me because I've never seen a dealer look at the roof that closely. To be honest, I'm quite baffled. When they bought their Audi, the A4 had one of the highest resale values. Have values really tanked that bad on the A4? I know the cloth hurts the value some, but otherwise, it has a good mix of options. What is the best trade value they can expect on their car? My brother is also worried since he owns a similar car (his 01 1.8t has quattro, xenon, 17" alloy, and leatherette) and is wondering whether he should get rid of his car before his mileage gets too high (he has 20k now). Does he have cause to be worried or are these 2 dealers just a fluke?

akangl

This one is NOT for me, its for one of hubby's co-workers. I tried to tell this guy that books don't buy cars but he's adament his truck is worth $9k trade (could be because he owes $9k at 19.9% APR).

Anyway.....

1998 GMC Sierra 1500 SLT, V8/auto/4x4, x-cab shortbed, silvery tan/gray, good rubber, its in good shape for its age in and out, has dual exhaust, smoker's truck. Oh and the miles..........150k!!!

I'm thinking $3-$4k trade is all the moose coins and a bag of moose nuggets.......what do you think??

woodyww

I don't think Audi's in general have such great resale value; especially not after the warranty runs out. BTW, what model Acura are you looking at, & at what price? That would be crucial info. in considering their trade-in offer, I'd think.

phillsea

Thanks Terry! I think you may have just saved me two grand! :-)

guest

I know I should probably wait until spring and then try to sell it myself or trade it in then, but I am getting me new car first week of january and really don't want to keep insurance on this one for a few months just to get a better price in the spring. Edmunds trade in price for the mustange in rough condition says $2,696. The vehicle is hardly in rough condition, it runs great, has low miles, and would less than 500 to fix the rear bumper. Do you really think that trading it in in winter would drop the value to below 1000?

stickguy

Helping someone at work (and kinda interested myself...

behind curtain #2 we have a:

2003 Protege 4 door, ES model. Southern NJ (Phila metro)
Black in and out.
Clean, with all service records. No runs/hits/erros.
20,000 clicks.
a 5 speed manual, power package (locks, etc), 6 disk tunes, and the moonroof
I don't think it has SAB/ABS, but how much extra if it does?

This is purely for private retail road sale.

Thanks in advance.

lngtonge18

My parents were attempting to buy an 05 Acura TSX or an 04/05 Infiniti G35. My mom is having back problems and needs to get an automatic for her commute. This is the only reason they are trying to trade it in. The Acura dealer said he could work on the car's price but not the trade. In other words, I believe the $10k tradein was based on paying full sticker for the Acura, not a good deal by any stretch. Infiniti offered $34k for an 05 G35 with premium package, which is about $1k below sticker but that was with the lowball $7500 trade offer. It seems neither dealer wanted to make a sale.

Edmunds says the car is worth $13500 trade. Kelley says about $11000, but it didn't allow you to choose some of the options their car has. So I thought if they could get 11-12k, they would be doing good. What do you guys say? What should they expect? Would it be better to attempt to trade in at an Audi dealer?