Real-World Trade-In Values

volvomax

If you are happy w/ the price on the Honda, I'd take another shot at getting more for the trade. If they hold firm, I'd probably do the deal.

volvomax

US spec car would bring $9-10,000 on a trade. No idea what the hit will be for a Canadian Spec car. Maybe half that amount.

mlcact

Hello!

A good friend of mine told me about this site .. he traded two cars and both times got within 5% of the value posted here!

I am just not warming up to a X3 I bought last summer. It's perfectly reliable and gets decent gas mileage, but the comfort level is just not good for long freeway drives with my injured back.

Details:

Central CA (Near Sacramento)
2007 BMW X3, Automatic Transmission
Premium Package (sunroof, leather, etc) ... no other options
Silver Gray color, tan leather interior
24.8K currently

Pretty much prefect condition. I bought it CPO with 9K and it's been garaged since, no scratches dents, and interior looks new. I don't smoke, eat, or let my pets ride in it. If there's one flaw, I'd say the tires are at 50%

Clean title, no outstanding loan.

CPO for what that's worth (nothing, I assume).

I've found a 2006 Infinity M45 with 32K miles at a smaller dealer with premium, nav and tech package, they're asking 27,000. Condition looks great on that car. I also test drove a 2007 G35 and liked that car too, but felt the M45 was a better bet for long drives.

What do you think I could get as a trade, and how does the 27K sound on the M45?

traindriver

07 BMW 525i sedan
Southeast region
Steptronic AT, Premium, heated seats, satellite "capable" (?)
11,000 miles
CPO

Looking to BUY -- what will it take?
Thanks

volvomax

You are probably going to be somewhere in the $24-25,000 range on the X3.
M45 wholesale is $23-24,000. Should have a little room to haggle if it's not a CPO car.

volvomax

Low $30's would be my guess. Wholesale is @ $27k. BMW CPO costs are just silly. Figure they would be in the car @ $30k. So $32k would be a real selling price.

epec

Location: upstate NY
2008 Hyundai Santa fe GLS
AWD
18000 miles
Gray color
excellent condition, like new

Thanks for your information

mlcact

Wow, I'm pleasantly surprised. I'd be thrilled to get 25K. The M45 is not CPO, so I'll see what I can do. Any opinion on those cars (or I guess I could take that to an Infiniti forum).

deltheking

If u really need a luxurious car,,especially as u said u have a bad back and for long drives-select a Lexus instead of Infiniti.For 25k u can get a really nice loaded Lexus which is much more comfy and quiet than the Infiniti.
Just MHO.

volvomax

Figure @ $15,000

cdb2017

We are looking at trading our 2004 Pacifica in and would love to know the real value.

Location: Albany NY
Year/Make/Model: 2004 Chrysler Pacifica Touring
Body Style: 4 door
Engine: 6 cylinder
Driveline: Automatic, AWD
Milege: 92,500
Color: Silver/Tan (or Taupe I guess)
Major Options: Came with everything offered -- leather, heated seats (front and rear), seating for six, navigation, 6 disc DVD changer, wireless headsets for back, rear seat entertainment, Sun roof, power liftgate -- I don't believed it missed anything in the options category.

Condition: I'd call it average -- all maintenance done, newer tires, some small dings in front. Brakes are good (50%+)

No accidents, etc.

Real key question is what's it worth on trade.

Target vehicle -- New VW Routan SEL with Premium, Navigation and RSE.

Second question -- what should be my target value? List on Routan is ~43k. With current markets, trade in value, etc. can I pull it for less than 20k + my Pacifica?

If the Pacifica is worth less than 6k or so on trade I may be tempted to go the Craigslist route.

Thanks!

volvomax

You probably have a $4-5,000 car.
Pacifica's were never particularly valuable. Yours has WAYYYY too many miles and Chysler is in the tank.

robbieg

Let me get this straight, you want to pay no more than 20,000 for a new Routan with a sticker of 43,000. Are you serious?

deltheking

A VW Routan is just a rebadged version of the Dodge grand caravan minivan with the same problems and same poor reliability.And in addition it being a VW it probably has lots of electrical problems too.
My advice would be to stay away.
New redesigned versions of Sienna and Odyssey are due next year.
Just MHO.

volvomax

Don't think their Pacifica is gonna survive another year. :P

deltheking

C`mon Vmax,,it should have atleast 2 years left in it.
But ,yes,with a Dodge/Chrysler,you never know!!U never say never! :shades:

cdb2017

Bought it used anyway -- and got four trouble free years out of it (just lucky maybe). 4-5k isn't far off from what I was thinking. There is a lot of money on the hood of the Routan -- for me this is all about dealers. I'm blessed with a decent VW dealer in the area and I have yet to meet a decent Chrysler/Dodge dealer.

Life's too short to be screaming at your car dealer.

May remove some content from the Routan but still thinking I can get them to come down 7500 off of list and then call it 5k for the Pacifica (optimist) which would take a 36k Routan SEL with RSE down to 23.5k.

Thank you for the response Volvomax -- I appreciate what you do here!

deltheking

Great decision to buy the Pacifica used.
If u really like the VW Routan over other vans inspite of their problems,why not buy a used one.It will take a massive depreciation hit in it`s first year.U really can save a lot for a relatively new car.

ateixeira

I'd keep the Bimmer, too, especially since you can afford it if you have enough money to pay off the entire loan right now. Cash no less

Consider trading down in 4 years when you'll at least break-even on the loan, and the free maintenance deal from BMW expires (you'd pay starting year 5).

Then consider a recent used car, a couple of years old, if you're still not happy with the Bimmer.

The longer you wait, the better off you will be financially, the more you will know about your Bimmer and can make a better decision about whether to keep it or dump it.

woodyww

The purchase price of the car was in the mid-30s. 2.9 APR

mid-30s for a new bmw?? A loaded Accord is what, mid-$20's? I don't know if anyone has mentioned that a new Accord takes a $$ hit the first year or 2. There are people here all the time complaining about the Accord they bought a year ago, because they want to buy a bmw, but the Accord is now worth $5K less, etc.

You have a very nice car. If you're going broke, then sell it, & buy a used $5K Corolla or something. Otherwise keep it, & count the days 'til it's paid off.....

tomcatt630

Question to appraisers, what is average annual mileage? Seems like some still think 10K a year, but that was in the 1960's. :confuse:

ateixeira

I'd say it's more like 12k nowadays.

I once read the average male drives 16k miles per year and the average female drives 9k miles per year. Don't recall the source, so FWIW.

steine13

The average mileage is, I believe, nearer 15k/year.
12k/year is what a lot of the books like to use.
Anything over 10k/year will make car dealers leery... they hate miles much more than the general public does, or at least wants to admit. Miles just kill the value of a car, whatever "average" means in real life.

There isn't an online guide out there, at least that I have seen, that adequately subtracts for "high" miles.

The auto business doesn't always have to make sense.
I hope that answers your question.

Cheers -Mathias

ghulet

....I was just offered the following from a friend I've known for years, so info is reliable (this wouldn't normally be my cup-o-tea, but for a second car, why not?):

92 Toyota Celica GT
102k miles
stick
red, power windows, roof
within last year, new tires & brakes
clutch has been replaced, though I don't know when
only rust is a bit on the roof
runs great
$1000 (normally this price on an 18 year-old car wouldn't excite me, but it's a Toyota, low miles and pretty nice)...I haven't asked about the timing belt...I imagine it's been replaced cuz of the age, but I must find out, no?

kyfdx

I like that body style.. Does it have automatic belts? I know they switched to airbags sometime in the early '90s.. If it has auto belts, you couldn't give it to me...

As far as mechanical problems, I'd be more worried about half-shafts and CV boots..

volvomax

We "hate" miles because every customer wants a low mile car.
If we could sell milers easily,we wouldn't mind.

bobh6

Dealer asking $31k, first better offer (I did not have my checkbook out, just inquired as to what would be a likely price) was $30k
Near Atlanta 2007 XC90 2WD Six cylinder Silver with leather tan interior
New tires.
Dual-Zone Electronic Climate Control System
Still under factory warranty for 18 more months.
Kelley Blue Book looks like $29.3k

We had not planned on getting a Volvo given extra price over other options, but at some point we would pay more for the safety, etc.
Any chance something like this goes for as low as $25k, or do I have to wait six months or a year?

cadillacmike

Another reason to not like dealers, My wife has really racked up the miles in her CTS, that'll probably mean she will have to keep it for ANOTHER 5 years, or at least until the Navi / Bose system croaks (don't want to even think of having to pay for another one of those units).

If you maintain it (oil changes!!) and don't overheat it, modern cars - most of them can last several hundred thousand miles, but the dealrs always have heart attacks if you bring a car in to trade that has over 100,000 miles on it.

erikpsmith

What's normal miles? Depends on if you're buying or selling. If you're buying, I'll tell you it's 15,000 to 18,000 a year.

If you're selling, it's about 12,000.

Normal-miles is one of those things you talk about on the lot and in the booth, but it's just one of those things that keeps your gums flapping. If you're buying, think about the "unused life" of the car -- that's the only thing that matters, aside from whether you like the darn thing. And if you're selling, the more miles your car has on it, the harder it's going to be for the dealer to sell it.

The books just don't tell the truth about the impact of miles on cars. I remember a guy who came in and showed me the book that said his 190,000-mile Suburban was worth $4,500. Yup, the book said that. Can't remember if it was retail or wholesale, but that didn't matter much, because the real value to us -- the amount we could get at auction -- was somewhere south of $500. Who's dumb enough to buy a 200,000-mile vehicle? Yeah, you can get 240,000 - 250,000 miles out of a car these days, but no one buying a car is looking for high mileage.

Once mileage starts going over 30,000, you begin to see people getting skittish.

Impact of mileage on luxury cars is much greater than it is on more plebian makes, and here the books are so completely wrong that I have to wonder where their numbers come from. Do you know how hard it is to sell a Cadillac with more than 50,000 miles? The sort of people who come in looking for a Cadillac want something with low miles. Meanwhile, it's almost impossible to switch somebody from a Chevy to a Cadillac. (Same holds true for other makes with similar characteristics -- Ford/Lincoln, Toyota/Lexus, Nissan/Infiniti, etc.) So a luxury car with miles is going to sit, and sit, and sit, until you knock the price down low enough that someone decides, why not?

Anyway, enough soapboxing for today.

Erik Smith
Olympia, Wash.

volvomax

You should be able to get the car in the $28-29k range.
no shot at $25k. Used XC90 values have been going up.
I can't replace the cars I'm selling now for the same price at the auction.

bobh6

Thanks Volvomax - not sure if we will pay up or maybe look for one a couple of years older to keep the initial outlay down. I do like the idea of getting mfr warranty for a year or so.

cdb2017

Volvomax said 4-5k. Ding ding ding.

Dealer said 5,300 as a "real" offer cash value. As they say the only thing that matters is the difference so here's how the deal went down.

We dickered back and forth on a MSRP Routan of 39.8k.

End result: 26k even out the door (includes all fees, taxes [8%], DMV charges, etc., etc.).

Pick it up tommorrow. Not as close as I'd like (I'm an optimist) but close enough to work for me.

Edit: 26k + the Pacifica.

erikpsmith

Can't tell you anything about the VW -- I specialized in domestics -- but the real trade-in value of your Pacifica is certainly less than $6,000 in the Washington-state market. It's got miles, and even though it's nicely loaded, a dealer probably couldn't get more than $9,000 for it, and probably would have to settle for less. He might put a $12,000 sticker in the window, but nobody in their right mind would pay that kind of money for it -- it's a negotiating position.

Used Chryslers are proving harder to move these days, because of the negative publicity, and the Pacifica was never a hot model. It's too bad, because I'd say the Pacifica was a pretty nice car when it was loaded, and at that kind of mileage I doubt it would need more than a couple of grand in work to keep it on the road. (Or that a dealer would have to pay more than a couple of grand to pay his overhead and recondition it for the lot.)

That's not to say you couldn't get a dealer to "show" you $6,000 for it on a VW. All depends on how much markup he's got in the VW.

As for the "true market value" to a dealer -- oh, I'd say it's somewhere around $4,000 to $5,000.

Keep this in mind -- Chryslers with that kind of mileage almost always need work. Who knows? Maybe it's the reason you want to trade.

I wouldn't advise Craigslist. The figure of $4,000 to $5,000 is not that far off from where you want to be. It all depends on where you're living and what your tax laws are like, but here in Washington state, you get a sales-tax credit when you trade with a dealer that you don't get if you sell on Craigslist (or via a private party transaction). You only pay sales tax on the difference figure. If that's a consideration where you live, the sales-tax credit makes all the difference, and you'll wind up so close to the $6,000 mark that the fuss and bother and inconvenience of a private party sale just isn't worth it.

And if the dealer can take money out of the markup on the VW, and add it to a sales tax credit, well then -- you've got your $6,000 right there.

Hope this helps,

Erik Smith
Olympia, Wash.

tomcatt630

My '05 Sentra has 72k miles, to dealers, it is "supposed to have 40000 miles." People these days don't just drive 10K a year unless they are retired.

So I am keeping it till it's "a $2000 Craigslist car". And some wonder why car sales are so down,

lilengineerboy

My '05 Sentra has 72k miles, to dealers, it is "supposed to have 40000 miles." People these days don't just drive 10K a year unless they are retired.

So I am keeping it till it's "a $2000 Craigslist car". And some wonder why car sales are so down,

Your car has a value. Its based on features and options and miles. If you have more miles, your car is worth less than one with lower miles. This is that whole cost/mile equation. If you keep driving 20k a year, it will be a $2000 craigslist car before you know it Then you can get a new one.

Its not a matter of what its "supposed to have," its a matter of what its worth.

stickguy

Not that I "need" it, but the honda dealer I was at today (poil change on current car) had this:

2006 325i. RWD. Automatic. only 19,100 miles.
Light metalic silver/blue with tan interior (not sure if leather of "pleather")
base car (although it did have the 3 spoke sports package steering wheel, maybe standard by then).

Looked clean (actually looked brand new).

So, what would be realistic for a non-CPO car at a non-BMW dealer?

stickguy

The Honda dealer also had, side by side, a Smart fortwo, and a 2006 Bently GTC.

GTC looked nice, but 109,900 for a 2006 that had been hit in front and over 16K of work 1 (1 wheel = 2,500!)

traindriver

In 37739, I asked you about this:
07 BMW 525i sedan
Southeast region
Steptronic AT, Premium, heated seats, satellite "capable" (?)
11,000 miles
CPO

You replied:
Low $30's would be my guess. Wholesale is $27k. BMW CPO costs are just silly. Figure they would be in the car $30k. So $32k would be a real selling price.

As a follow up, I flew to Fort Lauderdale Friday, bought the car, and drove home to SC. I didn't get it for anywhere close to 32k but I did considerably better than the 36,995 that they were asking and got the 3.9% also. Still a little more than I wanted to give for a 525, but I am a low miles freak and the interior is every bit as clean as the brand new, under 100 miles 2009 528 demo I rode in from the airport. Not a stain or boo-boo anywhere. I may have a scratch or two touched up but all in all I am very pleased with its condition. At 10,500 miles it is still practically new.

From their point of view, you have to assume that someone calling about a car from so far away is hot for something in particular. I'm sure that worked to my disadvantage. Oh, and I noticed that I left xenons off of my original options list. (please tell me that xenons are a $1000 option markup and make me feel better. Ok to lie if necessary, lol ) Seriously, I am happy no matter what -- we have exactly what we were looking for and it is hard to put a dollar figure on that. Its much harder to find the perfect usedcar as opposed to doing a dealer trade on a new one.
Thanks so much for your help

Now, next question:
My BIL has expressed interest in buying out my lease on our old car. If Chrysler gives me a better offer than the 18,xxx residual he might want to have me buy it and resell it to him.
2006 Jeep Commander 2wd
Limited package,
mid level 4.7 V8, not the hemi,
black exterior, light beige interior
no paintwork, maintenance current, clean, average scratches for its age, nothing major
29,400 miles
South Carolina

What is it worth at auction if I gave it back and what would you think that they might offer me as a reduced buyout figure? auction price plus X%??? I will give it to him for what I have to pay for it, so I couldn't care less whether he wants it or not. If he says no, then I will turn it in and walk away. ...thanking the heavens that I leased it and didn't buy this depreciation nightmare.

traindriver

Ahhh, scratch that comment above about the xenons. The other car I saw had those. I don't.

volvomax

Car would probably wholesale in the $19k range.
Figure low to mid $20's retail.

volvomax

Wholesale on the Jeep is probably @ $12-13,000
Have no idea what Chrysler would offer you, best guess is mid teens.

tomcatt630

Well, the days of buying a new car to have it sit in a driveway for neighbors to admire, and only gets driven to the store or on Sunday drives are long over. That was maybe 1947?

People have actual lives and need to get places, so this 10-12K a year # is fictional.

volvomax

It's fictional UNTIL you want to go buy a used car. Plain and simple.

explorerx4

you asked 'volvomax' a question, and got an answer.
don't make him out to be the bad guy.
you would be smart to also get additional sources to determine the value of your car.

steine13

i live in a university town. tons of people have two mile "commutes," myself included.

plus, i usually bike to work year-round, so my miles are nice and low. it's not all that fictional.

-mathias

gooddeal2

Well, we have the '07 Altima w/ ~14k miles and '08 G35 w/ 13k miles and I drive my G to work every day, ~14 miles each way. I can keep my miles low b/c I don't drive 5 miles just to get a cup of coffee. It's not because I want to save mileage on my car but I think it's a waste of gas/time to drive 10 miles (round trip) for a cup of coffee.

dtownfb

Good point. I'm at the other end of the spectrum. My commute is 65 miles R/T and I drive this 3-4 times a week (sometimes less). My weekend travel is all local but very few miles overall. I put about 20k miles each year on my vehicle. I guess i raise the average.

woodyww

I have such silly low miles on my 9 y.o. bmw it's ridiculous. And when I bought it at 2 years old it had 11K miles I think.

Of course, with a reasonably desirable make, really low miles can be a huge draw--& you may get top $$--if & when you sell it privately.

Was someone here arguing that "high miles shouldn't matter", or some such?

certifidcrnut

Hi,

I was wondering what a decent price for a R350 w/Nav, Harmon Kardon, Parktronic and a Pana roof, but no Bluetooth or back up camera would be? The minivan has 43K miles on it and is a CPO from a DC/MD/VA dealer.

dtownfb

I'm in the beginning process of buying a used car. the top choices are a 2006 Camry LE & 2006 Accord LX (4 cylinder). I'm looking to get typical auction values for these vehicles in the 30k - 40k miles range.

Location: York, PA
2006 Toyota Camry LE & 2006 Honda Accord LX
Body Style: 4 door
Engine: 4 cylinder
Driveline: automatic
Mileage: 30k - 40k
Condition: Very good. A car you would be willing to buy to put on your lot.

Thanks