Real-World Trade-In Values

koctailz

if a car is a lemon law :lemon: buyback that will show up on carfax right? at least i have seen carfax's that indicate it.

qbrozen

frankly, I don't trust carfax to tell me anything of importance. I still look the car over myself and, especially on something like this, get the service and warranty history from the dealer.

The only reason I ever even care about carfax is simply because it will matter when I go to sell/trade it.

corvette

Thanks to qbrozen for pulling up the auction info on my car. Autotrader's Trade-In Marketplace offered up $8,371, and the Nissan dealer where I test drove the new Altima said they had too much used inventory and weren't interested. :mad:

At this price range, will it become more desirable in a month or two as people begin to receive tax refunds and used cars become more scarce?

koctailz

My Civic Hybrid currently has 92K miles on it. I am in the market for a new car and still researching. I am curious if I should sell or trade in before 100K. It wouldn't seem to make a difference between a car with 97K or 100K miles, but is this a magic number that instantly lowers the value of the car?

steine13

>>.. is [100k] a magic number that instantly lowers the value of the car?

In a word, yes.
But it's hard to put a number to it.
As a WAG, $500.

Cheers -Mathias

clm8

Cincinnati area
2005 Honda Civic LX Special Edition Coupe
original owner
101,000 miles
Base engine, manual 5 speed
Silver Exterior - Black cloth interior
Slight scrape on front bumper left side no other dings
no rips or stains in the interior, no smoking
tires have 15,000 miles on them
all belts hoses and timing belt & water pump were replaced 20,000 miles ago

I am hoping for around $6000 in trade for a newer Accord Coupe. Am I close?

kyfdx

Before the experts get here with a price..

What does the "SE" have over regular LX?

Also, I'd think that would be an easy sale, privately.... sounds like a perfect commuter car...

stickguy

If the SE includes a moonroof, I would have been all over it if I saw the ad on CL (and I had not just bought a cheap car and was in CInci!).

My non-expert opinion though is you will never see 6K real money on a trade.

kyfdx

My non-expert opinion though is you will never see 6K real money on a trade.

I agree with that.... Private sale could probably bring it, though.. (and, I am in the Cincinnati area)..

clm8

The SE (I think) includes better wheels and a better radio/multi CD player, there is no moonroof.

I have been considering selling it myself if the trade is too low. If not 6K, what is reasonable, 5K?

kyfdx

You mean alloy wheels, instead of plastic wheel covers? That's a nice upgrade...

qbrozen will come along soon, I bet, and give us a number...

Whatever the number is, I'd guess you can beat it by $1500, just by putting it on Craigslist... That car would go quickly, I think..

nyccarguy

I'm going to guess they offer you $4K for the car initially & depending on how willing you are to walk out & how bad they need to move a unit, maybe give you $4500 (they'll say stick + over 100K will make it a tough sell/straight to auction car).

I'd almost hold on to the car until spring if you can. You should definitely get $6K from the right CL buyer. It's a perfect 1st car for a HS kid with a spring birthday.

Let's wait to see what qbrozen says though. He's the expert!

stickguy

I could easily see a dealer at 3K if they are dealing with real wholesale, not an overallowance. Miles, stick, cheaper car. Maybe if it glowed after recon a dealer might put it on the lot at $6,995? so they won't want to be in much more than 3-3.5.

Agreed though that it should go quick if it is in really nice shape, with records, for an easy $4,500-5K on CL.

qbrozen

Not really. Problem is, if selling private party, it is a barrier that creates a smaller market. But, speaking strictly of value, it doesn't make a difference.

Here is a sample to consider.

12/28/12 DFW Regular $6,800 90,503 Avg GREY 4H A
12/13/12 ATLANTA Regular $7,000 97,196 Avg BLUE 4H A
12/06/12 TX HOBBY Regular $6,850 100,118 Avg BLUE 4H A
12/28/12 DALLAS Regular $7,700 103,934 Avg WHITE 4H A

qbrozen

I have just about no data to go on, but about 3 months ago, one with 95k sold for 5700. So figure, at best, that's $5k trade-in. Given the time that has passed and the extra miles on yours, you'd probably get a $4k offer and maybe possibly push it to 4500. Looks like NYcarguy wins the raffle.

clm8

Thank you all very much. I think I'll hold onto it and try to sell it myself.

nyccarguy

Either way, let us know how it works out.

Hey q. We should open up our own car buying consulting business;)

kyfdx

yeah... if you put it up for sale, let us know.. I'd be interested to see what it brings, since I'm local...

nyccarguy

Happy & healthy new year to you my friend! I need your expertise & assistance once again. My book keeper recently had an accident with her 2006 Toyota Highlander. There is $7900 worth of damage & GEICO wants to fix the car! Let me give you the specs & see what you can come up with as far as a value goes (in average condition):

2006 Toyota Highlander
V6
FWD
Baby Blue
Grey Leather
3 rows of seats
100,000 miles
Bronx, NY

I only found 1 for sale on autotrader (excellent condition naturally) within 100 miles of here with 121K listed for almost $11 grand. I gotta believe they paid what $8K at auction (or on a trade)?

Thanks as always!

jproc

I can't help you with what it is worth but Insurance companies payout retail when they total a car. So if the car is worth more than 7800 retail (including any sales tax ) they will want to fix it rather than total it

stickguy

that is one of my fears now that we have a new, relatively expensive car (an RDX). We could have one heck of an accident, and it would still make financial sense to fix it.

sbuhler

Would appreciate a current wholesale value of the following:

2010 Saab 9-5 Aero, 20K miles, with NAV
Color: Silver
19 inch wheels
Louisiana Area
Great condition.

Don't know how many of these have went over auction since only a few hundred of the 2010s were built for the USA.

Thanks!

robr2

that is one of my fears now that we have a new, relatively expensive car (an RDX). We could have one heck of an accident, and it would still make financial sense to fix it.

Even if it doesn't make financial sense - they may still fix it. Back in 2003 I was in an accident with my Accord. By the time it was fixed, the insurance had sunk about $10K into a vehicle worth about $12K. In 2005, I was hit again. Damage was about $7K on a vehicle worth about $9k (per books) but the insurance insisted on fixing it. The body shop said it was because they had sunk so much into it the first time, they weren't willing to total it.

jaejaebee

northern NJ - just outside NYC
2004 Honda Civic EX
4 door
automatic, 1.7L 4 cyl
FWD
48,500 miles
ruby (dark red) exterior/cream interior
standard options
front/back bumper is scratched, front bumper is dinged from a minor fender bender - indentation from the license plate screw
tires don't match - 2 have about 15000 miles of wear, one about 10000, one less than 5000
brakes were checked out less than 1000 miles ago and were fine
regular oil changes, other fluids checked/changed as needed
accident in 2009 - rear passenger door was damaged, completely repaired
vandalism in 2009 - passenger side keyed from front to quarter panel, tires slashed - repainted and tires replaced

i know due to the accident/vandalism the value is way below what i could have gotten if it were clean, but what do you think i can realistically get for this car? i want to get rid of it because i moved into NYC and have no need for a car anymore. I really appreciate your help!

clm8

I took the car to CarMax today. They offered $5000. Now I need to decide if I want to deal with selling it myself. They came in a little higher than I was expecting.

qbrozen

Thanks. Same to you.

Is this a Limited or Sport?
The base model is roundabout $7k-7500 at the block. Maybe $8k for a sport. And $9500-10k for a limited.

Now, of course they would have to pay replacement value. So they are looking at something like an $11k check to the owner. By paying $7900, they are only 72% of that figure. I'm not surprised by the decision.

qbrozen

Only a few hundred? Huh.

Well, yes, not much to go on. Most of the data is old. I'm thinking maybe $21k-22k. One with 36k miles went across last month for $19,700. Prior to that, a couple in August with 12k and 2k went for $22,600 and $23,800, respectively.

qbrozen

Given the ultralow miles, that's a pretty fair offer. Of course, you could probably also sell it pretty quick at $7k on your own.

nyccarguy

It is a base model. Thanks as always for your input! I appreaciate it!

stickguy

the damage is always a wild card, especially when you can't see it (and how well it was repaired).

but, being a Honda and low miles, this is perfect for a private sale. The dealer will likely hammer you for the body work, a private buyer will snap it up for a teenager or commuter car. Heck, I could use it, and I just bought something! Wrong end of Jersey though.

Will not last long on CL if it shows nice.

explorerx4

A lady at work has a RAV4, which got hit in the back.
It didn't look that bad to me, my guess was 2k, but it ended up being over 5k damage.
It may just be an expensive repair, compared to the value but not really major damage to the overall vehicle.

kyfdx

Interesting.... I'd sure give Craigslist a try at $6495, before just taking $5K from CarMax, though..

sbuhler

Thanks! Can you give me also an update on the following:
2011 Volvo S60 T6 AWD
9,000 miles
Electric Silver Metallic
Premium Package, PCC
Factory Warranty through 6/2017 or 50K miles
Near mint condition
Louisiana

Thanks!

qbrozen

another tough one.... probably in the $28-29k zip code.

mmccloskey

Greetings:

I'm considering trading in the following vehicle on a 2013 F-150:

Location: Central VA - Charlottesville, VA

2010 Nissan Frontier Crewcab 4x4 LE 4Dr - midsize truck
4.0 ltr V-6 - 5speed auto
4x4 w/Hill Start Assist & Hill Descent control
Miles: 19.6K miles
Color: Radiant Silver w/Steel Leather (gray) interior
Major Options: Moonroof, LE Value pkg (6-CD Rockford Fosgate, leather seating, heated front seats, 8-way pwr driver & 4-way power pass seats, Class IV tow hitch receiver) - LE's come pretty much loaded
Condition: Excellent exterior & interior - no dings scrapes - interior like new except usual wear (no damage) on drivers seat.
Tires: about 60%
Brakes - no problems - w/such low miles, they work as they should.
Usual maintenance - Oil change, tire rotation, air filter changes. No problems.
No accidents or any other issues.

NADA online lookup puts this truck at about 22K for a clean trade-in. Wondering what the 'real world' is on this truck before I make a move.

As always, thanks in advance for your most valueable input on this inquiry.

Regards - M. J. McCloskey

qbrozen

$22k is possible, but don't be surprised if they come in at around $21k.

mmccloskey

Thanks so much for your most timely reply. At least I'm in the ballpark and know anything less that 21K would be unacceptable.

The Frontier has been w/o fault and I'm not sure I want to pilot a F-150 that is substantially bigger than the Fronty which is more nimble by comparison.

The Best to the Best (qbrozen)!!

koctailz

I see an 08 Audi A4 Quattro S line with 55k miles listed for $21K from a credit union as a repo'd car.

So I look up KBB and it says $21,800 retail. Edmunds TMV says for Clean $16,669. NADA says clean retail $21,500.

I have seen the same results with other cars but they were mostly higher mileage so I was assuming that KBB was high on those and Edmunds was more accurate, but idk. $5k is a wide spread here.

What do you think?

mkupneski

I have a 2005 Lexus Sc430 Pebble Beach edition (limited edition with black paint and red interior).
It has ~ 53000 miles and is in good condition. I live in Cincinnati, OH. The dealer I am working with says they won't keep it on their lot, but would be sending it to auction.

My question to this group is what do you think this car would bring at auction?

Many thanks in advance for your help!

Michael

qbrozen

I'm not familiar with these. Is it a 6 or 4-cyl?

Looking up 6-cyl sedans, the auction values do range quite a bit. A real nice one looks to be right around $16k. So fair retail is going to be $18-19k.

qbrozen

right around $21k.

koctailz

...this Audi A4 is 2.0T, which is 4 cylinder turbo....thanks for the info on 6 cyl too though.

qbrozen

ok. well, in that case, it is more like a $16k car at auction. So figure $19k tops retail.

nyccarguy

What are cars like this 2012 GT500 Mustang crossing the block at?

$40,000? $38,000?

It is hard to believe that these have sticker prices in the high $60K - Low $70K range & depreciate so much in just 1 model year. I'm seeing them listed on Autotrader with low, low miles. The range is 385 miles - 7,400 miles.

No its not for me. I'll give you some more details as the story unfolds. Stay tuned. & thanks for your help as always!

qbrozen

that one crossed the block in PA on Jan 4th for $45,500.

A blue one with just 900 miles went through Chicago last month for $3k less. But then a couple of others down south with 7k miles were $45k each.

explorerx4

A 2013 GT 500 msrp's @55k. Winter is not the best time to try to sell one in the Northeast.
When my wife bought her Escape last October, the salesman we dealt with was also the UCM.
He said he just got back from a car buying trip exclusively buying Mustangs.
They store them in a warehouse over the winter and can put them out for sale as soon as we get a nice day weather wise.

nyccarguy

Thanks a bunch qbrozen. It is cool that you can look up cars specific VINs. I'm going to enlist your help in the near future.

stickguy

first time I went to the local BMW dealer (many years ago) to look at a 318ti, I noticed they had a lot of z3s stashed there (this was early winter IIRC). Mentioned it to the salesguy, and he told me they buy up a bunch in December (in the NE, not convertible season!) and basically sit on them a few months, and sell for a big profit when spring hits.

qbrozen

actually, I don't even look by VIN. With so few going through, another white one in in the area with those exact miles is about a bajillion to one shot, so it HAS to be the right one.

nyccarguy

OK, cool. So can you look up these 3 for me:

2012 GT 500, Grabber Blue, 5,020 miles for sale in Columbus, OH.
2012 GT 500, Kona Blue, 3,376 miles for sale in Littleton, CO
2012 GT 500, Black, 1,270 miles for sale in Sioux City, IA

Now I know what you are thinking. "NYC, you've got a mortgage, a wife, 3 kids, & 3 cars. Your Prelude isn't going anywhere, you are planning on keeping your Pilot until the wheels fall off, & your BMW lease isn't up for another 20 months. What on god's green earth are you bugging me about prices of used 2012 Shelby GT 500s?"

I have a friend in Australia looking to buy one. There is a company over there that covers shipping from CA, RHD conversion, & customs. So I'm trying to help find him the right car @ the right price.

Thanks so much as always! You rock!

I can provide you with the links if that helps too