Real-World Trade-In Values

rroyce10 · May 2003

..... SE ....? .. V6 ..?

              4dr ....?

              Coupe ...?

                GT ...? - auto ..?

        My crystal ball is in the dry cleaners ...

                       Terry.

rroyce10 · May 2003

..... I'm glad things worked out .. my bill is in the mail.

Terry ;-)

rroyce10 · May 2003

..... You did good .. it's a nice vehicle, so enjoy it.!

Terry.

rroyce10 · May 2003

........ 100k .. ouch, but we have new "D's", Bose, slider, the color works in your area, bun warmers, chromes .. ya know the drill by now - spend the $$ and get it cleaned and detailed, fat 5 liner in the paper, all the service records ready .. $7,9 in the paper and "real deal green" sends it off at $6,0/$7,0 ...

Terry.

ymiller · May 2003

Hi Terry:

Wanted your opinion on a couple wagons I'd found (Atlanta area):

First up: A 1999 VW Passat 1.8T GLS
White exterior, Tan leather interior,
40K miles, VW Certified, Auto-tiptronic
No CD, no sunroof, new-ish tires.
Apparently was leased by an employee, so they say it was nicely taken care of and they have service records available...
Dealer asking $16250--what's a fair price?

Next: A 2000 Volvo V70 SE wagon,
Nautic Blue exterior, Tan leather interior,
heated seats, sunroof, CD, integrated child seats,
50,188 miles, new tires.
This one is actually on Ebay, but it's in Athens (about 45 minutes away) so I'm considering it if I can check it out.
The seller is listing it at wholesale ($13.2K)because it has some cosmetic exterior issues (lots of scratches on the rear bumper, some door dings, etc.). Carfax shows one owner.

Would you take a chance on this one?

Thanks in advance for your help (you guys are awesome!)

elf91112 · May 2003

what would be a fair private value and trade in value for a 2000 S70 GLT SE with cold weather package(traction control, heated seats, etc.)with 26000 miles in good to excellent condition? in Chicago. It was purchased 3/2000
Thank you. much appreciated.

peeete · May 2003

Ok heres an Infiniti G35 questions for you.

I am looking for a private party price and a dealer trade-in (non infiniti dealer):

in service 8/02
4500 miles
dark blue (no longer made)
leather, sunroof
no premium pkg, bose, HID's etc.
no dings etc.
clean car

this car is hard to price since no books have values yet. My dealer did tell me that I better sell it before Galves issue prices, as the prices will drop a lot. is this true?

Thanks so much!

rroyce10 · May 2003

..... Where do you live ..? -- these are nice, I have driven' a few and like em', Nissan/Infiniti has some great vehicles out right now .... The Galves book is used by some dealers in the extreme NE area like Maine, Conn, etc .. in all actuality the galves isn't really reflective of whats happening in the market, but it can real handy if you throw one at a customer for a trade .. if you know what I mean .. books don't put the figures on vehicles, that market does that, I'm not quite sure what the dealer meant, he can look at any of the auction reports and know what they have been doing .. it's not like it's a secret.

The color is a little weak, but the miles are ultra low ~~ trade side, you should be seeing the ultra high $27's - down Retail Rd, $30,9 and a nice Certified check for $29,5/$30,5 should make it go away ...

Terry.

birdc1 · May 2003

I've been looking at BBook prices for a Toyota Tacoma, reg. cab, 4WD, 4 cyl/2.7, white with a spray-in bed liner. It's got air, cruise, tilt wheel, cassette, chrome wheels. I'm surprise to see private sale prices around $12,500. Does that sound fair? I thought it was worth closer to 14K. Maybe I'm dreamin'.

chile96 · May 2003

Thanks for your help. They did a wet sand then compound then something else and the rig looks like I just took it off the dealer floor, except the 68K miles! Well, to celebrate, I started looking at 1 yr old Boxsters. Of course all the dealerships were charging a pretty penny but I found a couple of companies in Houston that deal in high end used cars and sell through ebay - or the salesmen if you happen to be in the same city. This one company prob had 100-200 high end cars including ferraris, lamborghinis, etc... I asked the rep where these cars came from and he said >95% of them were trade ins at local dealers that were sold to them at wholesale - allowing them to pass the savings on to the consumers. Why would a dealership pass on keeping these low, low mileage MBs, BMWs, Porsches, etc. Are these not good cars to buy - would you stay away from companies like this. I almost bought on the spot but wanted to check it out with you first.

2002 Boxster
sport pkg
7900 mi
silver/black leather
exc cond
base stereo(no Bose)
6spd manual
17 in Boxster rims
Houston, TX
Low no haggle price of.........$36500

Just worried that something is wrong with these cars and that is why the original dealerships didn't want em.

thanks for any info from anyone
fo

rroyce10 · May 2003

..... I'm sure that a miss print .. right ..?

       *>First up: A 1999 VW Passat 1.8T GLS
White exterior, Tan leather interior,
40K miles, VW Certified, Auto-tiptronic
No CD, no sunroof, new-ish tires<* ..? Dealer asking *$16250 --*

      Can't be.! -- loaded up 99 GLX's V6's, slider every toy in the world with 30K can barely ask $16,250 ... I'm sure I'm reading this wrong .. right ..?

          The SE Volvo wagon, that would be wholesale .. but why would he ebay it when he could take it to an auction and get $13,5, maybe a little more with a great clean up -- careful on this one, have it checked out real C L O S E .. sniff sniff, I smell something here, but who knows unless you check it out.

           Hey good luck and let me know ...

                   Terry.

rroyce10 · May 2003

...... Well, the miles are right (color ..?) .. if it's clean, service is all there, no tests of your new George Foreman grill in the back seats, no re-paints, deep sneakers .. trade side, you should be seeing in the low $15's .. down Retail Rd, $17,9 in the paper and $16,5/$17,5 get you a new vehicle and a new grille ... ;-)

Terry.

rroyce10 · May 2003

....... Your dreamin' all right ... Now, dream me up some miles ...!

Killing me .! .................................................................- .......................................................... #^%* ..

Terry ;-)

birdc1 · May 2003

Sorry. 44,000. A very clean truck. Would this have been worth more in Feb or March? I remember seeing higher prices.

rroyce10 · May 2003

...... You should have had them burn the miles back and got you moneys worth .. hehehehe.

         Good job ..!

         Ok, now were lookin' at a Buster Brown Boxster .. no miles, sport pack and no Bose ..? who ordered this one .. the Dali Llama ..? - $36,5 is a pretty darn good price - you may want to investigate that one a little further .. oh yeah.!

         Lot's of dealers will sell their high end stuff if they have one too many, or they can make a quick $500 to another dealer instead of floor planning it .. I get calls all the time from Benz/Lexus/Caddy/BMW dealers that want a "buy" figure on stuff - perhaps they just don't need another $65,000 vehicle in their inventory .. a smart dealer will start getting a "little shaky" when a expensive vehicle starts to hit 45 days and the doors aren't being opened ...

                  Terry.

chile96 · May 2003

For all your help........Terry for pres, well maybe vp - We love W. down here in TX!

Anyway, so are these companies OK to work with as long as the carfax and VMI check out. The local MB dealer wouldn't say anything bad about these companies only that they don't have to disclose anything about the car - but wouldn't carfax/VMI turn that up? BTW - they've got these Boxsters just sittin on their lot if you want one!

ps - about to break the plastic and manually turn back the odometer. There, only 8K miles! I'll give you a good deal on it!

birdc1 · May 2003

Sorry. 44,000. A very clean truck. Would this have been worth more in Feb or March? I remember seeing higher prices.

rroyce10 · May 2003

ps - about to break the plastic and manually turn back the odometer. There, only 8K miles!


          ....l...o...l.......

         Grab the Vin# and run it through the Bimmer computer, do a Carfax and a DMV .. if all is well with the Tech, then grab it .. I take 4/5 Bimmers a month to the BMW store down the street .. They haaaate to see me come in, "hey were did you get that one, what did ya pay for this one, how come we never get ones like this" .. probably cuz' you guys don't want to spend any money .l.o.l.. but I do understand their thinking, I'm their competitor.

        And yes, I love George W. too .. we may not agree on everything, but him on the Abe Lincoln was bigger than Big and larger than LARGE and the troops loved him .. nothing succeeds, like success.

                Terry.

prodigalsun · May 2003

I was going to go with 12 on my offer.

ymiller · May 2003

Terry, that's no misprint on the '99 Passat GLS wagon--they are really asking $16250! I thought that seemed a bit extreme for a 4 year old car, but Edmund's TMV and other pricing things I find on the web always seem a bit high to me. What would be a fair price for this wagon?

As for the Volvo, I am leery of it also, I think there must be something very wrong with the car for them to be trying to unload it on ebay rather than clean it up a bit and make some money on it.

The whole used-car pricing thing is pretty frustrating to me--I've been looking around for a safe, reliable, roomy used wagon that won't break the bank, and it seems that most dealers list Volvos and VWs at insane prices. Is that just the way it's done, and I'm supposed to come in and offer them $4k below what they're asking?

I personally *despise* the whole haggling, back-and-forth, "I'll check with my manager" game, and I don't have a ton of time to waste at a dealership trying to get a fair price.

ANYWAY, thanks for your advice and for being such a great help to everyone on this board!

peeete · May 2003

Thanks for the info. The car is in NY Metro. Little snow driving (too scared

)

I think you might be a bit high on the value, the msrp was $30.5K In any event, it gives me a framework to work with..the dealer said $24k which i thought was way low.

thanks!

steine13 · May 2003

We got the miles, now we want to know:: auto or manual? What part of the country are you in? On a white 4x4 truck with a stick, location could make $1k difference, easy.

[If I see one more profile that lists "US", I'm gonna move back to Germany].

Aaaaaandddd: WHAT YEAR IS THE DARNED TRUCK???
It, like, matters, dude.
This sort of thing gives me pimples. Don't ask where.

Also, all those prices people are "seeing" are asking prices. As in "you can ask anything you want". What matters are prices where money changes hands.

-Mathias
East Lansing, MI

birdc1 · May 2003

Sorry for the incomplete info. I'm afraid I'm not a car dealer. Therefore, I don't KNOW what vehicles are selling for--can only consult ads and the pricing guides: KBB, Black Book, etc.

I'm looking to sell in Wisconsin a:
2001 Toyota Tacoma
5-speed
reg. cab
4WD, 4 cyl/2.7
white with a spray-in bed liner
a/c, cruise, tilt, cassette, chrome wheels.

dangnabbit · May 2003

Hey Terry,

I'm looking at a 2002 Lincoln Continental w/ 24,000 miles, black, moonroof, chrome wheels, dual tone leather bucket seats. The Lincoln dealer's asking $21950. Being a Missouri car, it recently sustained hail damage but the dealer has "ding doctored" all the dents except for a couple in the chrome grill. Do you know if Ford/Lincoln will reimburse him for the damage? If so, how much? And what would be a good price to purchase this vehicle for?

Also looking at a red 2000 Lincoln Continental w/ 35,000 miles in Florida. It has an aftermarket sunroof. I offered the used car dealer $12 but he won't go lower than $14. Am I being unrealistic?

Thanks a million for your help.

Adnan

aloha1969 · May 2003

1995 Pontiac Grand Am SE. 91K. 6 cyl. Auto. 4-door. headliner/upholstry/carpet/dash/glass great. Rear spoiler. AM/FM cassette. Beautiful rims. All papers. PROB: key scratch driver side door. BIG PROB: power mirrors/locks/windows not working. Is shooting $1000 below blue book fair as an asking price or should I take off more? Thanks

dkuhajda · May 2003

Without working windows, locks, mirrors, you just are not going get much. Add a key scratch to the drivers door, you have a car that you might get $1000 total. You really need to have these fixed to sell the car at any kind of reasonable price.

Since you have several things not working electrical, you have checked the fuses to that circuit? It really sounds like a wiring or electrical problem, unless they went out one at a time. If you are not equipped or experienced to check this, get it to a good auto electric shop at least for an estimate. (Highly unlikely to cost anywhere near $200 for most causes of this type of problem)

The key scratch also is likely another low cost repair. There are now places that will airbrush in the scratch and blend and buff those smooth for much less than a full door repaint. About $100 at the right shop and will be very hard to see.

Then you can start looking at a starting asking price anywhere close to KBB private party retail.

rroyce10 · May 2003

..... $30,5 for MSRP ..? - I have never seen one for that cheap .. $32,000 with Bose and slider, $33,6 as an average and thats with a slider, Bose and a prem pack .. $30,5 ..? if it's a base strippy, no roof, no Bose, it could very well be worth only $24/$25 .. keep shopping.

Terry.

rroyce10 · May 2003

.... I can understand the frustration, I didn't look up the Nada or the Edmunds figures on these .. but some of these vehicles carry a Big retail number, but not very real.

      Wagons are popular, so lets say this one is perfect, needs -0-, all the service is 100%, tires are deep .. let's say the dealer paid $11 for it (doubt it), lets say they did a this and a that in the service dept - $500, let's say they took it in on his Mother in laws trade - $500, so even at $12, lets give what would be a fair profit, $1,500 .. so $13,5 and $14,0 would be ALL of it .. I could "almost" understand it if you lived in CA, but living in the SE ... ah nope.

           Ebay is a wonderful marketplace .. but you have to be Very Careful, I probably bid on 25/30 vehicles a month on Ebay, most are "over vouched for" and you need to know the complete story on them .. lotsa BS going on, especially from the consumer side, or perhaps I should say the view point is a little different .l.o.l.

                Terry.

rroyce10 · May 2003

..... Ok, let's try this again .. it's an 01 4x4 Tacoma 4 banger, we have 44k, we have a handshaker, we have a reg cab with a power pack and no SR5 .. right ..?

On a trade, it might be worth the high $9's "maybe" the low low $10's ... down Retail Rd $13,9 for an asking price and let $12,5/$13,5 send it packing .. In the Wisc area folks "apree she 8's" a 4x4 Yota all year long, so there is little change from 4ft of snow and now ..

Terry.

steine13 · May 2003

Didn't mean to be grumpy. BTW, I'm not a car dealer... but YOU are: you're selling a car.
Invoice new on a 2003 Tacoma like you described is $17,5.
This is a weird one; nasty little truck but GREAT for 4wheeling. The 4cyl/5sp combo would be my choice personally, but it's a bit of a niche vehicle... tough to sell, esp. since reg. cab, but hard to find for someone who wants one... so it'll take a little luck, and it's definitely a candidate for selling it yourself. It IS a Toyota, and the big 4 should do 200k+.
I can't really give you a number, but think about it this way: Sell for $13 and you've paid 10 cents a mile for 44,000 miles, that would be one of the cheapest vehicles you could ever drive... 4x4s tend to hold their values; I wouldn't put more than $12 in it myself, and that's if it's super clean, needs nothing and I really wanted it... Good luck, and please let us know how you made out..
Terry should be able to put a real figure on it, though.
If that guy ever decides he needs to sleep 6 hours a night, we'll have to get our numbers elsewhere...
-M

birdc1 · May 2003

Thanks for the feedback. Why do you call it a "nasty" truck? Am I missing slang or are you serious? It's a nice vehicle but verrrry unstable: light, high, and bounces right off the road in the mildest adverse conditions. Now you know why I'm selling. Looking for a full-size truck and thinking about a Ford F-150.

woodyww · May 2003

.... ** One thing I didn't mention was that a few years ago it sustained about $12K in body damage. I had it repaired at one of the best body shops .. **

>That part musta slipped your mind .l.o.l.. woooo hooo.!, $12 grand ....? - I can see it now, it's just perfect, all original all except for that little $12,000 scratch ..<

Terry, I almost cringed before looking up your response to my last post, but as usual it was very informative. Your story about the 8 Series buyer was right on--as I am now learning the hard way myself. But not all of us are experts on the value of used cars, or how various factors affect that......("if I knew all this already, I wouldn't be here asking questions")

Like I said, for some reason (dropped on my head as a small child perhaps?) I had never thought about the effects of a major body repair on resale value, until now. I had deluded myself that having it fixed at a really great body shop would mitigate that. But if I had known all this at the time, I would have pushed to have had the car declared a total. Too late for that now.

I'm trying to look at the bright side: I paid around $25K 10 years ago, even if I have to dump the car for.........what? $9-10K? $12K? Three dollars? It's not much worse than depreciation on a "normal" car(?)

I can tell you tho, the day I got rear-ended 4-5 years ago in my M6 while driving to Trader Joes for a quart of milk was a really, really bad day. And I haven't enjoyed the car very much since.

Woody

osubeav · May 2003

My parents' car:

2001 Prizm (not LSi)

silver, AC, PW&L, 5-speed

42,000 miles but in perfect shape (my parents both drive like old ladies)

Located in Eastern WA

paolenz · May 2003

Hi Terry

It is a steel blue sedan with sport package. The mileage is a little high for a roughly 2 year old car. The dealer is asking 31K for it. I was thinking more like offering 26K-27K because of the current soft market and because of the high mileage and out of warranty issue. What is the wholesale value for this car. This was a trade-in and not bought from an auction.

hongx · May 2003

So what do you think about this offer?

I got an offer of 16,600. Carfax shows a clean
history. One owner, private car.

The detailed info is as follows:

VW CERTIFIED 6YR OR 74,000 MILE (still has 5/40,000)

blue with roof rack; auto;
Driver Air Bag; Anti-Lock Brakes; Air Conditioning; Alloy Wheels; Cruise Control; Passenger Air Bag; Rear Window Defroster; Power Door Locks; Power Mirrors; Power Windows; Power Steering; Sunroof/Moonroof; Tilt Wheel;

dagpotter · May 2003

Thought I throw this out as might trade it in as wife wants a new car. Northern Virginia, 2000 Dodge Caravan, 3.0 L, auto, extra door, purple (cranberry), 41 K, some scrapes and dents, 7 seats, a/c.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks,

Dag.

prodigalsun · May 2003

Hi Terry,

Just struck a deal for the 98 EX with SR and Leather for 12.

Thanks again for your help!

Brad

rroyce10 · May 2003

..... Your welcome and enjoy it, these are pretty nice little rigs and you got a great price ...

Terry.

rroyce10 · May 2003

........ 02 with 24k, it's got the all the stuff ... the miles are a little tall for a 02, the color is fine in MO, a bad color in FL and hard too sell (this vehicle is in MO .. right ..?) .. the price seems low, maybe too low, perhaps Dr dingdong came over with a paint brush.?

The dings ..? hard to say, usually the dealer just has Dr. Dingdong come over and do the 5/10/15 vehicles that need it and they don't claim it, it's too costly for future ins premiums - besides most dealer ins. has at least a $1,000 deductible.

Aftermarket roofs can be ok (Yuk) or they can be bad -if- they have used a co. that Lincoln has approved and it's still covered under the "factory warranty" then it's ok .. but there is only 5 in Florida, so check it, see the paper work and everything matches up, me I have never been a lover of the AM roofs ~~~ trickle trickle trickle -- the color is fine for any area and the miles are low .. $14 seems cheap, real cheap, that would make me a little suspect ... maybe it's that trickle thing

Terry.

rroyce10 · May 2003

...... Whooo, this is not a nice vehicle .. the power stuff is not working, the miles are high and it's Grand Am, and they are a dime a dozen .. I dunno, maybe worth $500 or so on a trade, "maybe" $1,500 on a retail gig .. leave the keys in it and maybe it will go away .. or .. get everything fixed (can't cost more than $2/$300ish) get the proper service, and you might see $2,5 on the retail side.

sorry ...

Terry.

rroyce10 · May 2003

..... Thanks for a great AND a honest response, it's very tuff sometimes.

        I have looked at thousands of vehicles like yours - and sometimes, actually Most times they shoot the messenger, especially on high-end Imports .. it may take 3/4/5 dealers sometimes until the owner says "that's what it's really worth" .. or, (and I hear this a lot) "I'm not going to give it away" - you can't give a $20 dollar bill away and expect a $50 back .. and of course a lot of it is emotional, folks get very attached to their vehicles.

          I have posted this one before, but a neighbor has had a 01 Chevy 4x4 Blazer for sale for almost 4 months now, nice vehicle, no miles, right color, but it's value is dropping like a bad habit, but he's bound and determined to get $19,0 out of it .. aaahh, not in this decade, but it's his vehicle and his money and he's "Hell bent" to show everyone ... - ok -

                Terry.

rroyce10 · May 2003

....... One of my perpetual favorites .. so we have a 01 Corolla - ooop's, I mean a 01 Prizm with a power pack, handshaker and 40 klicks .. we have the right color, and if the tires are deep, service is all there .. then trade side, you should be seeing "around" the low low $5's ... great vehicle for Retail Rd - $7,900 in the paper and cut that puppy loose for $6,5/$7,0 ...

Thanks for stopping by ..

Terry.

rroyce10 · May 2003

...... Nice color, nice vehicle, "not" nice miles for an 01 .. I'm thinkin' they might have $26ish in it, if they are smart they will cut this one for a short deal .. see what you can do, I think it may take $27 and some change to move this, but let's see ...

Let me know ....

Terry.

osubeav · May 2003

Thanks, Terry.

My folks recently had it in the paper for $7700 and didn't get a single call. It seems tough to sell manuals anymore.

rroyce10 · May 2003

..... Nice Big Fat 5 liner ad in the biggest newspaper in your area .. ?

          You are right, it is tough to sell a handshaker and it does depend on the area, drop it down to $6,9 and see what happens -- also, some of the problem "might be", is when a private seller put's in the paper, they do it for 3/5 days .. always use 14 days for best response.

                let me know ...

                    Terry.

rroyce10 · May 2003

..... Doesn't sound too bad, slider and all the rest .. miles are a little tall, but you do have the Xtra warranty .. right now Jetta's are real popular, so the dealer is in line ..

Terry.

rroyce10 · May 2003

..... Base ...?

Info baby .. info.!

Terry.

dagpotter · May 2003

Yeah, base not grand.

rsheffer · May 2003

Terry, I'm looking at a friends 99 grand marquis, GS model, 71,000 miles, black exterior, cloth interior, one owner, well maintained, tires have 10K miles on them, no accidents, nonsmoker, in the northeast. What do you think it would bring at auction, and what do you think it would sell for on a dealers lot.

Hankr · May 2003

In my experience, all the sites that purport to value used cars are just plain baloney... run the same car thru several sites that provide valuations and results will vary by thousands... and all way off the mark (usually too high).

The real market is defined by what has sold recently, and at what price. And to me, that means the wholesale auctions. They own a treasure-trove of data they don't seem to want to market.

As a consumer, I cannot access that info (from Mannheim and others) cuz I am not a dealer.

Seems like a market opportunity for the auction houses to sell me (via credit card over the web) reports on "real" recent auction transactions for my selected make/model/year.

If I can see what my car is REALLY fetching at auction, I can make much more-informed decisions on expected trade-in and/or private-sale valuations.

Actually, if I were Mannheim, I'd do a deal with CarFax. Joe Blow runs a CarFax report on model X... for $10 more he can get a most-recent-90-day listing of similar cars sold at auction in his area.

I'd pay $10 for this info.

Real-World Trade-In Values

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