Real-World Trade-In Values

cstowe · October 2003

This is for a buddy of mine.

2001 330i Silver, Gray guts, slider, harmon/kardon stereo pack, sport pack, auto, 35K mi. in New Orleans it was at a Chevy dlr. and he thinks they didn't know what they had...he got it for 24,200.

How did he do? Seems like a home-run to me.

rroyce10 · October 2003

...... Thanks for the "link" it makes it sooooo much easier ........ ! your my second favorite person ..

Make it look sharp, finish any service, great ad, $8,9 in the Denver paper and say "go Bronco's" at $7,9/$8,500 ....

Terry.

rroyce10 · October 2003

........ Ooooh baby, it's like hittin' a baby Lottery .. miles are just a little tall, but if it's a nice one, great history, no Sherwin Williams, then that Chevy dealer needs to stay in the Chevy biz and not the import biz ... your buddy did Great .!

            $24,200 ... ? it's a $28++ vehicle on the retail side and would see $25 at any auction between Charlotte and Compton ... looks like Christmas came early ...!!

         PS. email me the dealer, I might want to stop by and wonder around the lot and see what else they might have .l.o.l...

             Enjoy that pup ..!

                   Terry.

rroyce10 · October 2003

..... >> After watching the Eagles run back a punt for a touchdown with 1:16 left in the 4th to beat the Giants << ... *Heartbreaker ..!

Nice vehicles, service history better be 120%, they are expensive in the service depts .. eehh' handshaker, miles are good for the year, right color, Audi dealer .? probably has $10/$11ish in it, probably let it go for "around" $13ish .. what he's asking ..?

Terry.

rroyce10 · October 2003

....... l.o.l. >> Tells me even the Lex dealership want no part of this truck << ..... Great vehicles ..

          That really has nothing to do with anything, dog died, too many the same color, too many the same miles, g/f won't drive it, sitting on 5 million in used inventory and the clock is ticking away, maybe they stole it at trade time and made their money at the auction ~ who knows ..

           $29,900 is kinda cheap, on your end of the planet, they do CRAZY money at the auctions, sometimes it's "almost" worth my while to have them transported from FL to SCal .l.o.l.. but anyway, it needs some leather stuff, miles are low for the year, "should" do 150/200k with the right history and the right future service ..

          How long have they had it .? - see if they will have the leather work done and any 60k service for $29,0 and go from there ..

                   Let me know ...

                          Terry.

mpp2 · October 2003

for the info on the Audi. It's a local VW/Volvo dealer who sells a lot of used Audis. They're asking $14995. My wife told me if it was black, she'd want it in a second, white is making her hesitate a little. I don't know much about what's required on Audi maintenance - what are the big items (ie timing belts, tune ups etc) when are they due, what cost - any ideas?

As far as the Giants, well, I can't complain, we do have the Yankees.

akangl · October 2003

My mom is half way looking for something to replace her 96 Cavalier with 185k and I spotted this, what say you.

http://www.denalifcu.org/trader_more.php?id=9207

Looks a little rough, but the miles are low. She drives 120 miles/day round trip.

I'm still driving that 02 Focus rental car, got more bad news from the mechanic this morning about our 94 Chevy and the Explorer is still in the body shop.

stebu · October 2003

Waaaaait a minute... was it or was it not you who made the following statements recently?

"...Do you guys really believe I'd trade my [description deleted] for a *gasp* Focus???"

-and-

"... and am miserable driving that darn rented Focus"

Now your looking to put you Mom in one!!? Is this a mother daughter thing... lol???

lanzz · October 2003

Terry - for a coworker:

'02 325xi (the awd model), auto, premium package, cold weather package, charcoal metallic with black leather. Has sunroof, no xenons, and no sport package.

11k miles, good condition, a few light scratches on the trunk that are not through the paint. Located in Stamford, CT.

Here is the rub - this lady is 13 months into a 39 month lease and she wants out. Any hope? What are the trade-in and private sales #s for this dog... I think she is buried deep beneath the surface of the earth.

Thanks...

Ed

akangl · October 2003

My mom drives a base model 1996 Chevy Cavalier, 2dr, auto, with 185k on it, trust me, the Focus would be an upgrade.

Now if we were talking about me, well, it would be a downgrade, I drive a beautiful 1997 Ford Explorer Limited, V8/AWD, 51k, leather, sunroof, all the nice goodies.

See the difference??

stebu · October 2003

OK, as always, everything is relative... lol [pun intended]!

bretfraz · October 2003

Long time, no talk. Hope all is well with you.

I need a car that I can put some long commute miles on. Like Atlanta to Charlotte long. I want to keep my purchase price around $6000 or so, give or take a few hundred.

I found a car at a local dealer and wanted to run it by you:

1999 Ford Taurus SE sedan.
53000 miles.
3.0L DOHC V6.
Sport package (16" alloys, rear spoiler).
Leather buckets - moonroof - MACH stereo w/CD changer - power seat and all the other power goodies.
Toreador Red with Grey leather.
New tires.
Smoker car (yuk!).
No CPO, sold AS IS.
Has scratches on RF headlight and hood where it looks like someone drove it into something, like a garage door. Nothing broken or bent but it'll need a little cosmetic work to look 100%.
Rest of car is very nice. Seems well cared for. Brakes, paint, everything good.

Here's the catch: The dealer is asking $8990 for it. I almost choked on that one. What do you think is a BUY price on it and where would it be wholesale.

Thanks a million!!

P.S. Any good ideas of what I can get for about $6K that's Taurus sized? No Geo Prizms or Honda Civics for me, too small. I'm thinking Nissan Maxima or similar but all I see are mega mile cars. Any input would be appreciated.

spatulaman · October 2003

I can't speak to the V6 in the A4, but I own a TT, and the scheduled maintenance isn't extremely bad...more than most, however since the engineers had to be crafty and try to cram everything in as little space as possible, with no regard to accesibility and ease of service, ergo HUGE labor bill.

Now...the UN-scheduled maintenance will eat you alive...VWAG doesn't build what I'd call a very reliable vehicle...definetly below average. My TT has NINE (9) separate issues that the dealer needs to address when I get a chance to take it in. Some are minor things, like a broken antenna, others are major, like oil consumption. I'd advise you not to buy any VW/Audi product if you're looking for cheap maintenance and reliability.

kwarnold · October 2003

On the Audi purchase (1998 A4, I believe), make sure you buy this with the Audi Advantage program. Audis are wonderful to drive - but will send you to Chapter 11 if you get hit with any repair bills. I have a 2003 A6 3.0 Quattro that I bought new in March that will be re-purchased on Friday of this week by Audi under the Lemon Law process. (There was no litigation - Audi, to their credit, did everything to immediately make things right.)

My car, albeit new and under warranty, has had over $20,000 in repairs since March. And they still have about $5,000 more that they need to do. My point in all this is that owning/driving an Audi can be a lot of fun. Just make sure you have a safety net.

Even with my experience I would tell anyone to buy an Audi tomorrow - under the premise that they are getting a warranty. Audi treated me great and professionally. Just make sure you have a factory (not a third party) warranty before you buy.

Let me know if you need me to elaborate. Also, there are some great Audi discussions here on Edmunds that you will want to check out if you haven't already.

Good luck! Keith

akangl · October 2003

Ok, I'll quit griping about the measley $4600 in repairs to our 94 Chevy K3500 since June. $20k?? Holy cow....at least it wasn't out of pocket. Ours unfortunatly was. GM can make good cars and SUV's but they really should stay out of the heavy duty truck arena.

Glad Audi treated you right, I had two VW Jettas, one 94 and one 2001, both were pretty good and I enjoyed them both.

dkuhajda · October 2003

Out the door price should be about HALF his asking price. $4500 given the poor condition of the exterior and poor condition of the interior due to it being a smokers car.

To put this into perspective. Here locally a 2001 high mileage, 60-70K, Taurus just like that one, are going for $6000 retail when in relatively poor looking condition just like that one. We do these cars a lot for the credit challenged.

The lower mileage, 30-40K, 01's off lease are bringing the $8900 they are asking. There are tons of Taurus and Sable cars available. Keep looking. 02's $10K-11K in really clean condition with 20K miles. We don't usually go with cars at this price range, but occasionally will get a really high mileage one that is a little bit rough our way.

IMHO the 01's and later have a lot better attention paid to detail in quality by Ford Motor over the 1999's. They just do not hold value as used vehicles as some higher regarded makes, but are not really a bad vehicle (especially if you get one that has been babied a little bit)

bretfraz · October 2003

Thanks much for the comments. I appreciate it.

Funny thing is, after they gave me the $8990 price, I hit them with my price, $5500 OTD. I knew the car is a $4500-5000 piece at auction (MMR) and it looked like they had almost no recon in the thing. It's actually a nice car besides the damage and the smell I mentioned.

I was willing to go to $6000 OTD. Then the SM hits me with, "We've got $6800 in the car and I've got to make $500 on it." I wanted to laugh at the guy, thinking someone should have been fired for putting that much on a 4 yr old Taurus. But that number prolly wasn't real.

I tell ya, it ain't easy finding a babied Taurus.... :-)

slick300 · October 2003

First, thanks to all involved in making this topic so helpful and informative...

Now on with the show...upstate NY
2001 Dakota Quad Cab Sport
68k mostly H-way (i know, it hurts)
4.7L V8, 4WD, 5sp manual (the other nail in the coffin)
Buckets, Sports Plus Group (air, fogs, alarm, 16" alloys (full spare), tilt, cruise, O/H console w/garage door opener/computer, PW, PL, keyless, autodim rearview, heated-power side views, 4 wheel ABS, Infinity speakers, bedliner, ARE locking fiberglass lid) all papers, all sched maint, no repairs, new tires @50K, very clean

Thank you in advance!!

rroyce10 · October 2003

..... Ooooh that's a nice one, hood is all busted in, no hubcaps - gheez, who drove this one, Atilla the Hun ..?

Miles are ok- kinda, color is alright, it's an LX, "maybe" the drivers side mirror is missing, price is Super low .. I dunno, you need to be all over a vehicle like this, it "looks" like it might have more problems than Siegfried and Roy .. you know what to do, a Tech you can trust and have it inspected closely, maybe it's just the cosmetics I can't tell from here ......

Terry.

akangl · October 2003

It looks about like the rental Focus I'm driving and only slightly worse than my mom's 96 Cavalier. If its still listed when I get to Anchorage here directly I'll go have a looksie, I'd imagine it will be since its been listed for a couple months now. Its a repo through the credit union I use, so I'm thinking its probably got more issues than just cosmetics. But the price is right.......

Wednesday I get my Explorer back, sigh, kind of dreading it, I now own an Explorer that's had almost the entire passenger side repainted. Good thing I don't want a new car anytime soon.

rroyce10 · October 2003

..... Eh' at $14,900, their not trying to kill anyone .. like I said $13ish, probably $13,5/$13,9 would send it packing .. we have 2 good posts here from Spatulaman and Kwarnold, I like Audi's and I drive em' but a good warranty is a good thing on the 50kers and above ...

Terry.

rroyce10 · October 2003

....... Did they say what color they painted it ..... ?

Terry

)

rroyce10 · October 2003

....... It's all good, how about you .. ?

             $8,900 ...... ?

            That's a great price ... !!

        There better be a Piguet watch in the glove box for that kind of money ...

        What was this guy thinkin' ..? SE 01's with 20kish are doing "around" $7,0 on the trade side and you can buy them all day long for $9,900 or less ALL day long ..... $8,900 ....? he musta had a reeeally bad week with his bookie .l.o.l...

                     Terry.

b4z · October 2003

Had my Impala LS in the paper for 10 days and not one single call.

49K miles. Neutral leather, Drive Info Center, power Passenger seat,Heated Seats, Upgraded Radio,Onstar.
Basically all options except sunroof and Block Heater.
Asking 12.5K. Trade-In is 10.9K. Retail 13.9K.
Everybody says I have it priced right.
But no calls yet.
Any Ideas?

qbrozen · October 2003

well, i'm not the professional here, but I just took a trip over to autotrader to pull up some Impalas. For starters, I got a whole list of '03s coming up at $13,9. Many '01s in your asking price range with half the miles. So if I was presented with a list like this, yours would easily drop out of my top 10 so I'd probably never even get to you before finding the Impala I'd buy. sorry.

on the other hand, I didn't see many with leather (then again, I wasn't looking too long). But knowing what that typically adds to resale, I'm still not looking at yours with that many clicks at that price. I'm sure terry can help you out much more than I can and give you a more practical number.

rroyce10 · October 2003

.... What year ...... ?

Terry.

qbrozen · October 2003

according to his profile, Terry, its an '01

mpp2 · October 2003

Thank you for all the information on the Audis. My wife really likes them, more than I do. Maybe I can use your posts to steer her towards an Acura. The closest Audi dealer to me is about 30 miles; we have an Acura dealer 3 miles from my house and my wife's office.

rroyce10 · October 2003

..... 4Dr .. right ..?

The miles are super low and of course I would assume it's like new .. nice vehicles, but leases can Kill you, trade side in and around that $26/$27 range -- if she wants to get a "ballpark" figure on her pay-off, add up all the payments, then add the residual, I bet it gets ugly .l.o.l...

Terry.

rroyce10 · October 2003

...... Your welcome and good thinkin' ..

Terry.

jlawrence01 · October 2003

When you posted that Taurus, my initial guess was $5500 OTD and hope for $6000. However, when you started going on about the sunroof and all the so-called "extras", I had a feeling that the guy was looking for closer to $8k.

Sounds like a good car to walk from.

b4z · October 2003

It's a '01.
The ones at 13.9K are likely base cars that were rentals.
MSRP on mine was 25.5K.
I guess I should put it in autotrader.

rroyce10 · October 2003

..... Thanks, didn't bother to look .. haven't had my coffee yet.

Terry.

rroyce10 · October 2003

...... It's an 01 with 50k, lot's of miles going on here and the miles kill it, no warranty and you are competing with the 20/25k Impala's, remember you are one of many, not one of few ...

          It's worth maybe the mid to high $9's on a trade .. spend some $$ and make sure you have a great ad, not some: For Sale, 01 Impala, clean, 49k, $13,9, call xxx xxx xxxx ...

          This needs to be in the paper for $12,5 "asking" and grab $11,5/$12,0 when it comes your way ....

                   Good luck and keep us abreast ..

                       Terry.

akangl · October 2003

It darn well better be the same color as it was!!

Its repair process can be viewed here:

http://www.thecollisionmd.com

click on check vehicle and mine is 1212.

I'm supposed to pick it up in the morning.

So, out of curiosity, how bad does this repaint hurt its value? It had a 4x6 inch dent in the front fender fixed (passenger side) and then it was repainted from the front fender to most of the rear quarter panel (no body damage, just tons of scratches), and both side windows were replaced (got very scratched). The body/paint work was limited to the passenger side.

tblazer503 · October 2003

would have been more dramatic if they had taken pictures of the passenger side instead of the driver side on the "before" pic... =oP

Kinda looks like a bondo job from the pics. either that or a white primer?

rroyce10 · October 2003

........ I dunno, they didn't wrap the tire and rim and they don't have the windows closed and there's no wrap on the windshield ....

No Biggie, I guess they just wanted everything to match .. and when you drive home, everything will have this like purple haze, hey it worked for Jimmy Hendricks ..l.o.l..

Terry ;-))

akangl · October 2003

It would have been better if they had taken the before pic from the correct side, but I know how bad it was. The dent was repaired, probably with bondo, but its a light covering, it was either that or replace the fender I guess and you know how insurance companies are. The rest of the damage basically looked like someone took a sheet of sandpaper to the side of the truck, mainly on the top of the doors (pass side), the 2 side windows, and lower on both doors. Took the paint right down to the metal.

As for not covering it, they actually did, but didn't show that in the picture. The 2 side windows were taken out of it since they had to be replaced. They did cover the wheel too. Its a reputable body shop, I've had them do 2 other repairs for me and its always top notch work.

So, I guess with all this my Explorer went from some value to nothin'. Oh well, at least I don't want a new car anytime soon.

rroyce10 · October 2003

...... It's really hard to say what the real value "might" be worth, so I have to tease you .. pictures are nice, but it's like all that Ebay stuff, you can't tell unless there is a feely touchy thing going on .. so when you get it all detailed and you take a "walk around" you can tell us then .......

Terry.

robr2 · October 2003

My bodyshop uses the same on-line package for keeping up with the progress of the repair. I watched mine for 7 weeks!!

isellhondas · October 2003

But I couldn't help but think...how can a busy, high volume body shop have the time for dinking around with a website like that?

I mean, a lot of good body shops are so booked they have to turn away business.

millspd · October 2003

Beautiful truck! not a fan of purple, but it looks good in pictures!

akangl · October 2003

That's the cool thing about them, they are not a high volume shop. They are small, don't do a lot of work, but what they do is very high quality. Its a family run business, very committed to thier customers. They have people bringing classics to them for repainting and repair, now that's trust!!

I used a high volume shop one time after my Blazer got hit in a parking lot. Took them 3 tries to get it even somewhat right, but it was always noticeable. Very reputable shop too, but very high volume.

I prefer to use a small shop. The owners of this shop know be by name, are always glad if I just pop into say hi, wonderful people. Thier son is the one who does most of the paint work, he's very talented and does top notch work.

akangl · October 2003

Thanks. I'm still a bit bummed about the damage, but yes, it is a beautiful truck.

Will look even better once I replace the Lund Visor with a new one, the old one is starting to show its age.

robr2 · October 2003

The software is pretty neat and very easy for the shop. It's all outsourced. They take a digital photo as often as they want (usually when there is a status change) and use stock update info (your vehicle is in paint, et al) and the tag number to id it. Then they upload the information.

The shop I use probably has 50 cars in progress at any given time. They are high volume but do high quality work as they are owned by a Jag/Toyo dealer.

It gives the vehicle owner an easy way to see the progress on their car as opposed to stopping by and they said that it eliminates 70% of their phone calls. It also gives them a better image IMHO although their shop area is cleaner and better organized than most homes!!

isellhondas · October 2003

And stops a lot of the phone calls at the same time.

Jolie, it sounds like you've got a good shop.

I remember some of the Bondo Bandit body shops I used to sell tools to.

The stories I can tell....

akangl · October 2003

They are a great shop, really wonderful people and they know how extremely fussy I am. I'm very greatful to have a wonderful body shop, especially since I'm so darn fussy about my vehicles.

That Explorer when I bought it had 1 small scratch and 2 small door dings (one of which is fixed now since it was right next to where the dent on the fender was). I went over that truck with a fine tooth comb before I bought it, the thing honestly looked better than most new vehicles. Not too bad for a 6 year old Explorer I don't think.

I know more than I should about body shops, my brother used to work for a real winner of one, he finally quit because he couldn't sleep at night after what he was seeing. The owner of the shop would take 2 wrecked vehicles and make one, lots of very scary stuff went on.......it still goes on to this day.

Kirstie_H · October 2003

If you've bought a certified used vehicle and would be willing to talk about your experience on camera for a tv audience, please contact Jackie Sobie at jackiesobie@aol.com asap no later than November 1, 2003. Be sure to include your daytime phone number and your city and state.
Thanks!
Jeannine Fallon
PR Director
Edmunds.com

slick300 · October 2003

Follow up to my post of my dodge dakota quad on pg 756(i thing)

was at a dealer today and was offered $8000 firm for trade, i chuckled and promply left.

is that about right? if so, what could i expect to sell it for?

thanks!

redbirdsport · October 2003

Hi all,
I'm thinking of trading in our 02 Atima 2.5s on the new Armada. Our Altima has a little over 23k miles,alloy wheels and factory spoiler. It is in beautiful condition. I'm just trying to get an idea of what I might realistically get for a trade in. Thank you for your time.
Mark

Real-World Trade-In Values

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