Real-World Trade-In Values
im_brentwood
Member Posts: 4,883
Hello,
Perhaps the biggest Problem that I see with
shoppers who have done research on the net as a
salesman is trade-in value.
So I decided to start this topic. I can, through
acess to information not generally available to the
public, get you a pretty good idea of what your
trade may very well be worth.
This is not a guarantee, but maybe I can help!
Bill
Perhaps the biggest Problem that I see with
shoppers who have done research on the net as a
salesman is trade-in value.
So I decided to start this topic. I can, through
acess to information not generally available to the
public, get you a pretty good idea of what your
trade may very well be worth.
This is not a guarantee, but maybe I can help!
Bill
1
Comments
Trouble is, in the real world, the trade is often worth much less to a dealer.
Why would they pay 10,000 for a car that go's begging at the auctions for 7500.00.
Or a car nobody wants? The Neon or Hyundai will rot on the lot and the dealer knows it! Even the wholesalers don't want it.
Or a Volvo that is brown with a 5 speed and a cloth interior? The "book" might say 12,000, but any dealer knows the car is saleproof at almost any price!
OK, what are the cars that are being bought as trade-ins and being kept by the dealers rather than being sent to auction? Are these all brand animals as in all Hondas, all Toyotas, or is it sensitive to models, the Tiburon, the Millenia, Miata, Mustang GT....? This info would be very helpful in narrowing down purchases which trade well after "X" years. Are there vehicles which have better re-sale within 3 years of purchase but lose it after 4 years? And how about those European brands that lose thousands, yet on a % depreciate very slowly when compared to domestic luxury vehicles.
Thanks for the topic, Jack
Please continue....
The cars on the market with very strong resale generally arent the price leader ad cars.
Generally, these include the following:
VW Passat/Cabrio
BMWs.. almost all except 750iL
Mercedes-Benz
Most Audis
Toyota Land Cruiser
Notice also, that most of these cars are "strong" in the new car market, theyre rarely discounted!
Most mass-market cars fall hard, especially mass-produced domestic sedans.
And most "economy" brands do very poorly. I can pick up a 99 Kia Sephia at auction for about 7,000. That's for a 4-door automatic sedan with under 20K miles. You just cant buy one of those new cheap enough! Hyundais also do poorly, and I doubt that Daewoos will do well either.
"average" Black Book on a 1998 Elantra is $6,000. That's an under 50% residual!
Bill
dealer offers. EXample, a ford dealer taking in an Explorer is more likely value it higher than a chevy dealer. No dealer wants a Saturn in trade, and will undervalue the car but the Saturn dealer will put top dollar on a saturn trade...same brand trades are generally the dealers favorites. Unless of course its a super low mileage cream puff. then everyone wants it.
Brentwood is using some very good examples for trade values.
Rich
Also, the trends will swing. The passat is hot now, but, that could change in a few years. No one has a crystal ball.
And, when trading a car do your own comparison shopping as a seller. Bring it to a few stores yourself to wholesale it. Sometimes, it's just what they're looking for and they'll give you more than you'd imagine. And find a store who's buying, like, for a special sale or who's low on inventory or, better yet, one of the superstores move into town and they've got a few million to spend to get started. Lots of opportunities there!
Domestics, well, yeah, they're a dime a dozen and the used car dept may pay more for clean lo miler.
Only a rough/mileagey 95 will sell for under $20K at auction...
That' a wholesale value of 60% After FIVE YEARS!
Put it this way.. A 99 Coupe 5-sp with 27,000 miles, which is high, broke $35K in California at a sale...
So if it's a decent mile car.. $39K sounds like a good price to me.
Bill
one thing to remember concerning auctions, the independant can't get into the brand factory sale....i.e. BMW factory sale for BMW dealers olny...new car dealers will generally buy factory only sale cars to fulfill most of the inventory and only buy "open auction" cars to supliment any week points. The factory sale cars are on an average 300-700 higher than the same open auction car...but they can be used car certified and warrantied, and as of late low rate financing.
Rich
Also, sometimes you can find even an independent willing to pay more for, say an explorer, than the ford franchise if he needs it.
When selling to a dealer you need to find one who wants/needs it just as you would selling to the public.
In Santa Fe NM, the BMW dealer doesn't sell ANY convertibles. So, if you want a new convertible, they'd sell it cheap to move a unit.
But, as far as used M3s go, i'd bet the NEW M3 will cause them to depreciate somewhat. It's GOT to. The engine is MUCH more powerful. There'll be a bunch of M3 loyalists trading in their old ones.
For the money you're talking on the used M3 you could prolly get a new 330i sedan or coupe! It's gonna feel very close to the current M3.
Thanks, Jack
How about a '99.5 Cabrio GLS, Green, 5-spd, 7K miles, CD-changer? I hear that these babies have gotten hot since VW started running the Cabrio commercial, so I'm thinking about trading up.
Thanks
My Guess is that it ought to be worth $18,000 to perhaps $18,500 on a wholesale level.
Green isnt the best color, but its not bad.
Depends where in the country you live though...
Bill
:-)
Last April I bought a 99 Acura TL, Laguna Green, no nav, no other options except mud flaps, wheel locks and (of course) mats. It is in excellent condition, less than 7500 miles. What do you suppose I could either trade it in for, or sell it?
Thanks, great topic!
Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
What is a realistic trade- reatil udes value for a 99 EB explorer in Deep Wedgewood Blue 4WD V6 with no moon roof?
Your advantage is that it's a V6 (Im assuming leather here!) Problem is, right now SUVs are "stiff" as we say in the car business. In other words.. on the used level, there's a whole lot more of them than there are buyers. The gas prices hurt, as you know. Deep Wedgewood doesnt help, but it doesnt hurt. I think it may be worth closer to $23K on trade.. and about 25,900 "real" retail. Remember, there's incentives on SUVs that werent't in place a year ago, and this hurts them.
I did see that a 12K mile Wedgewood one sold for under $22K though...
Also, there are a whole lot of them out there right now, unlike Pat's TL, there are not hard to come by I'm afraid.
You'd really be better off holding on to it instead of trying to trade it. And the way the market is on SUVs.. it'll at least be worth the same money 3 months from now, then you may be able to get closer to $23K for it without a problem. Right now Edmunds seems to be on the money im afraid. Anything over $22K in "real money" is more than fair.
Bill
Bill
I have one for you....1995 camaro Z28, loaded with all but leather, t-tops, bose, power, etc. Only 28,000 miles. Paintwork in front but no frame repair or previous collision damage (i had a cracked front bumper cover replaced and a dented hood straightened) Interior is fine and finish is good. Mechanically straight. What say you?
How did I do? I know it was much lower than Edmunds' valuation, but I didn't care because there was some expensive repair work coming due on it.
Thanks,
Dave
A few years ago when I was going to buy my wife a Lincoln Continental (year old)I had a five year old grand caravan to trade in. I thought it was worth about 4-4.5 grand wholesale. A friend at work, who has access to the local auction data, looked up the recent auction sales, and similar vehicles were selling wholesale at 2.5-3 grand. Bad news, but reality sometimes hurts.
That evening I was offered 3 grand for the vehicle, and the deal was done in less than a half hour. If I hadn't been clued into the REAL wholesale price for my van I would not have bought that car, that night. I would have wasted my time, and several other salesmen's time before I was convinced that the 3 grand was a good trade-in quote.
Again, Thanks- Bill
...glenn
Since you used to go to auctions yourself, you know that a car like this can be tough to appraise. If it's really a supermin low-miler, and you get the right dealer on it.,. the sky's the limit for something like that.
OK, I'll bite.
My gut (which is usually very good) told me about $8500-9K... but "let's go to the videotape.."
My money on the car, assuming paintwork looks good is about $11-12K That seems like what the low milers bring! Wow... But again, you never know on something like that... Also, is it a good color? If it's Pink, nobody's gonna step to that one!
Bill
Well, you actually kinda got what I would have said.. a 6-year old, High-Mile supercharged Ford is scary...
$2,200 might be a little light.. but not by a lot.. I mean, It looks like cars like your old one that hover around the 100K mile mark seem to trade in the mid-high $3Ks..
So, if it wasnt all that nice of a car.. 2200 is a little light, but not terrible.
Bill
Looks like you've set yourself up here to be a busy man! ;->
Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
Newburgh? I used to go there for the Ford Factory sales (When I worked in Montclair, NJ)
Bill
Yeah.. I may have created a monster here....
Bill
What do you think of the auction certified cars? I think for the guys with only a few hundred in them it's a service we don't need to pay for. There selling more of them that way, aren't they?
The Z was a ford! credit car! I marvel at how those dealers were spooked by that car. I got it about 1000 less than i thought. It only cost me 900 to R&R the bumper cover and refinish the hood. There was no frame damage and it ran out like a 20,000 mile car. Oh well, that's why they call it an auction!
How long will the market be good for it in your neck of the woods?
It's always frustrating when the trade in becomes the problem.
Even more so when the customer is coy and conceals the fact they have a trade in.
Any professional can usually detect this and will do their best to shake the trade out of the bushes before wasting their time.
Some of the "expert" internet sites even suggest this.
And, when the buyer is unrealistic, we will do our very best to "kick" the trade...we simply don't want it!
That Kia that the "book" says is worth 4000.00 is an unwanted car...by everyone!
After making several phone calls, the highest bid we can get is 1800.00.
" Please...sell it yourself!"
Certainly was in 97-99. I only really went there for the Ford closed sales.. I could always do a lot better at Skyline in NJ on the Ford Credit sales.. Some stuff there would go for just stupid money!
Apparently, the Jaguar sale is going to shoe wup there pretty soon.. WHich is smart as I'd rather (Well, if I still worked/lived in North NJ) go 45 mins to Newburgh than all the way to Manheim!
Bill
In that light you really did do well then!
Bill
Well maybe I'll save some poor salesman out there the greif when someone comes in with a 70K Mile 97 Sedan DeVille and is waving the $16K valuation in his hands
Bill
Thinking of selling it and buying a Miata...
Thanks,
Dave
I havent seen anything with mileage even close to yours out there, but from what I've seen.. and If I were appraising the car, $9,000 seems to hit me in the head. Maybe a little more..
Hope this helps!
Bill
From what you're telling me.. I'd peg that car right around the $5,000-5,500 mark or thereabouts.
Assuming it's clean, of course.
Hope this helps!
Bill
Truthfully, the best way to dispose of that Van is to Donate it to a charity. You'll not only get its' current book retail value as a write-off, you'll be helping a worthy cause.
Truthfully, you need to look at your van as I would as an appraiser:
It's 13 years old, leaks oil, has no AC in July, and looks terrible (I'm assuming typical Chrysler paint peel and possible surface rust). It's only worth a couple of hundred dollars on trade.
Say you're in something like the 30% or so tax bracket. Say you get a $2500 deduction.
That's $750 in your pocket, and more than you'll likely get on trade. Anything over a few hundred dollars is likely to be an overallowance I'm afraid.
So Donate it, a Vehicle like that can also be very hard to sell on your own and you'll be helping a good cause.
Bill
Sometimes ya just can't win.