Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
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I guess that's 192k HIGHWAY miles, right?
And are you sure you're ready to move up to a Volare?
Having said that, it may be a poor investment strategy to bail out of the Chevette now. There's been some talk over at Investmentforum.org that Chevette price may come back having bottomed out. I subscribe to Sports Car Market and those nostalgia/retro cars of the 80's are getting tons of attention at auction. The Chevette could be the blue-chip investment surprise of Barrett-Jackson in January.
So if you really wanna unload it, run it thru a gas station car wash on your way to Arizona next month. You'll have a winner on the block, fer sure.
I see probably 5/6/7,000 vehicles a week, run at the auctions, I just find it hard to believe that a dealer, whether it be Baltimore or Butte Montana, would drop $11,500 in a vehicle that needs at least $250 on paint work (once painted, the value will drop another $500+)..$300 for a windshield and probably loose another $500 because of the high miles.
Most of the Baltimore dealers are pretty savvy, I would think it would be much easier to go to BHA and buy one with 7/8/9,000 miles, with a slider and all the toy's and -0- damage for $11,000. But, if this did happen.. then Merry Christmas, that was a gift -- You did well..
Terry.
But, in this case it has 95,000 miles ( that will never scare a Toyota buyer) .. but having the S.charger.. that will get most buyers a little week-kneed.
If it fails, it's a months pay..and the Toyota buyers know it.
My thinkin' -- grab the $6,000 and get a bigger Xmas tree.
I hope this helps ...
Terry.
I'm thinkin' $33/$34ish, and on the retail side.. maybe $38/$39.
What do you think Bill ...?
Terry.
Thanks,
Quentin
Black Exterior/Black Interior/Certified/ 36,435 miles
Options present on this car include Lexus/Nakamichi Premium Audio System w/ 280 Watts Max Power & In-Dash 6-CD Auto-Changer, All-Season Tires, Heated Front Seats, Wood and Leather Accented Steering Wheel and Shift Knob, High Intensity Discharge Headlamps, Electronic Air Suspension, and Power Tilt and One-Touch Open/Close Slide Moonroof with Sunshade.
Dumb luck...! -- Good guess on my end, Geeez I should get my own, card reading show on TV.
Well it does sound nice.. it's got the Nak and all the stuff, and no miles.
It's less than 2 wks before Xmas, this puppy needs to go bye bye..start him up around $31 and see what happens.
Terry.
Quentin
I looked at the hi-mileage '99 TLC--was OK condition, needed tires, etc. (And I could try to offer around $30K). But it got me thinking about the virtures of owning a Toyota/Lexus.
So--going to look at 2000 Land Cruiser, Burgandy, 27K miles at a Toyota dealer. Asking $39,900.
Also, a '99 LX470, 31K miles, topaz/tan, has the Nakamichi stereo, $40,900 at a Mercedes dealer.
All things being equal, any advice? I'm thinking of offering $36K-ish for one or the other. The toys & stereo on the LX are nice, but I prefer the simpler exterior of the Toyota.
So I've gone from shopping BMW 7 series, to 5 series wagon, to a TLC. As much as I love BMW's, I already own an older one, & the idea of Japanese reliability is starting to sound pretty good.
Bill: Thanks for the advice on both dealing with jerks, & being a jerk! (A hugely important subject, esp. here in the Northeast :-) I fortunately only sell my own cars every couple of years; so I forget how ridiculous it is.
A) Its the proverbial handshaker.
I sign the ACV Slip at $32,500, and I think that you can get, private party retail, $36-37K for this guy.
Bill
Youre welcome!
Just trying to protect you from financial ruin.. lol
Bill
I havent even looked at the site in months, other than for retail values which are laughable.
From what I understand, even the books that they use out west are almost always well over the real market values of most anything. Its the rare, low-mile creampuff that's worth "book"
Bill
The Chevette? I'll trade ya for a half-smoked pack of Parliament Lights!
Bill
Bill
$800?
Bill
If that was real money, its an easy $1,500+ over what the car is actually worth. Like Terry said, clean, lower-mile cars are doing less than $11,500 at the auctions.
You either met Mr Idiot Appraiser, got an overallowance, or are our "deal of the week"
Bill
Whatcha think Terry? 94 S500.. Smoke/Parch. If its that nice and has no miles..
Bill
Go buy one!
Heheh... OK, Try closer to $33K I think. I mean, it could do $29K.. across the block certiication.. etc..
Bill
Hmm??
with 60,000 miles on the odometer.
The car has everything but the Nak. sound system.
it's silver with the charcoal interior.
He bought the the car from a dealer in the San Jose area for $26k. I hope this gives you a better reference in purchasing the car you had earlier mentioned.
good luck
Bill - Jags are nice, but they just aren't me. I really don't want anything that high profile, which is why I started out looking at Acura. I appreciate you trying to protect me from financial ruin, but I respond well to reason. There's no need for violence....even if it is just cyber-violence. :-)
Bill/Terry - I drove to Cincy to check out the loaded '98 LS400. 200 mile round trip, no biggie. The interior was perfect except for some light scratches on the shift gate, and a bad spot inside the center console that you couldn't see unless it was open. The Lexus leather seems to hold up better than the Acuras I've seen. Even the '00 w/ 62k+ miles looked new. Anyway, the interior was nice, the exterior had no dings (pretty amazing) but a fair amount of paint chips & scuffs. There were a couple spots that looked like someone had gone at the paint with a dry paper towel. The salesman said the detail/touch-up guy hadn't worked on it yet. It was priced at $36k, I offered $31k, they came back pretty quickly with $33.5k. I probably would have gone for it without the paint chips & scuffs. Low miles, most options (I didn't really want the load leveling suspension) and service records. I told him to let me know when the detail guy was finished. It was a very nice riding car! Driving the '93 Honda back was almost painful. Oh, he told me another customer offered him $28k, and he wasn't even going to call him back. Edmunds puts TMV at $31k certified.
Q
Here's one the Mrs. might like:
1996 Subaru Legacy L Wagon
ABS, 5spd, 101,500 miles
2.2 liter engine, I think.
Dark Green with Gray Cloth.
Car looks clean. Assuming nonsmoker.
Tires marginal.
Waddaythink it's worth); and what's a decent retail figure?
This is a Subaru/VW/Audi/BMW/Mercedes dealer, known for "optimistic" pricing.
They've got it in the local paper for only $7995. Oh boy.
So much for the theory of not spending money to advertise your second best price...
Anyway I'm thinking $4000+ to trade, around $6k to buy if it's up on the maintenance.
What say you?
-mathias
Are you nut's ...?
All kidding aside, if you want that kind of money you need to retail out of it -- through it in the largest paper in the area .. make sure it glows in the dark, with a nice bright 5 liner..$4,950 Must Sell. That's how you get $4500.
I know you feel this car is nice... but, there is 1,345,729 escorts right now lookin' for a home. -- and yours is the one with a handshaker.
Good Luck..
Terry.
This is one of those "hard to finds" ..
Terry.
I mean, ya go to one of the sales.. and a Super Low-Miler in THE color, with THE equipment rolls up to the block and it looks like it spent the last 7 years in a bubble.. and...
Well, you know
Bill
The hand signs for what the ..eye likes.
Well, there wiil be more..
Terry.
You may see Lexus TMV numbers being adjusted a little pretty soon..
ANd I'll stop smacking you
Bill
I think closer to $3K.
I also dont see the market improving much on Escorts.. frankly, theyve always sold pretty cheaply..
Sell it now, I dounbt it will get better. January is a weak month as a rule.
Bill
$4Kish wholesale, $6Kish retail?
Yeahup. I agree.
Bill
I also looked at a Silver 1989 CRX Si from one of those tiny used car dealers working out of a shack for an office. The salesman seemed pretty straight forward and the car had a clean carfax report and seemed to run well. The only problems were:
1. The body was clean, with no rust but many of the gaps in the body panels were a bit crooked which showed it may have been in some wrecks.
2. The tires were in very sorry shape. I spent the first 10 minutes of my test drive at the Quiktrip inflating the cracked tires.
3. This was the most "amusing". When I finished the test drive I stepped into the "office" to negotiate a price. As we stepped into the office, the salesman handed the keys to another couple for a test drive. We negotiated a price of $2750 (down from $3275) with my cash in his hand when the phone rings. The other couple were stranded on the road because the car died on an on-ramp on I-35! He hands me back the cash in a very stand-up manner and I left for lunch. He calls me later on my cell phone to tell me that he put gas in the car and it started up fine. He also took a new fuel filter in case it was clogged. He said that he thought that the fuel guage was merely malfunctioning. I got scared and said "thanks, but no thanks".
4. He didn't have the title. He said I should sign a bill of sale to show that I owned the car and that he would send me the title via certified mail on Monday when the bank opened. I felt leery of giving him $2750 cash and leaving without the title and going home, 2 1/2 hours across state lines (the dealer is in Kansas, I am in Missouri). He said that he did it all the time. It was somewhat legalistic, not my strong suit. Is this common?
So am I justified in being worried about the "gas" situation? The car seemed to run very well to me and my friend, who knows quite a bit about cars. I was worried about some kind of electrical problem, but if it was just a faulty gas gauge, I worry that I may be letting a good car slip away. Any advice?
That would be the day I would wait til Mon or Tues... Oh well, not my store Mon.
Terry.
Terry - It probably could be made to look like a diamond, but it didn't when I saw it, sooooo
Bill/Terry - any rule of thumb on what different options do to the price? This one had everything except the gold package, cell phone, navigation system, and chrome wheels. I'd like to find one with the HID lights and the NAK stereo, but without the load leveling suspension. I wouldn't mind the chrome wheels either. Most of them seem to not have the NAK stereo, and about half seem to have the HID lights. None have the wheels that I've seen so far.
Q
It's the Nav's systems that don't really add much, in my opinion I think they have already turned the circle .. add about $250 for em'..
Terry.
Quentin
The red one I looked at had faded paint and some rust bubbles. The interior was dirty but could be cleaned up. It had a clutch that probably was nearing the end of its life but they were fixated on $2800. But then that could be why it has been on the market for 2 months with no takers.
I took a stroll over to the Subaru board and read up on high-mileage maintenance issues on these cars....
Ya know what: At $6k+ for a 100k miler that needs new shoes, I think we'll take a good look at a new '02 L Wagon for under $20k. Seems to make sense over the long haul.
Thanks to the good folks here, this board is THE place to find out what a car is worth in the market. But I think everybody needs to make up their own mind on what it's worth to *them*.
For my $$$, most Japanese cars are the best values when bought new. Never regretted buying a new '97 Nissan pickup...
Now, if I could get my wife to even consider an automatic transmission, we might have her in a Sienna before Christmas... but she insists it's gotta be a manual... I guess it's time to test-drive a Subaru...
Speaking of sticks: In Europe, almost everything is stick shift. VWs are going for 6spd manuals as standard equipment, dto. Mercedes. Most E class Benzes are sold with a stick. I read that in Italy, the market share for automatics is around 3%... There are almost that many people who *need* an auto because of a handicap!
Heck, my grandma always drove a stick, into her eighties...
Automatic transmission, like coffee shops, are just part of the general Wussification of America.
Thanks again,
-Mathias
East Lansing, MI
Asking price is $37,995 and they have agreed to $37K even.
Sounds good to me - thoughts?
Thanks
Adam
I would recommend taking that puppy dog home..
Terry.
Terry.
Write a check!
Bill
I think like $17K to 17,500 is wholesale, so, $19,950/BO in the paper?
Bill
But its all in how you read the Black Book
My favorite Black Book story is when I worked for a Lexus store. A customer came in with like a 99 4-Runner (IIRC it was a nice shade of BROWN) that was super super clean.
It had like 42K miles in early 2000. Something like that.. was like 1 year old.
Guy insists on "Clean Book" because "My truck is clean"
Uh Huh. Yes, it cleans up very well after being used to commute between Denver and Miami every day for the past year.
I think that those of us who have followed this thread for a while realize that that Truck would never pull clean Book.
Knowing how to read them is crucial
Besides, edmunds aint paying me for this
Bill
This is the country Where Buick outsold Alfa-Romeo about 100 to 1.
That tell ya something?
Bill