Edmunds.com | Inside Line | Auto Observer Your Account | Help | Directory
You are here:
![[F]](http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/townhall/webxicons/site.gif){kind=small}
Forums
Smart Shopper Real-World Trade-In Values
38947 messages, Last post on Dec 08, 2009 at 12:48 PM
You are in the Smart Shopper Forum. Your Hosts are kirstie_h & tidester
Appraise your car
get trade-in, private party, dealer retail values.
|
|
|---|---|
|
Looking at a couple of cars - 2003 Honda Accord Coupe EX-L Nav Private Owner - 2nd owner Black/black leather 106000 miles (needs timing belt service, $600  dealer) good condition - new tires, all maintenance records. Rear bumper replaced last year - the current owner backed into their other vehicle. 2002 Acura 3.2 TL VIN 19UUA56662A048754 Dealer owned (Mercedes dealer) 1 owner, red/tan interior. Good (not new) tires. 85k miles. Great condition - ne dents, tears, stains. I was able to verify the service history with Acura dealer. Both are located in TN, the Honda near Nashville, the Acura in the Eastern part of the state. Wondering what a good offer would be for both of these cars. |
|
|
Replying to: volvomax (Oct 26, 2009 2:37 pm)  I don't know why the salesman is not responding to the OP. |
|
|
|
|
Replying to: volvomax (Oct 26, 2009 2:36 pm) Hang on a second. I never offer up a dollar figure on my trades when I send these e-mails. I simply give a thorough description of the car and tell them I'd like to discuss a trade. The closest I came to hinting at a value recently was to suggest I might like to do a cashless exchange between my trade and a car the dealer was advertising. A smart salesperson would have gotten back to me to see if I would be willing to pay a couple thousand along with the trade (I probably would have) or would do a cashless deal on a lower-priced car. A dumb salesperson would give no response and lose a potential customer, which is what happened. I think the real answer is that dealers are simply lazy and still arrogant. Either that, or they're suffering from depression after the "Cash for Clunkers" euphoria. They'd prefer to have a sucker walk through the door and pay their ridiculous retail used car prices with all cash or their overblown financing. They barely want to lift a finger to send your car off to an auction. To give you an example of the attitude, last summer, one of my dealers staged a special "clinic" with some half-price maintenance services. One could assume the dealership did this to get some live prospects in the door because there were refreshments, a free gift, etc. As I waited for my car for close to an hour, I spent a lot of time examining the stock on the showroom floor. Not one salesperson came up to me to see if I was interested in doing a deal. Instead, they all sat at their desks drinking coffee and eating the customers' Danish. (BTW, after my visit, I e-mailed the dealer about one of the cars on the floor and said I was interested in trading two of my cars against it. No trade-in values or a cashless exchange were mentioned. I also got no answer back on this one. Someone probably decided that the coffee would get cold if they had to take the time to process two trades at once.) There are too many dealers and too many cars out there for customers to have to beg for a salesperson's attention in these tough times. As far as I'm concerned, the non-respondents can go commission-less as their cars rot on the lot through the winter.
|
|
|
Replying to: longislander1 (Oct 27, 2009 1:28 pm) I think the dealer might think that your cars are not worth that much and you are more likely to reject the offer. Sometimes, when I go to purchase a new car, the dealer want to negotiate the used car first b/c he says that many time people want too much money for their used. However, if I resist just to discuss the diff, they usually don't mine as well.
|
|
|
|
|
Replying to: gooddeal2 (Oct 27, 2009 1:51 pm) On a new car, I usually ask the salesperson to send his/her best price on a specific in-stock car in a return e-mail. If I don't get a price back or if I get no response or the usual gobbledygook, that dealership comes off the list. On a trade, I simply have the dealership look at the car and give me a price. After their prices are offered to me, I then negotiate to narrow the spread between the trade and the new car. I hear what you're saying, but It doesn't make any sense for a dealer to try and read my mind without contacting me. After all, negotiations are about talking. If a dealer doesn't want to talk, that kind of attitude assures a sale won't happen. I just think that, these days, any salesperson not responding to a legitimate inquiry is simply a dunce and deserves the low pay.
|
|
|
Replying to: longislander1 (Oct 27, 2009 2:37 pm)
|
|
|
|
|
Replying to: lrguy44 (Oct 27, 2009 3:33 pm)
|
|
|
Replying to: longislander1 (Oct 27, 2009 6:19 pm) |
|
|
|
|
Replying to: lrguy44 (Oct 27, 2009 7:16 pm) However, let's look at some of the issues: Starting with doc fees, I've read elsewhere (not here) that these can be pure profit for the dealer. A lot of dealers will negotiate a price without telling you that the doc fee (and, sometimes, other bogus fees) will be added on later. I've been told that it's pre-printed on the form and can't be removed, essentially a message to me that I should stop negotiating further. (Of course, it can be left on the form but removed from the negotiated price of the car.) One dealer also told me that if they refunded the doc fee, they would be hit with "thousands of lawsuits" from past customers who had to pay it. After a while, you get tired of hearing this stuff. Now, I think the dealer should be paid for things like acquiring the tags, including the cost of sending someone to the motor vehicle bureau. But, from what I've seen, dealers put on those charges in addition to the doc fee. Re the non-responsiveness, any company that doesn't respond to a legitimate inquiry from a potential customer doesn't deserve to get any business from that customer. Not only will I not beg for business from a non-responsive dealer (especially in these tough times); I'll also send referrals elsewhere. On the best price, I can't recall a time when I've ever bought a car based on the dealer's first offered price. If it's truly a negotiation, you never offer your bottom price at the beginning. This is Negotiation 101. If you are, indeed, a dealer and you offer your best price up front, a lot of customers are going to think you're stubborn when you say you can't take off a few more dollars. Any shrewd customer would walk if they have alternative dealers and cars in their area. On retail prices of used cars at dealerships, they are simply inflated. There's always room to go lower. I also think it's important to understand the BS that dealers still shovel in customer's faces and why some customers go into a dealership with an adversarial attitude. Recently, in negotiating for my niece's car, I was told that, "We're not making a profit on this car. We're giving you this price to build a relationship." Later, in the business manager's office as we were signing the papers, he told us that, "I always insist that my relatives and friends take the extended warranty. I want to be sure that they're protected." These kinds of remarks insult my intelligence, but I'm so anti-dealer that I smiled and shook hands with everyone and left them with a pretty nice profit at the end of the day. Finally, if you are a dealer, I'm sure you are only too happy to sell someone a car at MSRP or provide them with inflated financing if you find they haven't done their homework or can be taken for a ride. After all, you're there to get the highest price from the customer. I'm there to get the lowest price. So if you think my remarks are anti-dealer, well, you just don't get it. You won't find me in your showroom.
|
|
|
Replying to: longislander1 (Oct 28, 2009 5:38 am)
|
|
You are here:
Forums
Smart Shopper Real-World Trade-In Values
New? Join Now!
Forum Tools
Search Forums
Browse by Vehicle
Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
Today's Chats
