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Smart Shopper Got a Quick Question for a Car Dealer?
2394 messages, Last post on Nov 03, 2009 at 11:03 AM
You are in the Smart Shopper Forum. Your Hosts are kirstie_h & tidester
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Replying to: snakeweasel (Jan 11, 2009 6:55 am) I'd hazard a guess that about 90% of all engines advertised as "rebuilt" are not in fact 'rebuilt" at all. REBUILT should mean that every part of that engine has been re-machined, or replaced, to meet exact factory specs. OVERHAULED means that the bad parts were replaced and the still good parts left alone. For example, new valves, rings and bearing, but crankshaft and camshaft remain the same, untouched, as do cylinder walls, oil pump, etc. REPAIRED or UPPER END WORK is when you throw a timing belt and so they level the cylinder head, insert new valves and guides, put on a gasket and a new belt and change the oil. That is certainly not "rebuilt". It costs at least $5,000 to rebuild and install an engine in a modern car, if you do everything you are supposed to and take care of the 'as long as you're in there' parts as well....new belts,hoses, clutch, water pump, radiator, blah blah. I can't tell you how many times I see a car with a "rebuilt engine", and ask to see the receipts for it, only to find a repair order that says, in one line "remove engine, rebuild, re-install same" Tells me nothing. Sometimes the cost of the work is a hint but still no details. That is a shabby shop if you ask me. So what is this "rebuilt" engine. There is a vast difference between a factory long block installed by a dealer and some vague "rebuild engine" repair order from a Conoco station.
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Jan 11, 2009 8:46 am) "New engine" is another phrase that, (to a lesser extent), is sometimes used rather loosely. It often translates to: "newer used engine with undocumented mileage and maintenance history". 
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Replying to: oregonboy (Jan 11, 2009 10:45 am) If the "rebuilt" engine does not have a detailed repair order that goes with it, just disregard it as anything of substantial worth in a used car. If there's a $6,000 --$10,000 bill from the dealer for a factory short block or long block (crate engine) ---well, that's impressive. Or a $20,000 bill for a Mercedes or a $60,000 bill for a Ferrari. |
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Is there anything comparable to TMV for Canadian buyers for used vehicles? Can I use Canadian Black Book values + some percentage to get what would be a fair number at a dealership? Thanks
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Replying to: cdn_tch (Jan 19, 2009 9:00 pm) You cna use black book,, but you mightbe way off on numbers because we dealers use it as a guide. Are you selling, buying, or trading a car in?
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Replying to: boomchek (Jan 20, 2009 10:44 am)
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Replying to: cdn_tch (Jan 20, 2009 10:53 am) One thing you can do is "advanced search" in autotrader, whereby you narrow down the cars you are looking at in terms of say mileage limits for one thing, or automatic vs. manual shift. You can also enter "keywords" into advanced search. Then, once you hit "search" and get say 15 cars nationwide with under 100,000 miles with automatic transmission and trimmed in the LS or EXT or whatever level, --- if you then look at the bottom of the page you'll see a High, Low and AVERAGE price for all the cars you've been shown. This average price is, IMO, very close to market value---once you have the average price, just deduct another 5-10% since these are asking prices. |
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Replying to: cdn_tch (Jan 20, 2009 10:53 am) I'm in Vancouver BC. I might be able to give you an idea of price range. |
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Replying to: boomchek (Jan 20, 2009 1:14 pm) I've been checking out some posted vehicles against Kelly Black Book online and the dealers here are generally asking 50-60% over top blackbook price. At what point does it change from a fair deal to a 'clubbing'?
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Replying to: cdn_tch (Jan 21, 2009 8:04 pm) If you see all smiliar models in the same range, then that's just what the market is. Sometimes we will pay over book for "hot" cars that we know we can flip quickly and make some decent money on. CRVs, and RAV4s will always fetch a premium, even though the CRV I think is rated for only 1500LBS towing capacity. Mazda Tribute and it's twin the Ford Escape are more down to earth in pricing, but keep in mind some older Ford and Mazda trucks/SUVs only had a short 3 year/60k powertrain warranty, unlike their cars whihc had a normal 5 year/100k warranty. The Jeep Patriot is a decent SUV but you won't get much towing done in one. The Equinoxes and Saturn Vues should be more normally priced too, as they have low book values relative to the imports. Another decent one that we can't keep on the lot because they sell really fast is the Jeep Liberty, especially the Renegade edition. They are all 3.7L V6s however and will consume a little more gas than a 4 banger. But they came out in 03 I think, up to 07 before being redesigned. I'd stay away from the old Blazers and Jimmies. They're inexpensive but they are really outdated and will guzzle a lot of gas with their big 4,3L V6. Any Subarus are good too, but they carry a price premium, and might get pricey to fix later on. Last but not least, look at a Nissan X Trail. Fuel efficient 4 cylinder, and lots of space. They sort of have a cult following. If you can get past the centre mounted gauge cluster, then they make a decent crossover too for a decent price. Good luck |
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