Research

[Guess My Name]

Research is the key to getting the best dollar for your trade in and price on your new car. I use Kelly blue book and Edmonds.

Anyone have any other sites for this type of information?

[Hypersion]

I have read that kbb and carprice have the most acculate prices. Also autotrader.com can list the average price of it's advertisements for any car make/model which in my option is the best way to see if a car price is a good deal.

http://www.autosite.com/welcome.htm
http://www.autoweb.com/
http://www.carmax.com/
http://carprice.com/
http://www.intellichoice.com/index.cfm
http://www.kbb.com/
http://www.nada.com/
http://www.edmunds.com/

[Dave C.]

I have found edmunds to be the best!! I have also used www.cars.com, and www.carpoint.com. Microsoft has altered the carpoint site, but it still may be of use. Also, I think the Kbb prices are a bit high in my opinion.

[BradE]

I also like Edmunds. The have the "True Market Value" pricing system. Sometimes I have found that Blue Book is high on some cars. I have priced the same car at both places, and there was a $2000 difference in Blue Book and Edmunds.

[CJ from Granite Bay, CA]

If you are intending to sell your car privately, Auto Trader, Kelley Blue Book etc are excellent guides. You should also consider what your particular auto is selling for in the local newspapers. Regarding your auto as a trade-in, the dealer isn't going to give you what you think it is worth, nor what you could probably sell it for yourself. They have to have a profit margin to work with if they intend to sell it themselves. If it isn't worth trying to sell it themselves, they will the send it to the auto auction. When purchasing a new car, one must definitely do their homework to get the best possible deal.

[BradE]

In my experience dealers usually offer you so little for your trade it is insulting. They fully expect you to sell them your car for under wholesale, and then buy theirs for full retail. Take my Jag for example. Its a 1992 Jaguar XJ6 Sovereign with under 40,000 miles. It is in perfect condition, I never drive it much. It has all the options. When I was thinking of getting rid of it I took it to a dealer, and they offered me $4,500!!!! I just laughed in their face. The car is at least worth double that on trade.....at least. Anyway, I ended up keeping the Jag.

I know many people that work at dealers, and most of the "great" cars never hit the lot. Usually someone in the dealership buys them for a family member or something like that. And if a truly "great" car get on the lot, be prepared to pay through the nose for it.

[Don2000g]

Couldn't agree any more Showroom. The dealerships just insult us with the prices that they offer for our trade in. It's a joke. It seems practically inconceivable to ever offer a trade in. It's just so much better to sell your vehicle on the side. Laters.

[BradE]

Don,

You are 100% right, most dealers are a joke. I love when they try to explain why they are offering such a low price for a trade. It has to be the biggest bunch of BS I have ever heard. The excuse they gave me for the low price on the Jag was that they would have trouble selling the car because Jag's are high upkeep! They claimed they had been "stung" on them before, so they could not pay me anthing but $4,500, exactally half of the trade in value of the car. I think KBB trade value for the car at that time was somthing around $9,000. They wanted a copy of all the service records, and they wanted my permission to call the Jag dealer and ask questions regarding the car, and they were only going to pay me half of trade , I DON"T THINK SO. I explained to them that their previous problems are not my problem. I told them since they were only willing to pay half of what my car was worth, I was only willing to pay half of what there car was worth. Myself and the sales manager exchanged a few choice words, and I told them to shove their car up their @$$.

Dealers try and screw people, plain and simple. When I go to a dealer and they try and rip me off, I don't even try to do busines with them I just turn around and leave. My money spends anywhere.

Sorry, had to vent a little

[Don2000g]

I currently have a 2000 Maxima. I absolutely love the new 2002 models and was pretty interested in acquiring one. At any rate, they offered me a ridiculous price for mine. Mine is fully loaded, it has everything- Bose CD, leather seats, spoiler, 17 inch wheels, traction control, side airbags, moonroof, etc... They didn't even want to consider these as reasons to increase the value of my car. It's also in immaculate condition. At any rate, the dealership offered me $5,000 less than what the market sells them for. The used car manager told me that they offered me less because the rotors were slightly warped and my wheel allignment was a bit off. I said what the hell are you talking about. The rotors are covered under warranty. If you want I'll have them fixed tomorrow at no charge to you or myself. I also laughed when he told me about the allignment. I said you've got to be kidding. A front end allignment costs how much, $40 or $50. They would inevitably do it at no expense if I were to trade it in. I just laughed, thanked for them for their time and left. The sales associate said, wait let me speak to my manager. Ha! I said what for. So that you can bring down the new car 2 or 3 hundred bucks. What a joke!

So Showroom, I can totally relate.

I mean I can understand if they lowballed the price of my car by $1,000 or even $1,500. But $5,000.

[BradE]

Don,

That story they handed you has to be one of the worst I have ever heard. $5,000 less because of a bad front allignment and warped rotors, give me a friggin' break! I would have left too, but you were a little more polite than I would have been . I wonder how many unsuspecting people they actually fool with that insulting crap?

The truly insulting part is I bet they could have sold your car for a premium price over other Maximas. With your car being in immaculate condition and having all the toys, used car buyers are willing to pay a little more than normal for cars like that. The dealers know this to, they just try and screw you for every dime they can get out of you.

[bretfraz]

Hypersion's post with all the links will help everyone shop for the best price on a new car. As long as you are aware of the local market conditions, there shouldn't be any surprises when you walk onto a lot and shop for a new car.

Where people get tripped up is during the trade in process. It is absolutely critical to know what a car like yours is selling for in your local market at the time you are trading.

Region, car color, condition, mileage, options, time of year, and local market conditions all play a big part in determining what a car is "worth".

Ahhh, yes, the big question: "What's my car worth". Well, books have been written about this subject but the simple answer is, what someone is willing to pay when you want to sell.

When you are at the dealer and the used car manager is inspecting your trade, what's he doing? Well, the first question he asks himself is, "do I want this car on my lot". If he feels the local market will not be interested in your car, he immediately looks at auction prices. This is the "HOLY GRAIL" of used car valuations. What is your car worth? Not a penny more than what other cars just like it are selling for at auction. Who cares if the Auto Trader has a bunch for $20,000? If the auction price is $15,000, then that's what it's worth.

Most dealers subscribe to online auction services like Manheim Auctions or Adessa. They can quickly look at prices for a car just like yours and get a feel for the money.

Virtually every car dealer in America uses the Black Book, which is a dealer-only weekly publication summarizing auction prices. Between the Black Book and online auction reports a dealer will have a very good idea of what price to put on your car. From there he can tweak the offer depending on other factors: The profit potential of the new car deal, his current inventory, his current months business, potential customer for a car like yours, etc.

So, as you can see, putting a price on a used car is really a black art and very few consumers understand this. There are no real accurate guides for consumers. The best one I know of is Edmunds TMV which has gone under quite a makeover in the last year to improve valuations. Kelly Blue Book is a joke in the car biz. Some of their prices are pretty close; others are way out of whack. Do not depend on KBB. The NADA guide, even the consumer Black Book are not as sharp as they can be. Why? Because most valuation guides are published monthly and cars are being bought and sold daily. By the time you actually see the guide a price can be hundreds off. The same goes for website value guides. How do you know when the price were last updated? Online guides can be worse than printed ones because so many people believe what they see on the internet.

To get the best price for your trade you really need to put some effort into it. Shop the car at several local dealers. Pay very close attention to local papers and the Auto Trader in your area. Act like you are in the market for the car you are selling. Make any repairs needed to improve your car; it will payoff in the end.

Don't be shocked if you find out your car is a dog in the market. There are only a handful of cars that are in such high demand and short supply that you'll get a great price at trade in time. Right now (4th quarter 2001) there is a massive glut of used cars on the market because of all the super-cheap financing deals. Millions of people traded in their old car (and this could be a car one or two years old) for a new one simply because they wanted the 0% loan. Also since the economy has been slowing, rental car companies have been reducing their inventory. How do they do this? By selling cars at auctions.

So next time you are at the dealer don't be shocked if you get lowballed on your trade. A used car manager has a massive selection of cars to choose from. Why would he give you top dollar for yours when he can quickly buy a dozen just like it?

The better you understand the business and local market conditions, the better off you will be at trade in time.

I hope this post helps y'all next time you think about trading in your old car.

[bretfraz]

This is from a guy who's been in the car biz for 30+ years. He attends several auctions a week and has bought and sold thousands and thousands of cars.

........ Guides, are just that .....Guides.


It's a source of information to give you an idea, hopefully a good idea of what your vehicle "may" be worth , and you have to keep an open mind along with them.

But remember .. everyone has a "Clean, nice, well maintained, hi way mile only" vehicle ---- I have seen thousands of them.

The rub is -- all people think their vehicle is nicer and cleaner, than the last one .. the unfortunate thing is, they're not.

They have scratches on the front and rear fascias (that have to be repainted, to sell well) tires don't match, or they are all worn bad. The $200 dent on the trunk ..that you promised to fix 2 yrs ago, still sits there, and now it's starting to rust ... the burn holes from Uncle Ron in the back seat, the coffee and Coke stains in all the carpeting from road trips and the kids... all the oil mess in the trunk from when you got gas for the lawn mower .. the 10 inch scrape on the roof, for when you had used the family sedan for a 4 wheeler ...... etc, etc, etc.

Now in most peoples mind ... that vehicle only needs a car wash and a couple of touch ups --- but the reality is, it needs $4/500 of paint work.. new tires, interior work, a service and a $125 detail job ..plus someone to explain away those 50k miles on a 2 1/2 yr old vehicle -- so when it's done, the dealer, or yourself has just spent $1,000 on this "perfect" vehicle .. just to make it where it should be- average.

That why these information sources are called -- Guides --

Hopefully this info from an "insider" of the car bz sheds some light on used car valuations. Even if your car is literally perfect, the rules of the game apply to you just as they apply to someone who lets their kids use the car as a jungle gym and trash dump.

The business is what it is.