Question about trade-in

[wilson881]

I will be trading in my '02 Civic in a couple of weeks when my car arrives. When i went to negotiate at DVN Lexus, they told me they no longer use the black book value and offered me $3k for the car. That is the reason i walked out and bought a Mercedes C Class instead. Black book value shows low of $5.8k and high of $7.1k. What should i expect when its time to trade in my car?

[firechkn]

Since you already negotiated the purchase price of your new car without a trade-in, they have no incentive to give you much for your car if they even take it at all.

Your best bet is to sell privately.

[wilson881]

Yea, thats the problem of waiting for a car. Bought the car in October and still waiting for it to arrive. I'm hoping they give me at least the low black book value.

[firechkn]

It can't hurt to list it for sale, if all you want is the book value it shouldn't be a problem selling it. Just make sure it's clean, E-tested & Certified.

[mr_raider]

Civic or otherwise, nobody wants a used car these days, as values are falling. I got 5000$ for my 02 Sentra from Lexus last year, and I'm damn glad I got rid of it when I did. I doubt I'd get as much even on a private sale today.

[Jucius Maximus]

Since you already negotiated the purchase price of your new car without a trade-in, they have no incentive to give you much for your car if they even take it at all.

Your best bet is to sell privately.

+1, stealerships will try to "steal" your trade by offering you a low price and then building that price into the profit margin on the new car. You will probably come out ahead if you sell elsewhere.

[BigAl999]

The acura dealers in the Vancouver area are low balling on trade ins as well. Think about it... they are offering 10K off the bet for the MDX, 3K for the TL. How would this affect used car values? DOWN... possibly at the low end of the black book, or below! Even listing it as private sale might take a while to sell... in this crappy economy.

[rfdrfd]

You have to calculate on how much you need to sell it privately to make it worth it. Vs. trading it into the dealership.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both methods.

One bad thing about private sales are, you have to meet strangers, there is the danger of crashing when they test drive your car (and you get hurt), my friend's manual car tranny got messed up by a test driver, turns out he doesn't know how to drive manual cars.

Then ppl low ball you, or if you sell it to a friend, they keep on bugging you for problems later after the sale. Probably hate you for life.

Dealership will give you a low price, but you have no hassles afterwards.

Also, in calculating your "worth it to private sell or not", don't forget the price of the new car =

(New car - Trade in price ) * tax


So you save quite a bit on tax.

[AGR-1]

Are you referring to an 02 Civic SE Coupe?
Options, color, kilometers? Is a retail opportunity for a dealer or a wholesale car?

If one dealer offered you half of Black Book rough value a few months ago. What is wrong with the car?

With the new consumer regulations that will come into effect in approx 45 days all dealers will get very critical about all vehicles they will take in trade.

[wilson881]

Then ppl low ball you, or if you sell it to a friend, they keep on bugging you for problems later after the sale. Probably hate you for life.

So you save quite a bit on tax.

That's exactly why i'm not selling the car to my co-worker, i don't want to deal with any future problems and I definitely want to save on the tax. When i bought the car, i was told they will give me black book value. So i'm hoping they keep their word. At Audi, they offered me black book value, at the high end, but only if i buy the A3 on that day. The sales guy told me he had connections and had no problems getting rid of the civic for me. But than i didn't really like the A3.

The only time i got lowballed is from Lexus, $3k is ridiculous.

[wilson881]

Are you referring to an 02 Civic SE Coupe?
Options, color, kilometers? Is a retail opportunity for a dealer or a wholesale car?

If one dealer offered you half of Black Book rough value a few months ago. What is wrong with the car?

With the new consumer regulations that will come into effect in approx 45 days all dealers will get very critical about all vehicles they will take in trade.

I have the 02 Civic Sport 4dr Sedan
Auto, Black, 115k mileage

Their explanation at Lexus is due to their new prices closer to US prices. Example, IS250 dropped to $31,500 base. Since new cars are more affordable now, used cars are not worth as much. And thats why $3k.

[AGR-1]

Tell them its a Honda, its a Civic, its Black, its automatic, its got a Sunroof, low kilometers for a 7 year old car, and you need 7,000 plus your tax credit for the car to do a deal.

Start from 7,000 and see what happens...make sure you car has no accidents, get your own Car Proof report worth the money to negotiate a stronger value.

Provide a history of the car, since you have had the car, where was it serviced, etc.

Keep in mind that you are selling your car to the dealer.

[wilson881]

Tell them its a Honda, its a Civic, its Black, its automatic, its got a Sunroof, low kilometers for a 7 year old car, and you need 7,000 plus your tax credit for the car to do a deal.

Start from 7,000 and see what happens...make sure you car has no accidents, get your own Car Proof report worth the money to negotiate a stronger value.

Provide a history of the car, since you have had the car, where was it serviced, etc.

Keep in mind that you are selling your car to the dealer.

No sunroof, but thanks, i'll do that when its time to go pick up the car. I'll start with the high, they start with the low, and hopefully meet in the middle

[AGR-1]

Dealers must be concerned about losing sales that were done several months ago. Situations change very quickly these days, and most folks are more "economically concerned" now than a few month ago.

This plays to your advantage.

If the dealer is one of the "factory owned" stores, again it plays to your advantage, they have lots of $$$$ to pay for trade ins.

Last but not least, a Hyundai Genesis is a lot of car for the money, and you can use that as an additional negotiating variable. "A C Class is nice, but a Genesis is a lot of car for the money, they have exceptional leases, and are prepared to give me XXXX for my car".

Times have changed dramatically since Oct 2008 where even the prime minister did not see an economic problem, to recession plastered all over the media 20 times a day.

You should negotiate the entire transaction, and consider walking away if its not to your liking.

A dealer expects to get "renegotiated" from whatever deal they did back in Oct 2008 on an ordered vehicle.