| lester123 |
Plan to buy a new MDX soon. After I negotiate a purchase price, I will then see what I can get on a trade for my 2002 model. From your experience, do they use something like "Black Book" values, taking age, mileage and condition into consideration? I feel my MDX is in excellent condition, but understand that a dealer will not rate it as such.
Any input/ experience would be appreciated. (I just went to CarMax and was disappointed that their offer was much lower than Black Book.) |
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| JeffK |
You posted:
From your experience, do they use something like "Black Book" values,
I believe you are talking about Blue Book.
taking age, mileage and condition into consideration?
You are correct.
I feel my MDX is in excellent condition, but understand that a dealer will not rate it as such.
Again correct.
To get a general idea about the value of your MDX go to: www.kbb.com
Use the Trade in Values, which approximate wholesale, which is what the dealer will offer you. Most dealers rate a care in excellent condition "Good" not "Excellent".
But keep in mind, that the values in KBB are from sales 30 to 45 days ago. With gas prices going through the roof, expect to get less for your MDX.
JeffK |
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| G. COLTON |
In many parts of the country the NADA values are closer to reality than Kelly.
G |
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| MDX4now |
When I shopped my 2003 around to different dealers in the Chicago area last year (including Car Max), the best I received was almost exactly "Fair" Blue Book Value.
Also note, my car was in very good condition, floor mats never used, washed almost every week, few if any dings, etc. etc.
I thought the first couple dealers were low balling me and then I started to notice a trend. C'est La Vie! |
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| adr5 |
| I recently traded in a car to get our 07 MDX, so I know how you feel. KBB.com was way off on what we were offered at three different dealers. I also checked out car cash and other similar places, they also all offered less. I traded in a Chrysler Town & Country and all of the dealers were going to do the same thing, sell it to a wholesaler. None were going to keep it to sell as used. I think if we had found a dealer that was going to keep it, we could have gotten more money. One thing I found interesting is that I would not have rated my car as excellent, but all the dealers said the car was great. My car had a few dings and small paint chips, but was otherwise sound. They all said that was normal wear and tear. If you have the time and you wan to get top dollar, try selling it on you own. |
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| JeffK |
Dear ADR:
Vs. KBB trade in value, as opposed to retail or private sale, how did you do on your Town and Country?
In other words, what was KBB trade in value and how did it compare to what you ultimately received? |
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| adr5 |
KBB said trade in was $18.7 for excellent,
$17.6 for good and $15.8 for fair. I would rate my car somewhere between excellent and good. So I was expecting to get about $18k. After a lot of haggling, I ended up getting $16.5. When you factor in the sales tax benefit, we got right about what we were expecting. But it would have been nice if KBB was more accurate. |
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| JeffK |
Seems to me that KBB was "right on".
As I previously posted, there is a delay of between 30 and 45 days in KBB. I also said that you usually get KBB Trade in value in "Good Condition".
KBB "Good" was $17,600. You received $16,500 - more than fair ($15,000) but less than good.
Factor in the time delay (additional depreciation) and you received 94% of the KBB "Good" condition.
Although you were disappointed, what you received seems like market value to me.
JeffK |
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| adr5 |
The reason I was dissappointed is that one of these dealers was using KBB retail prices on their used cars. I figured it KBB was good enough for them to determine their used car prices, it would be good enough to determine trade in value too.
Another dealer had a trade in value calculator on their web site. When I used it, it was actually higher than KBB, but again they came in much lower. Another thing I found odd was that a couple of the dealers asked how much we owed on the car before they gave us a trade in value. I didn't understand that. Why would it matter? |
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| JeffK |
You posted:
The reason I was dissappointed is that one of these dealers was using KBB retail prices on their used cars. I figured it KBB was good enough for them to determine their used car prices, it would be good enough to determine trade in value too.
Remember those are just asking prices! Everyone expects to bargain down. What they will take is an entirely different matter.
So reduce the asking price and figure the difference between what they paid you and what they will actually receive and you will be pretty close to KBB trade in and retail values.
Remember this is not an exact science - KBB is an indication to be used only as a guide.
JeffK |
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| ams_sim |
most dealers use black book, not kbb for tradeins. black book is considerably lower than kbb.It lists the wholesale auction prices. However, your final price on the tradein will depend on how much money dealer makes in the new car sale. If he has room in the profit, he will offer you more for tradein.
you should always negotiate your new car price as if no tradein involved. |
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| gotMDX |
quote:
Originally posted by lester123
Plan to buy a new MDX soon. After I negotiate a purchase price, I will then see what I can get on a trade for my 2002 model. From your experience, do they use something like "Black Book" values, taking age, mileage and condition into consideration? I feel my MDX is in excellent condition, but understand that a dealer will not rate it as such.
Any input/ experience would be appreciated. (I just went to CarMax and was disappointed that their offer was much lower than Black Book.)
I felt that my ex-X was better than fair condition but I wanted to get my new X ASAP! The dealer will buy it for $18750, which is base on wholesale auction prices(mentioned by ams_sim ). Dealer advised me to sell the X myself. Carmax will only give me a check for $18k. I really wanted to get close to the fair KBB trade in $$ which was about $21k then. Oh yeah, I got the base model, and to my surprise- the Acura tow package, bsm, roofrack, spoiler, and all aftermarket accessories I've installed were not considered as added value at all!:confused:
I took the dealer's advice. Fortunately, I was able to sell it privately for $21k! That's $2250 more for my new X's accessories!:2: I probably made more but I was really excited in getting my new ride!
If you really feel that your X is worth more, I suggest that you sell it yourself. I'm sure that someone will be interested in buying it especially if you kept all the maintenance records and obviously kept the car clean and is in good running condition. Good luck! |
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| G. COLTON |
"you should always negotiate your new car price as if no tradein involved."
This is the most important statement in this thread. |
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| lester123 |
| From my experience with several dealers, initially if they previously gave you a quote for a new MDX and you negotiated that, they will low ball you on the trade. Then you have to work hard to negotiate them up. Playing one dealer against the other really helps. Doing all this at the end of the month really helps too |
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| ncelk |
Selling it yourself usually works out IF you are not in a hurry to get a new vehicle. Dealers count on the fact that if you want a new car bad enough, you will take the hit on the old one, hence the low ball offers.
Carmax offers are pitiful based on my experience. |
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| adr5 |
| You should also keep in mind that there are also tax benefits to trading in your car. The taxable amount of your new vehicle is reduced by the trade in value. My trade was worth $16.5K and I saved $1300 in taxes. So keep that in mind when you are making a decision to trade in your car or sell it yourself. |
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