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Capitalism Posted by Ari [Email]  (#2847) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Ari) on Fri, 8 Sep 2006 11:48:11
In Reply to: Used Saab Pricing, PB, Thu, 7 Sep 2006 21:08:37 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
Buy low and sell high.
The dealer wants to sell you a new car. To do that, he'll take your car in trade. Now, he may very well be able to sell it for a profit. There is another dealer LISTING a used car for just under $12K. He may very well sell it for that price. He may very well not. He probably has built in some bargaining room.
In defense of the dealer, he has some reconditioning costs, and he is taking on some risk. I don't know about Canada, but in the US most dealer sold used cars come with some sort of warranty, or are listed As-Is. So there is some exposure that the dealer will sell the car, and 1000 miles later the engine grenades.
When doing a trade-in, you are buying convienience. No hassle, no need to put ads in the paper, deal with the great unwashed that want to buy your car. Licensing is usually taken care of - one car swapped for another. I don't know how taxes work where you are, but in the US, in most cases you pay sales tax on the difference in price between the new car and the trade-in.
But the bottom line is that the dealer is offering you a price. You have the right to say no. You don't need to sell him the car. Maybe he doesn't want the car - it is a condition/mileage he doesn't want on his lot. In which case he'll just wholesale it out, and trust me, the prices on wholesale cars is not high.
If you find you don't like the trade in, you can do a clean deal - buy the new car, and sell the old car on your own. I've done it when there was a big enough difference between the trade-in and what I knew I could get for it. But when it comes to used car prices, don't go by what a dealer is charging for a used car. I expect to pay more for a car at a dealer, because there is usually some level of warranty involved. (again, US experience)
When it comes to prices for used cars, look in the paper for private sellers. Go look at cars - check mileage and condition, as many times the ad is, well, misleading on both. (Best example - the ad said 50K miles and great condition, the truth - the engine has 150K miles, replacing the original that just blew up, the body 120K, and the tranny only 50K. Condition was great, if it was night in an unlighted parking lot, in the rain). Get a feeling of how flexible the seller is in price. And check a bunch of cars. That will give you an idea of price. And if a car is in the paper for 2 months, it is overpriced.
If all that seems like a lot of work, trade it in. The dealer can ask or offer whatever he/she/it wants. And you can always refuse.
posted by 192.249....
, Fri, 8 Sep 2006 14:35:33, Fri, 8 Sep 2006 11:48:11 <-- Viewing This Message
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