Nobody wants to sell me a car

R

Ramathorn

1,000+ Posts
I thought we were in an economic downturn? All I'm asking for is a little over invoice and I'd like the kbb value on my trade, that's it . I've contacted 4 dealers and I'm getting close to the same deal. They all say "kbb is bs, etc." I mean, I'm not being unreasonable.

I hear of people getting 5 k off of a 33k car, is that so difficult? I'd think that's reasonable for this day and age, but they're all blowing me off or not being proactive at least.
 
well, I could see that kbb prices may be higher than current market, given the economic state.

I would say **** kbb, check out local classifieds and try to figure what other people are asking for similar vehicles.

Then discount for trade-in vs. retail.
 
They will jump through hoops to sell you a car. But they aren't going to willingly take a trade that they can't turn or will lose money on. Most dealers are overloaded with trades they can't move.
 
I am solidly in the "buy a 1-3 year old vehicle with under 30k miles and pay cash for it" camp. There are other valid opinions, but this one will work well as long as you a.) find a good mechanic and b.) have that mechanic or a similarly trustworthy one fully inspect any vehicle prior to your purchase. I have been saved by that in the past.
 
Sounds like your problem is that you want to trade in. Dealers probably don't want the hassle of having to take your current car.

Call around and don't mention a trade and you might have much better luck.
 
Almost no dealership is going to pay kbb value for a trade in...none (unless they are really screwing you for the new car you're buying). Dealerships wanna make money off of used cars so they wanna buy them quickly and cheap to take the hassle off your hands.

If you wanna get the most from your used car, then you're going to have to sell it yourself.
 
i second CarMax.. When i bought a new car, i knew the dealership would low ball me.

So, I bought the new car at the dealership. Sold my old car at CarMax. Got over the KBB value. Although this was 18 months ago, so I would imagine things are a tad different now, but i would still look into it.
 
Dealers use black book pricing, blue book is really more a 'between individuals" price estimate.

Be patient and find a killer deal on a used car, if you want to drop 28K on a ride you can find a nice used one, and probably take a very small hit on depreciation in the coming year.
 
Rule number one about trading a car in: Never even mention that you're trading a car in. For all they know, you might be paying off the new car in cash.

You pick out the car you want to buy, test it, talk about options, haggle down the price to where you want it, and if you're good, you'll haggle it to the point where you don't have to rely on the trade in to get the overall cost effectiveness that you want. They're going to ask you several times about financing stuff and just pretend like you already have it taken care of. Once you have a price as low as you can get it, sign something that says you'll take it at that price.

Then you throw them a curveball and say something like "Well, I was going to just go to Carmax because they were going to give me xxx dollars for my old one." And you should low-ball the estimate way below Blue Book. This usually gets salesmen to go over and talk to the finance guys about what other "deals" they could make you. Since you already signed something saying you'll pay the price you want for the car, they're not going to come back at you with a higher one. Rather, they'll beat out "Carmax" by a couple hundred bucks, and you're much closer to Blue Book then.

It's probably the best deal you could get in this economy.
 
That's the good thing about having a car that's not worth trading in.

I'm just going to try to sell it on craigslist.
 
Being in the car business, it sounds like the problem is what's being traded in. What is your trade-in vehicle? what are you trying to buy?
 
i think i heard somewhere that most of the cars CarMax buys off individuals gets shipped to Mexico and sold there. I think CarMax can get the individual a better deal on your car than traditional dealers due to that business model.

So your 1991 Honda Accord is probably being driven around in Monterey somewhere right now.
 
The car business has changed and they lots are full, so they want to sell new cars, but they also may have too many used cars. They may not want your used car at all, or may not want to pay what you think it will bring. See what Carmax offers, then go back with that knowledge to try to make your deal. See what similar cars are being shopped in the newspaper and on Craigs List ads.
 
It must be your car as I just traded in a 2006 PT Cruise on a new one. I got one offer of $4,000.00 and one of $4,200.00 and KBB trade in fair was $4,225.00. I got about $3,500.00 off of list as I was buying a 2008 model. That was a month ago.

I wasn't planning on it, but after my 2007 Corolla got totaled out, I bought a 2009 Corolla for 20% off MSRP. That was only $400.00 more than I paid for the 2007 which was a CE and this one is a LE. Deals can be found. Hope this helps.
 
Car dealers don't make money by letting you walk away when they could of somehow moved a unit. Its obvious that if 3 dealers let you walk, you are unrealistic about what your trade is worth.
 
tbone, if they were only that far off, I would've taken it.


And, 1 of the dealers just emailed back. Bumped up the trade in offer after all.


Spoke to a dealer in NJ (not going all the way up there for a car), and he said the deals were "decent," but by no means a slam dunk.
 
Dealers are selling used cars at and below KBB trade in right now.

So, how do you expect them to give you, what they are selling them for?

The black books come out weekly and are put together based on local dealer auctions.....meaning, they are much more representative of what the actual value of the car is. The cash value of your trade in to the dealer is based off of what the dealer thinks they could liquidate it at auction for, 90 days after trade in.
 
I bought my current Pathfinder at CarMax 1 year used (almost 4 years ago). I took the car I had at the time to see what CarMax would offer. I had bought that 1 year used at an amazing price. The CarMax people said the car was in great shape, super low miles, great upgrades... and then offered me below Blue Book trade in. I laughed.

I bought the Pathfinder, didn't trade in the other. Listed the car on Craigslist, Statesman and AutoTrader. Got all of my hits off AutoTrader and sold it for $2500 more than what CarMax offered.

We bought my wife a CRV last November. We told the dealership we weren't trading in and worked from there. We listed her car on Craigslist (it's free) and AutoTrader. Got all of my hits off of Craigslist this time. None off AutoTrader. Sold it for $2000-3000 more than trade-in blue book value.

Unless you have no options, I have no idea why anyone would leave that much money on the table and not just sell it yourself.
 
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