I've been slackin' and also real busy during the holiday season that I never put a real ad out to sell my TSX. It's that time and I have to ditch her before xmas so I'm just about down with just trading her in and fuggit it all.

According to Edmunds, my 2004 ABP TSX 6mt Nav with 17K miles is worth ~$25K private sale and ~$22K dealer trade-in.

My dealer just appraised it for $21K even today. It's a bit lower than I hoped but he had me consider the Illinois tax break with vehicle trade-ins which basically works like this: MSRP OF NEW CAR - TRADE-IN VALUE OF TSX = TAXABLE FINAL SELLING PRICE OF NEW CAR. This essentially means I would not have to pay tax on $20,500 of the total price of my new car which comes out to roughly a $1800 savings. So salesguy is justifying it by saying I'm actually getting $21K + $1800 for my trade-in.

In a way he is right but I still think I'm getting robbed on the deal just because he knows how dead set I am on purchasing a car I've ordered since April. I hate how dealers capitalize on this and not to mention capitalize on the supposed tax break in IL. But time is ticking and it looks like I will be going that route. Oh well, it's my fault for being lazy about putting an ad up. The only ad I ever put up was on the black market forums on these boards.

 

You've ordered a 2005 Mercedes SLK55 AMG with Nav, and you're actually concerned about ~1k??????

Aside from my jelousy, , it does seem the dealer is taking advantage of your situation. Wish I could offer better advice.

Have fun with the MB!

 

such trival matters for the rich.....


Sad to see a TSX owner go....Have fun with your new purchase!!!

 

Hey $1K is still $1K... if I drop a dollar at the wendy's drivethru into the wind, you bet yer ass I'm getting out of the car to chase that fvcker down.
Besides it's holiday season and I still have a lot of presents to buy and not to mention other ridiculous expenses I care not mention, so every penny counts.

 

what u do... u gotta nice fleet of cars there

 

Total by the dealer - it's the state that is saving you the money on the trade not the dealer. Just like shopping for the car - try to get quotes from other dealers on the trade.

Biker, who is looking for this exact car but is not buying just yet.

 

Ain't that the truth!

 

Man, if you're going to just trade it in for 21Gs, you should help the Acurazine TSX community by listing it for the price of 22 or 23Gs. That should spark some interest. I mean, I would be interested if it were CG or NBP.

 

Judging by your list of cars, I really don't think I need to tell you that dealerships exist to make money. Offering you $21K seems like a reasonable amount of money; I don't think they're screwing you, but at the same time, they are attempting to buy the car at a price that will allow them to advertise/market/sell it and make some $.

The real question is: Do you think that you could sell it on your own for more than $22.8K, and if so, how much more? Given some time, I would think you could; the highest resale on eBay in the last 60 days was a NBP/6MT/Nav/OEM Kit/21K miles for $24,249, but that was from a dealer, and people generally pay a little more from a dealer than private. Plus it has the body kit. If you factor out those things, then that car went for around 23K. Given that scenario, I would not hesitate to trade it in. A couple hundred isn't worth the trouble of dealing with private buyers.

I also noticed in your Black Market ad that you had the extended warranty. If you trade it in, you can cancel the warranty and recoup most of your purchase price-at least under CT insurance law. Is it different where you are?

Anyway, good luck and enjoy the Benzi........

 

Basically the dealer is also getting the benefit of your tax break.

 

about a month back I was toying with the idea of trading in my TSX for a RX-8 when I found out insurance companies consider the RX-8 a 4-door and I would be paying the same amount in car insurance. I found on KBB that my trade-in value for an '04 TSX with 5,600 miles would be $24,900.
When I went to the dealer and he appraised it, he offered me $21000. I said there is no way I can live with that. We went through a process of haggling, and the offer kept going up. Eventually I left the dealer, and the next day he calls me and offers me $24,900 for the trade in. So if you can wait, I'm sure they will bring it up to the price you want especially if you are buying a Benz from them.

 

Your dealer's argument is essentially this: "You can afford for me to rip you off because you are getting a tax break."
You are entitled to a fair trade in value for your car AND the tax break.

 

I would say on the dealers line. He is trying to have them benefit from the tax break, not you. Its the law, you are entitled to it, its not like he is giving you the tax break. I would search around.

 

I think the first problem is you are using Edmunds as a reference. Yeah, it's good to look at if you are in the market to BUY a car, but I have never seen a dealer use Edmunds to give quotes on a trade. It's either KBB, or NADA. You might wanna start there and look at values.
I wouldn't settle for anything too low, most dealers will bring up the trade by a grand, cause they are gonna try and take you for two grand, at least.

 

Your salesman is right... AND wrong. Rather than give you some tax BS, he should just give the story to you straight.

When you trade in a car at a dealership, they don't care about "book value" at all. Anymore, the value of a trade is decided by what similar models are going for at auctions. KBB and Edmunds adjust their info from these auctions, but may be off, especially Edmunds since they only update according to auction once per month.

 

Out here in CA Dealers don't even bother to explain why they don't need to take into account Kelly Blue Book. Iwas trading in my S2000 and KBB said $24400 Dealers said $21000? Can you say price fixing?

If I was KBB I'd target a couple of dealers, various brands and try to start a purchasing and service boycott. That's only if they want to save thier business Or maybe we should find a good trail lawyer and do a class action suit

 

If you're willing to trade it in at the dealer at that price, why not consider selling privately at a much cheaper price? Say, 23k?

I'm sure there will be more than one takers.

 

The numbers offered by KBB should be taken with a grain of salt.

The bottom line is that you should buy a car [you like/want] and stick with it. If you're fickle and want to change every year or so, then you must PAY. Much like those who trade in their wives for something new.

 

acutally...dealers go by galves wholesale value.

this is their website
www.galves.com

you have to pay to access any information though

 

Odd, with the past 8 car purchases I traded in 5, and sold 2 on my own. Everytime I go to a dealer and they give me a trade in number, I ask them where they got it and make them show it to me in black and white. They show me KBB mostly, but will use NADA as well. That is where I came w/ them trying to take someone by 2K. I think once I was given blue book price from the start, every other time it was them trying to take me for a ride.
Needless to say, as long as I get payoff, regardless of what blue book is, I am happy. I never put money down on cars, cause I never keep them.
Never heard of galves till now.

 

because if I can only sell it privately for 23K, I might as well trade it in to the stealer for $21K plus $1800 tax credit. The one redeeming thing about the dealer is that there's no hassle. I simply drive the TSX over, give them the keys and title, they give me my new keys, done and done. If I'm going to go through the trouble of selling privately with all the negtotiating, taking time to show/give test drives, putting up ads, answering phone inquiries, etc, etc, I should at least get a better selling price. Agree? Which is why I'm aiming for around $24-25K.... otherwise, it's not worth the hassle, which now looks to be the case.

 

NADA huh? Well I just tried it, and it looks like online appraisal comes up blank because perhaps the TSX is too new of a model.

So I tried KBB and for my mileage and transmission, it lists a trade-in value of $22,650.

Now I feel better. My dealer is offering my $21K. It's not that far off I guess. I can live with that trade-in price if it means I don't have to deal with anything else.

 

Actually, I don't really have a choice in the matter when it comes to which dealer I trade-in with. I've been on the list since early this year, mananged to get the #1 spot on a 10 person wait list (only 1 car allocated every month if that) and if I tell them to go F themselves on the crappy trade-in offer, they'll just as easily sell the car I ordered and spec'd to the next person in line who would be more than happy to take it. Then I'd have to get on the bottom of the list elsewhere and not get my car for another year at the earliest. Basically, they've got me by the balls and they know it.