Just spoke w/ a couple of dealers and all of them quoted trade in values around 18K for my 2002 TypeS w/ 18K miles! Yes, it is a dealer, but good lord, 15K depreciation from MSRP in 15mos is crazy! Glad I leased so that AMHFC can eat the huge depreciation hit in the end (at least the difference between the depreciation I pay for in the lease, and what they will be able to sell it for).

 

Damm, I got $9200 for my 8 year old Legend Coupe as a trade in at the dealer.

 

They are using the 'end of the model' angle on you. They tried the same shit on me this week when I looked at an 03. Any time they stop making a car, it depreciates(according to the dealer). I don't think that's the case with our cars. But...they're going to blow that smoke up anyone's ass who's willing to listen.

CASE IN POINT...they had an 01 CLS on the lot w/45K miles selling for $24K... Doesn't sound like they believe their own bullshit...

Sell it in the paper or Autotrader, you'll do much better. An 02 should go for $22-24K easy.

 

damn....i was going to trade in my car to the dealer for 16,200....01 CLS wihtout navi with 41000 miles.

 

Sell your car privately. I put an add in autotrader.com back in January for $23,000 and sold the car to the first caller 3 days later for $22,500. I had a 2001 Satin Silver CL-S w/ 28,500 miles. The only options were: spoiler, mudflaps, cargo net, wheel locks, moonroof visor.

The only reason I would trade in a car is to get a tax-break on the new car purchase. Sometimes it may be worth it if the tax break makes up the difference in selling price from dealer and private. YMMV.

 

yea, the dealers are raping people. I know a few people who have got under 18K for it!

 

It's a racket reinforced by auto auctions. Dealers "complain" that they have to wholsale a car at auction since they don't sell "your brand". This despite the fact they own other "your brand" dealerships that sell what you trade in. If they do sell "your brand" they'll complain it isn't "being made any more". Watch what happens when Acura has to turn away customers wanting a 2 door luxury coupe. Our value goes up. Better off to sell unless you get good with timing and taxes.

 

yup, the CL-S trade in is absolutely disgusting. 6 weeks ago i got 19,750 for my 2002 CL-S with 11k miles on it. i was appalled. but what can you do, its a discontinued, poor selling model, regardless of how much we like it, those are the facts.

 

Those are clearly not the facts...You have to sell it yourself. You cannot believe the dealers crap, they are using the situation against us(as dealers always do)... Our cars are not de-valueing in any speacial way in the real world. Any one who buys the dealers crap is mis-informed & just wants a new car more than they need their money. Auction numbers are still very high for our cars...that's the true indicator of their worth, not what the dealer blows up our butts. In fact, CL's are EXTREMELY rare at auction even now...3 yrs after they came into the market............

 

Obviously Jim could not or did not want to hassle with selling the car himself, but that's a huge loss on a one year old car. The dealers will tell you whatever it takes to get the deal they want. If you drive an Acura and come in wanting another one, just bend over.

If you're trading in, "it's a discontinued car no one wants."
If you're buying, "it's a discontinued car that is hard to find and very rare, we can't get any more."
Oh, yea??? look over on the used lot bozo!

 

This doesn't sound right. Go to www.edmunds.com and answer the questions regarding used car values. Last time I checked, they couldn't answer what the value would be on a 2003 because of lack of information. How do the dealers figure this out if you're trading in a 2003? You'd better be sharp that's how. I know you'll get info on the 2002.

 

I don't want anyone accusing me of sticking up for the dealers, believe me, I am not. But there is something more universal going on here, and it is affecting damn near everybody. It is called zero percent down financing!

ZPDF poses an interesting question. Would you buy a brand new car, and pay for over a term of years only what you borrowed? Or, would you pay 2 or 3 thousand less for a one year old used car and pay, say 8 percent financing for 3, 4, 5 years?

Many people choose the former over the latter, and the result is a glutted used car market. If more used cars are available than there is demand for, the value drops.

Case in point. My dad has a 2000 Dodge Caravan ES with EVERYTHING on it, except 4 wheel drive, and I do not even know if that is an option. Rear heater, even a spoiler! 35,000 miles on a four year old car. Not a nick on the damn thing. Now remember, this is the most popular minivan out there. The window on the car new was essentially $36,000. Dad shopped for an 03 with the same equipment.

Now figuring 3 or 4 thousand dollars depreciation per year, the car should be able to be worth $24,000 to $20,000 minimum, correct? Two Dodge dealers, and 1 honda dealer (I tried to get him to get the oddysey) offered him a trade in value of $9,200, 9,000 and 8,800 respectively. This is total bullshit in our minds, but from a business point of view (from the theiving car dealers), this makes perfect business sense. Supply and demand, that is all that this is.

I am no economic guru by any means, but think of the implications of this: ZPDF encourages new car buying, flooding the used market. The median age of how long people keep a car is probably decreasing. That means, as a whole, we all have newer and (theoretically) more reliable cars. Which means, sooner or later, the dealers will have almost no market to sell to!

Although I am an American and proud of it, this ZPDF strategy is typical short sighted corporate strategy to improve the bottom line for the next reporting period regarding sales. This is going to be like the stock market when Pres. Bush took over, a crash is coming. Nothing goes up forever, except the price of new cars and gasoline.

I have bought 7 new acuras since 1992, and have never traded over 50,000 miles. I wanted to leave some warranty for the next guy, thinking Honda will bear the cost if something goes wrong, not the used customer, not the dealer. My median trade age and mileage is probably 20 months, and 22,000 miles or so.

I can forsee that the landscape of buying a new/used car will change soon. Until things "sort out", I plan on keeping my 03CLS6 for a while. maybe quite a while. Just a cautionary note here, if we do reach the "saturation point", when relatively new trade ins have absurdely low values, there will be almost no reason to buy new cars, and cars are a big part of this economy.

If you think the countrys current economic policy is in dire straights, just wait! No new cars, lotsa empty job slots to fill. 2,400,000 jobs lost (so far) in this administration, and we are half way home. It is NOT the current government's fault. The carmakers, in order to keep the punch presses going and the bottom line growing, have put a gun to their own heads, and yours and mine, indirectly.

 

At edmunds, I just apraised my CLS with 45000 miles.. NAV... $18k to $22K. from the Trade-in to Certified by dealer..

 

I got $22K for the my 02, with the same milage in Feburay. Did they go down that much in 2 months!

 

Mileage plays a big factor when trading in a car. How well its maintained. I got 20k for 01 with 11200 miles plus the tax savings of $1287 on the new car. Dealer take the tax savings into consideration when giving out trade figures. High mileage kills the trade value. You also need to fight because they started out with 18900 on my car and told them to kiss my arss and if they could not come up with 20k and 20500 there was going to be no deal. It took fuck..... 30 minutes to get the right figure plus $500 off the new03 6spd. at 27499.

 

heh, don't feel too bad. My dads Range Rover HSE is only worth $35k according to KBB. And he purchased it for $70k+ loaded.

It's a 01, go look it up... scary

 

Yeah, it's pretty ugly if you wanna sell an '01 or '02 CL. But regardless (MOSTLY) of what car you buy, you take it in the arse if you sell in the first couple years...

Edmunds.com ---



Year
2002
Trade-In - $18,621 - $20,278
Private Party - $19,665 - $21,414
Dealer Retail - $21,404 - $23,308

Year
2001
Trade-In - $16,135 - $17,499
Private Party - $17,615 - $19,105
Dealer Retail - $18,982 - $20,587