I purchased Certified used '04 TL 6MT non-Navi with 13100 miles for $28600 plus taxes etc. The car is only 13 month old. I also qualified for %4.49 interest rate. Did I do a good deal? Thanks for opinions

 

Retail according to KBB is $32,415
Private Party value according to KBB is $29,145

So I would say you did decent.

 

Mlody - I was in your situation a few months ago, buy used or go new. I decided to buy new. To me, I found it to be worth the differance of $4,000 (offered a new 05TL/6MT/NAVI for $32.5k), to be able to drive the car for that extra year, and 13,000 miles, and drive it from day 1.

 

This is the logic I used when getting the used car (and other used cars as well)

With Acura Certified warranty my bumper to bumper warranty is ONLY 1 month shorter (the car is only 13 months old) and my power train warranty is actually longer than on the new car.

In addition I do not have to go through a paranoia about the brand new car (there are already just few scratches etc) so I can actually sleep better.

Second thing for me is that the original owner had already addressed most of the annoying issues and concerns about the car, so I do not have to hassle (actually I can enjoy the car) and actually me ownerships experience is better than most of the brand new users experience!

Third, the car is already broken in – so I can enjoy a better mileage right from the bat, plus full throttle when I want without waiting the first 600-1000 miles.

So paying $4000 for extra 13k miles, better color choice, brand new car paranoia, issues, problems etc are definitely not worth for me.

Thanks for the opinion.

 

Mlody, you got an excellent deal.

 

I would be skpetical of any book value you see out there. It sounds as if that is about 5k off the list. I would My thoughts are the 06s are coming out, if you cannot get one already and that car is 2 years old... Sure mileage might not be, but....

Kelly says that car in excellent condition (which about 5% of all cars might fall in to) is about 25325 (tradein). Of course dealer retail is abut 31 or so which is a joke since they can sell them new about a grand higher..

One other thing is that the blue book value can change since the 06s may not technically be out but will be in about a month. The cut over for pricing does not take that into account. The Blue Book for an 04 in january of 05 was probably what you paid.. But as the year goes on the blue book does not take into account that the car is fast becoming 2 years old.

As for certified... At 13K they probably just detailed the car and that was about it. It did not need any reconditioning. My thoughts would be an 05 is worth 28 and the 04s are worth less.

My concern would be that the car could have some issues since it is used with so few miles on it...

And when you go to trade in the car the dealer will say the blue book values are way over rated for the residual value. However when you go to buy used they like to think that the value is right up there... I have seen that first hand...

 

Mickey3c – thanks for a good evaluation and explanation. I know that I could probably push the deal down to $28000 or even few hundreds less, but seeing that only 2 6MT Certified with low mileage were available in 250 miles radius, I did not wanted to loose the deal as well. If I were to look for a brand new one, it would cost me significantly more, (around $4000 for the car itself), plus more tax, and not so great interest rates so everything together could easily push the price by more than $5000.

I think buying a car that is certified chances of getting a bad car is less likely to occur. Certification gives an assurance that the car did not have a major damage or repairs while buying a regular used car (with remaining warranty) does not give any of the assurance that certification does even though the dealer did not do much reconditioning.

I try to not think about this and just start enjoying the car which I am looking to keep till the wheels fall apart.

 

well if you did your home work and cannot do better than it might be a good idea.. or... see what the 05 are selling for in a month or so (if you do not need a car right away). There is a good chance you can get an 05 with the same mileage. Or maybe that 04 will be still around... all a chance...

The only thing about a new car is that they might offer longer financing or a lower rate. I have been paying cash for mine, but when I was not able to... they offered longer terms and better interest rates in new cars vs used.

And not to be a skeptic, but it is certified to acura's standards... If there is a problem like brakes at 13,000 they get fixed. If they need to be again at 26000 that might be your expense.

Good luck whatever you do. Acuras are more to insure and if you pay excise tax than it could cost a pretty penny..

Also... you can buy a lot of new cars at 28,000... keep that in mind. 06 accord and a number of others. That can make a bif difference down the road.