Just took an 08 TL-S Alabaster Silver for a test drive today. It has 102K miles.

They are asking $13996, which is $15100 after taxes and fees

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...91003837&Log=0

Has 4 previous owners, no accidents, very clean (they detailed it ). It has fresh Nexen N7000 tires. spark plugs replaced but no timing belt service. oil, front brake pads replaced, rotors resurfaced, caliper bolts replaced, battery replaced.

They aren't willing to budge on price at all. of course they were pressuring me to buy it on the same day but i wanted a pre purchase inspection from my mechanic and also to negotiate on price. I cut the chit chat short because i was hitting the slopes that afternoon, but they are certainly going to follow up with me tomorrow morning. I think $15K for a 7 year old car is alot of cash and think they could knock at least $1500 off the price. am i wrong? i would have to get the timing belt and water pump serviced asap as the interval is up. also not a fan of the nexen tires. i have michelin premier a/s on my accord right now which are excellent tires and would like to get those if i got this TL-S as well.

thoughts on what i should be asking price wise? any issues i should be paying attention to or have my mechanic focus on if i take it for ppi?

NADA clean retail on the car is $16,400 (assuming it's 5AT) They're not asking 15k; they're asking 14. Taxes are inevitable and they're part of consumerism. And I never understood the X number of dollars is high for an X number of years old car mindset. Take away the generic theme and sure, 14k is a lot for a 7 year old Hyundai Elantra, but not a lot for a 7 year old Vette. Market dictates value and someone will buy that TL at 14k if you don't. Even adding in a grand for the impending 105k service keeps it well under retail.

That said, four owners is on the high side. If it is in fact a 5AT, look for a history of service on that in particular.

Took a look at the tranny fluid and doesn't look like it's ever been serviced according to carfax. I was concerned about that and I checked the condition of fluid first thing when i saw it. It doesn't have a burnt smell that some honda transmissions do, but it was definitely a darker color.

If you look at the car fax, it looks like someone purchased the car from a related subaru dealership and drove it for 3k miles before selling it to the ford dealership. it's another thing i'm concerned about.

offer them their asking price IF they throw in a 1-yr bumper-bumper warranty with no (or little) deductible. you get the car for a decent price and then drive the heck out of it. any problems should appear and be covered.

Check if the oil pump is seeping oil. Tell your mechanic too look there. My bet its leaking.
There's your $1500 off that price.

Anyone else notice the mismatch rear bumper? I would check all the VIN #'s on the body panels and see if they match up.

it's common on SSM/ASM and WDP.

I purchased MY MRP type s in Dec 14' at a Honda dealer auto 115k for $11,700 before taxes.They wanted $13,500 for it .One owner,clean cfax no tb/wp change as I did that a few weeks back.Had tranny serviced also shifts like butter.I wouldn't go too crazy over trans service.Do the 3x your good to go IMHO.

id keep looking for a car that has had less owners and the paint matches up lol

^^^^ This....

Thanks guys... I'll just keep looking unless they drop the sales price. Dealers were really pushy too and didn't like them too much. During test drive the dude yelled at me for gunning it to 60 in a 55 mph area... and when I left they blocked my car in with some of theirs that they were re arranging LOL. There's another one about 2 hours away with one owner, in nbp with all service records for a little cheaper that I'm going to check out later this week.