fast-tl

A Dallas dealer is aking $32.5K for an '04 w/Nav that has less than 2K miles. He has 2 of them. What's an acceptable price of a car in this condition? One was a program car, not sure about the other.

DarkWraith33

Some people paid that for their new 05's... Doesn't sound at all like a "you can't pass this up" deal at all... Keep looking...

fast-tl

Thanks. Of course, that's the asking price. Any thoughts on what they SHOULD let it go for?

dgracer

Run a kbb.com search for used car values with this vehicle. That will give you a guideline.

fast-tl

Around $34K or so retail (what you'd expect to find at a dealer) But I recall seeing new '05s WITH NAV for $33.5K. That's why I was wondering what these used '04s with less than 2k miles SHOULD go for. It's tough because they're so "new"

fast-tl

$31,515 private party
$34,385 retail

both numbers from kbb.com
Do they sound like reliable numbers?

mickey3c

5 K off... it is used... and will be 2 years old in just 6 months... I would buy new if they are not willing to drop it at least 4 k less than new

fast-tl

27500 then for a 2004 with NAV and maybe 1700 miles?

Contivity

Try 32.5K OTD (that's if you have about 8-9% tax)

fast-tl

That sounds more like it. I could try that, especially since neither of the two is my favorite color combo anyway. The normal sales tax in Dallas is 8.25% but on cars it's 6.5% if I recall correctly.

fast-tl

Well, ouch. My '00TL with Navi, chrome wheels and factory wing has a tad over 102K on the clock. The dealer today quoted $7500 for trade, maaayyyybe $8K. My payoff is about $15K. Even with 10% down ($3200) on the '04 I want, there's too much negative equity to roll into the newer TL. What happened to the TL's residual being like 50+% after four years? This is more like 25%. Makes you wanna park it on the side of the road and walk away, bit I digress. I wasn't about to kick out a larger down payment just to cover the negative equity, so no deal. Oh well, I'll just wait maybe until my '00 is paid off and then I'll be be better off. A little disappointed, but right now it's now financially wise.

neuronbob

Just remember:

a) The dealer won't give you a fair deal on a trade, you could get more out of selling it privately. If you're serious about buying one of those '04s, try selling it yourself. I admit not doing this, but I had less than 1k negative equity on my '02 when I traded for the '04 and could get away with it.

b) With that mileage, a 4-year-old car is sure to take a hit in appreciation. You should run your car through kbb.com or edmunds.com to get a halfway decent idea about what the car is worth.

The best option, though, is to wait until your '00 is paid off and buy one of those 2006 TLs people are so excited about (even though we don't know what's in them yet )

fast-tl

I think your best option is my best option, too. It's not as if my well-maintained '00 is a penalty box. Both it and our '99 Expedition will be paid off within months of each other, so I may even be able to afford something nicer than the TL. We don't plan to replace the Expedition until necessary, so once both vehicles are paid off, that's $1100+ cushion back into the budget!
Thanks for the advice.

BTW, KBB shows about $8500 for my year, mileage, condition and options. The salesman tried to impress upon me that having to sell my car to a wholesaler is what reduced the price. Selling it privately isn't an option due to the negative equity; of course the car is securing the loan! to being upside down!