I am in Orl, FL and went to Courtesy Acura to try and get a deal on a NBP Acura TL 04' with A-spec. I own a Mitsubishi, Galant 02' and tried to get a trade in price on my car. Kelly Blue Book says my car is worth $8,280. The salesperson says I could only get $7,000 plus he said he added a $500 manager bonus that will go towards my trade in. I told him nots that acceptable because KBB says my car is worth more than that. The salesperson said they cant give me what kbb says because of maintense work, advertising, etc.. that needs to be done on the car before it gets put on the lot. I never heard of that before but he said he may get an additional $500 which will top trade value of $8,000. I let him go talk to his sales mgr. he comes back 5 mins later and says he can give me $8,000 for my car. Now my question is can the dealership charge me below kbb? Don't suppose to give me what my car is worth based on kbb trade in value??? I don't want to be lied to by a salesmen because he wants to get the most money from my pocket. Well thnx for your advice. ...

 

Many dealers use a "Black Book" to judge the value of your car, rather than KBB or Edmunds. Edmunds' "True Market Value" is the highest of the three, and no one I'm aware of actually uses that, the "Black Book" is the lowest. My dealer met me 1/2 way between KBB and Edmunds when I traded my 2G TL.

Frankly, you would do better to sell your own car as you'll get more money for it. If you're pressed for time, however, as I was when I made my deal, do try for higher for your trade.

Just so you know, the dealer really does have to do some maintenance work to a used car before it goes on their used car lot, so that's not bogus at some dealerships. Of course, they could just unload it to a wholesaler without doing anything....in fact my guess would be that's what happens most of the time. Someone more knowledgeable should comment on this...

 

Take a look at this website for some guidance on selling your car. They discuss the expenses your dealer wants to deduct to prep your trade-in:

http://www.carbuyingtips.com/selluse...3&y=0x71x71x62

If you have a Carmax in your area, see what they would give you for the car and you can see if your dealer is being fair.

If you can deduct the price of your trade-in from your TL purchase price, you can save on the sales tax you pay, so keep that in mind.

Here in NY most dealers use the Galves Guide to price your trade-in, and the value they list is much lower than KBB.

Does the dealer have your car, or will it have to be ordered for you? If you have to wait for the car to come in, be careful. I was given a trade-in value on my car and told I could use it for the 6 weeks it would take for my TL to arrive without any adjustment to the price I'd get for it. Then when I was ready to make the purchase, my trade-in was depreciated by $600! Here's the thread about my experience:

http://www.acura-tl.com/forum/showth...threadid=70877

Hope this helps!

 

rzwill2003,

Hopefully, you negotiated on the 04TL price before you started to talk about a trade-in. Otherwise, you don't really know how much your trade-in value really is. Since you're going to get a "bottom-line" differential price when you have a trade-in, the salesman can make your 04TL price look better at the expense of the trade-in, or vice-versa.

I always recommend negotiating the price of the new car first, so you know what you're getting it for. After that has been settled, I mention the trade-in and negotiate that value.

Remember, when you are trading in a car you have two separate business transactions going on, not one.

Good Luck!

 

One thing to remember is "unless" your a repeat customer or your trade in vehicle is in mint shape and an easy seller, dealers do not/will not give you the KBB value. As mentioned, used cars can be fast cash or high reliabilities for a dealer. What is nice to know is what the "wholesale" price of the vehicle is in your area. Most of the time a dealer will give you atleast wholesale or somewhere in between that and KBB prices. In the eyes of the dealer, your car could sit on the lot for weeks, and if it doesn't sell, auction or wholesale prices are all they will get. Thats why its always best if you can sell it privately yourself.
If they do give you $8000 trade for a car that lists for $8280 in KBB, thats not bad. Hopefully they aren't just tacking it on to the new car paperwork (somewhere).
Good job demanding more than $7000. Heaven knows they will low ball you hoping you don't debate..

 

The short answer is that your trade is worth only what the dealer is willing to pay for it. Don't get hung up with book values, they are only a historical snapshot of the price that similar cars have traded hands for. As the old industry adage goes..."books don't buy cars, people do."

If you think you are getting a bad deal, shop your trade around to a few dealers, and then try to sell it yourself if the value does not meet your expectations. Just make sure they are realistic.

 

If you get a great price on the 04 TL because the salesman thinks you're trading in a vehicle, find out what Carmax will give you and if it's higher, just tell the salesman AFTER he puts the 04 TL price down in writing that you want to sell it to another party.

They want to play the game, so play!

 

I've never been able to get KBB for my trade and they are usually low miles too. The dealer usually comes in about $1,000 lower saying thats what they go for at auction.

 

I've never had much luck on getting a KBB. When I traded in my 2000 bmw 328i... KBB says trade in is $25,0xx (private says $28,xxx). I went to 3 dealerships and the most they gave me was $21k... ouch!

 

I had a '97 Maxima with about 130k miles on it before this '04 TL. None of the dealers would give me more than $1200-$2000 or so on trade-in. I took it to CarMax and they gave me $4800 for it which was about $300 more than what kbb.com stated it was worth. They knew it and showed me the kbb.com online, too. I had gone in there thinking no way I'd get kbb value and ended up getting more than kbb.

 

On my 1996 Accord DX, 188k with 17inch kruz rims, it was totaled and I got 4000k for it plus the car... pretty good eh.

 

Dealers are ALWAYS going to low ball you NO MATTER WHAT! The guys above are right. Take it to carmax to discover the TRUE market value of your car. By the way, Kelly Blue Book is crap. It's not up to date at all. Not one single dealer goes by Kelly. They all use Galves or similar. They track WEEKLY auction prices from manhiem and the like. Such black books are NOT available to the general public without a big charge ($300 to $500 a subscription). Also keep in mind that you will ALWAYS think that your car is worth more than pretty much all buyers so keep an open mind. My last Benz (2001 w/28K miles CLK55 ///AMG) was Blue Booked @ $46,000. Dealer was only willing to give $37K. Carmax only offered $38K. I sold it to an individual for the bargain price of $41K. He was surprised he could get it that cheaply. I was surprised I couldn't get more. C'est La Vie!

 

Galves has a website, and they offer subscriptions to the public. You can get a 24 hr subscription for $5. They have longer-term rates too, of course.

 

My buddy had a Galant GTZ and he got hosed on the trade in. Despite what the KBB may say, the car does not hold its value worth sh** and it is a really difficult car for the dealer to sell. I'm sure the dealer would be a bit more fair if the car was one that was sold on their lot/was in demand. BTW, is the price you gave the wholesale or retail?? When I traded in my 01 CL-S, I got the price exactly in between those two numbers. Good luck

 

Also can get a week for $7.95 or a month for $14.95

They also have a review on the '04 TL

 

Interesting...
When I looked at the TL (not seriously at that point) the dealer said he would give me $4,000 for my 98 CL w/ 130k on it.

I figure I could haggle a bit if I was actually ready to buy on the spot. But unless I can get him up to $5k+ I'll keep it as an extra car for a couple years to keep mileage off the new TL.

FWIW, I don't know anyone who has been able to get KBB or Edmunds TMV for their car from a dealer. Even selling yourself doesn't get you what you would think.

The used car markets stinks right now. Lucky for me I keep cars for a while. If you don't you're better off leasing.

 

The dealer always gives you the impression you can get KBB when you initially inquire about the new car but when you get serious and are ready to start signing papers the tradin suddenly shrinks.

 

This doesn't apply in California right?

 

If you listed the details on your Galant I can tell you the maheim value of the car which is basically what the car is actually worth. NEVER plan on getting KBB for a car, it flat out doesn't happen.

 

Talked with an Acura dealer yesterday. He offered to sell an 04TL, Auto, no NAVI, for $32,500.00. Then offered $11,000 trade-in for my 2000 TL. Bought the 2000TL new, it is in great shape, no wrecks ever, been kept in the garage all its life, 52,000 miles. I think I'll just try to sell it myself.

 

I think the deal they were trying to make with you is terrible on both fronts. You should be able to get close to 1000 more off the new one and 2-3000 more for your old one. I would take your 2k to Carmax and see what they would do before trying to sell it privately and then go to another dealer to buy the new one FWIW

 

This is a valueable thread. I thought that KBB or Edmunds was a reliable guide and I could be firm with a dealer about trade value. Now it doesn't look that way. The spread between trade and private sale values for my car on KBB and Edmunds was small enough that trading it in to the dealer was worth the savings of time and effort to sell it privately, now I might have to reconsider. It probably also save me a few days of shopping around for a dealer who will give me a fair value for my old car because the reality is thqt no one will.

 

I have a friend who is a used car dealer. He checked with a wholesale auction company in Nashville and they sold a 2000 TL like mine the end of December for $13,600. This is an auction for dealers only. That is also the valuve KBB has for trade-in.

 

I just ran a Galves appraisal for my car and was pleasantly surprised. It was very close to the trade value of both Edmunds and KBB, all were near $2500 (95 Maxima with 157k miles). Unfortunately from what I've seen from everyone here I don't stand a chance to get this amount.