ccarbajal08

Hello:

I'm working on a deal with local Acura dealer. I want to trade in my TSX. I looked up the KKB prices and they looked decent. However, my dealer said that they don't go by that. I thought that was the sole purpose of KBB? Is this true. Any quick feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks!

-chris

Mongolian

Last time I traded my car in, my infiniti dealer went directly from KBB... They will never give you excellent. They will start with Good condition and you gotta haggle your trade in value that's between excellent and good.

Scrib

Wholesale value... What did they quote you?

ccarbajal08

with my miles/condition, kbb says $15k. dealers says 10k.

daemonicus

dealers are bull. there's a reason they're called "stealerships". between lease payments, trade ins, retail price sales, they're all just looking for one thing; to make a buck. your tsx may be worth 15k on KBB and 10k on nadaguides so guess what book they're going to use? you guessed it. although their financial theory is no different than any other business trying to make money, sometimes they're the worst.

why dont you try selling your car instead of trading in? you could make a lot more money that way.

SodaLuvr

Usually Galves value is what they go by.

If KBB says $15k for good, $10k with Galves seems "in the ballpark," even though I don't have the numbers in front of me.

Mokos23

I would try selling it too or take it to Carmax if you have one by you

Zippee

KBB is only a guide, actual trade in may vary a lot depending on the car, the local market and what the dealers used inventory is like.

They can give more trade but take less off the MSRP, doesn't make a whole lot of difference as the ONLY number that really matters is $$ difference, either cash or financed.

GreenMonster

Dealers will go by whatever book makes 'em the most money

Some say Nada, Galves, and Kbb, so you need to looks at 'em all and take it from there...

GreenMonster

Only thing I really care about is what the final cost "out of pocket" is gonna be...

They can mess with the numbers so many ways....

Do a search for - dealer four square - here and on google to start to learn about the numbers games they play...

Bdog

There are also two different NADA books. The one's a consumer can buy are blue, the dealer has a black one. If your dealing with a dealer you get the black books pricing.

F23A4

There is DEFINITELY no one bible in the auto retail market.

ccarbajal08

What do you think of this scenario: I found another Acura dealer that has a "trade value calculator" (it's kbb) on their website. When I go to actually trade, I should assume they are going by KBB because of that, yes?

Beltfed

Dealers for the most part go by Galves, some go by NADA.

Very few go by Edmunds or KBB (surprised that any do).

Ken1997TL

The dealer's inventory and local market conditions/preferences play the biggest role

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

The last few times I have looked into trading in a car the dealers went right to KBB.com in front of me, and offered me whatever the website said as the trade. This happened at both an Audi and Acura dealer.

But yeah, different dealers use different guides... and like Greenie said, they'll use whichever one makes them the most money. Personally I've never traded in a car... I'd rather sell it in the local paper or on eBay for thousands more myself then to give it to the dealer so they can make more money off of me.

Beltfed

With a trade, you have to take into consideration tax savings as well if you're getting another car.

Selling certain types of cars on ebay is a royal pain in the ass.

oonowindoo

if you only want to sell ur car and not buying a car from them, you should really haggle the price.

BUT if you are planning to trade it in for one of their cars... seriously... they can offer you ABOVE KBB value .. yet somehow somewhere they will get their $ back...


all they have to do is givng u less discount on the new car... but u would careless because you got a great deal (kbb or above kbb price) for your trade in...

trade in = dealer's advantage
Sell it privately = buyer's advantage

if you dont mind spending a few grand extra to save the hassle of selling ur car privately.. then trade in is the way to go....

Scrib

Am I missing something??? 10K for a 2004 TSX? Seems a bit low, even for wholesale, no?

minkl81

iTrader: (2)

most dealers go with trade in value from KBB. this acura dealer directly quoted my trade in from KBB. its worth more by selling it privately either in autotrader or craiglist

CL6

Even KBB says fewer than 5% of all cars are in 'excellent' condition. I love people who want 'excellent' condition for their car and invoice for the dealer's car! They are funny people.

You have to go by what the car fetches at auctions, which is usually around KBB 'fair' condition. The auctions are closer to real value than KBB is, which is just a guide.

GreenMonster

Yeah, even my 03 cls is listed w/ a trade in value of (just under) $15K on KBB...

Seems strange considering that CLS resale sucks (discontinued model) and the TSX has one of the better resale values in it's class

Scrib

yih...

Something is up.

chungkopi

they use black 'i'm gonna rip you off' book

bastards.

Shoofin

Kbb, Edmunds, etc...are all bull IMO. Their pricing only gives users an *idea* of what their car is worth, but ultimately some cars it would be waaay off, while some would be close. The closest KBB will get to Galves would be by rating your car in "fair" condition, even if the car is pristine, and the pricing should be close to what Galves is, if not a little more or less. Galves bases it's pricing on what the cars are going for in the dealer auctions. I ONLY use Galves, but it isn't always 100% accurate, sometimes cars could be worth more, sometimes less, all based on visually eyeballing the car, and also based on current conditions. When gas prices skyrocketed, most SUV's were selling for way below galves value (some 5k-8k below Galves). Ultimately it's the human eye and tactic that will decide the ultimate price, not merely a guide like KBB who will never see your car to know what it's realistically worth.

Here is Galves value, keep in mind that this is for a car that is in exceptional condition, with no dings, dents or scratches, having no body/paint work done, and generally nothing is needed (other than a detail) to buy and re-sell the car:
PRICE REPORT

..:: VEHICLE
2004 ACURA TSX


..:: DESCRIPTION
Engine Type: 2.4L 4 CYL
Body Style: 4 DOOR SEDAN
Vincode:

Standard Features: BOSE AUDIO STD
CD CHANGER STD
DUAL ZONE AUTOMATIC AC STD
FRONT SIDE AIR BAGS STD
LEATHER STD
MOON ROOF (POWER) STD


Base Price: @ 40,000 miles 17,400
Mileage: 40,000


..:: ADDS & DEDUCTS

As Equipped Price 17,400
Mileage Adjustment 0

GALVES VALUE 17,400


Tell me what your car looks like condition-wise, what your mileage is, and I'll give you a realistic ballpark to what you should expect to get for the car. Of course my numbers wouldn't mean anything until I am actually able to physically touch the car.

Shoofin

To confirm my comment about where galves gets their pricing from:

Auction Averages

For Week Ending Feb 12
-------------Above----Average----Below----Dec 2006--Aug 2006--Feb 2006
Sale Price-$19,788--$17,567---$15,346--$17,516---$18,946----$19,854
Mileage-----23,840----41,278----58,716----41,447-----37,392------30,550
Total Sold All--------------83---------------------63-----------56-----------34


Average Auction Mileage 41278

Prices are based on more transactions than shown under 'Transactions', above.
Feb 17 - Feb 24 2007
--------------Above---Average--Below----Mar 2007--Feb 2008
Auction----$19,000-$17,550--$16,050--$17,300---$15,850
Est. Retail-$21,000-$19,450-$17,850---$19,200---$17,600

Copyright © 1996-2006 Manheim Auctions V 4.1.3

Beltfed

No they don't, that's a fact.....why do you think that you can go on to Edmunds or KBB and get a free quote?

When with Galves, you have to pay $5 to get a quote.

That's because, most dealers go by Galves. They are the main authority on tradeins.

Why the fuck any dealer would seriously go by KBB is ridiculous, when KBB values are historically higher than most other valuations. Dealers who use KBB are in the far minority.

The reason so many people get their feelings hurt on tradeins, is because they look at KBB or Edmunds and run into the dealer......who uses Galves. They say "Hey, but KBB sais my car is worth X amount?" The dealer then sais "Go have KBB buy your car."

CL6

Yup Manheim auctions. That's a 'real world' quote and that's where the prices come from. Never heard of Galves but I'll check them out!

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

But sales tax in NC on cars is only 3%... so the tax savings are minimal on trades. Makes it much more worth my while to sell it myself. And so far, never had a problem selling on eBay