cob3683

bitch.

On Friday night, I decided that after 7 months, I am going to go ahead and get rid of the Tahoe for a "car" again. Well, after 2 hours at the BMW dealer Saturday afternoon, everything looked good. I had talked them down $1800 on an 08 335i coupe (premium, sport, auto, paddle shifters) and was happy with the terms. The last little bit of info was to determine my trade-in value on the Tahoe (which they had already starting about 30 min prior). I figured, absolute worst case scenario, was in the $32,000 range. Fully loaded 2007, 3500 miles, spotless, $48,000 sticker...I thought that would be the absolute worst case scenario. Boy was I wrong. I was offered $29,000 (the dealer tacked on an extra $1500 since my family has bought a few cars from them over the last few years).

Well, I thought about it, said "no thanks," and went to grab some lunch. After that, I have always wanted to drive an A3 so I drove to the Audi dealer to take one for a spin. All I can say is that it really impressed me. It felt faster than the GTI I drove a few months ago and was really a solid car. So, naturally, I started negotiating.....again. Got the price I wanted on the A3 and felt pretty good for the 2nd time in 3 hours about driving something different home that afternoon. Then the trade-in offer came in....$24,500. Talk about a swift kick to the nuts.

So now I am back to square one in the car situation until I figure out what to do with the Tahoe.

Word of advice to the kiddies out there: Don't own a gas guzzling SUV during a tight economy and high gas prices.

AZuser

Maybe a private sale instead?

Trade-in will almost always kill you.

Wisc Badger

Did you go to Carmax yet?

Thats usually the 1st place I go so I can get some leverage on the dealerships if they lowball me on the trade.

I also don't talk price until I know what the trade in value is.

You know that they slide one way or the other with trades... either great trade in value but they won't budge much on the sticker or the other way around.

Maybe try selling it yourself so you don't have to deal with it at the dealerships then all you have to do is talk them down on the sticker price of the new car.

either way, GL... I love my new 328xi sedan. A 335i should be a sweet pickup, A3's are nice too with the S-Line package.

ChrisQ1980

That's insane. Good luck

TSXey

Well I hope it turns out OK for you. Too bad about the big hit.

I guess what I learned from this is that I can get a damn good deal on a fully loaded Tahoe, practically brand new, still not broken in, still smells new ...for mid $20k range = sounds like a good deal if I need a car like that.

jz-97-c7

i got my american suv kick in the nuts when i traded in my durango. i know all too well, those things tank in value

stangg172004

yeah our 05 V8 Touareg with Navi is worth 24k now, sucks balls. You wanna get rid of it cause of the gas but it hurts to lose so much money...

gdubb

Sorry to hear, like I said in my other thread my buddys 07 LTZ suburban was not worth shit on trade in either. Good Luck man

1killercls

and yet people still line up to buy these things...

Black Tire

you know teh saying..."cars are the worst investment you'll ever make".
I have read that if you mod a car, the worse the depreciation. Best to keep it stock if your planning to trade it in.

keg1997

Those trade-in's are awful, but you hit the nail on the head. You have a large SUV in a tight economy with uncertain energy prices. If you had a Prius- different story.

Plus, Chevy is still dealing with the perception of their resale values. The American makes are the yard sale of cars....advertise for 45K and my first offer will be 40K, no matter if 45K is a fair and reasonable price. Plus, when you put 3K on the hood and are selling them at/below invoice, you're screwing your values. Sticker price means nothing.

Good luck....

Crazy Bimmer

Well the Tahoe was an impluse buy if i remember correctly, so dont do that mistake again with the A3.

Sell the tahoe privately and order a 335i. Will take longer but at least you will most likely keep it longer than 6 months. So in the end its worth the wait.

spdy0001

I don't think this is really the case much any more

Even in the middle of a northeast winter most dealer lots around here have had the same SUV's sitting on the lot for a long time. Most of which have sale stickers in the windshields. I think some people are finally tired of paying for the gas

F23A4

I recently inquired with a local dealer as to how much TIV I would get for my 05 Murano (SL AWD, Touring pkg, 32k) and was told $17k (MAX). The last time I traded a car was in 2000 (Villager --> Quest), I forgot how bad the trade-in hit was. (Fortunately for me, my mother in law is in love with our request and wants to buy out our lease at the end of this year.)



My son is finding this out firsthand: he has a 1998 Civic EX with a turbokit and wants to trade into a 5.5G Maxima, Altima 3.5SE (3G variety) or 3G TL-S. The best bet on selling a modded car is private party sale.

AMGala

iTrader: (4)

That's why I don't see the point of buying a new car, unless you are going to drive it until it dies.

achenator

Many people buy trucks and suv's if they own a business just for the tax deduction.

GreenMonster

Fibonacci

Nothing like a little lesson in Applied Economics to educate your future decision making process in auto ownership.

Your Tahoe certainly won't appreciate like fine wine, so if you are committed to making the change back to small carville, just bite the bullet and do it.

fsttyms1

Actually i wouldnt even talk about trade in at all till the end. I would negotiate the best deal i could, get that firm, then at the end throw in the oh yea i have this to trade in, that way they dont try to factor that into the deal of the car. Do some research and find out what good trade is on what you have and stay firm.

dallison

that's what i tell people, never buy a domestic suv new, never. wait like 2 or 3 years, but then iwould still buy an import.

joerockt

The ultimate thread.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

Even then I probably wouldn't buy new. A nice one year old with 10k or so miles will do just fine. Let the first owner take the kick to the nuts...




Funny but true....

iTimmy

The first year is terrible, in particular if you don't buy right, but its a valuable lesson learned. Besides with the price of gas rumored to reach $5/gallon this summer I'd dump it while you can.

BC2G

carmax makes their money off suckers trading in their car for cheap...

they'd prolly offer him 20,000 for the damn truck..

cob3683

I am going to order the 335i this week. The dealer who I bought the Tahoe from has a buyer in the $33,500 range so that is acceptable with me. Considering the purchase price was $41000ish (gotta love GMS & rebates), I am ok with this.

Still shocked at the offers though given the state of the Tahoe.

Wisc Badger

congrats.... you'll love the bimmer.

glad youre getting a little bit more for the trade.

cob3683

For the record, the 335i will be a lease. Worked it out to be around $550/mo, 39 mos, with the equity built up from the Tahoe used as a down payment and first 6 mos of payments.

After working up the lease vs buy (60 mo finance), the lease just makes sense.

Crazy Bimmer

First 6 months payment is the multiple security deposit?

And of course congrats!

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

Weird... around here CarMax usually beats the dealers trade in offers. Sometimes by quite a bit.

joerockt

What's acceptable? He just told you he has a buyer in that range. Doesnt mean that's what he's going to give you.

Congrats on the 335...By the way, how does one go from needing a Tahoe 7 months ago to a Coupe??

Wisc Badger

it depends on where you are and how the market is. also the demand of the specific car you have.

carmax is usually a good basis, sometimes lower, sometimes higher but if its higher then you can always whip out the offer at the dealership and make them come up.

I also always lie and say "the 2 other dealerships ive been to told me $xx,xxx" (insert number about $2000 more than what they offer).

Brandon24pdx

That's still an $8,000 bath you're taking for a vehicle with 3500 miles on it..you must have more $$$ to waste than I do.

A friend of mine cant get rid of his 07 Escalade either, and those are fairly popular, so you're not alone. Another (even dumber) friend of mine just bought a new Avalanche, and he'll take a bath in that thing a year from now when he doesn't like it anymore, sure as im sitting here.

1killercls

Ouch.

Moog-Type-S

iTimmy

Makes me feel better about my infiniti

Whiskers

Should have skipped lunch

Crazy Bimmer

Dang, 8k?

I lost $8k after 3 years and 45k miles on the A4 and i bought that new!

cob3683

Yep...but that it is a better (maybe I mean less "bitter") pill than the $24 or $29 option. I currently owe about $20ish left on the finance (previous Tahoe was paid off) so the equity gained from getting rid of her goes toward (1) down payment on the BMW, (2) 6-8 mos payments on the BMW (depending on the final price for the Tahoe), and (3) the final piece of the "house down payment" puzzle.

So, sometime in June, I should have my first home and a new BMW that will end up costing about $2500 less per year than renting and driving an 07 Tahoe.

Now dude in Georgia who wants to buy the car, PLEASE PURCHASE IT

SodaLuvr

$29,000 is a fair offer for the Tahoe (trade-in), according to Edmunds' TMV.

taitando

Don't feel too bad. My sister tried to sell her '04 BMW 325ci to the local car max. KBB said $23,700 or so for private party (taking into account her mileage and options on the car), while Carmax said $17,000. Their justification "The economy is bad and we have too many luxury cars that we can't sell." Judging from all the MB's, Lexus, and BMWs on their lot, I guess it was kinda true.