Trade in value from dealership

I always hear the statement that cars lose most of their value in the first 2-3 years of ownership. In my experience, KBB is too high and Edmunds is too low. Also try NADA.

I'd try a few more dealers. I posted my experience trying to sell my Z at market for selling an 04 350Z automatic? - MY350Z.COM Forums. If you want top dollar, sell it on your own.

However, per What Fees Should You Pay? - Edmunds.com, trading in your car when buying new saves money on sales tax, in your state (unlike mine).

As for demand or not... well, the '12 Prius is about to come out which already has or will hit your resale value. Gas prices aren't incredibly high right now. It seems like Prius' value goes up/down w/gas prices. An accident can affect its value. After all, if someone runs a Carfax report and/or does a careful inspection which finds an accident, they'd be inclined to pay less vs. a pristine one.

You can try digging around online to see how much comparable Priuses can fetch on places like Ebay Motors, Autotrader or Craig's List... Do keep in mind that dealer retail prices will always be inflated vs. private party. That dealer you trade in to will likely turn around and sell it at a markup, as most would, unless they didn't want it. If it's unwanted, they'd send it to auction.

 

That's their first offer and starting point for negotiations.

 

Weird, I've never been near a car salesman that had no way to negotiate.

I wonder what their strategy for closing sales is.

 

I'm in the RV side of things, Looking at auction results, the dealer can buy the same car at auction ranging from 14-17,000, either a repo or Toyota lease return, not a rental. If they pay you more than that range then there's no profit potential.

Of you can wait until gas hits $4.00 and your offer may go up.

 

a few points?

I'm going to try and explain their stance.

There are a TON of Prius II's left, still, from 2011. The last 3-4 allocations have been pretty much 0 package V's and IVs. They shipped us III's and II's in major volume year end and into the start of this calendar year.

We still have no 2012's to offer in hatchbacks.

Some regions, unlike my own, still have some rebates or factory incentives / specials that are pretty fabulous. In SoCal, we have the low APRs and some very nice lease rates, but the residuals SUCK. A 2011 Prius II residual right now is $13,642 and a III with NAV is residualized at 14,847. That means it will drop about 10-11K in three years (depending on what you paid). Most of that happens in the first two.

They are always at their lowest point for value just before the next new models arrive. And, the change to the audio systems making the Entune DISPLAY audio with Bluetooth, USB and musicstreaming means each models kicked up a notch for 2012. That in itself hurts a 2 yr old one. Even the III will have the Entune/NAV standard in 2012.

So, if in THREE years Toyota's estimating a 2011 III value to be $14,847, they expect the car to sell somewhere between 15K and possibly as high as 17K in three years WITH A CLEAN CARFAX AS A CERTIFIED CAR that they can offer low financing and extend a certification warranty on.

Your car won't meet that criteria.
Your car will be hard to sell in a market with lots of new ones, or late model ones that ARE certified.
I think the guy who said $16K is more right-on the money for the current Market.

After all, if I can sell a 2011 brand new, no wrecks or damage, right off a truck for $24.5K - 25K, and a brand new 2012 for about 25.5K, it makes NO sense for a dealer to buy one (to re-sell) with previous damage that I can't certify for any more than $16K in this current market. The prior accident is a game changer.

YOu may get somewhere RETAIL by selling it RETAIL ... and then YOU can be the guy who explains to the next buyer why the Carfax says it's had an accident and what happened. After all, if you trade it in, your dealer becomes the one who has to explain why it's so close to new with such low miles but can't be Certified. That in itself chases many otherwise strong buyers away UNLESS they can buy it so cheap, it won't matter. That and the lack of the 7 year certified coverage that every other CERTIFIED car was going to give them free.

I hope that explains why things are as they are. It's pretty clear that a little over 2 years ago ... when I was leasing II's and III's with 16K, 17K and 18K residuals at such low rates, no one knew what would happen to the Prius market and how it would continue to grow so widely. I could see the effects of that this past November in the Prius wagon residuals in that they were a little low in my own opinion, but it's clear why now. Better safe than sorry.

 

If there is a Carmax in your area get an appraisal from them. They will buy it without you having to buy a car from them. I was shopping for a Prius in December. I was offered $10000 for my trade in at two different dealers. KBB showed the Trade in value at around $11000. I went in to Carmax and it took about 1/2 hr to get the appraisal. They offered $13000 to my surprise and gave me 7 days to sell it to them at that price. Two days later I sold it to them and picked up my Prius at a Toyota dealership. The whole experience was painless and went off without a hitch. I was very impressed with my experience at Carmax.

 

That accident muddying you Carfax is a killer. Plus you are selling at a bad time.

There is no way to do what you are thinking of doing- without it being pretty painful.

Toyota's DO hold their resale value well. But unfortunately yours was purchased in 2009, is two model years old, on the verge of becoming the model that is "Pre Mid Cycle Refresh" AND it has been in a wreck.

That doesn't give you too much leverage.

I think your best approach is to train your Bull Mastiffs to start growling menacingly after you receive a trade in offer.

But seriously? You can use several tools already mentioned to try to assertain your vehicle value. But given all the specifics? It's going to cost you. Ultimately you just have to find the value of your vehicle, then decide if the cost is worth it.

Good luck.

 

Depending on the market they have nationwide thru CARMAX, they don't have a new car lot on site for their buyers to switch off between so less sophisticated used car buyers might bite on a CARMAX used just by virtue of their inability to compare to new in the heat of the transaction.

Also, keep in mind that CARMAX will also run a CARFAX and AUTOCHECK to see what's happened to your old car. But - they cannot certify anything so again, they don't have to answer questions from buyers : "why are these three certified and this one isn't?" so your old car - to them - isn't going to bear the stigma of being the non-certified Prius.

I hope that makes sense as to why sometimes CARMAX pays more!

 

I've done well with CarMax in the past..... and there have been other times that their offer wasn't so good. Do keep in mind that (at least in Texas) you only pay sales tax on the difference between the cost of your trade-in and your new car.

If you get a good CarMax offer, you need to weigh that against the dealer's offer. You might get a $500 better deal at Carmax, but lose $1000 in extra sales tax that you will pay.

This might not apply in your State, but it is worth checking.

Have Fun!

 

Also, another question.... You talk about breeding dogs. How well did you clean and detail the car before you took it in to the dealer? While it may not be a big deal for you, tufts of dog hair or even faint pet odors (just like cigarette smell) will send many buyers running off screaming into the night. While, I'm guessing that, while dealers will be more understanding, they will subtract from the value generously to cover an unknown reconditioning cost. (Dianne... is this a correct assessment)

I just traded my daughter's 06 Corolla with about 75K miles on it for a (don't hate me) a new Escape. She has a (frequently shedding) dog. I went to a really good carwash and spent a little over $100 to have it washed, waxed, and have the interior cleaned/shampooed/detialed. It was well worth the cost! The car glowed. It was clean and fresh on the interior.

I got what I thought was a good offer from CarMax. Another local dealer offers $500 over Carmax, so I took that with me as I went to the Ford Dealer. He matched the value, so I got that price and saved about $500 in taxes as well. (Yes, I got a very good price on the new car, not just the trade-in).

Obviously, YMMV. However, I look at purchasing/ trading-in a car, much like doing a job interview. You have to do your homework and put your best foot forward.