Can anyone tell me why there seems to be such a disparity between the valuations of the same model car using Parker's, AA and What Car?
e.g. Mazda 323 1.5GXi 5 door hatch 2000 Jan V reg 38k miles
Parkers
Franchised Dealer £3555 Independ dealer £3390 Private £3080
What Car
Dealer £4726 Private £4245
AA
£3,895 only one value given
There seems to be a large discrepancy in these values. Which is the most appropriate for this vehicle? It has AC, ABS, airbags elec sunroof, traction control, tinted glass, immobiliser, remote CL,rad cass, front EW
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The difference in prices between dealers and private is that dealers have overheads they need to cover and also they warrant the vehicles whereas once you've paid your money to a private individual thats him done.
The main price guides used by the trade are Glass's and CAP (Current Auction Prices) but there can be major discrepancies even between these. Glass's tends to be for newer stuff whereas CAP is older stuff.
Parkers is nowhere near as accurate as these two and if i had a pound for every time a customer has said "well parkers says it's worth £XXX" i would be a rich man. Based on it's age CAP is probably the most appropriate for this car.
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I used to tell them to go and sell it to Parkers then if that's what Parkers said it was worth. Funny they never actually managed to do it. :-)
Blue
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Ah Glasshopper, I see you have gained much knowledge in the BR, for was this not my approach, oft stated, when I was in the trade?
Seem to recall getting flamed when I mentioned it here though. :o/
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Thanks for the info - I have not heard of CAP and have tried to see if I can find it online but without success. How can I access the value of this car in CAP? Is 'What Car' reasonably accurate in valuations?
Thanks
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A mate of mine in the trade had a client come in waving a copy of Parkers and quoting what a car he was interested in should be sold for.
My friend smiled sweetly, asked the client to let him have a look at the guide, glanced at the figures and tossed the book in the bin, whilst quoting the phrase "Lets have a proper negotiation now shall we?"...He sold the car.
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CAP is a trade price guide - it's not available to the public although you can usually pick up a couple of month old copy on Ebay. Not sure about the accuracy of used car prices in what car but if their anything like the ones in the back of auto express they will be wide of the mark.
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CAP is a trade price guide - it's not available to the public
That's what irritates me. Why should it be trade only? Why shouldn't we see it? Will the knowledge make our tiny little minds go 'pop' or something?
Where are the competition authorities when there is a clear and obvious stitch-up going on?
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I am a private individual and I guess I don't get it because I don't pay a subscription.....Otherwise I am sure I could declare myself a trader, pay the subscription and get a book monthly.
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No, you couldn't. You have to provide proof that you're a trader. If it were simply a question of money, you'd be able to buy it in newsagents. I'm with Patently on this one - some interesting questions to be answered...
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CAP = Catalogue of Auction Prices.
It's compiled by entering details of prices received at auction across the UK throughout the previous month and as such is out of date before it hits the dealers' desks. It really has no relevance to retail prices as it simply gives a good indication of the underwriting value of a trade-in rather than what you may expect to punt it on for yourself. If a car is in good nick and is sought after you can throw CAP away. It really is only of use in getting a feel for the value of a car if bounced off the forecourt, straight down to BCA.
When I used CAP it tended to give lower prices than Glasses. As a rule, most used car sales managers seem to go with whichever is the lower when agreeing a price on a trade-in. Remember that the value the used sales manager gives to the salesman is what the used car department is prepared to buy it for. It may well be that the salesman quotes you a higher figure by working some of the profit or bonuses on the new car into the trade-in value.
I seem to recall that CAP is more sophisticated these days and also analyses returns from selected dealers across the UK whereby they tell CAP the actual retail prices achieved on their sales in the previous month.
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Not really a conspiracy guys:
1) Ordering it seems simple, you just have to pay £334 +++. www.eurotaxglass.co.uk/
2) You can have one-off car quotes for £2.95. www.eurotaxglass.co.uk/
Sorted.
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Not really a conspiracy guys:
Hmm - handy. Thanks.
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Don't get too worked up about the guide price. Remember its only a 'GUIDE'.
The seller always wants to sell above any guide price, the buyer well below!
Other factors such as colour, type of use the vehicle has had,cleanliness, originality etc. etc. are not mentioned in any 'guide'
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Glass's Guide has always been the trade bible for as long as I've been aware.
Incidentally a genuine salesman will let you see the relevant information in Glass's Guide to assure you, as was the case with a mate who bought two cars at the same time recently.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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PS
He still managed to get the eventual cost down by quite a tidy sum, especially remarkable as the year-old cars involved were already around £1,000 below the price at other dealerships; remarkable as he was dealing with one of the UK's largest main retail car dealerships.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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"a genuine salesman will let you see the relevant information in Glass's Guide to assure you"
Maybe but many cars don't make anything near the 'guide' price because of the simple reason they are poor sellers.
So in this situation the salesman will readily show the 'guide price to reassure a buyer.
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>>because of the simple reason they are poor sellers.>>
That certainly didn't apply in this particular case...:-)
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Can anyone tell me why there seems to be such a disparity between the valuations of the same model car using Parker's, AA and What Car? e.g. Mazda 323 1.5GXi 5 door hatch 2000 Jan V reg 38k miles Parkers Franchised Dealer £3555 Independ dealer £3390 Private £3080 What Car Dealer £4726 Private £4245 AA £3,895 only one value given There seems to be a large discrepancy in these values. Which is the most appropriate for this vehicle? It has AC, ABS, airbags elec sunroof, traction control, tinted glass, immobiliser, remote CL,rad cass, front EW
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Glass's Guide is the trade bible as many on here have said. I have never had a problem in getting a salesman to show me the current trade value of any car I was trying to trade in. I bought last months Glass's from E-Bay as I was looking to buy at the time and your Mazda shows a mileage adjusted trade value of £3125 and a retail of £4200. This assumes very good condition and don't forget this was last month. Privately, you should probably look at around £3500 or a bit more.
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Thanks for that. The garage where I have seen this Mazda is asking £4295 but that's before negotiation! It will come with 12 months MOT 12 months warranty and 12 months RAC membership plus a pre-sale service - and it is a garage I know well and trust.
The price doesn't seem too different from Glass's £4,200 which is nice to know!
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