In which case, try another dealer. Try several other dealers - other makes too - to see whether you are being offered a fair price.
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Usual advice - it's cost to change which matters. If they aren't making up the perceived trade in shortfall with a discount on the new one go elsewhere.
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This week I have traded in a Seat Toledo at a Fiat dealer for 4.7k, Parkers said 4.8k trade-in value. I'm reasonably pleased with that. Especially as I also got 2k off the screen price of the car I'm buying!
I guess the salesman was desperate for a deal at month end.
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"desperate for a deal at month end"
Useful tactic!
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"desperate for a deal at month end" Useful tactic!
Exactly. This is the first time I'm going to pick up a car with the dealer giving me a cheque for the balance between the new one and my trade-in!
Threaten to buy a similar car from a car supermarket instead (with proof of availability of alternative), three days before month end, and hey presto, a massive discount and a reasonable trade-in. Nice.
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Don't focus on part ex value at all, it's irrelevant (provided you are looking at the same car at all dealerships) what matters is the cost to change.
Having said that, dealers are all a little scared at the moment and I think they're lowering part-ex values somewhat.
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On a new MINI, on which there is very little discount to be had, the cost to change is hugely dependent on the part-ex value. This outfit just aren't hungry enough for my business.
Mind you, when the current car looks as good as this I'm tempted to hang on to it!
www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=79...5
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Two tales of woe r.e. the state of the motor trade at the moment that I have recently heard
Woman takes her 2 year old SL55 into the Merc dealer to trade it in for a new one. Dealer would not take it, as he said he would never be able to sell it.
03 Audi TT 180bhp friend of friend has for private sale for £4k - no calls
Buying a car is like buying a new suit, as soon as you have bought it, you've almost written it off (unless it's a teeny weeny car)
MVP
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I've never seen an Audi TT as cheap as that! What's the url for the ad? ;)
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If he really has it at £4k then I'm not surprised he's had no calls, even the fraudsters ask for more realistic money than that!
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This is dashed interesting. I didn't realise the market was so dead. I'm going to get an ex-police volvo estate from that auction place in Oxford. I've seen dealers on the net advertising them at 3 - 4k, so they must have paid less than that at auction - (well, durr!!)
that's got to be worth a go... maybe
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We got £5k for our Forester, value was about £6k - he would have given us even less but the Picanto we bought had sat for 5 months as it had 30k on the clock, no excessive but most small autos have tiny mileage - he wanted to move the stock.
Incidentally, 3 montsh on, our Forester is still on the forecourt for very little above the trade in value AND even worse, a Forester that was on sale when we bought ours is still there at £2k less than it was when we first saw it - ouch.
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I'm going to get an ex-police volvo estate from that auction..that's got to be worth a go... maybe
Never watched 'Police,Camera, Action' or 'Road Wars' then?
Edited by woodbines on 30/07/2008 at 15:27
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Never watched 'Police Camera Action' or 'Road Wars' then?
exactly....wouldn't go near with a barge pole
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Quick search on Autotrader brings up 05 reg Cooper S model starting from around £10,500 in the trade, both franchised and non-franchised (plus many optimistically valued private sales). A local quality indy dealer nearby who, until recently, had a regular stock of 5-6 Minis ranging from One to Cooper S and occasional JCW told me he cannot shift the Cooper S anymore unless they are virtually at Cooper prices. He says punters won't entertain the high insurance and thirst of these things. Therefore he won't take in any from the trade anymore unless they are "significantly" below Glass trade price. Maybe your dealer has been bitten in the same way?
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What did you buy Alanovich?
(Or did I miss that somewhere?)
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Police camera action - why, what happens on there? Does it show police volvos getting mangled, thrashed, generally slaughtered etc...
I thought that a car that does a ton of miles in a short space of time, being red-lined every five minutes, might actually end up being good value and lasting a year or two in private hands
Or am I daft
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I thought that a car that does a ton of miles in a short space of time being red-lined every five minutes might actually end up being good value and lasting a year or two in private handsOr am I daft
wouldn't be a sensible choice i'd make.
-Often driven from cold and immediately thrashed.
-All sorts of shenanigans with the electrics, even an auto electrician would scratch his
head.
-Driven up kerbs, through fields, (i've even known a river)
- Constant high speed 'speed bumps'
- Every panel repaired/changed.. to varying degrees of quality
- Constantly driven with a load of weight in, often near the max limit
- red lined every single day of its' life
- some non standard parts e.g. upgraded brakes(nightmare to match later)
other than that lovely...:-)
Edited by Westpig on 30/07/2008 at 16:16
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Reflecting the state of the trade, I was at auction yesterday and most of the ex-fleet cars, 3 years old, 60 -80k weren't getting a bid. The cars were literally rolling through, the auctioneer made a half hearted attempt at making it look like someone had placed a bid before sending them out.
The only thing the trade got excited about were a couple of Clios and a Micra. They made about £200 over book.
I was looking at Motability stuff and 3 year old Grand Scenics, 1.6 petrols with about 20k on the clock were selling at around £3500 - £4,000, £400-£600 below book.
I may well go back and buy one next week.
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I was interested in a Porsche at a specialist dealer near me. He will p/ex but unless it's a good Porsche he just puts it through the trade. He asked around for a price for my Legacy Spec B and there was no interest at all. He said anything with a big engine was dead in the water at the moment.
Easy decision for me then, stick with what I've got. No point giving a good car away.
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As someone who drives Police Volvos on a daily basis.......no, no ,no !!
They are well past their sell by date when they go to auction. And our 07/57 reg ones are very unreliable.
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My son had his eye on a new car - £18K with £10.5 T/I - @end of May.
He was passing and they had £3K off the car.
Signals right and asks for the T/I value for his car - £6.5K was all he was offered - Networkq/Glass said £8.5-£10.5K depending on condition.
£3K off the SP but £4K off the T/I - this in some 6 weeks!
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They're doing us all a favour to make sure we keep our cars longer. I normally get itchy feet and change mine after 18 months or so. Aside from the fact I'm still very happy with mine, I'd probably be offered peanuts, so it'll certainly be with me for at least another couple of years.
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That's the way I'm thinking. My present car does everything I want, I just fancy a change so probably won't now. Probably change a classic instead.
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>>They're doing us all a favour to make sure we keep our cars longer
Nah. It's not often I'm tempted to change a car that hasn't breathed its last. I am currently, however.
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westpig and midlife, cheers, very funny advice (wouldnt have been funny if I'd paid top money for an ex-cop volvo, ha ha)
still think they might be worth a go at a few hundred notes.
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Judging by your driving, in your own words, it won't make much difference to the car anyway. Sirrah!
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Thanks for the replies, folks. Looks like the trade has very cold feet about cars that are not clearly economical - which means punters have too. And the guides have yet to catch up.
Two ways to go from here: 1. Hang on to good car; or 2. Sell now before values dip further and get more economical car (the Cooper S is surprisingly so in terms of mpg and CO2 for its performance) that'll hang on to its value.
Reckon option 1 is the wise one (as ever!)
The dealer told me that things "are playing into our hand because we've had lots of people trading in Porsches and Bentleys for MINIs." Really, the cost of fuel and VED is very small beer in the context of running a luxury car, so why people suddenly feel the need to trade down is a mystery. Nowt so queer as folk.
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lots of people trading in Porsches and Bentleys for MINIs
Not surprising - in currently climate lots of people on fat package lost their jobs or almost uncertain in their profession.
A time is coming when cars will be considered just a personal transport rather than showing personality and lifestyle.
Ultimately everything down to economy.
I was looking at Piston Head forum - same topic is discussed there with gloom.
For many mainstream cars, a smaller and a bigger engine (eg. Mazda 3 vs 6) are often selling at similar price.
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A month ago a UK specialist dealer told me the economic situation hadn't hit him hard because people were buying his older but nice XJSs rather than more expensive DB7s or XKs from somewhere else.
I'm not sure whether this was whistling in the dark but I hope he was right because people who actually care about what they sell must be a rarity these days.
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Audi A8 - 90K new list, 1 year old, 20K miles best bid in trade 35K...ouch.
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Friend of Friend working in major Aston Martin Dealer - earning 1/2 what he was last year as no sales
A year ago they would have had you queuing to go on the waiting list
As a city worker, most of those around me are worried about their jobs, and the big bonuses and pay rises of recent years are distant memories.
MVP
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When I went to part-ex my 206 for a Corsa. The Vauxhall website said it's worth £1,000, but the two dealerships I visited only offered me £600, so I decided to keep it.
Six months (and 12,000 miles) later, I was offered £1,100 for the car by the same dealers.....
These price guides (esp. What Car?) seem meaningless to me.
Edited by paulas99 on 06/08/2008 at 12:38
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>>Six months (and 12,000 miles) later, I was offered £1,100 for the car by the same dealers...
Probably neither p/ex was related to a notional guide price. On that price range, a difference of £500-700 could easily be accounted for in the overall cost to change against an inflated 'new' car sticker- price or time of the bonus-cycle for the dealership.
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The dealer told me that things "are playing into our hand because we've had lots of people trading in Porsches and Bentleys for MINIs."
I expect he was speaking metaphorically, not categorically. I really can't imagine one Porsche or Bentley owner (never mind "lots of") trading down to a MINI.
Edited by L'escargot on 06/08/2008 at 14:16
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What did you buy Alanovich? (Or did I miss that somewhere?)
Fiat Stilo 1.9 JTD Multiwagon. Well pleased with it.
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I really can't imagine one Porsche or Bentley owner (never mind "lots of") trading down to a MINI
Well, I too don't think a Bentley owner is trading down to a Mini, but I do know someone personally who traded down from Porsche Boxster to MX5 :)
From PistonHead forum, I came to know that last year this time around, there were waiting lists for buying Aston Martins. This time, Aston dealers are almost starved.
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