So, I went to trade my car in today for a 2012 M3 and had the shock of my life, two different dealers almost 80 miles apart offered 19.5K for an 08 with Sport, Premium, Nav and Tech, with warranty good for about 5 months and 28K miles. And both did admit that the car was in great shape – Excellent paint and no dings or scratches or swirls with very minor paint chips on the hood.
Disclaimer; the car has been in an accident but I was told that did not factor into the offering. They both used Galves as their guide on price offering (which I was allowed to see) so I know it wasn’t something that they pulled out of thin air. Needless to say I was pretty disappointed, and didn’t finalize but I will most likely be back looking for a better deal.

Now I know that owners tend to become attached and may not see the true value of what something is actually worth, but I have tried to be as empirical and objective as possible and yet I have a hard time accepting that this car has lost more than 50% of its value in less than 4 yrs.

Thoughts on this anyone?

 

private sale...

 

trade in=getting raped. Always do private sell

 

It hasn't lost 50% of its value. The dealer has to make about 2500 from each used vehicle or it's really not worth their time. They also have to replace tires and brakes and things like that if they're not up to par. Would you buy a car with no brakes and bald tires? Their trade in value is based on them putting some work into the car before they resell it. You only come out ok with a trade in if you're in a state that only requires tax on the difference. Then you're close to doing ok.

Private party will get you the most money for it, but you'll pay more in taxes on the one you get next.

 

i was thinking the same thing OP .. i did the KBB private party value for my fully loaded 08 few days ago and it came out a little over 20k .. and i paid over 30k a year ago used.. wow 10k down the toilet after owning just 1 year.

next time i'm leasing.. it will cost me the same but at least i can drive the latest year with 0 miles.

 

I just traded mine in about a week ago w/ an Infi. dealer, they started out at $20k, and I ended up getting $22k. Mine was a 08 M/T, w/out Nav/Tech, 39k miles. I also went to the BMW dealer, they offered $19k! They finally agreed to $21k after I told them what the Infi. dealer is offering. Needless to say, $22k is still more than $21k!

So definitely shopping around for trade...

 

its only because right now the market is starting to get congested with lots of 2008's... its just a cycle... 5-6 months ago not many were coming in as trade or off lease.

 

4 years, 50% that's about right

 

I agree. I think the MSRP on this car may be about 43K w/ about 39K invoice. So, if you didn't over pay when you got the car, the depreciation might be even lower than 50%.

 

I did think about a private sale but then I would need to sell it for about 25+ K for it to be worth the tax break I'd get with the trade. I'm also not keen on a private sale as my work hrs are faily long and weekend are the best times but do I really want every Tom, **** and Harry at my house foaming for a test drive? It wasn't really worth it.

I had used KBB and NADA a couple months ago and some of the prices I saw were mid to upper 20's, so that did give me some hope.

Its strange that that there was no credit allowed for the tech package - sales man made a great point; he said why should they pay for it since the take rate was so low that it was discontinued so most people who are shopping for a car won't be willing to pay extra for it.

 

When I trade cars, I spend time getting the trade in value from KBB , NADA,etc. and use Edmunds.com to find out what is the fair asking price for the new vehicle.
All that matters is what you have to pay as far as the difference between your trade in and the selling price of the new car.
They can jockey the figures all around as far as your trade value and the price of the new car.
For an example only, if your research shows your trade in is valued at $20,000 and Edmunds show the fair price on the new car, for your area, as $50,000. The only figure you should be concerned with is the difference of $30,000. I would start off by offering 10% less or $27,000.
Make sure the salesman has your name and phone number, when you give them your offer.
Let the salesman do all the talking. When there is a pause in the conversation, don't say anything. He will start talking again.
There's an old saying in sales. Who ever talks first loses.
If he doesn't start to come down on the difference you have to pay, thank him for his time and leave. A lot of times you will get a call within 3 or 4 days, telling you the sales manager has agreed on a better deal.
Remember the salesman/dealership has to sell the car a lot more then you have to buy one.
Good luck,
Tom

 

^^ I too had done a ton of online research prior to entering the dealerships, but the reality of the prices online were not reflected in any of their offerings. I even went to an infinit dealership recently and their offer was MAX 21K. Though I wasn't very serious with the infiniti dealership and they did call several time since their offer did not increase a great deal.
I went in to purchase yesterday and they seemed to be ok with me leaving, one asked me to call back if "I" changed my mind - yeah I laughed at that one. The other said they'd call me back if they could get someone to buy the car at a better price.

Usually I expect issues on the purchase price but that part was pretty easy, its the trade price that I think is a little tough.

 

Wow, I guess I traded mine in at the right time. KBB was $25K for mine, it needed tires and a nasty scrape on the front bumper fixed. I got $23.5K for it. 08 sport w/o nav and tech.

 

Now that the '12s are out, the car is considered 4 years old. That makes for a big step change in just a few months.

 

I'm wondering if this has anything to do with demographics after reading this I just took screen shots of both the KBB & NADA values that I just came up with and both are mid to high 20's. . . I was contemplating get a 6 speed IPL or an M3 and Sawgrass Infiniti offered me 28k for my car and Vista BMW offered my 29k for my car. . . Depending on where you are it might be more cost effective to drive to South Florida to buy your new car. . . My car is an 08 g37-S fully loaded all the way down to intelligent cruise control (have never used it once) with 26000 on the clock. . .