Is Auto Trader Accurate?
 

I was considering trading in my 2009 g37S sedan, but when I went to auto trader to look up the trade in value, they claimed it would be worth about $10,500 in trade in. I realize I won't get anywhere near what I paid for it but dang that seems so low. Its got navigation as well. Just trying to see if I should trust this "quote" or not. I see a lot for sale for more but most have less miles so I'm not sure if I should just keep it or is there a different place to find the true value. 99,300 miles on it.

Kelly blue book would be a second option to check man..

you are using it as a trade in your are always going to get less for it

Edmunds.com is another good resource

You can't always useKBB, NADA, Edmunds, True Car and other related websites that do value analysis to expect what you should pay. Use them as a baseline and expand from there.

All good advice. Trade-in value is always shockingly lower than sticker on the same car for sale on the lot used. Remembering how awesome and expensive the car was when it was new doesn't change the fact that you now own a 6 year old sedan with 100,000 miles on it.

yeah unfortunately one can't forget what they paid for a car....makes me question ever buying a new car again lol. Thanks to all for your input so far and I had forgotten about Edmunds.

No surprises here. There will normally be an appreciable difference between what you get for a trade-in vs what you'd get if you sold it to a private party. Basically, the dealer has to make something on the deal, so they give you a bit less and charge the new buyer a bit more, and the combination of the two covers all their operations (i.e. repairs, marketing, flooring, profit, etc.).

Resale on our cars aren't that great. I'd say it's close. Like everyone's saying look around at different sources. edmunds, kbb.. etc

IMO, the best way to enjoy a car is on two ends of the extreme: short-term lease, or long-term ownership. That awkward time in the middle (4 to 6 years), is tough to deal with. I get that.

g'luck

Yup

Never buy new - The first week of new car ownership are the most expensive
Pay cash up front - it only hurts once
Drive the car until the depreciation rate levels out (>7 years)
Sell it
Repeat

Also has a lot to with market demand. Honda CRV often has better resale value overtime than a G37.

I have a 08 G37S and I was looking into a charger rt. my g37S had 88,000 miles and it was a 6speed no navigation and they wanted to give me 11k and it had 20in MRR wheels and bad tires. Also my idling wasn't the greatest when they were checking it but it seems about right. I don't know much about trade in value but 10k is close to my 11k offer

Once a car gets over 100 miles the value will plummet so unless you have another car to drive, expect that value to get much worse.


On a second note, I had a 2010 Honda Accord before my G37 and I took it to Carmax just to see what would be offered. I got the price quote and then was approached by a guy as I was leaving the parking lot. He worked for some Webuyautos company and they gave me an extra $1k on top of the Carmax price. If you have anything like that in the area I suggest checking it out.

It all delends if you "over paid " when you bought your car. When I bought my 09 used in mass they everyone wanted 19-20k for a car with 60k or close, I searched I. NY and CT and fund a one owner 58k for 16k in CT I put 1k down and finaced 15k I was just at my bank looking to consolidate something's and they told me I had 3500$ in equity in my car? I have only had it one year. I know I got lucky but just do you hw to the when buying and you should be ok when it comes to trade it in.