trade-in toward purchasing CR-V EX AWD

[wenmang]

Hi all,
I have a car with 160K mile on it and according to Kelley Blue Book, the range of trade-in value is $2010-$2710-$3125(fair-good-excellent). I have visited 2 dealships so far, the offer for EX AWD is anout $24100. I am wondering how much bargain room I have for my trade-in? The best offer for my trade-in is ~$1000 which is too low for my expectation, but dealer won't back down. I don't know how I am going to pursue the deal. Any suggestion other than sell the car by myself? I like to have my trade-in valued around $2200-2500 at least, but not sure that whether I ask too much for my trade-in.

[alirose4]

How many offers have you tried for?
In 03 I was trying to trade my (paid off) 2000 Kia Sophia. One Chevy dealer offered me something like 2,000. We walked. The next Chevy dealer offered me somewhere between four to five. At the time KBB said my car was worth closer to the 4-5. That is why I walked from the first place. I think another reason there was such a big difference was the first time I was looking at a Trailblazer (hot then) and the second time it was a Impala that had been test driven a bit so they wanted to get rid of it.
Have you thought about donating the car? I am not sure what the tax claim would be but it may be more then the grand... and there would be no hassle. But if you want that 2-2500 your best option is to sell it yourself... Good luck!

[4hondaowner]

Sell the car yourself.

Dealerships are in the business to make money. They will probably wholesale your car because it has 160,000 miles on it. There will be no room on their lot for it. Those are the cold hard facts. Kelly Blue Book and others are just a tool for numbers. Sometimes they are good, sometimes they will lead you no where. Check your Sunday paper fro real consumer selling prices. Buying any vehicle at a dealership is stressful enough, your trade can lead to the stress.

Good luck.

[wenmang]

I once thought about to sell it by meself, but I may face the same problem or hassle for selling it. I am maybe too lazy for that. Dealers keep telling me that they will whole-sell it and it don't worth what I have asked for. For the hot car like CR-V, I am not sure whether I can do much about it for trade-in. I can afford to wait a little bit longer but not sure whether it will do any good.
Thanks.

[mdugan7000]

Donation is not as good as it used to be. The IRS changed the rules. You used to be able to use retail book value - now you have to use what the charity sells the vehicle for - which is generally at auction and at wholesale price.

Just sell it yourself. There is a big market and demand for lower priced, decent used vehicles.

[mezz64]

What is the make/model of the vehicle in question? 160k on a import is usually a bit different than 160k on a domestic, like you said, selling it yourself might be quite the hassle. There's a limited amount of people willing to buy a vehicle with that many miles.

[sleeksilver]

Carmax?

ps- Alirose, it is a Kia SEphia, not SOphia. :lol:

[dreese9859]

Without the make, model, and year, nobody can give decent input on whether you should not waste your time and trade it in or let it go for resale. If you have a Honda, Nissan, or Toyota, you may be able to sell it yourself. Anything else, just trade it in!

[ajk]

In the past, I have gotten better deals from used car dealers than the dealer where I was buying a car. This time I sold the car privately, but I also had a decent quote from a used car dealer. (I had a low millage 8 year old car in perect condition - no dings or mechanical issues).

[alirose4]

Carmax?

ps- Alirose, it is a Kia SEphia, not SOphia. :lol:

Thanks... I thought about looking it up but for that POS it wasn't worth is :)
We had so many problems with that thing and my husband couldn't stand it

[ajk]

If you have a Honda, Nissan, or Toyota, you may be able to sell it yourself. Anything else, just trade it in!

I would add a Suburu to this list. I just sold mine. I used Edmunds prices for used cars, and sold it on the second day after posting at that price.

[texgal]

Went with my Mom to pick up her new '07 Accord EX yesterday. I drove an '07 CRV, I must say they are very nice. They offered me a deal to trade in my '06 CRV for the '07. The dealer said they use NADA not KBB for trade in value, this is in Texas and they said most Texas dealers use NADA not KBB but I don't know if that is really the case or not. I didn't do the deal because they only had a black one in stock and couldn't find a Silver to trade for, well they could but the other dealer had put $3000.00 worth of add-ons on it...what in the world did they add for $3000.00???. I'm on the list for a Silver one though. This is the same dealer that I purchased my '06 from. Very easy to deal with, no hassle, no hard sell, etc.

[dreese9859]

I would add a Suburu to this list. I just sold mine. I used Edmunds prices for used cars, and sold it on the second day after posting at that price.

That's funny because I typed it in, but I decided to delete it because I wasn't sure about 10 year old Subaru's being worth much today. I don't know much about that make.

[mezz64]

Suby's hold there value pretty much just as well as a Honda or Toyota and probably a little bit better than a Nissan.

[wenmang]

I have 2000 Corolla, base model though. It is in good condition but not "excellent". It is too challenge for me to figure out what number I should take it for my trade-in so I can make a deal. But $1000 is "outrageous" low to me. I am thinking $2000 is good enough for me at this point if dealer accepts it.

[sleeksilver]

I have 2000 Corolla, base model though. It is in good condition but not "excellent". It is too challenge for me to figure out what number I should take it for my trade-in so I can make a deal. But $1000 is "outrageous" low to me. I am thinking $2000 is good enough for me at this point if dealer accepts it.

Why don't you do some research??? :roll:

Google is your friend. I think I could overcome the challenge if it means I would be getting more money for something.

[ajk]

Did you look up the value for your used car in your condtion in edmunds? They will give you a value what this car is selling for privately and at the dealer.

[wenmang]

Actually, I did with KBB and Edmunds.com. But it seems to me that dealer doesn't care about value of trade-in car if it passes 100K or there may not be much profit margin for trade-in car. I guess that CR-V is too hot, otherwise, I don't see why they don't back down from there.

[Crinale]

a 2000 corolla even with that many miles should be able to sell decently...

my fiance bought a 94 corolla dx (her first car) for $3000 with 150k, (its now got almost 170k after 8 months... lol). You can find people that will buy it as a cheap commuter car, especially with gas prices the way they are.

where are u located? cuz out here in cali i see 96+ corollas goin for anywhere from 3000-6500... i know you can get a decent sale price if your willing to try, and selling ur car for 4000 instead of trading in for 1000 could save u $80-100 PER MONTH!

[sleeksilver]

a 2000 corolla even with that many miles should be able to sell decently...

my fiance bought a 94 corolla dx (her first car) for $3000 with 150k, (its now got almost 170k after 8 months... lol). You can find people that will buy it as a cheap commuter car, especially with gas prices the way they are.

where are u located? cuz out here in cali i see 96+ corollas goin for anywhere from 3000-6500... i know you can get a decent sale price if your willing to try, and selling ur car for 4000 instead of trading in for 1000 could save u $80-100 PER MONTH!

There you go. Please do not get ripped off....

[mdugan7000]

I quit trading in years ago. It isn't worth the $ hit. I usually buy the new one and then turn and sell the old one, that way I have no pressure after selling to buy immediately nor is there pressure to sell the old one fast because of the new one.

I was at the local Honda dealer today and talked to a salesman friend. Told him we would buy an 08 this fall and he said "good move" since the 07's are too hot. There are few real deals to be had anywhere right now. $1,000 off MSRP doesn't do it for me.

[ajk]

Told him we would buy an 08 this fall .
Any rumors on what's coming in '08 version that would be different?

[4hondaowner]

Knowing Honda's past history, being the second year of production the 2008's will probably only be cosmetically different.

[wenmang]

I quit trading in years ago. It isn't worth the $ hit. I usually buy the new one and then turn and sell the old one, that way I have no pressure after selling to buy immediately nor is there pressure to sell the old one fast because of the new one.

Did you keep the old car insured when you were trying to sell it? I am thinking that it also costs your insurance money while you are trying to sell it and you basically don't know how long it will take to sell it.

[mdugan7000]

Absolutely keep it insured. The relatively small amount to keep up insurance compared to a ticket for not having it if you let someone test drive it, etc. (or it gets wrecked) is well worth it. You are probably talking about $15-$50 for a month anyway, dependent upon car value, whether you have full coverage or not, etc.

[4hondaowner]

Mark probably also pays lower premiums for he lives out in the country and the closest neighbor is five miles away. I pay an added premium just for the county I live in.

[ajk]

The last three cars I had I sold privately. I kept them insured, but this really was not an issue as I sold 2 of them within a week from posting the ad, and one to a used car dealer who gave me 1.2K more than the trade-in offer (after it did sell within 2 weeks). I always make sure I have a back-up offer if the private sale does not happen quickly (it helps that I have below average millage and keep them very clean)

[mgfarmer]

Like many here have said unless you have a fairly new car trading in isnt going to do you a whole lot of good. The only time it really helps if you trading in a Honda for Honda or Toyota for Toyota etc. I traded in my 97 civic hx for the 07 CRV and was giving $3200 as a trade in. The reason I got the KBB trade-in value was since it was a Honda. FWIW Carmax was only going to give me $2000. The best way to get the true trade-in value is to see what your car is going for at the local auctions. If KBB says trade-in is worth 3,000 but your car is only selling for $2000 at an auction, why would the dealer give you more than what they could get it for at the auction? Another thing to remember is do not mention the trade-in until after the dealer has given you a quote on the car you are wanting to buy. If you mention the trade-in upfornt then they are not going to come down much off the sticker price.

[fmors]

I highly recommend Phil Bachman Honda in Kingsport TN. I was able to purchase an 07 CR-V EXL 4wd for $300 over invoice and the following week an 07 Element LX 4wd with manual transmission for $300 under invoice. I traded in a 2003 Ford Explorer and a 2005 Ford Focus and in both cases I got KBB trade in value. I delt with Greg Pennington the internet manager. I live in the Asheville, NC area and made the 1.2 hour drive to Kingsport, TN to get the best deal.

[4hondaowner]

I highly recommend Phil Bachman Honda in Kingsport TN. I was able to purchase an 07 CR-V EXL 4wd for $300 over invoice and the following week an 07 Element LX 4wd with manual transmission for $300 under invoice. I traded in a 2003 Ford Explorer and a 2005 Ford Focus and in both cases I got KBB trade in value. I delt with Greg Pennington the internet manager. I live in the Asheville, NC area and made the 1.2 hour drive to Kingsport, TN to get the best deal.

Two Ford's for two Honda's. That's what I'm talking about!

:cry: :cry:
:lol: :lol:

[dizardak]

I took my car to carmax and got a base price to work with. It was equal to the fair price quote on KBB and it was definitely in fair condition. I showed the dealership the carmax quote and they gave me $100 on top of it. I was more than willing to take that and not deal with the hassle of selling it myself.

[ajk]

Like many here have said unless you have a fairly new car trading in isnt going to do you a whole lot of good.
I had an 8 year old Suburu. I sold it privately, but also had a back up deal of selling it back to a Suburu dealer.
I just stopped by and asked them if they would buy my used Suburu. They looked at it and were willing to give me a little more than the KBB value. It was a better deal than I could get at Honda as a trade-in for CRV.

[fairsailing]

I had an 8 year old Suburu. I sold it privately, but also had a back up deal of selling it back to a Suburu dealer.
I just stopped by and asked them if they would buy my used Suburu. They looked at it and were willing to give me a little more than the KBB value. It was a better deal than I could get at Honda as a trade-in for CRV.

I have to post my Subaru story here. 99 2.5 ltr Outback engine blows both head gaskets at 80k miles, right at the beginning of the worst cold snap of winter in MN (early Feb 07, avg daily temp 4 degrees F for 3 wks). This is a known issue with this engine design that Subaru will not acknowledge publicly (in fact there are entire web sites devoted to this issue).

Standard kbb trade in is around $5.5k. Prior to repair, but after engine failure, Subaru offers trade-in of $2.5k, as does Honda dealer. So absolutely no spiff from Subaru, Subaru corporate denies any "goodwill" coverage for engine, we go ahead with repair figuring we can clear more than $5.5k on the private sale with good engine. Since this is a horizontally headed engine, engine has to be pulled, so dealers want $2.5k and they want to make sure heat didn't warp the cylinder heads, so they laser check head alignment and replacement some other parts that are near the end of their lifespan, so $3k later car is out of shop.

So we have car detailed for $130, take 15 or so photos, spend a few hours building a web site, then hope for blizzard (remember this is MN in late Feb). Prayers are answered, blizzard arrives, post web site link on local Craigs List, and as soon as blizzard departs, and streets cleared, had multiple offers at asking price at literally the same time, the 2nd person was test driving while the 1st person was writing a check for the asking price of $8.6k, could have perhaps had a bidding war, but choose to sell to first person.

Ran down to Honda dealer with $5K down payment for a new CRV, and even though the guy knows my back is against the wall, and he can't keep the CRVs in stock, gives me a $600 discount (and spent the remaining change on a Garmin Nuvi 350).

Lucky, lucky, lucky.

[sleeksilver]

Nice story! :)

[Crinale]

lol... nice... sux that u blew the gaskets on ur subie tho :-/ ... u ended up getting $3k for free tho... if the quote before repare was 2.5, and u spent 3 (thats $5.5k), and a few hundred cleaning her up... and got $8.6k... sounds like a good deal to me ;)

[ajk]

Prayers are answered, blizzard arrives, post web site link on local Craigs List, and as soon as blizzard departs, and streets cleared, had multiple offers at asking price at literally the same time, the 2nd person was test driving while the 1st person was writing a check for the asking price of $8.6k, could have perhaps had a bidding war, but choose to sell to first person.

Nice story! Craigs list is such a good thing :-)

[arboldt]

if you can at all.

In years past, I've negotiated with dealers for net price -- new car less trade-in, they put whatever values they want so long as the net is where I thought it should be.

When we got our V last October, we were trading in a 12-year-old car with 145,000 miles. Blue book for trade-in was 500 - 900. Dealers were very honest with us -- we could do much better selling our old car privately, and urged us to do so. I advertised the old one for $1400, and sold it at that in less than a day! (Probably could have gotten $2000).

Also, Consumer Reports April issue (their annual auto issue) always gives lots of good advice on car shopping. cartalk.com is another good source.

You can do this. Go for it.