REDICULOUSLY LOW Trade -IN

getting trade-in quotes recently had do deal with a yet another threat against the consumer/ customer

not only do we have to deal with KBB, Edmonds and NADA now theres MANHEIM!!! and there the worst!! giving only AUCTION VALUES
talking 13- 14k for 06 pkg2 w/ sunroof!! 50K
truly insulting!!!!

cant find anyplace that does not use Manheim auctions

That's garbage. Have you tried carmax?

rolling18 said:

getting trade-in quotes recently had do deal with a yet another threat against the consumer/ customer

not only do we have to deal with KBB, Edmonds and NADA now theres MANHEIM!!! and there the worst!! giving only AUCTION VALUES
talking 13- 14k for 06 pkg2 w/ sunroof!! 50K
truly insulting!!!!

cant find anyplace that does not use Manheim auctions

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In this a brutal economic climate. Why would you expect a dealer to give you more than what they could acquire a car similar to yours through auction? Or, better yet. Why would a dealer (especially a dealer who possibly wouldn't know what to do with a TDI if it bit them in the arse) give you more than what they may be able to off it for at an auction and God forbid if this dealer made a few bucks doing so. As sick as it makes me feel as well, your pkg. 2 with 50K is spot on at this point and time. Insulting? Only to those who only think they know the market.

I wouldn't expect most here to understand this if you're not in the business but, if someone wants to get more money for their vehicle, they need to do all the legwork themselves by listing it FS in more than one venue, take all the phone calls at all hours whether tire kickers or not, put up with cheap, low balling potential customers while taking these strangers on possibly dangerous test drives but, *** do I know, eh? "roll eyes". Later!

A dealer can't make a living if he gives you what your car is worth. I was looking at used cars on a Ford lot the other day and I was somewhat shocked to see what moderately high end 1-2yo cars and SUVs were being offered for- pretty cheap. If they are going to sell late model vehicles cheap, then they have to beat you up on the trade in. The sword cuts both ways in this case. I have noticed a few used car dealers around here have dissappeared recently.

Harvieux said:

In this a brutal economic climate. Why would you expect a dealer to give you more than what they could acquire a car similar to yours through auction? Because I would be buying THERE already way over priced vehicle that they skrewed another customer over on. Or, better yet. Why would a dealer (especially a dealer who possibly wouldn't know what to do with a TDI if it bit them in the arse) give you more than what they may be able to off it for at an auction Because they have same risks as anyone buying an auction vehicle (you dont know anyting about the history) and God forbid if this dealer made a few bucks doing so. LOL a FEW bucks??? no dealer ever makes "a few bucks" try 1000's As sick as it makes me feel as well, your pkg. 2 with 50K is spot on at this point and time. Only with Manheim.. Insulting? Only to those who only think they know the market. Later!

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No wonder people arnt buying cars.. they are getting hosed on the trades (much more than would be "fair"

I could live with a FAIR trade / deal on BOTH ends NOT a Stealership hosing you on BOTH the new vehicle AND the trade-in..

BTW yes i have decided not to trade I will keep or sell on my own, I will not take advantage of another

rolling18 said:

No wonder people arnt buying cars.. they are getting hosed on the trades (much more than would be "fair"

I could live with a FAIR trade / deal on BOTH ends NOT a Stealership hosing you on BOTH the new vehicle AND the trade-in..

BTW yes i have decided not to trade I will keep or sell on my own, I will not take advantage of another

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The market is definitely in uncharted territory.

Problem number one is that you are trading in your car to a dealership.

I think Harvieux has a couple years on his belt in dealing TDI's. I'd take his word for it.

Imagine what it must be like for people selling a house that has to complete with foreclosures. The bottom of this mess is still someplace down the road.

dausone said:

Problem number one is that you are trading in your car to a dealership.

I think Harvieux has a couple years on his belt in dealing TDI's. I'd take his word for it.

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Im not saying he is wrong at all...
Im just pissed about the "manheiM" auctions values where I have never had to deal with those quoted before in other trade situations..

mainly because Manheim is NOT a value refrence. its just an auction site with no detailed info.

Dealers dont even seem to use the other sources anymore where you didnt get hosed as bad. (but still plenty)

Ditto. What dausone said regarding Harvieux.

During the '08 summer when researching what my MY06.5 TDI was worth the wholesale value settled in the range of $18-19K. (condition being mint, really mint) Cars are like soap - all of a sudden there values gone.

The local VW dealer recently loaned me a '08 Jetta 2.5 with a Monroney lable cost of $18k in change and my thought was this used Jetta loaner with 8k miles would be a decent buy at a $12-13K wholesale purchase.
Think of it, there's plenty miles (42k) and about 4 years left on the warranty - would make for a value based comuter car... These '08 Jetta's are plentyful on the dealers lots, both new and used.
The time is now to scan the dealership lot's for a bargin ... walk in with a check book and for little money you can sort out your comuter vehicle needs for the next four - five years...

The best I could get as a trade for my car was 11K. Not good enough for me to want to "give it away". I'm dumb, but not stupid.

Chris

cujet said:

The best I could get as a trade for my car was 11K. Not good enough for me to want to "give it away". I'm dumb, but not stupid.
Chris

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You could be "having to live with" a lot worse of a car

velociT said:

You could be "having to live with" a lot worse of a car

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I agree 1000% im just gonna live with it..

rolling18 said:

I agree 1000% im just gonna live with it..

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That is precisely what the majority of Americans are doing now. And that is driving the new and used car dealers nuts. Consumer confidence is at an all time low in this country and people are not spending money, especially if their current car is running. This is not the time to attempt to figure out what any given car is worth, either if you are trading it, selling it, or trying to buy one.

I just picked up a 2004 Hyundai Elantra GLS 4 door, 4 cylinder, two owner, auto, nice condition (new timing belt, water pump, etc) for $2700.00 cash (private seller). My 2005 Passat TDI is "sitting"; ie: waiting for the new balance shaft retrofit when parts come in. Then I will probably pass the Elantra down to a family member when the Passat is healthly again.

As a side note, the balance shaft upgrade will cost more than I paid for the nice Elantra...

There are deals, but you have to find them. I'm glad I am not trying to sell a car right now.

well, one thing that might help a little is when gas prices go back up to almost $5 a gal. this summer that might slow the depreciation

except the 5.50 gal diesel prices,.. cant win

then I should feel lucky.... $20380 cdn ($16616us) almost a year ago.................with brand new tires and all service records with verified 505.01

dayne66 said:

then I should feel lucky.... $20380 cdn ($16616us) almost a year ago.................with brand new tires and all service records with verified 505.01

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Is that what you bought or sold?

I just went through the same experience with my 06 pkg 2. I knew the prices had tumbled by watching Ebay. At least (or maybe at most) I see what they are actually selling for and they aren't going for a lot more than auction prices. Craigslist and AutoTrader don't have sales results and I don't get my hopes up seeing someone asking $20000 for one now.
Compared to last year this may come as a shock but a year ago the economic train wreck was barely realized, fuel prices were on their way up and people could afford to buy cars.
Could be worse though, if you bought a house in Southern California two years ago instead of your Mk 5.

Edmunds says my expedition is worth $2800, last week I put $1600 into repairs to get it ready for sale. Friday I have a buyer for $4500 woot. Dealer would never touch a 183k mile SUV.

Though, I do bring sad news. I feel a Diesel truck would better suit my needs than an 09 Jetta. After 6 months of searching and 1 month of seriously searching, the lack of dealer respect has driven me away from these fine machines for a few years at least.

alnmike said:

Edmunds says my expedition is worth $2800, last week I put $1600 into repairs to get it ready for sale. Friday I have a buyer for $4500 woot. Dealer would never touch a 183k mile SUV.

Though, I do bring sad news. I feel a Diesel truck would better suit my needs than an 09 Jetta. After 6 months of searching and 1 month of seriously searching, the lack of dealer respect has driven me away from these fine machines for a few years at least.

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yes i feel for SUV sellers also..
I am also having to sell my Beloved Dodge 2500 cummins 4x4
I just cant afford ANY vehicle/ insurance payments and have a house at the same time.. Woe is Me..

$13K or $14K for an '06 package 2 with 50,000 miles - sounds about right to me. What did you pay for it new? Maybe $23,000? You're not doing bad. I believe - IMHO - that the days of inflated used values of these cars are over... especially if VW delivers new CR models at the numbers they're promising. There aren't that many diesel fanatics in America... and it won't take too much on the supply side to quickly outstrip the demand side. Then you have a decent number of folks that are gonna want to dump their '09s for something else in a year or two. I paid $22K or something for my '09... let's say it has 40,000 miles on it in 2 years. I'd be pretty happy to get $14,000 at that point, especially on trade so I could take advantage of paying less sales tax. Now, how are people with '06s are gonna try to get numbers close to an '09 with more miles and a car that "Joe Public" sees as 3 years older a couple years from now? Let's face it, for the majority of the American public, seeing a car has a turbo diesel engine is a drawback - and you think Joe average is gonna pay a premium over a turbo gasser? Not likely in my mind. Just my opinion anyway....

rolling18 said:

mainly because Manheim is NOT a value refrence. its just an auction site with no detailed info.

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Wrong, Manheim lists the condition of the car and you can look at a consolidated list of options.

If I am in business and can get a similar car for a cheaper price after auction fees and any reconditioning costs why am I going to pay more for your car.

Cost per mile for fuel for a TDI is higher than a comparable gas car right now. That's a problem. And both the soft economy and availability of '09s is driving resale prices down. People look at two things when buying cars: Monthly payments and potential out of pocket costs. Your '06 is out of (or nearly out of) warranty, would require a higher loan payment, and doesn't benefit from any manufacturer incentives on lease or loan payments. Further, a dealer has to take it into inventory and worry about selling it. They'd rather move the '09 TDIs they have or the leftover '08 gas cars.

My Passat wagon was easily worth $12K 18 months ago. Probably not nearly that now, even though I've driven it about 4K in that time. I see really good B4 sedans for sale her for $3-4K. A3s or New Beetles? Give aways right now.

Most people are doing what I'm doing, circling the wagons, driving what we have, making it work. Things will get better, but maybe not this year.

Don't feel so bad even the BMW's aren't selling.
Here is a 2007 for 23,500 and no takers.
http://bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=336365

yea well i know our dealership we use southern Auto in CT for estimated pricing b4 buying......why pay too much we are all in business here. And makin 1000`s......those days are virtually done we are sellign cars at or below loan value nowadays just to keep our heads above water (barely) already talking with bankruptcy lawyers. We have alost about 14 major dealerships and no longer have a mercedes or mitsubishi dealer within 50 miles. We are all dropping like flys

True story. Wife got a new car this december. We knew what Edmunds, KBB and the others said it was worth. 05 Subaru Forester with 32k miles. All said wholesale was around $12,000-$13,500. They were selling at Carmax for anywhere between $15k-$20k. We went into the dealer and were offered $8,500. "It was the best they could do. We use KBB and that's what it said it was worth." I asked them to prove it. They inputted the numbers but they put the wrong model in. The KBB price came back $12,000. You should have seen the salesmans face. He started sputtering and said "Well, KBB is really only a guide." I told him, "Bull****. You guys cling to KBB and use that as the price bible. You can't decide willy nilly when you want to use it and when you won't. That's the what's the car is worth then that is what the car is worth."

We started to walk and they came back with their "best price" of $10,500. Because the car needs new tires rolleyes: no it doesn't) and that will cost us at least a $1k rolleyes: geees, bull**** again). He let us leave and called the next day. We finally agreed to $11,500 because of the tires and a small ding in the door. We also got her new car $1500 under invoice.

rolling18 said:

No wonder people arnt buying cars.. they are getting hosed on the trades (much more than would be "fair"

I could live with a FAIR trade / deal on BOTH ends NOT a Stealership hosing you on BOTH the new vehicle AND the trade-in..

BTW yes i have decided not to trade I will keep or sell on my own, I will not take advantage of another

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Well, I see you are taking my advice on either keeping or selling your car privately. With that said, I hope you don't come back here whining about how fricken hard it is to sell to the stupid, cheap, tire kicking, time wasting public potential private buyer's.

I could spend the time shooting holes through every comment you interjected into my original post above but, somehow I feel it would be useless.

I truly understand your frustration but, you are expelling enormous energy in the wrong direction and possibly commenting on topics/issues you really know absolutely nothing about. You say they are whacking you from a profit standpoint on a new vehicle? Then you turn around and say they are whacking you with a low ball trade-in offer? Lemme guess, you haven't tried to do this with competing dealers, right? If so, these competing dealers are pretty much spot on as to the structure of the deal regarding new selling price and trade-in allowance, right? Sorry but, you really need to read my initial post, take an asprin or two and just deal with it because that is the way it is. Later!

I wanted to buy a 2006 TDI, but ended up buying a 320 CDI instead. They wanted 15,999 for the TDI, and was willing to go as low as $14,500, but I bought the CDI (which has a Blue Book value of almost $30K) for $20K.

Very nice, sounds like a real sweat deal. You'll enjoy the car and its economy

hager, what year 320 CDI did you get for $20K, if you don't mind my asking. Curiosity has me..

Thanks,

Tony