Hey guys, went into a dealer today looking at getting another car. I brought the LR3 with me looking to trade it in. My LR3 has a short list of repairs I need to do. Coolant sensor, 1 TPMS Sensor, and brakes. Thats it. This car has no scratches or dents, no mechanical issues, newer tires, everything they look for. Its a 2007 HSE with 80K on it. I went in thinking that the average trade in value wouldn't be unreasonable to expect. NADA, KBB, and Black Book all said 16-17k trade in. Well we test drove a vehicle while they inspected mine. Came back, liked the car, dealer wanted ours, said he was going to work with us on getting close to that blue book value yada yada yada. Sat down in his office and he says he can give me at most, 13k for my Land Rover. Now I know a guy has to make money, but this also isn't my first rodeo. I know these things sell for 19-22k right now. I told him I thought it was low, immediately he got upset, said it needed 2k in repairs and that it wasn't road worthy. I kept my cool until he told me that he couldn't believe we drive our child around in such an unsafe car. I restrained myself but I am proud to announce I did not lay him out for calling my wife a bad mother. Anyway, I wanted your opinions. Am I way off the mark here? Is 13k all I can get on trade in for this car? Or should I reasonably expect close to 16?

Appreciate the help

 

Looks like he's not adjusting for the miles. When I look it up in nada, for my area, average trade is 13,725. But there is an addition of 2,050 for the low miles that makes it 15,775 which is a lot closer to what you want.

Sales guys, in almost any industry, are snakes. So it could be that he's just trying to rip you off, and like any liar he got defensive when you called him on it. I've been kicked out of dealerships when I pointed out that I knew they were trying to mislead me.

 

Well we paid $18,000 for our '06 HSE with no issues and 66,000 original owner miles. This was also in peak demand time this winter in the northeast.

Just offer him $4000 less for the new car to make up for it.

 

The dealer is not being unreasonable. If you are going to trade in an LR3 and expect top dollar it better be in perfect mechanical condition, especially if you are trading to a non Land Rover dealer. I think you underestimate the fear used car managers have of a higher mile Land Rover product. The next buyer of that car will also probably not be a very credit worthy customer and will also have a hard time obtaining financing with the mileage on your LR3.

Actual action prices which reflect the true value that vehicles identical to yours are in the 12K to 13k range. I have an LR3 and work at a dealership and have access to the MMR action feed that gives me this info. No one is trying to steal your trade in. A lot of money will still have to go into your car to make it retail worthy. Even used cars these days must be almost perfect for a customer to even make an offer. An older Land Rover will never be a resale value king. I bought my Lr3 9 years ago fully knowing that. I love it and will never get rid of it. (Especially considering all of the money I have spent on maintenance)

 

I will point out that he's not looking for TOP DOLLAR, he's looking for average trade-in. Top dollar would be clean trade-in which is $1500 or so more than average.

Most car dealers are snakes and want to give you less than book for your car and more than book when they go to sell you something.

I say stick to your guns, and worse case sell the car out right. You'll probably get something somewhere between clean trade and average retail. In many states you can deduct the price of selling your car to an individual from the purchase price of your new car so that you can reduce your sales tax burden.

 

This is a good plan too!

 

Thanks for the input guys. I understand I wont get top dollar but he was well below even rough trade in. I know that the car needs only minor work. On my own I can get it show worthy for 500 at most. It was quite apparent that he wanted it. He got mad real quick as soon as I told him I didnt like the numbers. I think he saw a young couple that he could make a quick buck on. I think I will just try and sell it outright like Jafir said.

 

I don't think 80,000 miles on a 7-8 year old vehicle comes close to "high mileage".
That's just over 10,000 miles a year.
The dealer would put a big sign on it "Low Miles".

 

If you are going to sell it on the side, get the repairs done first. Nobody wants to buy a car that needs work and has to immediately take it to a shop.


Gotta spend money to make money!

 

Just sell it outright if you can't get what you are asking for. 2008's seem few and far between. I would get everything fixed first of course. There's a glut of 05's I saw prices from 8k to 13k and finally found on '08 for 18k. 2008 Land Rover LR3 HSE w/ 95399 miles