We have a 2004 Prius with 38,000 miles which we are considering trading in for a newer one. The '04 is pretty basic - cloth seats, AM/FM/CD - with nothing really to distinguish or customize it. I did, though, add body side molding and mudguards purchased through here. The dealer is offering $15K for it as a trade-in. The newer vehicle is a Pkg 3 and includes the convenience pkg, LiquiGel leather seats, and sealant pkg. Per salesdrone, MSRP is $28.5K and with a $600 rebate that'd be $27.9K. Minus our trade-in and the difference comes out to be $12.9K. Add in TTL and everything else, it comes to $13.9K. Comments on the deal and price would be appreciated.
have you checked KBB values for your trade-in?, if not in a rush you can always sell it "private party", then turn around and buy your new one if you dont really care of the trade value (or not a priority) i would usually just trade-in, its less hassle and headache, old car gone, new car here...same day
It's not clear if the "newer" one is new or used? If it's used then it's easier to get similar fair market values on both cars and perhaps drive a harder bargain. If it's new then you've got the apple and orange issue to deal with, negotiating is more difficult because there is a lot of behind the scenes money involved with new cars. In establishing the value of your trade, I'd use kbb, NADA and edmunds.com to appraise it and take the average. You may need to toss one out if it's way off. One thing I've found is the subjective measure of the vehicles condition is almost always one notch apart on a trade: if I think my trade is "outstanding", the dealer thinks it's "clean", and so forth. I also like to pretend I'm out to buy my trade on eBay, craigslist, AutoTrader and such. Having an idea of the buy/sell spread is a useful negotiating tool. As is knowing how easy it is to find my trade: if it's in demand and harder to find that's good, if they are a dime/dozen, oh well. One more thing, I like to negotiate a deal very late in the day, preferably 45 minutes before closing time, and I make it clear I'm happy to come back in the morning if we can't come to agreement tonight (a buyer leaving without a deal is their worst nightmare) . This works especially well with dealer staff that have lots of pictures on their desks showing all the family, pets and activities they can't wait to get to after work
My apologies -- I forgot to mention that the "newer" car would be right off the lot brand new. 2008. Alan
Is it just me or does 28,500 MSRP for a package 3 not sound right? I bought my package 6 touring for less, and the MSRP for that was 28,254. I know that you are getting leather which adds about 1,100 bucks to the number, but do you know what the sealant package is/cost and the convenience package is/cost. I priced a package 3 in your area and got an MSRP of 25,295.
15K is about what most dealers would want to offer, and still look to make money. The art of negotiation goes a long way. On the other hand if I had a nice 04 with 38k miles, giving $14000 for a few options is a lot of money. Not to mention the extra you will pay the first couple of years for plates and insurance.
To get the best deal always separate: purchase of the car financing trade-in Doing it all together the dealer will play shell game with you. In other words negotiate the best purchase price and only after that let them know if you are going to do any financing and when that is done let them know about the trade-in. #2 and #3 can be interchanged. Best of luck,
$600 Rebate? CarMax: Warning: Outdated web browser has them listed now (new 2008's) at $1501.00 off of MSRP. I've actually seen folks get upwards of $2000 off of MSRP, although I'm sure it's going to tougher to do this with fuel prices going up.
