I hate to admit it but I am trading in the G35. I went a dealership last night to trade in the vehicle. I had an idea of what I thought my G was worth and when they came back with their offer it was much different. I was wondering if anyone on here can tell me if I am being unrealisitic in what I think it's worth as a trade in.

The car is a silver 2005 G35 couple with 16,400 miles. It's silver with grey interior. The car has no dings or scratches and has been taken very good care of. It's had a clear bra since new and there's not one rock chip. It has pretty much all the options except nav and rear spoiler. I thought the car would be worth $28,000 but they offered $24,500. I told them they were crazy and basically walked out. Did I make a mistake, is this what the car is really worth on a trade in? Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated. I am in Austin, TX if that matters.

 

Dealer's will always low-ball you with trade-ins. you'r better off with selling private party. check kbb or edmunds for your car's actual value. good luck with the sale. what are you trying to trade-in for? i went to austin infiniti but they were unwilling to beat or even match a deal that sewell in dallas made me when i bought my 05 6mt.

 

they have to be able to turn a profit, they are not a charity

 

The price varies depending where you are.
In my area $28k is what they go for retail, wholesale is a different story.
do some research on edmunds.com and dont think you'll get what KBB states, KBB is way....overpriced for most.

-Jay

 

^ Yea KKB quotes a trade-in value of EXCELLENT - $28k; GOOD - $26.5k; FAIR - $24k... +/- of course

 

When you go for a trade-in dealerships see an easy profit customer.

 

Did you expect them to high ball you?

 

Of course not. I did expect to get a reasonable offer. Something in line with kbb or nada. The average trade in for NADA was $29,325. I guess I wasn't expecting the G to depreciate so much. I have owned the car for 18 months and that would be almost a $12,000 loss. It's a trade in figure but still. I can't imagine a BMW or Lexus taking this kind of loss. Just a little surprised I guess.

 

Why would you even expect a reasonable offer? I think you need to understand the game a bit. They are a business. Their sole purpose in life is to make as much $ as possible. Period. They are not your buddies, friends or next of kin. They also assume everyone that walks in is a sucker on a stick.

So with that, let's go

They won't offer you fair, or even close to fair. Let's say you actually accepted their offer of $24,000. Now they will turn around and list it at what? $31,xxx? Let's say they get $30,000 even. Do the math, they just made $6,000! Now how much did it cost for them to offer that lowball? Nothing. Now how much do they stand to gain if you accept? That's right. It's a no risk situation. They could care less if you walked out. Especially if they are the only close Infiniti dealer around. You will probably be back.

You have to realize it's all a game and it's all negotiable.

 

Good for you walking out. Trade-ins always suck. Sell privately and make a huge down payment. I am so sick of dealing with dealerships.

 

Id say thats about fair for the price on a wholesale level becasue they might not even sell your car they could send it to an auction or they may not even be taking your car a wholesaler could be the one saying how much your car is worth go in and negotiate with them a little

 

lol

 

Well, the deal is they more then likely wont be reselling it. The price they got is from what a wholeseller was going to give them. I have a friend who owns a used car dealership and they would basically sell it to him for what they paid for it. That way it helps me in paying the sales tax. Overall I was just disapponinted in how much it depreciated. My post was more along the lines of asking other people who own these cars if it was a fair deal. I thought the offer was insulting but I could be wearing rose colored glasses.

In all fairness they gave me a price on the new car that was very good. $3,300 off MSRP on a new IS350.

 

 

Thanks for the reply. This was the type of response I will looking for.