So what's the deal here?
 

I've been looking at 2003 - 2005 G35 Coupe's for awhile, both private party and through dealerships, and the pricing seems to be all over the map. I thought I had a good deal on a 2004 with 62K for $14,000, but the tires were bald and I had no idea how much maintenance (catch up) it would need. Since this is private party (no tax here in AZ), I equate it to 15K if I was buying it from a dealer (more or less).

Well, today I found a very Very interesting deal. The car is at a Honda dealership. It's a 2003 with 60K. Extremely clean - a few scuffs and small dings scattered about, a little curb rash on one of the wheels, but other than that, the interior and exterior look great (the paint is perfect). It's completely stock. The dealer tells me the car came in from an elderly lady with title in hand, the tires were bald, the brakes were toast, so both he and I are guessing they really low-balled her on the trade-in. The car had generous maintenance done: new tires, brakes, drive belts, and whatever else I haven't seen yet on the itemized printout I will get with purchase. To top it off, they are selling it with a 2yr/100K powertrain warranty. I have the autocheck report in hand, only one owner, no problems reported, only listed events are the times the car was re/registered, and when the owner purchased the car when the lease was up. Cost = $13,800, out the door (w/tax & license) = $15,200.

What do you think?

ask them 14k out the door.. if not walk away..

Really? Do you say that because you feel that dealers are obligated to meet a buyers' demand? Do you truly believe that they're making a large enough profit to drop another grand off the price? I'm curious why you think this? And thanks for replying, I appreciate your input/feedback - really!

Ok with explanations aside, a dealership is still a stealership..
In my opinion I agree with azng45. I have worked at dealerships before, 2 times as a porter, once as a sales person, ..
I'd ask for 14k (tops), out the door, no more.
Good luck.

Actually, I agree with you both, but because I never mentioned the sticker price, only that it's costing $13,800, I'm wondering how the number of $14K magically appeared? The asking price is $14,300. The lowest he would go is $13,800. This is a no BS deal - I'm giving him a check and walking away with the car - there's no buffering of the numbers, no screwing with the finance percentages - he's getting $13,800 - nothing more. I've shopped cars many times, I've purchased a couple new at $500 over invoice - that's a completely different ballgame. I guess what I was really trying to ask is....what's the car worth? Even if you think I'm overpaying for the car, do you think it's worth $13,800?

It's hard to put a "real" price on it in my opinion since everyone knows stealerships always aim to shoot under the kbb value.
I'd say 14k out the door MAX.
Heck with the years/mileage/wear-n-tear I'd shoot for 13.5k if not lower but 14k is the max I'd do.
even if you save like 500 bucks, it's still 500, any bit you can save, you can always put that towards, insurance, gas, mrev, or whatever you want.
I'm sure you know, this isn't a new car, it's used, used car salesmen make a lot more commission than new cars sales. A sale with a used car salesman is still a sale, get your money's worth!

Considering that sales are in the toilet nation wide I see nothing wrong with
offering them $14K OTD. They probably didn't give her more than $6K for the
car so they're still making a major profit, $14K is a safe bet! Makes you want
to offer the STEALERSHIP $12k....:biggthumpup:
Gary

Also, if you don't already have a mechanic/mechanic-friend come with you to inspect the car, that's always a huge plus, make sure bodylines line up and get a complete carfax report.
Start the car, go outside and check for any funny smells or leaks, pop the hood, do the same thing, check/listen for odd noises.
Drive the car, check out everything, radio controls, tilt/adjust mirror/steering, fold seats down, slide them back, check all the gears (PRDNL etc etc), have a friend come with you, check the taillights and reverse lights, instrument panel, license plates lights, etc.. check all the lighting inside and out, check tire tread, see if there is any uneven tirewear, check the alignment as you test drive it.

seriously that is just the tip of the iceberg.
Check everything you possibly can, Don't worry about taking your time, the salesman is only going to be more anxious to see how nitpicky you are. As well as he should be, if you're dropping money on a car, it's still money. Take your time, and do your 'research' right.

^+1 Well Said. Dont worry about what they are making in profit. Do what you have to do to get in the car. Not to sound harsh, but if it was an older lady who owned the car...they probably were able to pay a lower trade in anyway...(who knows she may have been a car person granny and have known more about the car than any of us)...but yeah.

i think there telling you the got the car from a granny lol.. every dealership i have been to in my life has always told me they got the car from a doctor... these guys tell you anything they just want to make the sale.. like every1 has said... STEALERSHIP!!!

KBB FTMFW!!! I completely agree, any $ saved is worth it. Another trick I learned is to ask for the invoice that they have for what they got the car for. The fact that the brakes were toast and tires were bald might show that it might have not came from an old lady (or the old lady was a track demon!) If you do manage the invoice out of them, which they should be obligated to show you, see if you can sneak a peek at the name they bought it from. If it says Tom...... give them a big F*CK YOU!

i remember my dealer want to sell the car to me $32k out the door, 06 coupe sport packet with 9k on it.. i lowed it down to 26k out the door.. asked them throw in 4 new tires..
Dealer need u, You don't need the dealer

Exactly! I can only hope to get 18K trade-in value for my 06 with 27K miles on it! The value of these cars have really tanked, so 14K is a good deal. Oh and dealers don't go buy the KBB values of cars, they price on Blackbook! If you can find out the Blackbook value of the car, and negociate from there! I gaurantee you they didn't pay more than Blackbook value for these cars, because they're not in high demand, so the prices will be lower!

I got my 2004 C 6MT with a bit over 42K for 10K

It was hard to find, but, there are private parties out there that can hook you up.

15200? No deal.