Negotiating with a dealership for a used car.

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I'm looking for a used SUV and I've found one at a local Nissan dealership. I'm having trouble figuring out a reasonable sale price for the vehicle.

It's listed at $23,000, just dropped from $25,000 recently. From what I can tell, trade in values are from $17,000 to $20,000 based on its mileage.

The vehicle did have a $9000 hail damage claim that was completely repaired last year, so I'm not sure if that changes the value much. Should that bring the price down even more? (I personally don't care as it was repaired and I'm assuming mostly cosmetic) The black book price doesn't account for any damage claims, so I'm not sure.

I'm feeling like $21,000 is a fair price.

The next thing I'm wondering is if this vehicle was traded in 6 months ago, there's a good chance the dealer paid more than the 17,000 to 20,000. Maybe it was 19,000 to 22,000? So how should I account for that?

Obviously the dealer wouldn't want to sell this truck for $21,000 if they paid $22,000 for it 6 months ago. On the flip side, they can either hold on to it and try to sell it for more (as it depreciates even further), or wholesale auction it where they might get that 17,000 to 20,000 price for it. Now if I want to trade my truck in, they obviously won't offer me more money for it because I paid more for it 6 months ago.

Now if the dealer is stuck in a loss scenario either way, one would assume that my offer would be the lesser of 2 evils.

So what do you think is my best strategy here?

Edit: I should add, that this dealerships prices are a lot higher than other dealerships for similar vehicles accross the board, so hopefully there's a good chunk of wiggle room.
 
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Stop thinking about what's fair. They will make no attempt to be fair to you.

The hail damage could have been fixed by cutting off the roof, which is structural and it may never be the same.

Tell them it has a dirty carfax and you'll be paying $17.5 or walking.

You don't need to make them happy. If it sells for any price they'll be happy.

Some dealers are a little crazy and won't undercut themselves, so you can't buy stuff for pennies over auction. They have to give their salesguy a minimum commission, etc. Leave your number and tell them only to call if they agree to your deal. Any other calls will disqualify them from getting your business.
 
My local Nissan dealership is quite optimistic as well on their used cars. The repaint is a risk, they clearly are getting interested in selling by dropping the price, so maybe now is the time to start feeling them out.
Ask them what your vehicle is worth to trade? Then compare that to what you paid. That should give you an idea for how much margin they have on a used car.
 
Dealerships make more profit on used cars than anything else.

I don't care one bit if they DON'T make a "profit" from the car they sell to me. In fact, I'd prefer they did not.

They never give me "average trade" for my car, and they never sell it for "average retail". The numbers are always skewed in their favor.

I now deal only with new cars on Ford X-Plan coupled with other discounts, or private sales. I'm tired of getting ripped off.
 
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
My local Nissan dealership is quite optimistic as well on their used cars. The repaint is a risk, they clearly are getting interested in selling by dropping the price, so maybe now is the time to start feeling them out.
Ask them what your vehicle is worth to trade? Then compare that to what you paid. That should give you an idea for how much margin they have on a used car.


Sorry I should have been more clear. I've owned my truck for 5 1/2 years so what I paid will be about $20000 more than what I get offered lol. I was just trying to make the point.
 
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
My local Nissan dealership is quite optimistic as well on their used cars. The repaint is a risk, they clearly are getting interested in selling by dropping the price, so maybe now is the time to start feeling them out.
Ask them what your vehicle is worth to trade? Then compare that to what you paid. That should give you an idea for how much margin they have on a used car.


I'm pretty aware of how they make money, and I don't have a problem with them making some money from me.

I just want to make sure I go in there with a reasonable idea of what's fair, and then I can walk out if they don't meet me there.

I know a lot of salesman (especially used) are shady and dishonest, but one of my best friends used to sell cars so I've seen both sides of it. He worked a lot of hours, most of the time for nothing.

So I'm hoping I can go in there with a fair offer, everybody gets their fair share, and we're all happy. If they're into the truck for more than it's worth, it won't change what I will pay for it.
 
Originally Posted By: D189379
I'm looking for a used SUV and I've found one at a local Nissan dealership. I'm having trouble figuring out a reasonable sale price for the vehicle.

It's listed at $23,000, just dropped from $25,000 recently. From what I can tell, trade in values are from $17,000 to $20,000 based on its mileage.

The vehicle did have a $9000 hail damage claim that was completely repaired last year, so I'm not sure if that changes the value much. Should that bring the price down even more? (I personally don't care as it was repaired and I'm assuming mostly cosmetic) The black book price doesn't account for any damage claims, so I'm not sure.

I'm feeling like $21,000 is a fair price.

The next thing I'm wondering is if this vehicle was traded in 6 months ago, there's a good chance the dealer paid more than the 17,000 to 20,000. Maybe it was 19,000 to 22,000? So how should I account for that?

Obviously the dealer wouldn't want to sell this truck for $21,000 if they paid $22,000 for it 6 months ago. On the flip side, they can either hold on to it and try to sell it for more (as it depreciates even further), or wholesale auction it where they might get that 17,000 to 20,000 price for it. Now if I want to trade my truck in, they obviously won't offer me more money for it because I paid more for it 6 months ago.

Now if the dealer is stuck in a loss scenario either way, one would assume that my offer would be the lesser of 2 evils.

So what do you think is my best strategy here?

Edit: I should add, that this dealerships prices are a lot higher than other dealerships for similar vehicles accross the board, so hopefully there's a good chunk of wiggle room.


I would start from the private party sale price and go up from there. Remember any damage on CarFax even if 125% fixed lowers the value of the car. Don't fall in love with the car, make an offer and leave your phone.
 
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
My local Nissan dealership is quite optimistic as well on their used cars. The repaint is a risk, they clearly are getting interested in selling by dropping the price, so maybe now is the time to start feeling them out.


There's definitely some risk. I remember the hailstorm, I had my homes entire roof replaced because of it. A nice $12000 insurance claim, thank god.

There was a lot of discussion here on a local car forum about it. Guys had $20,000 PDR hail damage claims. I'm not worried about the hail dents, but the truck has a moonroof, so there could easily have been some serious water damage to the interior.
 
I agree, make your offer a good one - somewhere in between and let them chew at it.

Another tactic would be "out the door" , say $21k out the door, with all taxes, fees, etc. included....
 
If you can figure out what the auction value of the vehicle is I think it's fair to go in with that number +5%. They profit, you get a fair price, everybody is happy.
 
And remember the salesman's commission structure could be totally twisted so even if the dealer makes several grand he could get nothing or next to it.

So don't be fair. Be rabid.
 
Always be prepared to walk away. I know that they didn't overpay for the vehicle, they got a good deal on it.

Offer them $21K. They make roughly $2K, you get a good deal, everyone happy. They might hold out for more, depends on their estimation of what the market will bear. Then, you have to decide, is it worth more to you? Or would you rather keep shopping?
 
I don't know the car market is up in Canada, but around here cars are a dime a dozen offer them from 3 to 5 less than what they're advertising it for, leverage the damaged issue, no one else is buying it so they're dropping the price b4 auction it
 
It doesn't matter what they paid for the car. It doesn't matter how much extra they put in the car. It actually doesn't even matter what is truly fair.

All that matters is what the car is worth to you.

Sounds like you want that car. Thats a difficult problem to have... Wanting that car. Its much easier to negotitate when you want a car, but not necessarily that car.

Seems like you're willing to pay $21K. Offer a little less than that so You have some wiggle room.
 
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9k in hail damage? See if they will pay you to take it off their hands for them.

Have a link for it? Let's see this thing.
 
Originally Posted By: D189379
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
My local Nissan dealership is quite optimistic as well on their used cars. The repaint is a risk, they clearly are getting interested in selling by dropping the price, so maybe now is the time to start feeling them out.


There's definitely some risk. I remember the hailstorm, I had my homes entire roof replaced because of it. A nice $12000 insurance claim, thank god.

There was a lot of discussion here on a local car forum about it. Guys had $20,000 PDR hail damage claims. I'm not worried about the hail dents, but the truck has a moonroof, so there could easily have been some serious water damage to the interior.



Sounds like subconsciously you need more information on the claim prior to making your decision.
 
Originally Posted By: satinsilver
9k in hail damage? See if they will pay you to take it off their hands for them.

Have a link for it? Let's see this thing.


Yeah really! No way would I pay anywhere close to retail for a vehicle that previously had $9k in body damage.
 
Originally Posted By: ajchien


Sounds like you want that car. Thats a difficult problem to have... Wanting that car. Its much easier to negotitate when you want a car, but not necessarily that car.


I definitely don't need this particular one. There are easily another 5 similar trucks for sale in the city, and easily another 5 if hit some of the neighboring small towns. I'm not in love with this one in particular.
 
What SUV? Certainly there are others of the same type in your area. I'd walk. That much damage is always going to hurt resale down the road.
 
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