Un4given

Well, after ten years of owning my 2002 Couple, it's time to let her go. I love this car but I need something to tow race bikes so picking up a new truck. I've got 91,000 miles on her and a few things are starting to go wrong. It has the oil pressure switch going out, flasher sometimes does not work and found out today the washer motor doesn't work. Still has original clutch so I know statistically I probably have some sort of major repair coming up soon.

It's a 2002 Black C5 Coupe, Z51, dual tops, HUD, dual power seats and high polish rims with six speed and 91,000 miles.

Mechanically (other than what I listed), the car is in good shape, one owner, never wrecked. Interior is very good. New Belts, battery, Exterior paint is shiny but there are quite a few nicks and scratches that will need some work and a good buffing and the nose has some rock chips and bug marks where they etched the paint.

Kelly Blue Book puts the trade-in value at $14,755 for Good condition. Private Party value is $16,830.

After getting offered $12,500 at first the last offer I got on trade-in was $13,700 which is obviously lower than KBB but I'm wondering if that is not a descent offer when I consider the following:

1. I'm buy a Ford on the X-Plan so I'm getting it for a good price without having to haggle if I wasn't trading in my car.

2. I not really comfortable selling vehicles so I don't mind taking a hit with a trade-in over what I could get selling it as long as it's reasonable. It has 91,000 miles on it and I would feel bad if I sold it to someone and something major went wrong with it. I would also have to fix the flasher and oil pressure switch as I would never sell something I know is broken and these are a $900 fix at the dealer. I know I can fix them myself for about $70 in parts and I could pull it off, but not completely comfortable with the work involved. I also have to factor in the time to do the repairs and to sell it myself and the peace of mind.

3. The savings in sales tax doing a trade-in makes the trade in worth around $14,600 effectively.

4. The economy is still pretty bad so not sure how long it would take to sell even though I am not in a hurry.

So, taking everything into consideration, I'd appreciate some advice on those with more experience that I have with trade-ins and not just looking at the math but everything I mentioned. I know at the end of the day a good deal is how I feel about it but not a lot of experience with cars.

If it matters, I'm looking at buying a new 2011 Ford Platinum F-150 with MSRP of $50,000. With X-Plan pricing, $2500 in rebates and trade in of $13,700 offered, I'm looking at $31,100 OTD. I showed up wanting $30,000 OTD and they did not budge when I offered that or countered so I told them I would think about it.

Sorry for the long read and thanks for any advice!

itzza427

Me,,I'd wait them out a little bit. They need to sell trucks MORE than you need to buy it!! With that many options on a truck to bring it up to the 50K level,,there is a TON of mark up compared to a more base model. there should be more wiggle room for them yet. You DO have to be prepared to walk away from the deal o make your point,,but eventually you will find a suitable truck at an acceptable price!! My 2 cents!!

Ace14

Honestly with the miles and condition the car is realistically worth 15-17k MAX to the right buyer. As you said its $14,600 dollars including the tax savings you are getting from the car. Basically you have the CHANCE to make an extra ~$1,500 on the car after you fix the little BS so really it isn't worth the time or hassle to go through fixing it and then trying to sell it when you can just dump it right away IMO. Good luck and enjoy you new truck, I drove a new 2011 and it is sooooooooo sweet. I have Loved every ford truck my family has ever had, and I still got my 03 f150 after 8 years

CHJ In Virginia

With everything fixed, you might get an extra $1000 from a private buyer. To me it would not be worth the hastle. Try and split the difference with the dealer on the truck and do the deal, if they will not budge go for it anyway.

dquagliaroli

I try to avoid trading in. Have always made out better by selling mine outright and working several dealers at once for the best price. Also, have found that even if I sell my car for a little less it still ends up a better deal because of the lower price from the dealer. Also, the end of the month or quarter is when they are trying to make their numbers and will become more aggressive. Good luck!

T's

1) Hold your ground
2) Find another dealer,make them the same offer
3) Give them time to shop your car to a wholesaler
4) Go to Carmax, they will give you a price good for 30 days on your car. It will be low but it will let you know what the dealer is allowing for your car in real dollars.
Just my two cents, hope it helps
T

Florida99

with both. For my 2 cents, even a private buyer is going to want to haggle price with you over the needed repairs and you may not get the equivalent trade-in value. Next, if you are selling the car, don't start pouring money into it that you aren't going to recover. Next, shop the deal. Take whatever paperwork you have and visit some other dealers. If the next dealer doesn't have the exact truck you want in stock, they'll wheel and deal with the dealer who does have it. That's between them. You're only concern is not to let the trade-in obfuscate the deal, which they love to do and get the price you want. Even if the dealer that sells the car is a 1,000 miles away, the dealer closest to you will be more than happy to service it. Good luck.

JerzeyJoe

In my opinion the amount they are offering for the trade in isn't that bad. Do you really want to deal with fixing everything, and then deal with people who just want to waste your time. Not showing up, taking the car for test drives and if they do give you an offer, it's a low ball offer.

I would go online and request qoutes from several dealers. It is a pain when the phone doesn't stop ringing. If you go this route you will get a better idea on how low they will go for the truck and how high they will offer you for the Vette. Then just start using them against each other.

Good luck.

sfc rick

Keep the car and buy a used pit truck. I hauled my bikes all over the place and to many tracks. NEVER would I have bought "new" to haul motox bikes or my drag bikes. Then to get back in dirty or have it banged up or dinged up by all the pit activity.

Up grade your Vette, then buy a pit truck. You'll be happier.

50K for a truck?

Vega$Vette

1st $50k for a bike hauler is insane.

2nd their offer with the tax credit isn't bad. X pricing? Does $31k and your trade the out the door price including taxes and all fees?

If so not an bad deal if you have to add taxes and fees you're getting screwed.

On a $50k msrp you should be getting at least $5k off in today's market.

Mr.Bill

There is no way I could think of spending 50K for a Ford or Chevy truck to haul my bikes around.

jrose7004

Trucks have just goten too expensive. I would sell the Vette private party and buy a used truck and save money. 50K is too much money to spend on a new truck.

TorchRedRocket

Considering the time and effort you would put into your car just to get it ready for private sale by fixing the items you mentioned, not to mention the added hassle of people constantly wasting your time, the dealership offer is totally worth it IMO.

And obviously it's your choice, but I agree with just about everyone else in saying that 50k for a 1/2 ton pickup truck is absolutely ridiculous.

Un4given

Thanks guys. That is some excellent advice and just what I was looking for to help make my decision. Some really great feedback for sure. Just to clarify on a few things to keep it in context.

I'm not just buying the truck to haul around race bikes. I currently haul them around with my CX-9 on an open trailer but with all the equipment I need an enclosed trailer which is going to require a truck to be safe. I can't count the times I've needed a truck to haul things so I've been wanting a truck for a long time so now I have need for one and the two just came together.

$50k for a truck is a lot but a Platinum is their top of the line truck and it's completely loaded with everything you can get in a truck. As I am buying for my everyday transportation plus other needs, I enjoy the comforts and conveniences that a $50k truck has in it. Just like when I bought my Corvette, I didn't need it, I just wanted it and I have enjoyed it tremendously. I prefer to buy new as I keep a vehicle for ten years. I also have to buy new to get the new 3.5 Eco Boost Twin turbo engine that came out this year. If you have not seen it and have any interest, go to the Fords website and look at the torture test videos they did on this engine. A friend of mine works for Ford and was part of the testing and this thing is incredible.

The $31,100 is out the door with everything including sales tax, tag/reg and fees. That is the amount I finance. The X-plan itself prices the truck about $100 over invoice. It does leave them their hold back money but the plan itself is non-negotiable. I've researched the heck out of it on Ford and F-150 forums and yes you can do better but then you have to deal and negotiate with fees where the X-plan is a fixed $75 dollars.

Again guys, thank you so much for the feedback. I can see everyone's point and right now I'm tending to think that taking the offer is probably my best bet but I will offer to split the difference with them and see what happens.

rebelheart

I would keep the Vette and look for a low mileage used truck with all the bells and whistles and let the first owner take the huge hit in depreciation.

Un4given

One other thing that limits my choices is my wife due to a previous accident has a lot of hip and back problems so any vehicle we buy has to have highly adjustable seats or she can't ride for any distance. This makes keeping my car another negative because she can't ride in it long and getting in and out of it is a chore. Unfortunately when get into their most adjustable power seat, you are already at 40k. Throw in Navigation, moon roof and a few other things it does not take much to add up.

My Mazda CX-9 is the touring addition we had to buy for the same reason to get the high end seats and believe it or not had to by a $2500 Navigation unit to get the power lift gate which for my wife was a must have for the same reason. It was around $48k three years ago and the Platinum inside makes my CX-9 look plain with the appointments and features. I've never owned a Nav until the cx-9 and didn't want it but now that I've had it and traveled all over the place, I love having the Nav and it's worth it to me. I did have the mobile garmin units and they worked well but just having it there and built in it nice.

MrGary2011

Am I missing something? You have a toy hauler (CX-9) and your trading the vette for a toy hauling truck? Trade the CX-9 in for the truck and keep the vette! The corvette is a better day driver with gas vs the cx-9 or most likely the truck! My buddy bought a similar truck and is now not too happy, almost 100 dollars to fill its tank!

jbondfl

Lots of variables here:
(I'm going to steal some other very good advice already mentioned here)

Are you selling/trading the vette because it is becoming a service problem? (If you didn't think you needed a truck, would you be selling the vette anyway?)

Consider whether you need/want the luxury edition enough to warrant driving it through a moto-pit. If you are going to treat this like a truck maybe you should bring the features down some. (And I understand "WANT",,, I drive a Yukon Denali.....

If you are buying on the X-plan consider cutting the dealer some slack. They really make much less on those sales because the company demands it. Allow them to make $1K on the trade in...

JMHO

Florida99

Alan Mulally is that you? No, no money for them on the trade. Breakeven is good enough.

Un4given

No, not missing anything really. The CX-9 is my wife's and it barely is a toy hauler at 3500 lb capacity. It's a cross over on a car frame. She drives it 90% of the time and getting rid of it is not an option. That is her car and she would never drive a big F-150. Believe me, I have already asked and tried working that approach. I completely understand her saying no.