put it up for sale in around March, that's when sportscar fever hits. You may be without a Corvette for a while but at least you won't get lowballed by the dealer.

 

tomato tomoto....and everyone knows how it works. Trade value is one tool you should/are using to keep yourself from being stupid lol...But yea you're right its the difference that matters...

Dealers are going to try and use auction averages if that works out better for them. Well actually they are going to use whatever calculation they think works better for them.

Having purchased 45 cars I've seen some good stuff..

 

Not always true. My other car is a 2009 Toyota Tacoma 4X4. Its today value with 55k on the clock is only 3k less than I paid for it new 5 years ago. Its hardly rare as its the best selling truck in history. Some vehicles just hold value because they are so damn great.

 

Amen to that - I have a 2011 Tacoma 4x4 SR5. 8300 miles on mine - I'm betting I could darn near break even (I bought mine during the height of the Toyota "unintended acceleration" debacle and got it for essentially invoice). Tacomas are gold on resale.

 

They won't give you an estimate unless they think you're ready to order now. When you go in ask for their best price on the Z separate from the trade in. You have all year to see what other dealers or people will offer.

I ran into this with my car too. When I went in a year ago asking for a trade in value no one would give one even though they had the car for new brakes/rotors to allow for inspection. Of course a year ago I wouldn't have paid MSRP or more for the C7. Now they are offering really good discounts and knew I was serious about selling. They still gave really low offers so I sold it myself. It's just an estimate/offer so you can back out. No one can say for sure what the value will be in a year. Just enjoy driving it.

 

C7 values were doing pretty good until 9% discounts started popping up everywhere on the 15's. I know, I know, it's part of the game.

 

You will take a beating when you trade in your car. I paid $68,500 for my 2014 Z51, 3Lt, etc. I am waiting on my 2015 Z06 and my car is worth $52,500 trade in according to my dealer. I have had my car a little over a year.

 

I'd definitely be giving private sale a shot. I think I'm gonna unload my 2LT Z51 in the spring. Hopefully things won't be too bad around that time.

 

I am going to go that route. My Z06 being here before spring is good. Trying to sell a Corvette in the winter not so good.

 

The ONLY smart way to buy a car is to buy a one year old car in which someone else took a bath....like the ones the guys in this thread are shedding. Way less than 10,000 miles, "certified" pre-owned with additional warranties and pristine condition...barely broken in.

If you must trade for a brand new car, go in armed with information. Trade only with a dealer that will trade wholesale to wholesale or retail to retail. If you trade new car MSRP to wholesale trade-in, the dealer is making a killing and you are taking a real haircut. If you simply must have the first brand new Corvette Z06, however, this is what you a likely going to have to do.

 

...and another smart way to buy a car is to keep your new car 3+ years before you sell it.

 

Doesnt work this way EVER! Dealers buy at wholesale and sell at retail otherwise they don't stay in business long.

If you think a dealer is doing either of these things then they have done their sales job but its not want happened.

Obviously a lot of people here have never owned or run a business for profit.

 

That's glaringly obvious from this and many other threads.

 

Yes...it does.

If you KNOW the wholesale value of both cars, you deal from that figure. Yes, you'll pay over wholesale for the car you're getting...as you said, that's how dealers stay in business...but at least you know how much, in general terms, the dealer is making off the deal. If all you do is compare the retail figure for his car to the wholesale figure of your car, you'll get screwed every time.

Dealers HATE informed and patient customers.

Impulsive and stupid people are fair game.

 

Semantics, what you actually pay for your car is retail, dealers don't sell you the car at their cost, which would be the definition of wholesale.

I'm pretty sure you are equating retail with MSRP and in that case you are correct, anyone that pays MSRP after the honeymoon period of a new model introduction has passed is a fool who will soon be parted from their money.

The proper way to do these deals is to break it down into 2 transactions, the trade and the purchase.

Decide intelligently, by subscribing to real wholesale pricing sites like Galves, what your trade is worth to a dealer. Factor in any sales tax savings and that gives you one number.

Then determine what the current street price of the car you want to purchase is, subtract the trade value to determine the taxes owed and add in any dealer fees, that gives you the second number.

Now, take those 2 numbers and determine the delta then add whatever you owe on the trade. That final number is the cash or financing amount you need to arrive at to do the deal.

Using this method the actual numbers in the top line of the sales contract mean nothing, you are negotiating to a bottom line, just like a business operates.

One of the things I really like about the supplier programs from GM, Ford and Chrysler is the sales price of the new vehicle is fixed, it cannot be negotiated under the plan rules. That means the only negotiation I have to do is on the trade, it really simplifies the process.

 

Yeah, that's real tidy. The dealers love it because their additional profit is built-in...guaranteed by the manufacturer.

One of the things the general public doesn't know or consider is the various incentives and kickbacks the manufacturers provide for the dealers. As a buyer, you never really know how much "money is in the trunk" on a new car you are buying.

For instance...dealers can receive a significant year end and/or quarterly incentive from a manufacturer meeting a sales goal of a set number of cars. For larger dealers, a year end incentive can be six figures. Some dealers consider it more important to move the cars and meet the goal (especially if they are near the goal and you are buying near the end of the year) rather than to gouge the customer on individual sales deals.

Another example...Mercedes usually dealers huge incentives on "leftover" unsold new cars...ie: a new 2010 on the lot in January of 2011. If the dealer isn't honest enough to pass this on to you, it's just his profit. This can be up to $20,000 on and S-class.

Another example...Dealers HATE cash buyers. They make an enormous amount of money in the F&I (finance and insurance) office. This is why your are handed off to that new face at the end of your deal...to gouge you a little more. A recent survey showed that large dealers average over $1,000 additional profit in this office on service contracts (100% markup usually) and things like GAP insurance (insurance that provides coverage for the "gap" between the remaining balance on your loan and the value the insurance company gives you for your totaled or stolen car for those who make very low down payments and take out huge loans on rapidly depreciating cars). Fabric and paint protection packages...don't get me started...pure profit. Wheel protection packages...it goes on and on.

Another example...Someone above said, "obviously a lot of people here have never owned or run a business for profit". The auto business is a lot more than just selling new cars (what we are talking about here). Their profit comes from a lot of sources. The service department is the cash cow for most dealerships. For the Penske group, for instance, the service department profit margin is 57% compared to 8% for new car sales. Smart business would focus on putting a lot of new cars on the road to feed the cash cow out back in the form of the service department.

Another example...The "previously owned" lot is also a cash cow. They will low ball the hell out of you on your Corvette trade in. After your trade, if you gave them a Carfax-clean, low miles, creampuff, don't go look at the price they are asking for your previous darling. You'll soil your pants.

I could go on, but suffice it to say that the profit the dealer makes on a new car sales is a minute part of what the dealer puts in his pocket at the end of the day. If the dealer made a profit on the sale of your new car to you, that was really just gravy on the potatoes.