[gm325xi]

i want to trade in my car but dont know what the bmw dealers will give me.

[Thrakos]

http://www.kbb.com/

Kelly's Blue Book should give you the best idea...

[rusn007]

There is also edmunds.com (you can select "what is my car worth"). I think edmunds is more accurate than kbb

[adiba14]

Originally Posted by rusn007

There is also edmunds.com (you can select "what is my car worth"). I think edmunds is more accurate than kbb

Edmunds is not good website - couldn't even find how to add the packages to the options - ie sports and premium. Can't get a real price without that info imo

[JimKW]

The best you can do is find what other cars similar to yours are selling for in your area. Problem is the dealer will give you wholesale value wich will be much lower than selling price.

The way to get the best deal is to sell your car yourself. I have used AutoTrader many times to sell cars. When you go to buy a new (or used car) you will get a much better deal when you do not have a trade in.

[theblackmamba]

you'll never get what kbb, edmunds, or black book is giving you at the dealer UNLESS they are making more money on the car they are selling you. generally a dealer will lowball you $3k+ on a trade in or more. If you get $1500 below trade in thats considered a good deal.

sell the car on craigslist. I sold mine after about 2 months on there for $500 less than what I was asking for it in liquid cash.

Dont meet up with people who are too eager to buy the car. 9 times out of 10 they will waste your time and they are trying to lowball you to resell the car.

[adiba14]

Originally Posted by thatswhatsh3said

you'll never get what kbb, edmunds, or black book is giving you at the dealer UNLESS they are making more money on the car they are selling you. generally a dealer will lowball you $3k+ on a trade in or more. If you get $1500 below trade in thats considered a good deal.

sell the car on craigslist. I sold mine after about 2 months on there for $500 less than what I was asking for it in liquid cash.

Dont meet up with people who are too eager to buy the car. 9 times out of 10 they will waste your time and they are trying to lowball you to resell the car.

What year and roughly how much if you don't mind me asking. Thanks

[Zero.7]

Originally Posted by JimKW

The best you can do is find what other cars similar to yours are selling for in your area. Problem is the dealer will give you wholesale value wich will be much lower than selling price.

The way to get the best deal is to sell your car yourself. I have used AutoTrader many times to sell cars. When you go to buy a new (or used car) you will get a much better deal when you do not have a trade in.

This ^^^^. You can find out what your car is approx. worth using the various methods mentioned above (ie, KBB, edmunds, private party sale in your area, auto trader, etc.) and subtract another $1500-3000 from that. That's probably going to be close to what you may get from the dealers.

Be patient. If you have a "good" car, someone will pick it up privately and you'll get more than what the dealership will offer. The fastest I've sold a car was in 5 days. The longest, approx. 3 months. And have gotten much more every time than what the dealerships were offering.

[Eric335]

Originally Posted by Zero.7

This ^^^^. You can find out what your car is approx. worth using the various methods mentioned above (ie, KBB, edmunds, private party sale in your area, auto trader, etc.) and subtract another $1500-3000 from that. That's probably going to be close to what you may get from the dealers.

Be patient. If you have a "good" car, someone will pick it up privately and you'll get more than what the dealership will offer. The fastest I've sold a car was in 5 days. The longest, approx. 3 months. And have gotten much more every time than what the dealerships were offering.

+1

Just sold my mothers Cadillac Escalade off Craigslist for about $10k more than Porsche wanted for trade in

[gpb]

Originally Posted by JimKW

The way to get the best deal is to sell your car yourself. I have used AutoTrader many times to sell cars. When you go to buy a new (or used car) you will get a much better deal when you do not have a trade in.

Yes, generally speaking you will often be able to sell a car privately for more money than a dealer will give even if they're giving a fair trade value vs. lowballing you. "Much better deal" is pretty subjective though, and to be fair one must consider all the aspects not just the dollar signs. In my experience it is easier to do private sale on lower value cars, possibly because shoppers of $5,000 cars seem more likely to go to private sellers than shoppers of $30,000 cars.

When you sell your car yourself:

• What will you drive if you sell your car before buying the new one? What if what you want to buy is an uncommon configuration?
• Say you buy the new one first; how will you fund the downpayment, or will you take a larger loan out and pay down the principle when you sell your car? A higher loan amount has potential implications on your credit reports; not the end of the world, but be aware if you might be buying a house in a year or two. Might also be tricky if you still have a loan on your current car.
• What are the Sales Tax implications in your state? In Georgia, you pay tax on the *difference* between your trade and the price of what you buy (new or used), meaning your trade gets you a reduction in sales tax owed on the new (to you) car. At 8% sales tax and a $20,000 trade in, you'd have to get $21,600 selling your car yourself just to break even on the sales tax difference. Other states may be different.
• Do you still have a loan on your old car? How will you structure the sale to get the title released from the lender and into the buyer's hands? Obviously it's much easier if your old car is paid off and you have the title.
• Does your insurance cover you when a potential buyer is test-driving the car? I've seen policies which don't.
• How will you handle payment such that you're sure you have valid funds? Money orders and cahiers checks can both be forged. Cash can be checked with a counterfeit pen of course, but $20,000 in cash is a lot of bills.
• Are you up on the various scams people try to pull on private sales? Most common is the "I'm out of state and want this car, so I'll send a cashiers check and have a car shipper pick it up from you". Another is one or two show up in person and fast talk you into not riding along; they'll just have you hold the keys to the car they arrived in... which turns out to be stolen when they never come back.
• Do you have time to deal with buyer questions and the lookie-lou's on your days off? Especially the no-shows.
• Do you have the temperment to deal with the opportunistic low-ballers who are looking for distressed sellers? The worst of them seem like they're fine with the price, come do a test drive, are all ready to buy it then start picking it apart dinging you for every last little nick or scratch or dust spot, ultimately making a lowball offer.

I'm NOT saying not to sell your car privately. It can make a lot of sense as Eric335 mentions above, though $10k suggests Porche dealer was really lowballing the trade. When I was shopping for my BMW, I had one BMW dealer lowball my trade and another basically hit KBB trade. Negotiate trade just like you negotiate price.

Either way, know what you're getting into and realistically evaluate two choices.

[nbkkvv5]

Originally Posted by thatswhatsh3said

you'll never get what kbb, edmunds, or black book is giving you at the dealer UNLESS they are making more money on the car they are selling you. generally a dealer will lowball you $3k+ on a trade in or more. If you get $1500 below trade in thats considered a good deal.

+1
OP: Take your car to Carmax and have them give you a cash offer. The amount Carmax is willing to give you is what you can expect from the dealer you're buying from.
If your selling BMW dealer tells you they can give you several hunderd more than Carmax, then they are doing nothing more than decreasing the amount of discount on the new car you wish to purchase.
KBB and Edmunds trade-in values do not represent actual cash value dealers are willing to pay for a car.

[adiba14]

What about kbb private parry value. I'm trying to buy a 2007 335i and the seller seems to stick by fact that kkb value is 26k and he's already selling it for 24.5.....doubt most people can sell a car for the kbb value right?

[Kolyan2k]

true trade-in price is somewhere around nada trade-in for rough condiotion. if dealer is making big bucks on sale then he can give you more money.

[JimKW]

Read what gpb said above. It's all true. Especially the part about sales tax and you need to take that into consideration. The rule about paying sales tax on the difference on a trade in is true here in Ohio also. Ticks me off too. It's like screwing you for selling you car yourself and then buying another car and forcing you to use a dealer.

It really matters how much your car is actually worth.

When my youngest daughter turned 17 I was looking for a car for her. Late one night a neighbor down the road calls me and says he is trading his Honda Accord Coupe and the dealer is only offering him $2500. KBB private party at the time was around $4,000. I said heck I'll give you $3,000 for it and he took it. We both made out on the deal. And my daughter loved that car.

[saxon]

just take it to multiple dealers and have it appraised for a "cash" price, thats true market value

for me, my car books for 15600 fair (kbb) and 17600 good (kbb) I had it appraised at multiple dealers with offers from 16500 to 17000 (not trading in, just them buying it)

[EYE4SPEED]

Take the KBB trade value and subtract 10%. Or just have the dealer logon to his/her Manheim account and show you what they can buy for.

[theblackmamba]

10% isn't a good estimate.

OP; are you selling or buying car.

i'm completely confused here. one minute you're buying the next you are apparently selling?