Cal26Stang

17k depending on your options and its actual condition

dmhines

I would think as long as CARFAX is 100% Clean .. you should get KBB value for it.

Riptide

A trade in on an 06 with almost 20K miles, for $20K+?

Something fishy going on there. Keep in mind if you are getting top dollar on a trade there is a good chance the dealer is getting the money somewhere else in the deal.

I shopped my car last fall to try and sell it. 06 GT, 15K miles at the time. I was told good luck getting over 15K for the car. They can get these cars at auction for 14-15K with low miles.

cummins cowboy

17k in trade for an 06??? you guys are smoking something more than weed. honestly 17k is private party retail on that car. I bought my 07 from a used car dealer last year for 16500. you have to figure at least 3 grand less if you are doing trade in value. I don't care what KBB says you have to go on what cars are going for in the are. yesterday I was offered 17,500 for my dodge as a trade, I know I can get at least 22k for it.

generally a trade is a terrible idea, keep in mind the dealers love doing it because they make money on both sides of the deal, they make money on the sale of the car and they make money on the sale of your trade. let me repeat that they are making money on the sale of YOUR trade. the only advantage you have in a trade is your don't have to pay sales tax on the amount of credit you get on your trade. but if you do like me I have a truck on factory order at a dealer, I negotiated whats called an in n out, that means I find a private party to buy my truck, the paper work is done at the dealer and they actually conduct the transaction and show it as a trade, so in my case I am saving the sales tax on 22 grand, or about $1320 in sales tax.

realistically I don't see a dealer paying more than 14k for a trade on an '06, yeah they may say you are getting 18k for the trade but you are getting hosed on the other end with the new car and being charged more for it. if you want a new car go to edmunds.com you can look up what the invoice price is with the options the vehicle you want has and get an invoice price for it and each item broken out. it also shows incentives, never pay more than invoice less incentives. I am actually getting this new ford $500 below invoice. similar deals can be made if you play your cards right.

siggyfreud

+100

The only reasons to trade are convenience or to roll negative equity off your current car, into your future car. Otherwise it's better to sell on the private market and then use that cash towards the new car.

dkersten

Trade in is great if you don't want the hassle of trying to sell your car. Particularly with specialty cars like a Mustang, selling a car is touch and go, and while you will usually end up selling it if you get the price right, it can take months to find a buyer.

The hardtops book for less than the convertibles by a couple thousand, and my car has a KBB of $23,250 right now (06 vert with 17.7k miles) My eBay auction is just ending with no bids and I have had a couple low ball offers and one possible offer that will call me this afternoon. My hope is to sell for $20,000 and that is with over $8,000 in modifications. If it were bone stock I would expect to sell privately for ~$17k, despite the $23k book value, but part of that is the timing (end of summer).

Trade in is usually around wholesale value, and for an 06 premium coupe with 15-20k miles shows about $18,500 clean trade-in in my NADA blue book. With the invention of eBay, selling for full retail is nearly impossible. Aside from cars with collector value, you can always expect wholesale prices when shopping online. If you want more for it, you have to resort to local papers, craigslist, or just parking it somewhere with lots of traffic after putting a big for sale sign on it.

So chances are, with the economy where it is right now, you will get as much or more on trade than you could privately sell it for. However, in trade, you are buying a car from a dealer, and frankly you will be paying $3-6k more than it is really worth (or more for higher dollar vehicles).

Every time I sell a car, I hate it right up until it sells. Once it is gone, I start to think I should have held out for more, but the fact is you can't sell a car unless you have someone that wants it and has the means to get it, and that is not always an easy thing, particularly in this economy where NOBODY is spending money they don't need to. If I were looking to buy a new car right now I would consider doing a trade-in with a dealer, despite having a dealers license and connections to buy from any auction in the U.S. Saving the hassel of selling would be worth losing money on the new car. That is just me though, and I am jaded right now because I am forced to sell my car and can't find a buyer.

j0nx

I spent 30 minutes at carmax last october with my 07 vert with 17k miles on it and they offered me mid range kbb, no fuss no muss. The Ford dealer on the other hand tried to steal it from me until I showed them the carmax offer and then they agreed to give me kbb. If you take really good care of your cars like I do then you should have no problem getting mid range kbb or higher. If they give you that BS about market prices and time of year or too many at local auctions, etc which are all lies then just walk out. The dealers will use any excuse they have to rip you for a thousand or two. Knowing how much your car is worth and what the usaa price is for the new car that you want and having those papers in your hand is all I will deal with. If they try to scam then I get up and leave.

Mudflap

Yeah this is my experience, selling the car privately can yield a few grand more usually... but the difference in paying sales tax on the new one usually means at best if I go through the hell that is a private sale, that maybe after months of headache I'll have an extra grand in my pocket. Its usually not worth it.

I tried selling my last supercharged Mustang for a short while before I bagged it and traded it, and all I got was a bunch of BS inquiries, a few high school kids showing up to look at it that clearly just wanted to drive a supercharged Mustang (of which I never let any of them drive it), and then a bunch of spam phone calls from businesses wanting to "help me sell my car" for a fee.

As far as trade in value on the OPs car, I'm telling you, get the KBB price and subtract like 2 grand from it. Thats what you're going to be looking at. Most people that think they got a good trade-in value, silently took it in the butt on the purchase price of the new car. Or if you got the new car at invoice and think you beat the system, I'm telling you right now, you're paying about 1% too much per month in interest and the dealer is getting a piece of that loan. If none of that is your case, then grats, you got a nooby used car manager that over-allowed for your trade and probably eventually got reprimanded or fired for it. It happens from time to time. I've bought literally about 25 new cars in my life, I know the game very, very well....

Riptide

Regarding the auction prices being "BS" I heard that from almost every dealer I talked to. Not a single one ever called me back with another better offer. Seems to me they are probably telling the truth. In fact I know they are. My dad goes to those auctions and he sees low mileage s197 cars all the time for a lot lower than kbb.

replica

KBB values don't mean anything to a dealer. It's all about how fast you can run your mouth and how much money the sales manager will let go that day. If they're making enough money on the car they're selling you, they may give you more than auction price for your trade.

I guess what I'm trying to say is "trade in" values don't really exist.