advice re: buying & selling/trading in cars

[VNV8]

G'day all,

long story short I'm looking at upgrading from my VT (advertised here http://www.ls1.com.au/forum/showthre...wkw-115-000k-s for interest's sake) and buying a VE SSV. Now my VT is in immaculate condition and has only done 115,000k's, plus 300kw and a few body mods etc., so I believe it to be worth a bit more than your average trashed 98 5.0 clunker with no paint left. With this in mind, I realise it will not be easy to sell (made harder by the p-plate restrictions no doubt).

So my conundrum is thus:
-Do I take a loss, but guarantee a sale without needing to worry about test drives, roadworthies (although I dont believe there will be alot wrong to stop it getting one), and the threat of not getting any offers, and trade it in? Obviously this means buying from a dealer, which means the new car is more expensive, and of course won't give me the value of the car.

-Or, do I buy the new car (have pre-approval for a personal loan which allows me to pay off as much as I like when I like, so could do a balloon payment when/if mine sells privately) and wait for the VT to sell.

-Or, there is a third option, as there is nothing wrong with the VT do I simply wait for values to come down (this will effect both my car and the VE naturally) like next year sometime, or do I simply give up and keep the VT for good.

Now, forgive me If I'm wrong but I was thinking dealers would be having a tough time moving a 6.0L V8 in the current climate, when you can buy a new hatchback for just over half the average price of a VE, but the (two) dealers I have made serious enquiries at regarding specific cars are extremely unwilling to negotiate. In some cases I am looking at cars with the same mileage as my VT at (at least) half the age, and they are demanding over twice the price as I am, yet are unwilling to discount by even 5-10% of sticker price. I have even looked seriously at a couple of private sales, and they have only offered $1000 or less off their advertised price. As an aside, I would be willing to do that on my VT, despite the relatively larger (%) comparative discount. One even stated they had had no serious interest in the car whatsoever, and yet would only take $1000 off the price, despite the car being in slightly rough condition. For example I have my VT advertised on gumtree, quicksales, and three different forums, and although it has only been 3 days I haven't gotten a single nibble, which has me worried, so I would keep that in mind when a potential buyer made a decent offer. So I don't understand this at all.

So, can anyone shed any light on the matter? Am I looking to do this at the wrong time of year? Or have I simply been unlucky so far?

Any advice/opinions/leads is & are appreciated.

[white lie]

You'll probably get a max of 4-5K trade in, maybe less? You'd be better off selling it for anything higher than this.
If you don't see this as being worthwhile, then you may as well hang on to it but the reality is that you're asking VY prices for a VT.
If you can afford to have both for a while, then find the car you like (dealer or private) and buy it. And like you say, put the VT money on it once it sells.

[BEARWOOD]

You;re pictures aren't working in that link. Only advice i'll offer is to be realistic with how much you want for the VT and sell it privately before taking on another car/loan and you will get a better deal buying another car as it will be a simple transaction.

[aratic]

Agree with White Lie, as well looked after as it is, its probably not worth 13k and you'll struggle to find a buyer at that price.

I plan on selling my VY SS early next year and realistically I'm budgetting getting between 10 and 11K. Has all the same mods as yours and is pretty much immaculate, but thats the joys of selling a big V8.

[VRIIClubby]

13K...wowsers,

Trade in on an unmolested VTSS is $3300 (try to find a dealer that will give you that and take on an old V8)

Mods make the car depreciate more and more, and narrow the market that will look at purchasing, whether it has 150rmkw or 6000rwkw, and now that P Platers cant drive V8's the market for selling them is pretty much non existent! All I can say is good luck!

If you love the car that much, keep it, put it in the shed, drain everything and leave it there! Might be worth something with those k's and mods in say 40 years...(thats where my clubby is, just sitting and waiting! - I couldnt justify the $35K I paid for it to sell it for $5K, I'd prefer to keep it in my shed and perve on it when Im drinking!

[VNV8]

OK, maybe a price drop is in order. Have already been offered $7500 on a trade in (guess I should have taken that), if they offered $3300 I'd rip their heads off. Redbook has trade-in value at $4300-6300, VRII you may be looking at a series one? Looks like flickr has screwed me on the photos too. awesome. Will drop the price to $11,500 and see how that goes.

[VRIIClubby]

OK, maybe a price drop is in order. Have already been offered $7500 on a trade in (guess I should have taken that), if they offered $3300 I'd rip their heads off. Redbook has trade-in value at $4300-6300, VRII you may be looking at a series one? Looks like flickr has screwed me on the photos too. awesome. Will drop the price to $11,500 and see how that goes.

yeah i was mate, i thought somewhere i read it was a 5L...

[MickStephens]

I haven't read your whole original post, but I sell used cars for a living.

9 times out of 10 you are better off trading in. Keep in mind we dealers are in business to make money, brace yourself for offers and don't take it too personal.

Any questions, PM me for more specific details.

Cheers, Mick

[VNV8]

I understand that Mick (although it's hard not to be insulted be some of those offers), what has shocked me is the almost total lack of negotiation. For example both dealers I have dealt with have been willing to increase the trade-in value, but will not take more than $500 off the sticker price when added up.

[BEARWOOD]

I haven't read your whole original post, but I sell used cars for a living.

9 times out of 10 you are better off trading in. Keep in mind we dealers are in business to make money, brace yourself for offers and don't take it too personal.

Any questions, PM me for more specific details.

Cheers, Mick

How are you better off trading in? Maybe you're better off when you finish reaming the customer but i've bought and sold enough cars over the years and never once was i going to be better off.

[VNV8]

I think he's referring to the relatively easy process of trading in, rather than dealing with rwc's and test drives etc. , not the money they give you.

New thought - remove bonnet and OTR (would probably get $750 or so?), sell separately, and trade her in. Take some of the sting out.

[BEARWOOD]

Dont trade it in mate, like you already seen they will not do much for you in regards to dropping there price if you are trading. Are you buying a new SSV or second hand? Just as an idea i negotiated a new Manual sedan SSV in 2009 down to $48500 with full size spare, boot liner, 2xHRT jackets, SSV mats & other stuff i cant remeber and this car wasn't even on the lot, only paid $43500 thanks to holden mastercard rebate. I guess my point is move on if they are not willing to give you a good deal because someone else will.

[Wonky]

$5k rebate?

[VNV8]

I had heard of the rebate, didn't realise it was that much though. But no only getting a used one.

[redvxr8clubby]

OK, maybe a price drop is in order. Have already been offered $7500 on a trade in (guess I should have taken that), if they offered $3300 I'd rip their heads off. Redbook has trade-in value at $4300-6300, VRII you may be looking at a series one? Looks like flickr has screwed me on the photos too. awesome. Will drop the price to $11,500 and see how that goes.

$7500 is a very good trade in for a VT II SS, unless the SSV is overpriced, I would say that's about as good as it's going to get. With the VT being 12 years old, you'll be very lucky to get much more, how much was the SSV you were offered on this tradein? I think there isn't much market for old V8's as say someone who is on say a $10K or less budget for a car probably can't afford the fuel bill. On the other hand if it's in immaculate condition, you never know someone may consider it a cheap performance car.