lnchbx13

does anyone have access to manheim for pricing on a 2009 C300 Sport?

I have one in excellent condition with 11,500 miles, P2, HK MMS, Pano, 7spd auto, 35% tint, midcity vim, clear side markers, amg wheel package, burl wood trim.

I am trying to get an idea of what the dealer should offer me to trade her in. Anyone want to purchase mine from me? I have it on cars.com in Houston. It is white, with light gray interior.

http://www.cars.com/go/search/emailToFriendRedirect.jsp?paId=344961176

absolutleo

u probably want to lose the VIM before going to the dealer.

jctevere

No idea on how much you might get, but I second removing the VIM kit before going to trade-in. Keep it for your next car or sell privately for more money...

As far as trade-in value, usually around $5,000 less than private value. Also, make sure you don't mention the trade-in until the price of the new car is negotiated. Otherwise they work the numbers to make the deal seem better than it really is.

lnchbx13

Yeah, that's the plan. If I don't sell it to an individual I will take out all of the accessories since I won't get anymore than I would have anyways. Thanks for the advice.

Any other advice as to getting the best deal? Do you think it would work to go in to a dealership and act like I don't know what I'm doing, tell them I don't want a bunch of negative equity and pick out an expensive car to act like I want to buy so they would likely overvalue my trade. Then come back later or via email to work out the price on the car I actually want and then say, well, so and so offered me this for my trade after I negotiated the price of the car down to $XXX?? I'm just trying to get the best deal I can.

So far I have been offered 27,500 and 28,000 to buy it from Carmax and 2 mercedes dealers. Then I was looking at a couple of cars at non mercedes dealers and they both offered my 26-27. I know KBB isn't exactly right either, but it at least said 31,200 for it. The two non mercedes dealers where showing me quotes from manheim, but they were for avg and below avg condition and they all had higher miles. I just figured that if there was a way to be more specific (i.e. lower miles and above avg condition and if you could pick the options it has the prices would be better) but I don't know how specific the auction prices are.

Thanks for the help and advice though.

jctevere

What car are you looking to get? The way to get the best deal is in person, via email shows no real commitment and they will think you will take the quote to another dealer to beat it.

You can't be bashful or shy, just keep pushing. First talk about the car in general, "Are there any programs, deals, etc"

After that, start to narrow down the car, color, options, etc. Ask if it would be possible to see the car. Then talk about pricing - what he can do for the car, get his best price without mentioning the trade-in on the c-class.

You then have two options (I like the second better)
1) If the deal is good enugh for you, mention that you would want to trade in your C-class for the vehicle and see what he would give you then (he can't then make the new car price higher and make it seem like he is giving you more for your trade but the net cost is still the same) If you still don't like deal don't be afraid to walk away! This leads into option 2:

2) Say thank you, and you will have to think about it, then you can go to another local dealer to see if your getting shafted or if its the real deal. Obviously the dealer will call you in a day or two willing to deal or to see how you made out. Then mention you have a car you want to trade in and you can BS saying someone gave me a better deal on the car, but I would rather buy it from you, etc. (Don't BS too much as they will know and get turned off and think your a low baller).

Lastly, if all steps are followed correctly you will get a very good deal.
Key things to remember:
- Don't mention trade-in until after the best possible price has been negotiated on the new vehicle.
- Don't be afraid to walk away if you don't think the deal is the best you can get.
-Even after you get a good deal, don't be bashful to continue to ask for more. Things like "If I bought the car today to make your quota for tonight whats the best you can do"

- Which reminds me, the end of the month is always better to do deals. And to show your serious to get a good deal sometimes you might have to put down a deposit on the car (make sure you can get it back if you don't take the car - it is just to show your serious) Also, if you put down a deposit on the end of the month, and the next couple of days are a new month, sometimes deals change and since the deposit was in before the deal changed, you can lock in the old price, or take advantage of the new program with better pricing.

-Lastly, even after the sale is made, ask them if there is anything else they can do to make you a happy customer, free washes, oil change, wax, anything.

- Be thankful and kind!

Hope I was of some help, sorry for the rant, but this 100% of the time works for me. I always get my cars for below or at invoice and still get decent money for my trade ins. Personally, I don't think the deals you have been presented with are very good for your car at all... You should at least get around $30k with your equipment and miles... (Dealers only take trade-ins to resell them for a higher price, they are going to low ball you.)

lnchbx13

The whole Idea was to sell this car and buy a civic for commuting to work, I just hate the fact that I would be spending around $10K to pay off the loan after selling it. I just hate that I have negative equity (my fault from my previous trade). So then I started looking to see if I could find a used 08-09 C63 or an 09 CTS-V that I could possibly trade my car plus $10K (I doubt I could find a willing dealer to only have a $10K trade difference unless it had high miles). That way I would at least feel like I was getting something out of the cash I was paying out of pocket (and I wanted the C63 from the beginning anyways), instead of losing a great car. Of course I could just keep the car and pay it down. I guess I sound a little wishy washy, but those are the options I'm considering.

amdeutsch

That is typical dealer. Very, very rarely will you find them doing better than avg. Same thing goes for options. But they will hype the options, mileage, etc when it comes to resell. Its a double edged sword.

lnchbx13

Yeah I hate that. Every time I try and buy a car I try to get them to price both vehicles on the same scale. And of course they don't want to. I tell them to compare apples to apples. They would show me what they say my car would go for at an auction, so then I would ask for the same printout for the vehicle I'm purchasing (its auction pricing) and tell them to value them both at wholesale or both at retail. No matter what they will still make their money.

charliele729

Trade-ins are always a PITA, because of low balling dealers.