empunker

Car is a 2011 S550 fully loaded with Designo paint and interior. Also has 20" aftermarket wheels. Very good condition. It has 94k highway miles, and has been in a minor collision in a parking lot (shows up on CarFax). The front bumper and a headlight were replaced by a MB certified collision center.

I went to CarMax for a trade-in value and they said $21k. KBB says trade-in should be around $33k to a dealer.

Do you guys think I should sell private party or take CarMax's offer?

Here are some pics:

superpop

Mileage is the killer, I would put it on Craigslist first just to see if you get any bites. Have you had many problems with the car? I have a 12 with 26K miles and the cheapest I could find one for was 43K. I am guessing it is all about the mileage.

empunker

Yeah I also think it's the high mileage that's killing the value. So far there have been no problems at all, this car is solid! I just feel like I'm giving the car away at $21k.

My old 2003 SL500 started having problems at 30k miles, and that car averaged about 3k miles a year!

KNBS550

Way under valued. They are just padding their margins. Even with the minor collision, you should get a minimum of $25K trade in or private sale IMO. The 2011's are not the 2007-2009's.

Nickthegreek

look up what you would expect to pay for that used from a dealer and that will give you a better idea how much they will sell it for. 21k sounds way too low.im guessing theyll sell it for 35k so probably closer to 29k would be a fair amount for it

Nickthegreek

looks to be in immaculate shape.

Nickthegreek

I looked it up on KBB and a car like yours normally has 62k miles on it but with that said if it had a perfect record it would sell for around 37k, and 35k would be lower end of the spectrum. I would not even let them touch it 21k is a dirt lowball offer

MBNUT1

Beautiful car.

xxfightclubxx

dont sell for 21k your gettin low balled bad. ive sold a ton of cars on craigslist. just post up in your city and other citys around you. i live in houston and post in houston, dallas, austin, san antonio, etc. it gets alot more hits that way. i would never trade in or sell a car to a dealer they wont give you anything for your car. good luck

Mike5215

Yes. Carmax is a ****-hole. Mid 30's.

WHPH28

That is because carmax is a ripoff.

Mike5215

The determination of trade vs private sale comes down to sales tax. If you trade the car, you owe sales tax on the difference between your cars' value and the price of the new or replacement car. Essentially, the entire value of your trade reduces the sales tax liability dollar for dollar.

If you sell the car privately, when you buy the new car you owe sales tax on the entire purchase.

It still may be worth it to go private sale but you start out in a hole. For example, if you sell your car privately for $35,000, at 6% state sales tax, that's $2,100 in sales tax offset you're losing on the replacement car. It's equivalent to an actual sale price of $32,900

The question is how much the dealer is willing to put on the car. If it's $33,000 in my hypothetical for example, it's a wash - trade the car.

If the spread gets wider than the sales tax offset, it's a question of convenience. Do you really want to list the car, deal with potential buyers, handle the sales transaction, address the lien, and handle the title work yourself.

For me, even if trading costs me a grand or so more than the best case scenario for a private sale after the sales tax adjustment I'll still trade rather than deal with a private sale.

A private sale might make sense if the car had a lot of mods that kills trade in value but is still desirable to a certain segment of buyers.

As far as valuation, the most a dealer will pay you for your trade is clean wholesale, also called "trade" or "auction" value. They may dance around using the term "allowance", meaning money they will put on the trade against a specific car that appears to be more than wholesale but they're just moving money around on the deal.

Better to ask for a straight valuation that's good against every car on the lot. Once you've gotten three or four of those, you'll have an idea of the wholesale market value.

empunker

Thanks for the input everyone. You just reaffirmed my initial impression that it's a crappy offer. Going up for sale on Autotrader.

DaveW68

I've never dealt directly with CarMax...but know people that have. They usually only give rough book value at most on a clean car....then put a little bit of money into it like oil change, possibly tires, and maybe some minor tune up. They then turn around and sell them for over dealer retail and don't negotiate. Their no haggle policy is a joke as most folks usually pay a lot more than going to a new car dealer.

Mike5215

I have a great comeback for "no haggle pricing", and I got to use it at an Audi store:

"As you know, we are a no haggle dealership. Our best price is on the sticker"

"Great!"

"We do it as a courtesy to our customers. You automatically get our lowest price. Now let me get someone here to appraise your trade."

"No, no, no. I have a no haggle trade in. The value I'm going to give you is my lowest possible price. I felt like you were being so fair to me with your no haggle pricing it would be rude of me to not reciprocate."

You know what? That no haggle price on the Audi had a good deal of play in it after all.

Nickthegreek

If only there was a like button l!!!

Jason B

CarMax gives LOWER THAN ANYONE when you trade. They are also the only ones who will give a check without trading a car in for one of theirs. They lowball.

Mike5215

Back in May, when my 2010 with 70k miles got a wholesale value of $32,000 at the local BMW store which was fair. Had I sold it on AutoTrader I would have had to net $35,000 to do better after the sales tax offset.

NaslundStarmine

That's a good one!

Reminds me of my first boss (and best, all downhill on bosses from that point)....was selling heavy equipment and so excited to try to get my first deal called the boss and said "the customer wants to know if we are negotiable"...

...boss said "sure we are, and I prefer to negotiate upward"...!!!

I don't have the energy to deal with new car dealers any more....so f'g full of sh^t I just can't take it...

1bad540

That def sounds fair on trade!

alx

lol....

dirty carfax - trade in 30, wholesale 32, retail 35

good luck

desired_speeds

Beautiful car. For $21k I'd dump my E55 and pick yours up and pay you all cash! Completely serious about it.

cablvr

From Manheim:

Auction - above average $30.5K; average $27.9K; below average $25.4K
Retail - same qualifiers $37.8K; $35.1K; $32.5K

Using this as a guide, your best trade is somewhere between $25K and $28K. You will be able to move it privately at $30K to $35K, depending on condition. Get a full history from the dealer, scan it and offer it to prospective buyers. Good luck.

empunker

Thanks for the info. I just sold the car today, and judging by your figures, they got a great deal!

LAWYER2

Care to share what you let it go for?