Honda Car Forum

> Wow, you had a $20,500 trade-in on a Civic? What was left to finance?

The loan was payed in full and the remaining was applied to the new
car.

Carmax is a joke. Their offer was only 50% of the kbb trade-in on my
parent's car. They ended up getting three times that amount in an
insurance settlement, after it was totalled in an accident.

On 27 Nov 2005 20:17:39 -0800, "Tush Smells Bush Kills!!!!!!!!!!!"
<rsfccarbomb@yahoo.com> wrote:

>Carmax is a joke. Their offer was only 50% of the kbb trade-in on my
>parent's car. They ended up getting three times that amount in an
>insurance settlement, after it was totalled in an accident.

My only experience with them was helping a friend car shop. They were
low pressure and friendly, but their prices (both buying and selling)
were not competitive. If their no-haggle price was just an asking
price they might be in the ball park. i guess they have a lot of
overhead to pay for.

Still I can see why they might appeal to someone who is used to
getting raped in the car buying process.

Gordon McGrew wrote:
> On 27 Nov 2005 20:17:39 -0800, "Tush Smells Bush Kills!!!!!!!!!!!"
> <rsfccarbomb@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> >Carmax is a joke. Their offer was only 50% of the kbb trade-in on my
> >parent's car. They ended up getting three times that amount in an
> >insurance settlement, after it was totalled in an accident.
>
> My only experience with them was helping a friend car shop. They were
> low pressure and friendly, but their prices (both buying and selling)
> were not competitive. If their no-haggle price was just an asking
> price they might be in the ball park. i guess they have a lot of
> overhead to pay for.

I was waiting in an office while they were appraising my vehicle, and
the Carmax salesguy kept badgering me about purchasing a car from them.
I remarked how expensive their cars were and he just simply said their
prices were competitive. Yeah, with new cars maybe. I swear, you can
get brand new cars for the prices they charge on most of their used
cars.

>
> Still I can see why they might appeal to someone who is used to
> getting raped in the car buying process.

Which is why Saturn's still around. Morons keep paying full price for
inferior GM products, because they have phobias about negotiating.

"Elmo P. Shagnasty" <elmop@nastydesigns.com> wrote in message
news:elmop-532D65.16194326112005@nntp2.usenetserver.com...
> In article <11oheg8geh2af28@corp.supernews.com>,
> "Howard Lester" <heylester@dakotacom.net> wrote:
>
> > >> You have three transactions: new car sale, old car sale, and money
sale.
> > >> Letting one guy quarterback all three of them is crazy.
> > >>
> > > Not always true. For example if he really needs the sale he may be
> > > prepared to reduce the sales price a little IF he gets the finance as
> > > well.
> > >
> > > As to the trade-in, you may get a few more dollars with a private
sale,
> > > but sell to the dealer and no haggling etc
> >
> > I think what Elmo is referring to is the principle of first negotiating
the
> > new car price (without telling the salesperson you have a trade-in),
THEN
> > negotiate the price of the trade-in.
>
> That's perfectly legitimate. Get the numbers in stone one at a time,
> independent of one another.
>

If the numbers are good, it can be a good deal. A good dealer can take the
trade-in price off of the price of the new vehicle, thereby reducing sales
taxes, maybe to a point where you couldn't get a better deal selling to a
third party.

Btw, next time a car dealer tells you that you are taking away his kid's
next meal, ask to see where he lives. Chances are he has a nicer house than
you do...

Gordon McGrew wrote:
> On 27 Nov 2005 20:17:39 -0800, "Tush Smells Bush Kills!!!!!!!!!!!"
> <rsfccarbomb@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> Carmax is a joke. Their offer was only 50% of the kbb trade-in on my
>> parent's car. They ended up getting three times that amount in an
>> insurance settlement, after it was totalled in an accident.
>
> My only experience with them was helping a friend car shop. They were
> low pressure and friendly, but their prices (both buying and selling)
> were not competitive. If their no-haggle price was just an asking
> price they might be in the ball park. i guess they have a lot of
> overhead to pay for.

a coworker got a C230 sedan with 8k miles for a shade under $30k. a
brand spanking new one would have been a little more. or even less, if
hed bought when MBUSA was giving incentives.
>
> Still I can see why they might appeal to someone who is used to
> getting raped in the car buying process.

yeah- you only get raped a "little".

Tush Smells Bush Kills!!!!!!!!!!! wrote:
> Gordon McGrew wrote:
>> On 27 Nov 2005 20:17:39 -0800, "Tush Smells Bush Kills!!!!!!!!!!!"
>> <rsfccarbomb@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Carmax is a joke. Their offer was only 50% of the kbb trade-in on my
>>> parent's car. They ended up getting three times that amount in an
>>> insurance settlement, after it was totalled in an accident.
>> My only experience with them was helping a friend car shop. They were
>> low pressure and friendly, but their prices (both buying and selling)
>> were not competitive. If their no-haggle price was just an asking
>> price they might be in the ball park. i guess they have a lot of
>> overhead to pay for.
>
> I was waiting in an office while they were appraising my vehicle, and
> the Carmax salesguy kept badgering me about purchasing a car from them.
> I remarked how expensive their cars were and he just simply said their
> prices were competitive. Yeah, with new cars maybe. I swear, you can
> get brand new cars for the prices they charge on most of their used
> cars.
>
>> Still I can see why they might appeal to someone who is used to
>> getting raped in the car buying process.
>
> Which is why Saturn's still around. Morons keep paying full price for
> inferior GM products, because they have phobias about negotiating.
>
saturn knows their target market and prices (IMO) fairly and
accordingly. for the longest time my local dealer was giving 0% interest
for 60mos, so thats another draw.

toyotas scion division also doesnt haggle, and those cars are
exceptional values. an honest to god built in japan car with standard
air, power windows/locks and pioneer premium CD system for about $13k.

Bozo wrote:

>> You have three transactions: new car sale, old car sale, and money
>> sale. Letting one guy quarterback all three of them is crazy.
>>
> Not always true. For example if he really needs the sale he may be
> prepared to reduce the sales price a little IF he gets the finance as well.

Plus Honda Finance may be willing to give you a good, i.e., low, rate to
help move cars - rather than posting absolutes, e.g., NEVER xxx, ALWAYS
zzz, I think it's generally a good idea to shop around and see what's
best when you're cutting your deal. I financed my '03 Accord at 3.64%
from Honda Finance, which was substantially lower than even the bank I
worked for (where I got a "deal").

mrdancer wrote:

> "Elmo P. Shagnasty" <elmop@nastydesigns.com> wrote in message
> news:elmop-532D65.16194326112005@nntp2.usenetserver.com...
>
>>In article <11oheg8geh2af28@corp.supernews.com>,
>> "Howard Lester" <heylester@dakotacom.net> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>>>You have three transactions: new car sale, old car sale, and money
>
> sale.
>
>>>>>Letting one guy quarterback all three of them is crazy.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Not always true. For example if he really needs the sale he may be
>>>>prepared to reduce the sales price a little IF he gets the finance as
>>>>well.
>>>>
>>>>As to the trade-in, you may get a few more dollars with a private
>
> sale,
>
>>>>but sell to the dealer and no haggling etc
>>>
>>>I think what Elmo is referring to is the principle of first negotiating
>
> the
>
>>>new car price (without telling the salesperson you have a trade-in),
>
> THEN
>
>>>negotiate the price of the trade-in.
>>
>>That's perfectly legitimate. Get the numbers in stone one at a time,
>>independent of one another.
>
> If the numbers are good, it can be a good deal. A good dealer can take the
> trade-in price off of the price of the new vehicle, thereby reducing sales
> taxes, maybe to a point where you couldn't get a better deal selling to a
> third party.
>
> Btw, next time a car dealer tells you that you are taking away his kid's
> next meal

Better yet, tell him to switch careers and point out that by extorting
more $$$ from you he's taking food from your kids & you care more about
them than you do his.

Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:

> In article <pk2if.3281$xP2.514@newsfe2-gui.ntli.net>,
> Bozo <spam@spamme.com> wrote:
>
>
>>>You have three transactions: new car sale, old car sale, and money
>>>sale. Letting one guy quarterback all three of them is crazy.
>>>
>>
>>Not always true. For example if he really needs the sale he may be
>>prepared to reduce the sales price a little IF he gets the finance as well.
>
>
> The point is, the car salesman is in charge of too many things. His job
> is to find the buyer's hot button (low finance rate, good trade value,
> whatever) and play to that while jacking the other items around--all
> toward the end of making the sucker pay the same amount in the end.
>
> The car salesman does this several times a day. The buyer does it once
> every few years. Who do you think wins?
>
> The only way to prevent this from happening is to separate the deals, so
> that no one person has any more affect than any other on the entire
> deal--no matter what the buyer's hot button.

Sorry, the "only way to" is seldom that. If the purchaser does his
homework (easy to do these days with the Internet) and behaves
rationally there's no reason the sales person should prevail. If he's
being a real PITA, just thank him/her for their time and walk out of the
dealership. I know this from experience as well as theory.