I'm a car salesmen, Go ahead and ask me anything

[arsenal]

Originally Posted by TheyCallMeBruce

Technically, with the high canadian dollar, we should be getting the Evos pretty close to the price the Americans are getting, no? That would be around high 30s to low 40s. Well...we Evo enthusiasts can dream.

Possibly. If Mitsu did that, then Subaru would have to cut the cost of their STI to match the Evo. If people are willing to pay $50k for an STI, people will be willing to pay $50k for an Evo. And since this is the first time they have been sold in Canada, they will get the $50k easy.

That being said, if they reduced the MSRP to around $40 - $45k, they would probably sell a hell of a lot of Evo's.

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by TheyCallMeBruce

Technically, with the high canadian dollar, we should be getting the Evos pretty close to the price the Americans are getting, no? That would be around high 30s to low 40s. Well...we Evo enthusiasts can dream.

When arsenal mentioned the WRX I immediately thought of the Evo. So I went to their site and priced one out and they start at $29,774 and go to $36,924 USD depending on the trim level. But all of those are the turbo AWD. So even if you went with one around the $33,000 with taxes and the converstion rate you would be looking at maximum $40,000 which is atleast 10 grand cheaper than the STI.

[Deelow]

Just looked at an example
Nissan Xterra- Off Road- $26,000 MSRP USD
Nissan Xterra- Off Road- $37,000 MSRP CDN

[TheyCallMeBruce]

Thought I'd bump this thread since I just bought a car.

My family is good friends with a sales manager at a dealership. I went in and bought a new car and was given basically pretty close to cost for the car. I know this because I'd done some recon work prior. This is what I did.

I went to one dealership and got them to price out the car for me with no bargaining whatsoever. I got the estimate.

I then went to another dealership and tried to get a deal out of them. My new estimate saved me roughly $20 a month.

Now I visit our sales manager friend. I now save $80 a month.

Moral of the story: Find a sales manager and befriend them lol.

[MoneyGuy]

I have this great 2002 Honda Civic with very low mileage - only 37,800 km. It's loaded, including a sun roof, rear spoiler, tinted rear windows and this gorgeous blue colour. It's five-speed manual. Very sporty. I'm considering selling it to my daughter and need to know what a fair price is. I don't want to make money on it nor do I wish to give it away as it is my little girl. I wish I had a photo of it 'cause the colour is...gorgeous, as I said.

[TimSJ]

here is the wholesale chart depending on the model.

2002
HONDA
CIVIC

MANUAL
82,917
82,917 82,917 $10,900
$10,900 $10,900 1 1 2002
HONDA
CIVIC
DX 2DR
1.7L MANUAL
138,890
138,890 138,890 $5,500
$5,500 $5,500 1 1 2002
HONDA
CIVIC
DX 2DR
1.7L I4 MANUAL
FWD 152,948
152,948 152,948 $5,200
$5,200 $5,200 1 1 2002
HONDA
CIVIC
EX 2DR
1.7L I4 AUTO
FWD 140,954
140,954 140,954 $7,300
$7,300 $7,300 1 1 2002
HONDA
CIVIC
EX 2DR
1.7L I4 MANUAL
FWD 87,421
165,787 140,223 $6,700
$9,500 $7,825 4 4 2002
HONDA
CIVIC
LX 2DR
1.7L I4 AUTO
FWD 27,494
143,446 82,567 $5,950
$11,000 $8,738 4 4 2002
HONDA
CIVIC
LX 2DR
1.7L I4 MANUAL
FWD 74,814
117,765 93,754 $6,000
$8,400 $6,967 6 3 View 2002
HONDA
CIVIC
DX 4DR
1.7L AUTO
100,132
100,132 100,132 $8,400
$8,400 $8,400 1 1 2002
HONDA
CIVIC
DX 4DR
1.7L I4 AUTO
FWD 72,015
213,451 126,404 $5,100
$8,400 $7,005 10 2 View 2002
HONDA
CIVIC
DX 4DR
1.7L I4 MANUAL
FWD 73,068
198,566 110,841 $4,250
$8,100 $6,712 4 3 2002
HONDA
CIVIC
EX 4DR
1.7L I4 AUTO
FWD 90,688
220,784 144,429 $5,500
$8,800 $7,400 7 4 View 2002
HONDA
CIVIC
EX 4DR
1.7L I4 MANUAL
FWD 113,009
128,243 119,264 $5,100
$6,700 $6,167 3 2 2002
HONDA
CIVIC
SI HATCHBACK
2.0L I4 EFI DOHC MANUAL
85,379
116,480 100,929 $9,300
$10,900 $10,100 2 1

[MoneyGuy]

Thanks, man. I'll check to see exactly what model it is. You're gold.

[TimSJ]

anytime

[RyZ]

What is the average "flat" throughout the industry? I was selling cars a few months ago making either 25% of "gross" or a $200 flat per car. I quit after learning that both competing dealerships across the street were giving 25% of gross or a $400 flat. Can you shed any light on that?

[MoneyGuy]

Tim,

The car is a DX Si two-door (trunk, not hatchback). When I bought it I loaded it. It has the gold package, whatever that is. Given that it has extremely low mileage, so many extras, well less than half of the mileage that you provided and in perfect shape, I would guess that this is the one that most closely resembles my car:

2002
HONDA
CIVIC

MANUAL
82,917
82,917 82,917 $10,900
$10,900 $10,900 1 1 2002

...however, I would think it would be worth to me a premium over and above the $10,900, no??? Value to me would likely be more like 12-13K but I don't want to sell it to her for that much. The more I think about it, the less I want to give it up. Maybe my daughter will have to look elsewhere. This is the kind of car that one would think he'd won the lottery if you could find one stored in a garage somewhere, so why sell it?

Am I looking at this right?

[TimSJ]

The reason to sell it i guess is that it won't be worth any more if you wait.. It will just keep on depreciating on down. If you do decide to keep it drive the thing. you really will not get much extra out of it becasue of low mileage.. All you are doing is saving it for the next person.

The car is likely worth 13-13k retail.. I would say you are bang on on that one.

If you are wanting a new car sell it to you daughter for 10-11k she is getting a good deal and you would be getting about what you would get out of it on a trade. If you are buying a new car you could also process it through a dealership that way you would be able to get the tax credit

[TimSJ]

Originally Posted by RyZ

What is the average "flat" throughout the industry? I was selling cars a few months ago making either 25% of "gross" or a $200 flat per car. I quit after learning that both competing dealerships across the street were giving 25% of gross or a $400 flat. Can you shed any light on that?

we get 25% of gross.. Now i am fortunate and don't have to worry about the flat too often working at an MB dealer. But if it is a demo or something we are generally $500.. the way i look at it is if i can't make $500 it really is not worth doing. I will walk around the car.

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by TimSJ

The reason to sell it i guess is that it won't be worth any more if you wait.. It will just keep on depreciating on down. If you do decide to keep it drive the thing. you really will not get much extra out of it becasue of low mileage.. All you are doing is saving it for the next person.

The car is likely worth 13-13k retail.. I would say you are bang on on that one.

If you are wanting a new car sell it to you daughter for 10-11k she is getting a good deal and you would be getting about what you would get out of it on a trade. If you are buying a new car you could also process it through a dealership that way you would be able to get the tax credit

Tim, I'm just wondering if all car salesmen are as great as you??? Guess not, otherwise they'd have a better reputation. And I see that you're in Newfoundland so it's not like you're in Alberta and would get clients out of doing this. I was in St. John about three years ago and I can honestly say that I travel quite a bit and the people of Newfoundland (edit: I'm told you're in NB, but I'm sure they're just as nice out there) are the best people I've ever met. They'd do anything for you, so I'm not surprised that you're this way. On behalf of everyone you've helped, you're wonderful.

[looooob]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

Tim, I'm just wondering if all car salesmen are as great as you??? Guess not, otherwise they'd have a better reputation. And I see that you're in Newfoundland so it's not like you're in Alberta and would get clients out of doing this. I was in St. John about three years ago and I can honestly say that I travel quite a bit and the people of Newfoundland are the best people I've ever met. They'd do anything for you, so I'm not surprised that you're this way. On behalf of everyone you've helped, you're wonderful.

I believe he's in the New Brunswick Saint John (before we start some sort of national incident)

[MoneyGuy]

Oops. But I'm sure folks in NB are just as nice.

Or is this a pot-tay-toe, pot-tah-toe kinda thing?

[TibHockeyPlayer]

Hi, thanks for the topic, my is question pertains to how much should I expect to sell my 2001 Honda Civic (silver-excellent condition inside&out) Ex with 125,000 km on it for
a) to a dealership
b) selling it myself online/classifieds/sign on car

[arsenal]

You can probably expect about $2k - $4 less from a dealership, than what you could get from a private sale.

[dirk diggler]

i am looking to buy a used car in the 25,000-30,000 range. if i buy private, what things should i do to avoid buying a bad car. i would obviously take it to the dealer and get it looked over first... Car title?? anything else

[Fozzie_DeBear]

I have a question about depreciation rates...although different brands depreciate at different rates (i.e. Honda vs. SAAB) what is generally the rule about the best milage to minimize depreciation loss...

For example the depreciation rate is huge right when you drive a car off the lot...losing 20%? in depreciation...so buying a new car doesn't make sense from a depreciation POV, better to buy a 1 year old car...are there other times when buying a car with a certain milage makes good sense or not?

My example is I bought a car with 200k on it for X and now with 260k on it the most I could sell it for is 1/2 X...so the rate of depreciation after 200k was huge...

I just want to know if there is a good/bad milage time to buy, regardless of brand

[jar_e]

I have a question about trading in a vehicle...I purchased a vehicle with a loan through my bank over a year ago and am now looking to downsize to a car though i still do have an amount left to pay on the loan. Is this still possible? Will this affect my trade-in value? Is there anyways to pass the lien (I think that's the word I'm looking for) from the old to the new?

Thanks a lot.