Sick of dealing with the auto slushbox, I went to a BMW dealer today and drove a 1997 M3 with only 27K miles (they were asking $31,900). The highest they could give me on a trade in was $16000. I don't even have 15k miles on my car. This sucks.

 

Same here. I tried trading in on AE and a Passat. The Nissan dealer was going to give me 18K 4 months ago. The VW dealer offered 16K. Someone else lowballed me with 15.5. I owe 21 on mine.

 

That is a rip off. I'm talking about the trade and the price of the ///M3. You can find alot cheaper 97's for less in Minnesota. If you want to look some more, here are some Minnesota BMW dealership sites http://www.carsoup.com http://www.autobase.com http://www.searsimports.com http://www.motorwerksbmw.com

Stick on some VTEC and TYPE-R stickers and the Maxima's value will raise 10%?

 

Wait a couple years and get the 2001 330ci or the 2000 328's The body style looks much better than the 97 M3s. Or just try to sell your car. Trading in is always a lose / lose situation. Trade in value might not be high but the resale might be ok... Good luck..

 

Unfortunately, unless you givv more $$$ to the lender, the negative equity will kill you, and you'll be even more upside down on the next purchase. Be patient and keep the car a little longer.

 

Bah...patience... shoulda had some of that in the first place. Then I would've ended up in a stick max and I probably wouldn't have gotten as screwed on my deal. Oh well...

 

always sell your car to people in your town or something, put an add in the paper or the net, especially if your car has mods, i doubt dealer gives you more for teh mods you put on the car. this is just my 2 cents, i would never trade my vehicle in, especially if i'm going to get jipped by a couple k's.

 

Well.. I could take a hit for a grand or two for the convience of just having it all taken care of (not having to post ads, show the car, have it detailed... etc). 7.... hell no.

 

Tradeing in a car is a waste. I always put my car in the paper and sell it off and then for the week or 2 that I'm without a car until I find what I'm looking for I either drive a rental or bum a ride with the other half. Tradeing in you loose a lot of money. Maxima doesn't have that great of a resale value to begin with and whatever you have left you burn that in tradein, and make the value drop even more.

A few years ago I had a dealer wanting to give me 13K for my 96GLE with 20K miles. this was back in 98. and He was trying to tell me the car was a GXE not a GLE b/c it had nothing written on the trunk. Watchout for those dealers, they'll try their best to rip you off.

My Advise, Know your car, know whats on it, know what its worth B4 U step into the dealers lot. On average it takes 2 weeks to sell a car in the paper. don't try to put the price too high orelse no one will buy the car.

 

keep it...

 

Go to Kelly Blue Book. I just went and it says my 2k with 10k on it is worth $20,000. And that is trade in value, not resale. I would not settle for less then 19000 for this car if I were to trade it.

 

Try comparing cars within the same class (Max vs Camry vs Accord) and see how the Max fares.
BMW is more expensive to begin with, has the name, prestige, blah blah blah.

 

That's where I went... so I'm just sittin on my car until I can get a used s4 as a second car... oh and I'll be getting stick for sure!

 

Never,Never trade in. The parasites at the dealers aren't content to make $2-3K profit, they want $6-8k profit.
This is how I sold my mint condition 89 SE with 99K miles.
Go to the Kelly Blue book web site and enter your cars'
stats. they will tell you the retail price is around $24k.
print this report and place it with a nice for sale ad. on your cars windows. Then ask for $22,700 and a buyer will feel comfortable getting a "deal" below the $24k that Kelly says it is worth.
I did this and got $2,500 over the trade value from the dealer on my 89 Maxima. They were going to give me $4k and I sold it for $6,500 to a neighbor for his kid. Oh yea, the new clutch didn't hurt moveing the car. Kelly said my car was worth $6,700 at the time.

 

Don't forget that when you trade in you only pay tax on the difference between the new car and the trade in. If you sell the car yourself you will pay tax on the full price of the new car.

 

Nissan Resale Sux!!! But I dont let it bother me.