Buying Used from dealerships

[liquidboi69]

Hey guys, my parents were looking into getting a used car from a dealership (pre-owned). I was just wondering if you guys had some previous experience to as what to check for on the car and what not?

I had my eye on this 2005 Acura TL with 38 000 KM at Silverhill Acura for 29 990.

Also the prices posted or window sticker prices, can one still negotiate for a better deal as you would with a new car?

I was wondering if I could offer 25 000 to begin negotiations and work up from there with the salesman.

Any information offered would be great and helpful. Thanks.

[max_boost]

Find out the black book or red book or whatever value the dealer uses, that should give you a guideline on how much they paid. Usually a very profitable markup on used cars.

[liquidboi69]

K I will try to check this out thanks. But most searches requires me to buy a book, but Ill keep searching.

[dj_rice]

Advice would be to be firm, hold your ground and dont budge on your price you want it for....after a few tries and they dont accept, dont be afraid to get up and walk away, usually that scares them a lil and they're more willing to negotiate with you, and dont show too much interest in the car you want, if they know you want the car that bad they wont budge on price...


And yes you can negotiate on the price posted on the window, of course, haggle as much as you can, when I bought my Pathfinder, the cd player was broken, tires were bald, and there was paint scratches all over front bumper, I demanded they give me new cd player, brand new tires and re-paint the scratches as part of the deal...


You got to go in there thinking they need your sale, not you need them to buy the car...

[CRXguy]

Going by the Black Book Value, the low range is $22,450 and high range is $24,700.

I'm assuming you're looking at a base model with auto transmission. Lots of room to negotiate. Don't be afraid to lowball them. :rofl: Used cars is where the stealerships make most of their money.

[liquidboi69]

Yea thanks guys for most of the advice.

Im also lookin into an IS250 2006 with around 25000 kms.

But country hills is selling one for fucking 39 950....
While Lexus of calgary is selling an IS250 AWD w/ Navi for the same price and like... 5000 more kms.

I went to checkout toyota's blackbook price lising and they buy it from you for Low: 24000 and High 27000

That being said, they are still making like 12k on top of the price they would buy off you.


So that being said, for the Acura, would low balling them at 24000-25000 be a good start? and for the Lexus... would low balling them at 29000 with GST included be a ridiculous amount?

[freshprince1]

Last year I found a nice Maxima at a stealership...I mean dealership. I had researched the prices and knew what I could get it for elsewhere. Dealerships will rarely budge if you threaten to know the blackbook value...remember, that is real value, not necessarily market value. Anyways, I went in and said I'd offer $13000 for a used car they were selling for $17000, they said no, and I walked away. I kept shopping. I ended up passing by the same stealership a couple months later and the car was still sitting there, bu now they were asking $15000, so I went in and offered $13000 cash, and they took it.

Bottom line is, Dealerships need to make money, you will almost alweays pay more shopping at the dtealership. The trade off is usually you'll a slightly more reliable car because they do not want to associate themselves with crappy cars. One key to getting a good price is they do not like to keep the same inventory for a long time, so if you notice a car sitting on the lot for a while, you may have some bargaining power.

Offering cash is not as much of an incentive for them to lower their prices anymore either. Most dealerships offer in house financing, which means they sell you a car for a (usually) inflated price, then they make money off of the interest you pay on the loan they gave you. Though a cash deal is quick and takes the car off of their lot, so its not like they'll turn you away.

Bottom line is to know the market value of the car you're looking at. If they won't budge on the price, and you really like the car, see if can get them to throw in some extras like an extended warranty, free oil changes, new set of tires, window tint...etc.

And always remember they call them "stealerships" for a reason.

[Mitsu3000gt]

I wouldn't buy from a dealer unless you absolutely cannot find what you need privately. No point in paying the GST and crazy markup unless you absolutely have to. If you must buy from a dealer....

1) Don't pay more than you would privately
2) Find out the history on the car ( a lot of dealers bring in shit from out east or the states and sell it at a calgary price)
3) Don't pay the "admin" fee that you won't learn about until you sit down to sign the papers. Its a 100% money grab and they know it so it's really easy to avoid.

[Redlyne_mr2]

For the most part however you have more protection buying a used car from a dealer, they have to declare the full history of the car, accidents, thefts etc. With a private sale that isn't required. Dealerships usually ask more because they have a profit to make as well. Chances are that car on the lot came in on trade or was bought at an auction, they more than likely paid blackbook for it so they have to make their margins on top of what they paid for it. Now just because they're asking a higher price doesn't mean they sell it for that much. It makes business sense to ask high that way when people negotiate for the price, and they do, the dealer is able to still make some profit even if it sells for thousands less.

[liquidboi69]

K thanks everyone for all this info.

Just wondering, if 29k starting offer on my side for a 36k lexus is still ridiculous to begin with?

[Redlyne_mr2]

Originally posted by liquidboi69
K thanks everyone for all this info.

Just wondering, if 29k starting offer on my side for a 36k lexus is still ridiculous to begin with?
depends on which particular car it is..

[liquidboi69]

Oh my bad, it was mentioned above.

It is a 2006 IS250 with 25000kms on it and the dealership says its base. I have 2 links to the toyota dealerships pre-owned section, both have the same inventory number, yet one is described as a 6-speed while the other says its automatic...

The asking price for the 6speed is 36 995 while the auto is 37995.

[gpomp]

why don't you get a brand new one from redlyne for $30k? :confused:

[liquidboi69]

Like mentioned above this car is being purchased by my parents :D and they want an automatic, no ifs or buts.

Red_lyne does have an awesome deal going but its a 5 speed i beleive, i asked him a week earlier to see if it was automatic and unfortunately he told me it was a 5 speed otherwise I would love to do business with him.