Went car shopping today...

[JackG]

I have been thinking about it for a while, and finally decided to move out of the Boxster and into something else. I still really like it, but it just doesn't meet my current needs. So I drove the freshly washed Box to a couple of dealers to give it a whirl.

As bad as new car sales are supposed to be, it sure doesn't seem that dealers are very motivated to wheel and deal. Bottom line, no one would offer anything reasonable for the Box! One dealer offered me $10k! And no one was moving on their price very much either. I know cash is king, but c'mon...

I guess I'll hang on to the Box until spring and just sell it myself. I'd think a 2000 S 6-speed with 52k on the clock would go for at least 16k or so.

[Nineteen89]

$10,000 is rape if that's all they wanted to give you lol

[ekam]

Originally Posted by JackG

As bad as new car sales are supposed to be, it sure doesn't seem that dealers are very motivated to wheel and deal.

Think about what you just said. Why on earth would the dealer take in a car that they have difficulty getting rid of in the dead middle of winter and in a recession?

Salesman make more commission selling a new car than a used car which they'll just toss out at auctions.

He told you $10k just to send you home, not because that's how much the car's worth.

[JackG]

Originally Posted by ekam

Think about what you just said. Why on earth would the dealer take in a car that they have difficulty getting rid of in the dead middle of winter and in a recession?

Salesman make more commission selling a new car than a used car which they'll just toss out at auctions.

He told you $10k just to send you home, not because that's how much the car's worth.

Actually, dealers make more from used cars than new ones. Besides, they were going to make money on the new sale, and they would make a little on the used transaction as well. Plus, in-stock turnover is a good thing. Also, it was 67 degrees here today, nice top-down weather. Winter is brief in SC.

All they had to do is be realistic.

[husker boxster]

You don't mention what you were looking to buy, but since you said you wanted something more practical I'll assume it wasn't another sports car. Even if the winter is short in SC (you dogs!), the used car mgr still sees a 2 seat sports car that isn't going to move well in a recession. If you're not looking to buy one of his new, slow-moving sports cars, you've lost some leverage and they can flip their finger under their nose at you. He figures he can low ball you. If you take the $10K offer, he can sell your car to one of his used lot buddies for $11K and be done with it.

Just keep looking. There have to be deals out there. In today's local paper was a story about a GM dealer who just closed yesterday after being in business for 31 yrs. They called it the perfect storm of coincidences that forced them to close. Bet they were making some sweet deals last month trying to beat the wolves from the door.

I was in Dallas over Christmas and bought an 04 PT Cruiser as a "bad weather" car from a Mercedes dealer in Fort Worth for a great price ($2K under mkt). It was a straight cash deal and made on Dec 29 so my timing was good. I'm extremely pleased. However, I've been looking for something since Sep - Jeph got me thinking about a bad weather car when he had his Probe GT listed for sale. Don't give up after 1 shot.

The hunt is as much fun as the kill. Good luck.

A dealer attempts to profit on both ends, if he can't "semi steal" your car then they won't budge, if you can go to a rural dealership you might do better. It's winter and a Box is going to do a few moths sitting, they already have stock piling up at ports, the last thing a dealer needs is a "wait & see". Finally, knowing what I do now about the M96 there is no way in hell I would buy another with said engine. Porsche sort of screwed all of us, that is especially true for the poor shlubs that bought the 04 limited edition, they should have named it the limited for now edition.

[Brucelee]

The Boxster market is very dead right now for any number of reasons. Dealers are already depressed and don't want a car they can't move.

That's life.

[NoGaBiker]

Originally Posted by EE3racing

A dealer attempts to profit on both ends, if he can't "semi steal" your car then they won't budge, if you can go to a rural dealership you might do better. It's winter and a Box is going to do a few moths sitting, they already have stock piling up at ports, the last thing a dealer needs is a "wait & see". Finally, knowing what I do now about the M96 there is no way in hell I would buy another with said engine. Porsche sort of screwed all of us, that is especially true for the poor shlubs that bought the 04 limited edition, they should have named it the limited for now edition.

Curious what you mean about the 04 LE? I bought one used (2mos old, 190 miles on it) for $48k, so I got a great deal, but what makes you feel sorrier for us than for other 986 buyers?

27k miles with no problems so far.