6% off MSRP?

[longislander1]

I went to my local Porsche dealer and in our first casual conversation -- no negotiating yet -- he said he could do $2K off an ordered car with a sticker around $59-$60K. Based on the 6% off that I read about in another thread, it seems like I should do around $3600 off. I live in the northeast, on Long Island. I'm willing to travel to a dealer further away, but only if I get an added incentive to do so. What's your take on pricing?

I'm also trading in a '95 968 cab with 56K miles (original owner) and I'm wondering whether I'll do any better on a trade-in price from a Porsche dealer rather than, say, a Chevy dealer where I've also been looking at C6 Corvettes (although I'm leaning toward Porsche). Sometimes I think there's no difference. The traded car ends up with a wholesaler regardless of make.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Perfectlap]

trade in?

the conventional wisdom is that trading in a car is not a good practice. I've sold many used cars on Ebay and ALWAYS made more than the blue book value.
If you trade in your 95 Porsche you will be lucky to get even 50% of the blue book value. So in essence you are negotiating a discount on your new Boxster and then giving the savings right back to the dealer when you sell them your old Porsche at such a low price. And by sound of it, your old Porsche is in nice shape.
As far as Porsche's go on Ebay, there are more buyers than good product.

I know it can be a hassle selling a used car but the beauty of selling cars on the internet is that you can sell your car to someone in another part of the country and you'll never see them or the car again. They even have a service that will send a truck to pick up the car and ship it to the new owner, all at his expense.

[graybeard]

Perfectlap
I, like Longislander1 have to sell my much loved "99 boxster and your advise for him, rings true for me. Thanks

[Brucelee]

Let me disagree with you.

For folks who hate to sell a car, a trade-in may be worth the financial impact of that decision. Many do this with no regrets.

Your statement about 50% of blue book is not correct. Are you saying that a Porsche with a 40K retail value will trade at 20K? If so, you are wrong.

Selling cars on EBAY is not easy for most and most cars on EBAY actually do not sell by auction close. Nor do the EBAY sales yield much money for the seller. Most times, the seller ends up getting about trade value based on my detailed analysis of Porsche sales. Most times the bids actually don't reach that mark.

I don't like to be disagreeable but your information is mostly all wrong.

Having said that, a patient seller who sells their own car locally SHOULD end up with thousands more in their pocket than from a trade in. Some of that might be offset via sales tax offsets but in general, a prudent, patient seller can do much better.

Just not on EBAY.

BTW-many ebay auctions that end with a winner end up having the winner bail on the deal. Then you start again anew.

Originally Posted by Perfectlap

trade in?

the conventional wisdom is that trading in a car is not a good practice. I've sold many used cars on Ebay and ALWAYS made more than the blue book value.
If you trade in your 95 Porsche you will be lucky to get even 50% of the blue book value. So in essence you are negotiating a discount on your new Boxster and then giving the savings right back to the dealer when you sell them your old Porsche at such a low price. And by sound of it, your old Porsche is in nice shape.
As far as Porsche's go on Ebay, there are more buyers than good product.

I know it can be a hassle selling a used car but the beauty of selling cars on the internet is that you can sell your car to someone in another part of the country and you'll never see them or the car again. They even have a service that will send a truck to pick up the car and ship it to the new owner, all at his expense.

[Brucelee]

"Sometimes I think there's no difference. The traded car ends up with a wholesaler regardless of make.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks."

Actually you are correct here. The Porsche dealer MAY have a buyer for that particular car and then can sweeten his trade offer. But most times, we are all looking at the same data.

If there is big diff, the dealer may simply be shuffling dollars around.

Good luck.

[Perfectlap]

well I was reporting on my experiences selling popular cars on Ebay. Undesireable cars which may be the bulk of what's on Ebay (I don't know) surely are less attractive and don't sell as quickly. Populars Cars sold by dealers also don't sell as quickly as cars sold by private owners because they have to recoup their overhead costs. But Popular cars like a well maintained 95 911 sold by a private owner is the type of auction bidders love to find.

As I said, I have made many times the bluebook value for those well maintained cars I have sold on ebay. An enourmous relief to me as I thought I would never recoup the maintenance costs and upgrades. But that's the whole point, bidders with a little cash in their pockets are looking to buy well maintened cars, they don't have time to deal with unexpected repairs and thus are willing to go abve the bluebook. And my friends who are car enthusiasts as well, have all had similar experiences selling cars on ebay. We all agree, we NEVER could have done as well if we would have tried to sell the cars localy for the simple reason: the larger the audience the bigger the possibility of getting a buyer with more money to spend.
Also the SPEED of the sales is tremendous for popular cars. I surpassed the best local offer of my well maintained Miata within days of begining the no reserve auction and had to cancel the auction early because I was getting so many email offers. I decided to sell the Miata with the hardtop (which wasn't listed in the auction) before the auction ended for twice whay I was asking for locally.

My experience with other Japanese cars was identical. Even a lowly but immaculate Toyota Corolla I sold for a friend netted well north the blue book value. They didn't all sell within the auction period but it was quicker and less of a hassle than the constant phone calls from newspaper adds and the random person jotting down the phone number on a for sale sign glued to the rear window.

There are ways to safeguard your sale from a deadbeat bidder. For instance I will cancel bids if the seller does not provide me with contact information before bidding, if that bidders feedback were very low(below 100). And the statistics for Ebay motors are spectacular. Autobytel, Autotrade etc. Would LOVE to do the business that Ebay Motors is doing. Ebay stock is up 100% in the last two years, the Ebay Motors division has a large part to do with that. They sell a car every 6 minutes and I doubt most buyers are deadbeats.

I can't really think of any car buying experts who have ever said that trading in a car was anything but a losing proposition. books sold by experts who provid buyers with tips for purchasing a new car almost are unanimous:
trading is an extremely expensive luxury.

[Brucelee]

You keep referring to Blue Book Value as if there is one number that constitutes that value.

You need to come clean here. What blue book value are you talking about? KBB, retail, wholesale, PPT, or trade. You may or may not know that KBB rules in CA, and NADA in the rest of the country.

I stand by my statements on EBAY. It is not a good way to sell a car for a relatively high value ON AVERAGE! Exceptions occur but I can tell you that Porsche sellers will be very disappointed with what they are offered on EBAY.


And I agree with you that trading a car is usually the least financially desirable option. However, it is an option that millions of folks take each year.