[Raiderman]

Originally Posted by rmissourimule

What I would do is to check Edmunds or NADA and get the values of these cars before you go shopping. The NADA prices are the actual prices that the dealers report these vehicles are being sold for. You should be able to get one less from a private seller. But do have it checked out thoroughly.

You could also take a look at ebay and see what is available there. You may not find one locally but you would have a better idea of what they are selling for. If you buy from a dealer be forewarned that they are as has been described to me by someone associated with the car business as "professional liars." I concur. And the price of used cars is absurd at this point in time. Bear that in mind. Good luck.

Dealers don't report the prices sold to NADA. NADA receives reporting from the DMV and it is based on sales tax paid.

[rmissourimule]

Originally Posted by Raiderman

Dealers don't report the prices sold to NADA. NADA receives reporting from the DMV and it is based on sales tax paid.

This is from the NADA FAQ section:

"I have noticed some significant price differences between Kelley Blue book and NADAguides. The NADAguides values seem to be consistently lower. Why are they different?"

"We cannot speak on behalf of other guide valuation companies; however, our editors review over one million sales transactions per month to help support our valuation numbers. These transactions come from many sources and depict actual sales both retail and wholesale. Because of how our values are created and the volume of data we review, NADAguides Values are used across all segments including consumers, dealers, lenders, government tax authorities and insurance companies. All values are only a guide and prices will always be above or below the guide values for vehicles. The overall condition, mileage, history and local supply and demand contribute to the asking price of each vehicle."

In any event, when I traded in one car the sales manager reached into his desk drawer and looked up the value of the NADA figure. It is also used in government agencies as well.

I would go with it over some of the others. I regard the "black book" as utterly useless and a tool of the crooked car dealers. You might have guessed I have little regard for their ethics or lack of same.

[rmissourimule]

Originally Posted by tiger08

Although buying a brand new car is fun and the new car smell is great, you lose way to much money when you drive off the lot.
In my experience, I prefer to buy one that is one year old. You still have factory warranty, maybe some new smell leftover and you get the vehicle for several thousand less than what the same model may be going for new.

That is not necessarily true. I purchased my new Elantra for $2,000 less than the used ones on the same car lot. Only the new ones have the rebates and other incentives. The used ones do not come with that price advantage.

[airics]

Originally Posted by rmissourimule

That is not necessarily true. I purchased my new Elantra for $2,000 less than the used ones on the same car lot. Only the new ones have the rebates and other incentives. The used ones do not come with that price advantage.

Sure they do..used are priced at a higher percentage due to negotiations.

Being in the business for 18 years...When a customer was buying, show the Kelly blue book price...When trading in; show rough black book price...ridiculously low...

All bets off for Vegas though...When trading in my scion xb's I received higher than Kelley Blue book and paid less than invoice. Funny even though they give me alot, they sold one of the xb's for about $800 over my trade in a few days. The other went to Manheim and sold for $100 under.

[WestieJeff]

If you haven't shopped for a car recently, you may find this is not the case at the moment.

The car market has been strange the last few years. Used cars are usually expensive compared to the past. It's pretty cost effective right now to buy new.

Originally Posted by tiger08

Although buying a brand new car is fun and the new car smell is great, you lose way to much money when you drive off the lot.
In my experience, I prefer to buy one that is one year old. You still have factory warranty, maybe some new smell leftover and you get the vehicle for several thousand less than what the same model may be going for new.

[localinsight]

In 2011 I was looking for an accord or Camry with around 50,000 miles. Didn't want to go to a dealer. Used ads in local (San Bernardino, ca) newspaper. Most turned out to be dealers, refusing to talk about me coming In for a specific car. Put the word out to everyone I knew, a friend checked cal state employee bulletin board. Nothing useful. Everyone was passing them onto kids or neighbors if not keeping them due to the economy. The same may be true for Las Vegas. Came across an article in 2012 la times that said people just weren't selling these cars.
You have to get lucky to find a seller. I was too skeptical of Craigslist.
Ended up buying a new Toyota corolla for only about $3000 more.
Would rather a heavier car, but there are many advantages to buying new, even if it's a step down from what you want.

[bxlefty23]

kbb is an absolute joke at least in the north east. prices on kbb are massively overrated.

with craigslist you have to rifle through the crap but there are good deals to be had.
try to find one owner cars with maintaince records and you can at least get a decent idea of how well the car was taken care of.

plenty of scum dealers (redundant i know) pose as private sellers.
if the car doesnt have a lisense plate it's usally a dealer. google the phone number in the ad and enter it into the cl search- if more ads come up for other cars they're a dealer not a private seller.

[timtemtym]

Originally Posted by localinsight

In 2011 I was looking for an accord or Camry with around 50,000 miles. Didn't want to go to a dealer. Used ads in local (San Bernardino, ca) newspaper. Most turned out to be dealers, refusing to talk about me coming In for a specific car. Put the word out to everyone I knew, a friend checked cal state employee bulletin board. Nothing useful. Everyone was passing them onto kids or neighbors if not keeping them due to the economy. The same may be true for Las Vegas. Came across an article in 2012 la times that said people just weren't selling these cars.
You have to get lucky to find a seller. I was too skeptical of Craigslist.
Ended up buying a new Toyota corolla for only about $3000 more.
Would rather a heavier car, but there are many advantages to buying new, even if it's a step down from what you want.

That is really trippy! From mid 2011 to late last year, I was getting monthly letters and emails from the honda dealership where I bought my 09 Accord. They kept saying they were in desperate need of used accords with low miles and they would offer me a crazy deal on a new one if I trade in. I thought it was a marketing joke.

Maybe it partially was! I didn't go for it though and I'm glad because now I am driving a paid off Accord. I bought it back in Dec. 08 when no one could sell a new car. I pulled up to the Honda dealership and there was a line of about 8-9 sales folks. I turned to my dad and said, "Oh yeah, today I'm buying a new car!" I had a good friend who works for CarMax. She looked up exactly the top of the line all options Accord I wanted and what a good price would be for it. I quoted them that price and held firm just shaking my head until they agreed. I also had outside pre-aproved financing so they couldn't play around with me there.

Five years later it just hit 100k miles and I've never had a single problem with it except for replacing tires and minor stuff. They found a 3 inch long gold plated fishhook charm stuck in one tire. Anyways, love my Accord.

Whenever it does finally die, I'll head right back to the Honda dealer and get another one. It's worth it to get the extra niceties so I still feel like it's a luxury new car. If I'd gone with cloth seats and no options, it would have been traded in by now.

[ramkobe]

Originally Posted by timtemtym

That is really trippy! From mid 2011 to late last year, I was getting monthly letters and emails from the honda dealership where I bought my 09 Accord. They kept saying they were in desperate need of used accords with low miles and they would offer me a crazy deal on a new one if I trade in. I thought it was a marketing joke.

Maybe it partially was! I didn't go for it though and I'm glad because now I am driving a paid off Accord. I bought it back in Dec. 08 when no one could sell a new car. I pulled up to the Honda dealership and there was a line of about 8-9 sales folks. I turned to my dad and said, "Oh yeah, today I'm buying a new car!" I had a good friend who works for CarMax. She looked up exactly the top of the line all options Accord I wanted and what a good price would be for it. I quoted them that price and held firm just shaking my head until they agreed. I also had outside pre-aproved financing so they couldn't play around with me there.

Five years later it just hit 100k miles and I've never had a single problem with it except for replacing tires and minor stuff. They found a 3 inch long gold plated fishhook charm stuck in one tire. Anyways, love my Accord.

Whenever it does finally die, I'll head right back to the Honda dealer and get another one. It's worth it to get the extra niceties so I still feel like it's a luxury new car. If I'd gone with cloth seats and no options, it would have been traded in by now.

It is.

I get those letters all the time, even for cars I no longer own. And believe me, it was not a model that is in anyway popular or a dealer would ever sell on his lot. They were just trying to get me in to the showroom.