What Should I Do?

[MingF]

So I brought in my 99 RX to the dealer for regular maintance, and out of curiousity I asked how much I would get for a trade in if I sold the car back to the dealer. So the service adviser told me he can get an estimate (even tho I wasn't serious about trading in) since they weren't busy. Whoever inspected the car was appearantly really impressed how good condition the car was kept. The service advisor told me the dealer would offer $25,000 for it. I was suprised to hear $25000, I was expecting much less. The car has just over 96000K on it, which the advisor said is low for a 99 RX and I have always serviced the car at that dealer so they have all the service records. So it got me thinking if I should trade it in and use the $25000 for a new Lexus. I really like the GS and the IS, but at the same time, I love my RX, so it's really tough. My father told me I should get rid of it. since the gas prices are ridiculously high. What do you think i should do??

[jgr7]

The guys blowing smoke up your !Removed!. Check KBB.com and trade in is in the $10K range and milage range for this year is 78k.

[dgorrie]

I agree. If they pay you $25,000, who's going to pay them that kind of markup to take off THEIR hands? The only way they'd give you $25,000 is if they up'ed the price of your NEW car by an extra $15,000.

Another way to look at it -- consider the amount of money you'd have to invest in getting a new car, and divide that by the savings in gas. It would probably take YEARS just to break even.

My guess is that you’d get more money selling it to an individual. But you could always test their word. Pick out a new car (check its value online), and have them reduce it by the $25,000. They’ll back out.

[SW03ES]

Eh, maybe he is maybe he's not. You have no idea what demand this individual dealer is looking at for a specific vehicle.

Did they give you the offer in writing?

The question is what kind of deal could they give you on a new one given that they've put so much onto your trade.

If its in writing and it looks legitimate, and they'll give you a new vehicle at fair market value, do it and don't look back.

[Canadian]

Even in Canadian dollars that's a pretty high quote. The Black Book in Canada would is $12,450 to $14,650. They are likely leaving no room for negotiation on the new purchase and are just looking to suck you into the sales floor so that they can lay on the pressure.....

[SW03ES]

But, even if he pays MSRP for a new Lexus and he gets that much over book for his trade, he still comes out on top.

[lenore]

Give me a break, the man was pulling straws and pulling the old bait and switch game. I would put that salesman right up there with the offer of selling the Brooklyn bridge. Get it in writing from the Sales manager and call his bluff.

[blaucke]

We just bought a used, oops... pre-owned 2002 rx300, 40,000 miles for $24000 from a private party. Mint condition. We started looking at 99 - 01. At various dealers, we pretty much saw the 99 for under $20,000 with 40 - 70,000 miles on them and they were in great shape. They definately had been detailed. Our previous owner was told she'd get $21,000 for her car from the dealer -- she needs a mini van so will not be 'trading up' to a new Lexus. This is in the San Francisco Bay Area of California... so the prices can't be that cheap. Just another opinion. I'm also thinking that it's a lot for the car. We would have been able to probably get a 03 for the $25000 with low miles. Like they said.... if it's in writing take it to the bank!

Hey, I just saw that you are from Toronto.... could that be in Canadian dollars? I know that prices are much more up there --- my in-laws are Cananadian from Toronto. That could explain why it sounds like the price is so high. Check out what you could get if you had to buy your car and that will tell you how his pricing is. Sorry I didn't catch where you were from.