Car buying.

OK, trying to get rid of the Sport Trac, for something more in line with what the wifey wants to drive.

Check out the local used car guy........bought 2 from him, he's ok.........or has been.

Value of my truck is 15K, +/-
Value of his used car is 17k, +/- 2005 Malibu, that we really liked.

He asks me for 3900 and my truck..........saying it is only worth 11k to him as he can buy them all day for that. I check the local auction where he buys his inventory........none there, have not been any for a while.

I check the carfax, a few listed, not equipped like mine and in the same $$ range. LOTS of his listed at a few hundred more than his, but with lots less miles...........up to 20,000 less.

I thought of even buying new since there are a few of them around.

IF he calls I may tell him that I can not pay his 14,900 as I can buy them at the auction for 11 to 12,000 all day, and there are more than a couple listed there.

Anybody know the secret to how this works.........it will make my wife happy for a while anyway..........

Check out kbb.com. If you book out your vehicle on the "trade in" value area in "good" condition, that is generally pretty close to what a dealer will actually put in your vehicle. The dealer calls this figure ACV; Actual Cash Value. That is the figure that most dealers and insurance companies deal with. I used to subscribe to the weekly Black Book price guides but, for the last several years kbb.com has been very close with the above parameters I mentioned. As a matter of fact, many people will print out that price on both their trade in as well as the vehicle they are looking to purchase and, take those papers in for negotiating tools. You then look at what "difference" you show in their values and negotiate a fair profit for the dealer from there. Good luck!

Thanks Dargo. I understand that process of this compared to that, but hey what is good for them is good for me. Retail to retail/or wholesale to wholesale. I am probably the hardest person to sell a car to, I NEVER take the first deal, and ALWAYS walk out, leaving my contact info if they want to sell TODAY!@. I would give him the 2k difference, but he wants me to give him diff from wholesale on my truck to retail on his car............NOT going to happen.

If I were to buy his outright by selling my truck, I would only offer 11,000 to 11500 tops and cash on the barrell.........hey that is wholesale, I can buy them at auction for that and they have some of these, not my truck.

Kbb is where these figures come from.........his were a lot more on his car and less on my truck. See they did not consider my truck is totally decked out with ALL options...............even 4wd and auto. I always have these figures when I go in, to do less is not good.