What are our cars worth? In the dealers eyes and ours!!!

[phil1101]

No one in the trade will buy or sell for their loss, I thought I would get a few figures for my GTI as both me
and the wife work in a local dealers (not VW) so I approached some traders for bids on my car. Here is the findings,
GTI Bought by me, Feb07 £18750 VW Dealer (spec in sig, mileage at purchase 8500)
Bid 1 in Sep07 VW specialist trader £14750 (with 17" wheels, mileage now 12000)
Bid 2 in Sep07 regular used car trader £15250 (with 17" wheels, mileage now 12000)
Bid 3 in Oct07 P/ex price against more costly BMW at BMW dealer £15775 (as seen with 18" wheels, miles 12000 now)
This was no haggling, just a simple bid system without the traders even seeing the car, the only true visual valuation was the BMW dealer.
This is only for info but basically the general consensus from the motor trade folk is that things suck at the moment so unless you are buying something they need to shift then you will get an average to poor deal, only bonus available at moment is volume not price related!
As previously stated, this is just for information and in no way based on anything other than what I have experienced personally.

[R32UK]

No one in the trade will buy or sell for their loss, I thought I would get a few figures for my GTI as both me
and the wife work in a local dealers (not VW) so I approached some traders for bids on my car. Here is the findings,
GTI Bought by me, Feb07 £18750 VW Dealer (spec in sig, mileage at purchase 8500)
Bid 1 in Sep07 VW specialist trader £14750 (with 17" wheels, mileage now 12000)
Bid 2 in Sep07 regular used car trader £15250 (with 17" wheels, mileage now 12000)
Bid 3 in Oct07 P/ex price against more costly BMW at BMW dealer £15775 (as seen with 18" wheels, miles 12000 now)
This was no haggling, just a simple bid system without the traders even seeing the car, the only true visual valuation was the BMW dealer.
This is only for info but basically the general consensus from the motor trade folk is that things suck at the moment so unless you are buying something they need to shift then you will get an average to poor deal, only bonus available at moment is volume not price related!
As previously stated, this is just for information and in no way based on anything other than what I have experienced personally.

If this is the kind of return you get on a car thats supposed to hold its value thats rediculous!! I had previously thought I would consider buying a gti/r32 when my lease expires.... but after reading many of the previous posts, I dont think I would bother! I know exactly how much my car is going to cost me over the 2yrs and have no worries about tax (which is paid for) or anything going wrong as everything is under warranty. I have a brand new r32 on my driveway for approx 9k over the 2yrs (4.5k per year). So i am quite glad im not loosing anything like the money you guys have stated... 

Like i have said previously.. leasing is the way forward.. 

[phil1101]

Leasing or PCP with a guaranteed future value (if you are in positive equity or are willing to wait till the agreement ends) are 'fairly' safe ways of vehicle funding at the moment. Deals can be had but they are mainly targeted at products that are not shifting well or are about to be replaced/facelifted, especially SAV, SUV type vehicles with poor emissions and large petrol engines!

[phope]

March 07 - bought Edition 30 for £24k
October 07 - Edition 30 being traded as part of a deal for £21,695

I'd imagine they will add £1000-£1500 to forecourt price, and have some margin to play with when negotiating with prospective buyer - that £1500 may only become £750 or so once the buyer has negotiated a deal for their car

From that, they have to pay salesman, pay for car to be prepped, transport costs, storage costs, pay other staff costs, and every other overhead that the business incurs, before leaving them with a gross profit that then will be taxed...and all of that before trying to ensure that they couldn't get a better return for the business by simply leaving the owner's cash in the bank, earning interest for doing nothing

I don't think my offer is too bad considering all that ...I wouldn't want to be a used car dealer.

I know what some motor dealers earn in margins, given that I work in banking and often get to see their audited accounts...it's not as much as you imagine.

[R98 HUF]

that looks like a good offer, look at this one advertised privately!!

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/256916.htm

your offer is higher than they are advetising the car privately!!!

[R32UK]

PCP deals as far as I know are not really worth it.. as you are still paying for the car in full! Leasing however means you are only paying the amount the car will loose over the given period of your lease. In terms of list, my car was worth about 28k. After two years it will be worth approx 19k. However as the car goes back to the dealers at the end of this period they will probably sell for around 22k for a healthy profit on both accounts.

The secret to leasing is that your only paying for the money the car looses. The rest is subsidised by the dealers who get the car back and sell on for a profit.

I have previously leased a renault megan for 2 yrs. At the end of the lease i was offered the car for a trade price which was approx 2k cheaper than listed on autotrader. So i bought the car from them and made a healthy 2k profit. When offset against the price paid over the two years it meant i literally paid peanuts for the car!!

[R32UK]

March 07 - bought Edition 30 for £24k
October 07 - Edition 30 being traded as part of a deal for £21,695

I'd imagine they will add £1000-£1500 to forecourt price, and have some margin to play with when negotiating with prospective buyer - that £1500 may only become £750 or so once the buyer has negotiated a deal for their car

From that, they have to pay salesman, pay for car to be prepped, transport costs, storage costs, pay other staff costs, and every other overhead that the business incurs, before leaving them with a gross profit that then will be taxed...and all of that before trying to ensure that they couldn't get a better return for the business by simply leaving the owner's cash in the bank, earning interest for doing nothing

I don't think my offer is too bad considering all that ...I wouldn't want to be a used car dealer.

I know what some motor dealers earn in margins, given that I work in banking and often get to see their audited accounts...it's not as much as you imagine.

I totally disagree!! You almost had me feeling sorry for dealers there for a minute.. Lets just remeber they make approx 30% on a new vehicle.. oh yeah and lets not forget that they have to pay for their fancy sales forecourts, coffee machines and petrol for most of there reps to abuse a pick of used/demonstrator cars. Thats a profit of approx 8.5k per car... oh how difficult their lives must be!! providing such a brilliant level of service and always being willing to help... or is that just when they see a reoccuring revenue stream appearing from our pockets??

[phil1101]

Pcp is okay in positive equity as at the end of the deal you hand back the vehicle for the GFV and you have only financed a proportion of the vehicles value, yes you pay interest on the proportion you are financing but in the real world you do not get something for nothing! Even a lease (business or personal) allows money to be made by the lease company or else they would not be available. It is all margins, volume bonus for new registrations, taking from the top or the bottom of the deal in used car trading, financing, etc, all to make money for the manufacturers, dealers, finance houses, banks and all the rest! Vicious cirle sadly!

[phil1101]

Sorry, vicious circle is what I should have put!

[Peskarik]

March 07 - bought Edition 30 for £24k
October 07 - Edition 30 being traded as part of a deal for £21,695

I'd imagine they will add £1000-£1500 to forecourt price, and have some margin to play with when negotiating with prospective buyer - that £1500 may only become £750 or so once the buyer has negotiated a deal for their car

From that, they have to pay salesman, pay for car to be prepped, transport costs, storage costs, pay other staff costs, and every other overhead that the business incurs, before leaving them with a gross profit that then will be taxed...and all of that before trying to ensure that they couldn't get a better return for the business by simply leaving the owner's cash in the bank, earning interest for doing nothing

I don't think my offer is too bad considering all that ...I wouldn't want to be a used car dealer.

I know what some motor dealers earn in margins, given that I work in banking and often get to see their audited accounts...it's not as much as you imagine.

you are selling yours already???