[A4] Prospective A4 Buyer

[Dan DiBiase]

Nathan Widmyer <lighthousej at gmail.com> wrote:  That carsdirect.com  site looks very helpful, thanks.  When I clicked on the link, the  sunroof and sport suspension options weren't selected as they are in  the car the dealership wanted me to get into.  When I selected  those options, the price only went up to $31,365 which is still under  their quote.  When I do buy a car, used or new, I want to walk up  to the table with lower numbers than they have so they realize I'm not  some dumb jerk.  

I asked them to appraise my 1994 90 at the sitdown we had.  Prior to the appointment, I went to kbb.com and did my personal trade-in value of my car and kbb.com   put it at $3k.  The guy wrote down $1800 for the trade-in  value and knew I was getting the shaft.  I confronted him about  what research I did and got $3k and noted that $3k wasn't excellent,  but rather average/good.  He started naming minor things purely as  a result of wear and tear that establishes the $3k figure but he was  counting the wear and tear beginning at that $3k.  The defects he  named were paint chips on the front bumper from driving on the  interstate, my rear headrests are cracked along the seam, and poor  tires.  The dealership is rather small, their lot is a little bit  larger than a Taco Bell and figured they wanted to charge me extra  (beyond the gouging stores [like bookstores]) for the honor of trading  and them having to manage it.  

I felt quite unsure about doing business with them but I'll  continue to talk to them as long as they might be willing to compete  for my business and save me money.

Nathan, don't  even waste time trying to trade it in. If you sell it privately you'll  get your $3,000 for it. All a dealer is going to do is wholesale it out  for like $1500, he's not going to turn around and put it on his lot.  You'll only get something approaching KBB if it's a late-model car he  can sell retail. It's a little more of a hassle selling it privately,  but in my mind, it's worth the extra $1200. You can advertise free on  craigslist.com and other places (like Audifans marketplace) - I  actually sold my '95 Jetta through a classified ad in the paper!
  
  Dan D
  '04 A4 1.8Tq MT-6
  Central NJ USA