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Re: how much should I pay Posted by Ari [Email]  (#2847) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Ari) on Tue, 14 Dec 2004 11:34:51
In Reply to: how much should I pay, sam, Mon, 13 Dec 2004 21:50:36 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
The easy answers -
How much should you pay? What it's worth to you. How much should you offer? Somewhat less than that.
Yes, $23K seems a little high for a '01, since the '02's are starting to show up. If you go to http://www.Saabusa.com, and check on Certified, you can search for CPO cars in your area and see other asking prices. Remember, not all dealers put their cars up on this system.
Where I live (CT) Saabs are thick on the ground with lots of dealers, so prices are pretty competitive. Then again, there is lots of demand. I figure an asking price of 20K seems like a good starting point for a '01 sedan (I assume it's a sedan).
Again, that's asking price. I'd figure that you should be able to get a decent CPO sedan for about $19.x without too much work. One VERY IMPORTANT thing to consider is not price, but In Service Date. The CPO warranty is 6 years from In Service Date, or 100K miles, whichever comes first. A '01 car may have an in-service date of August 00, or it could have been a leftover that sold in late '01. The August '00 car CPO will expire in August of 06 - that's 21 months from now. Unless you drive 40K miles a year, you'll run out of time well before you run out of mileage (on the Warrantee). Yeah, 30K is a nice low mileage, but if you want the full value of the CPO, maximize it by getting a newer In Service Date. The dealer can provide that info.
OK - what to offer? Decide on what the car is worth to you. By checking the Saab CPO site, you can get an idea of asking prices. But just an idea. Many dealers ask a lot, and others are pretty low priced. You've got to check out the cars. More than one. Many more than one. In my area there is one dealer that has pretty low prices ($18-19K asking) for a '01 sedan. And the cars are beat to crap. Others have beat to crap cars for much more. And some have decent cars at a price in the middle. But figure out what the car is worth to you. If you're willing to pay $23K, then pay it.
Pick your walk-away price. Every car is worth something to you. If the dealer says he won't take less than $28K, of course you'd walk away. If he asks $12K, you'd grab it in a second. Fine. Somewhere between is your highest price. Are you willing to buy the car at $23K? If not, your walk away price is less. What's the most you're willing to pay? It has NOTHING to do with what the dealer is asking.
Decide on your reasonable price, and offer a little less. One of three things will happen - the dealer will say yes, or he'll offer a higher price, or he'll grab you by the scruff of your neck and throw you out on your keister. I have never see a dealer throw a prospective sale out. You can't insult him/her (well, you can, but not this way). Offer what you consider to be a fair price. He/she will probably counter with a higher price. Fine. Work up to your max price. AND DON'T GO HIGHER. It's your max price, right? You have the right to walk away. The dealer has the right not to sell you the car at that price. He can't not sell it because of your religion, color of skin, or sex, but he can if you offer too little. Arguing will do no good - he know the price he wants. If you can't get the car for the price you want, don't argue, don't whine - walk away. But first, give him your number, and let him know that you'll be interested if he changes his mind. Then leave.
If the dealer has wiggle room and wants to sell the car now, he'll counter. But he may feel that the car is priced properly. And he may be right - somebody else may walk in the next day and buy it for $23K. Hey - that's fine. You weren't willing to pay that. But if nobody walks in, and the car sits long enough, the dealer will eventually drop his price. And he knows he's got your number. Now, you may have bought another car by then, but that's life.
By setting what you consider to be a fair price, you take most of the bargaining, and the salesman out of it. No mind games - just what the car is worth. Don't pay more than you're comfortable with.
Now, if you find that you can't find a car at a price you're comfortable with, one of two things will happen. First, you may decide you've been unrealistic, and if you want a Saab, you'll pay more. So you will. Or, you'll decide that it's just too much money, and you'll find something cheaper, like picking up an '00 (probably not CPO), or a non-CPO with 50K miles for $14K, or a Chevy.
posted by 192.249....
, Tue, 14 Dec 2004 13:26:28, Tue, 14 Dec 2004 11:34:51 <-- Viewing This Message
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